Pavlos Sifakis

In Dialogue with Reality: Redrafting the Short Screenplay to the Demands of Film Production

Independent

As a filmmaker in Greece, I have written and directed three professional short films
since 2019, all funded by the Greek Film Centre and/or the Greek Public Broadcaster.
One of the most interesting, albeit frustrating experiences as the screenwriter of these
films, was “adapting” the script so that with each consecutive draft it would fit the
various demands and restrictions of film production. While this is not breaking news
to practicing screenwriters worldwide, it was enlightening to actively observe how
every minor alteration or major obstacle we encountered in pre-production (from
budgetary limitations and abrupt location changes to creative feedback and rehearsals
with the actors) informed the story, as well as the dialogues and actions of characters
in my scripts.

Therefore, in this paper, my aim is to focus on my latest short film that was shot in
December of 2023, titled Hunter, in order to construct a roadmap of the various drafts,
starting from before funding was secured all the way to the final, shooting draft that
was finalized two days before production. Furthermore, I intend to reflect on my
experience as the writer and director of the films in order to observe, discuss, and
analyse in detail, by way of investigating the various drafts and pre-production material
(location scouting, actors’ rehearsals, etc.), how the many aspects of film production
impacted the screenplay text and led to meaningful, narratological changes in the
script.

In short, my aim with this presentation is to offer a meaningful exploration of the
dialogue that exists between the script’s development and the often-grim reality of
making the film and explore if and how the screenplay can retain its artistic merits
while constantly shifting in order for the text to be useful as a blueprint for film
construction as well as an autonomous, cohesive narrative.

Pavlos Sifakis was born in Athens in 1986. He has a BA in Filmmaking from Aristotle
University of Thessaloniki, an MA in Screenwriting from University of the Arts London
and a PhD in Creative and Critical Writing from Bangor University. He has written and
directed three short films [(Ecdysis (2021), Tzitzipongo (2022) and Hunter (2024 – in
post-production)] that screened at numerous film festivals worldwide. In 2021 he
taught screenwriting at undergraduate and post-graduate level at Bangor University
Wales and in 2022 he taught screenwriting and directing at Public Vocational Colleges
in Athens. He is currently writing for the Greek TV series Shipwreck (2023) and also
developing his first feature film (Bloody Mary) based on the script he wrote for his
PhD. His research interests include character and character change, screenwriting
practices in Greece and the literary merits of the screenplay text.