CONFERENCE | 'Killing Time' - Case Study

One of the best seminar sessions came on Day Two. It was a case study of the recently completed TV series 'Killing Time' starring David Wenham.

Writer's Mac Gudgeon, Sean Grant and Katherine Thomson spoke in detail about how they approached this project.

THE CHALLENGE IN THE WRITING OF 'KILLING TIME'
How to adapt the source material which consisted of two books by Andrew Fraser into 10 x 1 hour episodes. At a critical point in pre-production after much research and writing, funding was cut to 7 x 1 hour episodes!

• coverage of 20 years tied to absolute fact as recalled by Fraser.
• some episodes had to straddle 3 years
• the process became one of trying to understand where Fraser was coming from
• framed the telling of the story as 'a fall from grace' story
• episodes were deliberately book-ended by fraser in jail in maximum security
• embarked on a writers examination of what made the subject tick

THE GIFT
Fraser's story had a Shakespearian arc as he became an addict and the story built towards his arrest.

RESEARCH - A 3 MONTH JOURNEY

• able to verify that much of the 'truth' in the story was not truth
• what truth do you go with?
• the key was to unravel the scant details within the book against the details revealed by the research

FIGURING OUT THE TRUTH

• tone for the writing and the series --> the benchmark was UK series 'The Take', the story needed a UK sensibility and pace
• Fraser's mother became the main psychological antagonist

STORY STRUCTURE
Began with Fraser as a middle class lawyer who worked hard as an assistant council.

WHEN FACT IS ABSENT FROM A STORY TAKEN FROM REAL LIFE
Not knowing what was said, then you are a slave to the dramatic points in the story you are trying to achieve

END RESULT
not a redemption story --> Fraser lost his family
object was to aim to feel his pain --> victim of his own actions
product of his own actions
only have to believe the character, not judge it

WRITING AS A TRIO
The writer has to think 'this is a good idea'...it's the only way to write believably.

ABOUT 'KILLING TIME'
The story of disgraced lawyer Andrew Fraser's rise from a small time lawyer to successfully defending the most infamous criminals this country has ever seen, and his ultimate downfall and imprisonment for five years in maximum security.

ABOUT THE CONFERENCE
Continuing the series of articles that share my experiences at the 2011 National Screenwriters Conference, held at Phillip Island in Victoria. Held in February, it was hosted by the Australian Writers Guild.