PHIL RUTTER

My name is Phil Rutter and I am the Head of Development at Zeitgeist Film in Copenhagen.

My aim in this blog is to give a little insight in the script development process and the day-to-day workings of how a script moves through the various stages to production.

I’m very much a nuts-and-bolts kind of guy who sees each and every script as a new, inviting challenge. That means that I’m going to tackle specific issues with these posts and look as often as possible at the aspects of script writing not as readily discussed.

But first, a little background.

After 10 years as a dramaturge in the UK theatre industry, I went to the European Film College, Denmark in 1995. The following year I took the intensive film-makers course at the New York Film Academy.

In 1998, my feature script Over the Wall was optioned by Polish production company Open Door Entertainments, but sadly never made. It was during this development process however, through more re-writes and meetings than I care to remember, that I realized my strengths lay in development rather than writing as I learnt the ins-and-outs of a film script and how the process worked.

In 2002 I was hired by Zeitgeist Film to re-write science fiction script Under the Stars, and soon after I was reading scripts and developing the projects on their slate. Once fluent in Danish in 2006, I became Head of Development.

I also work as a freelance script consultant – scriptguyphil.com - and have worked on materiel by, amongst others, Nikolaj Arcel, Ole Bornedal and Rune Bendixen, and for film companies such as Zentropa, Nimbus Film and Belgian company Savage Film.

I have also studied with and been mentored by Christine Vachon, Ted Hope, Linda Aronson, Stephen Cleary, Paul Schrader and Philip LaZebnik.

On a personal note, I have been based in Copenhagen since 2000 with a Danish wife and two children, and the film quiz team I play on has been Danish champions for the last two years and we are well on our way to making it three years running!

So stay tuned and hopefully they will be something here that you like. If not, then please let me know and I’ll happily turn your suggestions into blog posts.

Happy writing