James Moran (writer)

Last updated

James Moran
Born (1972-03-05) 5 March 1972 (age 51)
York, Yorkshire, England
OccupationScreenwriter
Known for Severance , Cockneys vs Zombies , The Fires of Pompeii

James Moran (born 5 March 1972) is a British screenwriter for television and film, who wrote the horror-comedy Severance . He works in the horror, comedy, science-fiction, historical fiction and spy thriller genres.

Contents

Early career

Born in York, [1] Moran's first produced work came as the result of a competition run by the Sci Fi Channel. The competition asked for writers to submit short science-fiction themed film scripts. Moran won, and his entry Cheap Rate Gravity was produced and shown both on the sci-fi channel and in front of full-length movies, including Final Destination 2 .

Moran secured an agent at the PFD Literary Agency from the strength of the competition win, a spec film script, and a six-part TV drama entitled The School. He wrote the entire run of The School on spec, later saying he was unaware that generally only a pilot is written until a production company shows interest. Moran claims the series is still his favourite of his own works.

Film work

Moran scripted the 2005 film Severance , which concerns office workers on a team building trip being stalked by a masked killer. Talking about where the idea for Severance came from, Moran said "I'd been trying to think of a good horror idea, and one day had a really bad commute home – yuppies in pinstripe suits were everywhere, pushing past me, jumping the queue, and generally being the ignorant scumbags that they are. So, in a flash of temper, I decided to kill off some yuppies in a horror – take them to a cabin, and pick them off one by one. Once I'd calmed down, I thought that was a pretty good idea – take some standard, British office types, and throw them into a cabin-in-the-woods horror, see how they react. And it developed from there." [2]

In April 2009, the BBC reported that the murder of a 17-year-old student from Norfolk was a re-enactment of a scene written by Moran from the film Severance. [3] [4]

Moran had two features released in 2012: a horror-comedy called Cockneys vs Zombies , which was shot in March and April 2011 [5] and promised to be "every bit as ridiculous as its title suggests", [6] and a thriller called Tower Block , which was shot in July and August 2011. [7] Tower Block was the closing film at 2012's FrightFest film festival.

Moran also did an uncredited rewrite on 2014 horror movie The Borderlands , later released in the US as Final Prayer. [8]

In 2013 he wrote and directed a short film, Crazy For You, a romantic comedy about a serial killer, which starred Arthur Darvill and Hannah Tointon. It premiered at London's FrightFest, and has played at the London Short Film Festival, the Seattle International Film Festival, among others. [9] In 2015, Crazy For You won the Best Horror/Sci-Fi award at the Crystal Palace International Film Festival. [10]

In 2014 he wrote and directed another short, Three Minutes, [11] starring Daniel Brocklebank, which was also repurposed into a music video [12] for the band Eighteen Nightmares at the Lux. In 2015, his short film Ghosting premiered at London's FrightFest. [13] In 2016, he co-produced and edited Connie, written and directed by Cat Davies. [14]

In 2017, Moran's new short film Blood Shed began touring film festivals. The film stars Shaun Dooley and Sally Phillips, and was co-written and produced by Cat Davies. The film won various awards since its release at Horror Channel FrightFest, including the Audience Award at Wimbledon International Short Film Festival, Funniest Film, Best Director and Best Script at the Knoxville Horror Film Festival, and Best Male Lead for Shaun Dooley at Sick Chick Flicks Film Festival. [15]

In 2020, it was announced Moran had written Sequel, a female-led slasher produced by Joe Dante and to be directed by Danielle Harris. [16]

Television work

Moran's television writing debut was writing episodes for Doctor Who , and its adult themed spin-off, Torchwood . He lobbied his agent for many years to get him a job on either show. First came Torchwood with the episode, "Sleeper", in the second series. It concerns a burglary that goes wrong, revealing a plot that leaves the whole planet in danger. There are many allusions to terrorism during the episode, and filming on several controlled explosions in Cardiff was almost disrupted by a real terrorist attack in Glasgow. "Sleeper" was broadcast by BBC Two on 23 January 2008. [17] [18] Moran also co-wrote the Torchwood episode, "Day Three" of "Children of Earth" with Russell T Davies which was first broadcast on 8 July 2009. [19]

Moran's Doctor Who episode, "The Fires of Pompeii" – set during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius – was broadcast on 12 April 2008 as part of the revived program's fourth series. [20] Moran also wrote episodes for series 3 of the ITV series Primeval , series 3 of Crossing Lines , the BBC One series Spooks , its BBC Three spin-off Spooks: Code 9 , [21] and the NBC series Crusoe , based on the novel by Daniel Defoe. [22]

He would also diversify into children's television, working on series 3 of CBBC show The Sparticle Mystery , [23] series 2 and series 3 of Eve , [24] The Rubbish World of Dave Spud and Silverpoint .

