In this engaging interview with Lisa Holdsworth, Chair of the Writer’s Guild of Great Britain, Lisa talks about the responsibility writers have to let the reality of our environment filter in to storylines.
“Art is a mirror of the world and also a blackboard”. As writers, we create entertaining stories first, but we also have enormous power to tackle issues that are affecting people’s lives – for instance EastEnders characters could talk about air quality, Emmerdale Farm protagonists can address the devastating affect of floods or introduce conversations around sustainable farming.
The way to get writers to tackle the climate emergency is to get people to understand the human cost – it is one of our greatest challenges.
On ways the TV industry can have a more positive influence, Lisa notes “we have not always gotten it right”. We are part-guilty for having created unhelpful stereotypes in the past, especially on gender mis-representation of women, and of many communities.
Lisa’s passion rises when she talks about ways to re-address this now. One obvious hurdle is that it is still hard for a “multitude of voices” to access the power of TV writing. We need to allow people from all different socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds to enter the writing rooms – only then will we truly portray authentic characters – and if writing is what you want to do most, Lisa’s advice is “be cheeky..and don’t give up at the first No”.
“Real writing is in the re-writing”, so let’s get cracking and portray more diverse communities and a world where sustainable living becomes normalised, both on and off screens.
Full interview with Lisa Holdsworth is out now, listen below or on your favourite podcast apps:
Apple / iTunes: https://stephanierosilio.com/apple
Spotify: https://stephanierosilio.com/spotify
Online: https://stephanierosilio.com/grandkids-test-podcast/