Dirty talk: scriptwriting, script editing and the creative process

Research Background This work sits within the emerging field of screenwriting practice as research, and more specifically, the screenplay text as research. Inspired by recent debates about the value of screenplay creative practices and artefacts within the academy (Millard 2010, Baker 2013, Batty 2014), the work is situated as a text that not only speaks about screenwriting research, but also performs screenwriting research through form and content. As a screenplay, the work also sits at the intersection between creative writing research, which is firmly embedded in the academy, and screen production research, which has yet to find its own discourse in the academy. Research Contribution As a multi-narrative work that weaves together the screenplay, the writing of the screenplay and the editing of another writer's screenplay, the screenplay draws attention to the creative and pragmatic decisions that influence its creation. These include peer review, inspiration, writerly interactions with characters, and the pressures of industry conventions. Found in both the screenplay's content and its form, these aspects present an intertextual work that is aware of its origin and its purpose, including its place in the academy. Research Significance This work is one of only a handful of published 'academic screenplays' in the world, and builds on the author's extant published works of a similar style and purpose. It is significant in that its research contribution is evidenced through both content and form. Furthermore, it works on the level of reflexivity, meaning it can be viewed as a research tool as well as a research outcome - speaking as much about screenplay development as it does screenplay content and form. This gives it further importance within an academic context.