Other projects

In 2008, Moran wrote a comic which featured on the Doctor Who website. [25] His first published short story, Breadcrumbs, appeared in the Doctor Who anthology Short Trips: Transmissions . His other stories were Companion in the anthology Short Trips: Christmas Around the World , Grand Theft Planet in The Doctor Who Storybook 2009, The Haldenmor Fugue in The Doctor Who Storybook 2010, Virus in Torchwood: Consequences, Stakes On A Plane in Torchwood Magazine , October 2009, and Unplugged in Torchwood Magazine, December 2010. Moran's novelisation of The Fires of Pompeii was released on 14 July 2022 as part of the Target Collection. [26]

His first audio work was a Highlander play, The Promise, the fourth and final story in the second season of the Big Finish audios.

He has written, and made his directorial debut with, the crime thriller web series Girl Number 9, starring Tracy Ann Oberman, Joe Absolom and Gareth David-Lloyd. [27]

In September 2016, Moran's new webseries Mina Murray's Journal, a modern vlog adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula, will launch on YouTube. [28]

Personal life

Moran is an atheist, [29] and his wife is Cat Davies, a writer-director. Moran and Davies married in 2017. [30] In 2016 they formed Moranic Productions, a production company with a slate of shorts, features, and webseries. [31] He also lectures on screenwriting at Met Film School. [32]

Moran has a personal blog called The Pen Is Mightier Than The Spork. [21] Moran started writing it around the same time as he started writing the screenplay for Severance, documenting the entire process all the way to the DVD release, and up until July 2009 he still regularly updated about his current projects. [33] He also endeavoured to answer any reader's questions and offer advice to other would-be screenwriters. He continued blogging from April 2010, with comments switched off. He can still be found on Twitter. [34]

Not Guilty Pleasures, his podcast celebrating popular culture with a different guest every episode, launched in 2016. [35]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russell T Davies</span> Welsh screenwriter and television producer

Stephen Russell Davies, better known as Russell T Davies, is a Welsh screenwriter and television producer whose works include Queer as Folk, The Second Coming, Casanova, the 2005 revival of the BBC One science fiction franchise Doctor Who, Cucumber, A Very English Scandal, Years and Years, It's a Sin and Nolly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Unquiet Dead</span> 2005 Doctor Who episode

"The Unquiet Dead" is the third episode of the first series of the British science-fiction television programme Doctor Who, first broadcast on 9 April 2005 on BBC One. It was written by Mark Gatiss and directed by Euros Lyn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Harkness</span> Fictional character in the TV series Doctor Who and Torchwood

Captain Jack Harkness is a fictional character played by John Barrowman in Doctor Who and its spin-off series, Torchwood. The character first appears in the 2005 Doctor Who episode "The Empty Child" and subsequently features in the remaining episodes of the first series (2005) as a companion to the series' protagonist, the Doctor. Subsequent to this, Jack became the central character in the adult-themed Torchwood, which aired from 2006 to 2011. Barrowman reprised the role for appearances in Doctor Who in its third, fourth, and twelfth series, as well as specials "The End of Time", and "Revolution of the Daleks".

Helen Raynor is a Welsh television screenwriter and script editor from Swansea. She is best known for her work on the relaunched BBC science fiction series Doctor Who. She previously worked as a theatre director. Besides television episodes, Raynor has written theatrical plays, radio plays, and short stories.

Torchwood is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. A spin-off of the 2005 revival of Doctor Who, it aired from 2006 to 2011. The show shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growing audience, moving from BBC Three to BBC Two to BBC One, and acquiring American financing in its fourth series when it became a co-production of BBC One and Starz. Torchwood is aimed at adults and older teenagers, in contrast to Doctor Who's target audience of both adults and children. As well as science fiction, the show explores a number of themes, including existentialism, LGBT sexuality and human corruptibility.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Chibnall</span> English television writer

Christopher Antony Chibnall is an English television writer and producer, best known as the creator and writer of the award-winning ITV mystery-crime drama Broadchurch and as a showrunner of the long-running BBC sci-fi series Doctor Who. Chibnall wrote five episodes of the series under previous showrunners Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat, and was also the head writer for the first two series of the spinoff Torchwood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gwen Cooper</span> Fictional character from the television series Torchwood

Gwen Cooper is a fictional character portrayed by Welsh actress Eve Myles in the BBC science-fiction television programme Torchwood, a spin-off of the long-running series Doctor Who. The lead female character, Gwen featured in every episode of the show's 2006–2011 run, as well as two 2008 crossover episodes of Doctor Who. Gwen appears in Expanded Universe material such as the Torchwood novels and audiobooks, comic books and radio plays.

