IAN LONG

Ian is a writer, teacher, script editor and story consultant whose recent writing projects include an epic animated feature based on Ariosto's Orlando Furioso and a contemporary psychological thriller. Both are slated for imminent production.  Ian has recently written and produced his own short film.

He has worked as a consultant for the UK Film Council's Premiere and New Cinema Funds, the First Film Foundation, the Script Factory and many other bodies and producers.  He is currently overseeing a horror feature to be shot on location in Italy, developing a science fiction feature with a leading director and working on a collection of short stories. Ian is also an illustrator.

For Euroscript Ian heads up the Feedback Services and teaches Genre workshops - Horror, Science Fiction and Thrillers with a special side order of Creating Fear in Cinema. Additionally he teaches script reading and assessment.

Q:  What’s the best opening in your opinion?

A:  'There are eight million stories in the naked city.  This is just one of them.'  (The Naked City).


Q:  What’s was your guiltiest cinematic pleasure?

A:  Watching 'Raintree County, on acid when I was 21.  Feeling as if I'd lived through the entire American Civil War.


Q:  What’s the worst distraction as a writer?

A:  Everything else.


Q:  Where do you like to write?

A:  In a ruined monastery on a hill, surrounded by dense woodland.


Q:  What’s your favourite film?

A:  Today, it's 'Singin' In The Rain'.  One of those films where every element seems to be perfect.


Q:  What’s your most memorable action scene in a film?

A:  Ambushing the train in 'Lawrence of Arabia'.  Peter O'Toole striding along its roof afterwards, wearing a white burnous.

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Q:  What’s your most romantic encounter in a film?

A:  Kathleen Turner and William Hurt in 'Body Heat'.