Emma Lennox

Emma Lennox has always had a real passion for script writing and comedy, but when she first started out at GCU studying a master's in Television Scriptwriting, she didn’t ever imagine she would realise her dream as a scriptwriter, and her biggest success would be based on her own family!

The pilot for Unfair has just launched on Channel 4 to rave reviews, and Emma has been hailed as one of their brightest new comedy talents.

Emma tells us how her love of scriptwriting began:

"I did film-making at Napier University, creating student films, writing and directing on a tiny budget. That was my main focus and something I could do completely on my own. I always had this idea that I could do the scriptwriting on my own, and I would try to supplement my income with another profession, so I went on to study a master's in Film Journalism at Glasgow University. Journalism was always intended as a means to earn enough to allow me to do what I really love in my spare time, which is to write scripts.

"That turned out to be a terrible plan! It was around the time of the huge economic crash, and journalism jobs were hard to come by. I scraped by for a while doing bits and pieces, covering comedy reviews, before answering an open call from BBC Radio Scotland for sketch writers. I applied, and that turned into a six-month sketch writing boot camp which was intense but amazing! After that, I had two sketches made into pieces for radio which was my first proper paid work.

"The Producer there was really encouraging. But in my head, I felt I needed to do more. At that point, I decided to lay all my cards on the table and give scriptwriting all my attention. I saw the master's in Television Scriptwriting (MATV) course advertised at GCU, and it was exactly everything I wanted. I loved all the industry connections that the course had and I knew it was for me. I was also a big fan of GCU Professor Ann Marie Di Mambro from her theatre work. I decided to apply and dedicate all my time to writing.

"That year I won ‘Script of the Year’ which was incredible. I loved my time on the course. I remember in particular a stand-out moment when a commissioner from Sky came to give each student a one on one session in order to pitch a sketch. He didn’t like my first pitch at all, but we started talking, and slowly together over the course of the conversation we came up with a whole new idea. It was like he reached in inside my head and pulled out this completely unexpected idea, and it really worked!

"I started working with Hopscotch Films as a Researcher just before I started at GCU, but writing was my real passion. So when I started the MATV course, this really demonstrated to my bosses that I was taking being a writer seriously."

Unfair was developed as an idea while Emma was working at Hopscotch Films when Producer Carolynne Sinclair Kidd heard Emma’s story and urged her to use it as the basis for a comedy series. Emma’s husband Mitch comes from a family of showpeople based in Glasgow, and after a few years of living in a rented flat in Glasgow, they decided to move back to the showman’s yard to be closer to Mitch’s family. Emma tells us: "I was such an outsider and fish out of water when I first arrived on the yard. It was a big clash of cultures, often with hilarious results, and something I could naturally create comedy from. I hesitated as to how this might be received by the family, and wanted to know that I could base it on my experiences but pay tribute, be respectful to the show community, and really bring the characters to life. In a similar way to the Royale Family, I wanted the viewer to feel part of the family, MY family.

"I felt quite conflicted as to whether this was a good idea or not. I knew from a viewer's perspective it would work well though. I applied to a Young Film Foundation residency, based in Skye, and was successful. This presented me with a perfect opportunity to go and dedicate all my time to the idea, which was really well-received. I came away from that time feeling really confident and enthused about creating this. There I met Inbetweeners actor Joe Thomas, who was such a lovely down-to-earth, self-deprecating person, who encouraged me so much. I decided to write a joke into the script featuring a character played by him, but didn’t ever think it would come to anything.

"Once the pilot was made, we had a press screening and I invited lots of show people along. Sadly, many of them couldn’t make it because they were at fairs, so I had to nervously wait for them all to watch it online. Thankfully, everyone was really complimentary which was a big relief!"

Emma is now waiting to see if Channel 4 commission a full series of Unfair, something she already has lots of material for.

"I have also just finished a BBC Writersroom drama programme, where I was paired with an indie company run by Elaine Collins. I wrote a pilot script for a dramedy series, and am in the process of finalising the draft. I am also developing a new comedy with Hopscotch and Channel X.

"I have written for so many years, and feel like this has all blossomed for me in the last two years. After so many rejections, to have my work come to fruition is the best feeling in the world."