James Goss is an English writer and producer, known both for his work in cult TV spin-off media, including tie-in novels and audio stories for Doctor Who and Torchwood, and for his fictional works beyond ready made universes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gareth David-Lloyd</span> Welsh actor, writer (b. 1981)

Gareth David Lloyd, known professionally as Gareth David-Lloyd, is a Welsh actor and writer best known for his role as Ianto Jones in the British science fiction series Torchwood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ianto Jones</span> Fictional character in Torchwood

Ianto Jones is a fictional character in the BBC television programme Torchwood, a spin-off from the long-running series Doctor Who, played by Welsh actor Gareth David-Lloyd. A regular within the show, Ianto appears in every episode of the programme's first three series excluding the finale of series 3, as well as two crossover episodes of Torchwood's parent show, Doctor Who. Additionally, Ianto appears in Expanded Universe material such as the Torchwood novels and audiobooks, comic books and radio plays. Within the narrative of the series, Ianto begins as general support officer for Torchwood Three, a team of alien hunters stationed in Cardiff, and develops into an active field agent. Initially the regular character with the least screen time, Ianto's role expanded in response to growing cult appeal.

Joseph Lidster is an English playwright and screenwriter, best known for his work on the Doctor Who spin-off series Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Fires of Pompeii</span> 2008 Doctor Who episode

"The Fires of Pompeii" is the second episode of the fourth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 12 April 2008. Set shortly before and during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79, this episode depicts alien time traveller the Doctor and his new companion Donna Noble on a trip to Pompeii, where they uncover an alien invasion. Their clashing worldviews present an ethical dilemma for the Doctor.

Something Borrowed (<i>Torchwood</i>) 2008 Torchwood episode

"Something Borrowed" is the ninth episode of the second series of the British science fiction television series Torchwood. It was first broadcast on BBC Three on 5 March 2008 and repeated on BBC Two one week later. The episode was written by Phil Ford, directed by Ashley Way and produced by Richard Stokes. The episode featured the five initial series regulars John Barrowman, Eve Myles, Burn Gorman, Naoko Mori and Gareth David Lloyd plus recurring actor Kai Owen in a central role.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Stolen Earth</span> 2008 Doctor Who episode

"The Stolen Earth" is the twelfth episode of the fourth series and the 750th overall episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 28 June 2008. The episode was written by show runner and head writer Russell T Davies and is the first of a two-part crossover story with spin-offs Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures; the concluding episode is "Journey's End", the finale of the fourth series, broadcast on 5 July.

Music of the Spheres (<i>Doctor Who</i>) 2008 Doctor Who BBC Proms special

"Music of the Spheres" is an interactive mini-episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who that premiered at the Royal Albert Hall in London before the Intermission of the Doctor Who Prom on 27 July 2008, for which it was especially made. The Doctor Who Prom, including the audio for "Music of the Spheres", was broadcast simultaneously on BBC Radio 3. "Music of the Spheres" was shown on the official BBC Doctor Who website during the interval and the concert itself was filmed for later broadcast on BBC One on 1 January 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Planet of the Dead</span> 2009 Doctor Who episode

"Planet of the Dead" is the first of four special episodes of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who broadcast in between mid-2009 and early 2010. It was simultaneously broadcast on BBC One and BBC HD on 11 April 2009. The specials served as lead actor David Tennant's denouement as the Tenth Doctor. He is joined in the episode by actress Michelle Ryan, who plays Lady Christina de Souza, a one-off companion to the Doctor. The episode was co-written by Russell T Davies and Gareth Roberts, the first writing partnership since the show's revival in 2005. "Planet of the Dead" serves as the 200th story of Doctor Who.

John Fay is a British television screenwriter and playwright. He is known for his work on television soap operas Brookside and Coronation Street as well as his later work on original drama series like Torchwood.

