Page last updated at: Tue, 17 November 2009 12:25 PM GMT Printable version

Former soap writer wins film fund

by Harriet Byczok

Christine Murphy's Cup Cake [Christine Murphy]A former writer for soaps including Eastenders and Emmerdale, has won a film fund worth around £150,000 for her comedy feature, Cup Cake. 

Christine Murphy, an MA Screenwriting alumni who attended London College of Printing - now the London College of Communication - has said that she couldn’t have won in a ‘”million years” without the support of the college.
Cup Cake will be premiered at Belfast Film Festival next march, and was the winner of the Northern Ireland Screen’s ‘Ultra Low-Budget Fiction Fund‘, an initiative which supports just one production each year.
The film - starring Clive Russell and Harry Potter actress Michelle Fairley - follows the trials and tribulations of PJ, played by Adam Best, as he struggles to look after his family bakery. 
Murphy describes the message of the film as taking a chance on love, and spoke about the film’s budget, telling Arts London News: “I feel the costumes are great and reflect the recession: it’s naff, but magical.” 
Murphy had lots of support through the project from Steve Brookes of Northern Ireland Screen, who ‘held her hand’ throughout the experience. Murphy said: “It was like tutorials at LCP again.”
Although Murphy has achieved much success working as a screenwriter on popular soaps since graduating from LCP in 2001, she made a conscious decision to start concentrating on her own original work, and to develop several projects. 
As a writer, Murphy feels that without the right support, it is easy to give up, and therefore has a network with her classmates from LCP.
She said: “Sometimes, writers are treated badly; there’s a lot of betrayal and false starts. Writing is for love, not for money.” 
Murphy is still connected with the college by working part-time as Rob Butlers’ assistant director of Skillset Screen Academy at LCC, and urges writers at LCC to experience life. She said: “You can’t write, until you have had a life. Go experience, have your heart broken, and take risks.”

Christine Murphy, an MA Screenwriting alumni who attended London College of Printing - now the London College of Communication - has said that she couldn’t have won in a "million years" without the support of the college.

Cup Cake will be premiered at Belfast Film Festival next March, and was the winner of the Northern Ireland Screen’s ‘Ultra Low-Budget Fiction Fund', an initiative which supports just one production each year.

The film - starring Clive Russell and Harry Potter actress Michelle Fairley - follows the trials and tribulations of PJ, played by Adam Best, as he struggles to look after his family bakery. 

Film budget

Murphy describes the message of the film as taking a chance on love, and spoke about the film’s budget, telling Arts London News: “I feel the costumes are great and reflect the recession: it’s naff, but magical.” 

Murphy had lots of support through the project from Steve Brookes of Northern Ireland Screen, who ‘held her hand’ throughout the experience. Murphy said: “It was like tutorials at LCP again.”

Christine Murphy:
"Sometimes, writers are treated badly; there’s a lot of betrayal and false starts."

Although Murphy has achieved much success working as a screenwriter on popular soaps since graduating from LCP in 2001, she made a conscious decision to start concentrating on her own original work, and to develop several projects. 

As a writer, Murphy feels that without the right support, it is easy to give up, and therefore has a network with her classmates from LCP.

False starts

She said: “Sometimes, writers are treated badly; there’s a lot of betrayal and false starts. Writing is for love, not for money.” 

Murphy is still connected with the college by working part-time as Rob Butlers’ assistant director of Skillset Screen Academy at LCC, and urges writers at LCC to experience life. She said: “You can’t write, until you have had a life. Go experience, have your heart broken, and take risks.”

 


Comments:

  1. Deidre Shannon
    2010-04-23 23:14:28
    Hey Christine - Bro & Ed really enjoyed the movie. Wish I'd seen it myself. Well done to you. Girl done good. Dee

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