Laura Wiggett
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Bio
As an aspiring scriptwriter and script editor, I have loved collaborating on stories and ideas during my time at Edinburgh College of Art studying Film and Television. I've developed skills at all stages of production, having been a Script Supervisor, 1st Assistant Director, Script Editor, Art Department Assistant, Editor and Sound Designer on a range of undergraduate and postgraduate films. These roles require decision making in an efficient yet creative way as well as concisely organising time and people. What I found most interesting throughout these experiences was being exposed to different stories, narratives and film sets during my four years which made me develop and confirm my own interests and tales I want to tell.
Having focused on fictional films, I have experimented with stories that tread the line between the comedic and dramatic. For example, narratives that are inspired by poetry, have a dark take on the idea of hide and seek, a memory of my childhood fear of fortune fishes that you find in Christmas crackers or, such as in my graduation film, contemporary political terms. My films have been screened at the BFI Southbank (BFI Future Film Scene Event), Glasgow Film Theatre (Glasgow Youth Film Festival and Tate Liverpool (opening night of Artist Rooms Roy Lichtenstein: In Focus exhibition). My third year university film was commended in the scripted category at the RTS Scotland Student Awards 2021, The Librarian, a comedy-drama made in lockdown in which a granddaughter discovers that her beloved grandfather, who she thought went on so many daring and wonderful adventures, was actually just a dangerous combination; a librarian and a compulsive liar.
I am keen to tell stories which are inventive in constructing a narrative and that interrogate the balance of the humorous and emotive. The idea of comedy putting an audience at ease, so that when drama is introduced, it is all the more surprising, heartfelt or even shocking, is something I explored in my graduation film, The Dead Cat Strategy. You can find the script of my graduation film and the film itself on this page.
Awards
Skills & Experience
- Part of STV Studios' Script Reading Pool (since December 2021)
- Assistant to the Curator for Young People at Tate Liverpool (communicating between departments, interview on BBC Radio Merseyside, January 2021-August 2021)
- Judging Panel of Tate Etc Writing Competition (reading submissions and choosing winner with magazine editors, November 2021)
- Work Experience at Lime Pictures (shadowing runner, 2017)
The Dead Cat Strategy
The Dead Cat Strategy tells of two burglar brothers, Edgar and Lewis, who pretend a dead stray cat is Mr Felix Wilson's missing cat, Icarus. This is in order to distract him whilst they steal a valuable painting from him. But things don't go to plan and the brothers end up having afternoon tea with Felix. As Lewis is tasked to distract Felix, whilst Edgar attempts to steal the painting, Lewis discovers him and the cat owner share a common interest in looking after animals. Felix used to work at an animal sanctuary. In this conversation, Lewis realises what he and his brother are doing is wrong. He decides, for the first time in his life, to stand up to his older brother.
The brothers argue and soon it becomes a literal bun fight with the afternoon tea. Lewis blurts out the truth to Felix, that the dead cat is not his missing cat. Edgar flees and Lewis stays to apologise and tidy up. In this, Felix sees Lewis isn't a bad person and definitely not a burglar. He decides to forgive Lewis and help him, seeing him as a bit of a lost soul. Felix gives Lewis a reference for the animal sanctuary he used to work at.
As Lewis leaves with the job opportunity of his dreams and no longer overshadowed by his brother, Felix notices a cat sitting on his garden wall. Icarus, he's been found.
About The Dead Cat Strategy
The term 'a dead cat strategy' has always stuck with me due to its bizarre name. The idea of a dead cat strategy is to use something surprising to distract attention away from something even worse, which is often the more pressing issue. When I first heard the term, I was intrigued by the fact it was an idea where narrative is manipulated, but in a political context. I wanted to explore the parallels between the term and my interests as a scriptwriter. This was why I made it the focus of my graduation film, as it allowed me to explore the type of stories I want to tell and learn about writing and producing comedy, whilst balancing it with a dramatic and emotive side of the story. I was inspired by films such as The Ladykillers (Mackendrick. 1995) and TV series such as Guilt (2019-), Tales of the Unexpected (1979) and Inside No. 9 (2014-), the latter being specifically the episode A Quiet Night In (2014).
Through the writing process, I became interested in the burglar brother's (Edgar and Lewis) relationship. The arrogant leader and bumbling follower is a frequently used dynamic, and this was something I wanted to play with. We laugh at older brother Edgar's humiliating and mocking nature towards the innocent Lewis. We laugh at Lewis' inability to act out the burglary properly. This notion of Lewis' character being very out of place in a burglary is something I was drawn to for both comedic and dramatic purposes. It became the crux of the story; of how the naive character stands up for themselves and causes the plan to unravel. The narrative has become a coming-of-age tale of sorts, and the attempted burglary and meeting with the cat owner, Felix, has a positive result. For the relationship between Lewis and Felix, I was inspired by films such as Paddington (King. 2014) and Harold and Maude (Ashby. 1971) which have kind representation of relationships between younger and older characters.
I wanted the film to have an upbeat, light-hearted and farcical tone, but leaning towards the dramatic when it felt necessary in the narrative, and to experiment with the comedy-drama genre as well as the rather horrific notion of a dead cat strategy being taken literally.
Laura Wiggett
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