<i>Torchwood: Children of Earth</i> 2009 Torchwood series

Children of Earth is the banner title of the third and penultimate series of the British television science fiction programme Torchwood, which broadcast for five episodes on BBC One from 6 to 10 July 2009. The series had new producer Peter Bennett and was directed by Euros Lyn, who had considerable experience on the revived Doctor Who, Torchwood's parent show. Torchwood is a series about an organization known as Torchwood which defends the Earth against alien threats. The plot of Children of Earth deals with aliens demanding the Earth's children, and a related earlier conspiracy 40 years ago; as such, Torchwood is pitted against the British government when the government attempts to conceal its past actions and concede to the present-day aliens' demands. The first, third, and fifth episodes of the serial were written by executive producer Russell T Davies, who also conceived its overall storyline. The third episode was co-written by James Moran whilst the second and fourth were penned by newcomer John Fay.

<i>Cockneys vs Zombies</i> 2012 British zombie comedy film

Cockneys vs Zombies is a 2012 British zombie action comedy film directed by Matthias Hoene and written by James Moran and Lucas Roche. The plot centres on a group of Cockneys who arm themselves to rescue their grandfather and his friends from their retirement home as a zombie apocalypse takes place in the East End of London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthias Hoene</span> German filmmaker

Matthias Hoene is a German filmmaker who mostly works in English. He began with animated music videos, then award-winning commercials and short films, before directing longer science fiction and fantasy features. His film Cockneys vs Zombies won multiple awards, while The Warriors Gate was an international fantasy action epic.

References

  1. ↑ "James Moran CV at PFD". BBC. 2007. Archived from the original on 8 November 2007.
  2. ↑ "An interview with James Moran, the writer of 'Severance'". Solace in Cinema. 2004. Archived from the original on 17 November 2017. Retrieved 3 July 2007.
  3. ↑ "Petrol killing 'based on movie'". BBC News Online. 28 April 2009. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
  4. ↑ Child, Ben (29 April 2009). "Student killed in imitation of a horror film scene, jurors told". The Guardian . London. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
  5. ↑ Kemp, Stuart (16 March 2011). "Cockneys Vs Zombies adds cast". Cockneys Vs Zombies.
  6. ↑ Cockneys v Zombies film is ridiculous say its cast, interview with Steve Holden, BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat, 30 March 2012. Retrieved 2012-03-30.
  7. ↑ "Tower block stunt girl Sheridan Smith". Tower Block. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013.
  8. ↑ "Metrodome Group PLC Announces Cinedome Theatrical Production Slate". Metrodome Distribution. Archived from the original on 25 August 2016. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  9. ↑ "Crazy For You". Crazyshortfilm.blogspot.co.uk. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  10. ↑ "Blogger".
  11. ↑ "Blogger".
  12. ↑ "Blogger".
  13. ↑ "Blogger".
  14. ↑ "Connie – A comedy horror short with a foul-mouthed, loud-mouthed, felt-mouthed star". Conniemovie.com. 27 January 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  15. ↑ "Home". Bloodshedfilm.com. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  16. ↑ "Danielle Harris Directing an All-Female Slasher Titled 'Sequel' for Producer Joe Dante". 27 October 2020.
  17. ↑ "Script Doctors". BBC. 4 June 2007.
  18. ↑ "Week 4 Unplaced" (Press release). BBC – Press Office. 10 January 2008. Retrieved 10 January 2006.
  19. ↑ "BBC Three - Torchwood, Children of Earth, Day Three".
  20. ↑ "Script Doctors". Doctor Who Magazine . No. 390. 13 December 2007. pp. 58–59.
  21. 1 2 "The pen is mightier than the spork". James Moran. 2007.
  22. ↑ Moran, James (14 October 2008). "Crusoe". the pen is mighter than the spork. Blogger . Retrieved 16 October 2008.
  23. ↑ "Blogger".
  24. ↑ "Blogger".
  25. ↑ "Fuel". James Moran. 2008.
  26. ↑ Moran, James (14 July 2022). Doctor Who: The Fires of Pompeii (Target Collection). ISBN   978-1785947797.
  27. ↑ "Girl Number 9 - Web Thriller by James Moran and Dan Turner". Archived from the original on 2 January 2013. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
  28. ↑ "Mina Murray's Journal – A #Vladaptation of Dracula". Minasjournal.com. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  29. ↑ James Moran [@jamesmoran] (16 September 2010). ""Sobering lessons of the atheist extremism"- what, like how we covered up child rape?? Oh wait! That was you!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  30. ↑ James Moran [@jamesmoran] (6 November 2017). "Best. Day. Ever" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  31. ↑ "Moranic Productions – We make stuff…". Moranicproductions.com. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  32. ↑ "James Moran - Met Film School - London". www.metfilmschool.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 1 July 2017.
  33. ↑ "'Stepping back' blog post". 2009.
  34. ↑ "James Moran on Twitter". 2009.
  35. ↑ "Blogger".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.