I’m incredibly proud that Touch Gloves has won another screenwriting competition at another film festival – this time it’s the Bucharest Film Awards where it won Best Screenplay. This is it’s 5th award in 7 contests so far.
I wrote this street-level boxing movie with my good friend and filmmaker Velton J. Lishke. Velton is an excellent storyteller and we have a fantastic writing relationship. We start with an idea, then I start writing… I send to Velton for feedback then I rewrite… we go through approximately 15-20 drafts (we are real perfectionists) until we have the perfect screenplay (in our view). It takes a while, can be painful at times but the good kind of pain that yields the best results – who said art was easy?
Touch Gloves is our third award winning screenplay together – it focuses on Samuel, a homeless Muslim man who is taken in by Lenny, a middle aged white casual racist boxing trainer and together, they launch Samuel on a boxing career in the underground boxing scene that has serious implications for both of them. It’s a drama, very real and gritty – just how I like it.
I know I wrote it so I am biased, but I love this screenplay – Velton is going to try and make the film in 2020 – but it isn’t easy to make a movie on a low budget – but Velton is the man to do it – an accomplished low budget film maker that like me, is waiting for his chance to show what he can do on a bigger stage – and I have absolute faith that he will. Winning awards like this should certainly help.
Writing with someone like Velton is an absolute pleasure. I have a few of these writing relationships and there is nothing like it – I recommend collaborative writing to anyone – just make sure it’s someone who knows what they are talking about – a film maker, writer, show runner, agent or producer who knows their stuff… there are a lot out there who don’t sadly so be careful.
Remember, if you have a screenplay that you need feedback on, I also do this – just follow this link to see how and I’m sure I can help you. https://davidjkeogh.co.uk/my-services/
Keep writing!
