My first screenplay, Amsterdam, was optioned by Focus Films, with which I spent two years in development, and my second screenplay, Not Far Now, was shortlisted for the BAFTA Rocliffe New Writing Forum, while three of my screenplays – Amsterdam, Not Far Now and Traded – were longlisted for the BBC Writersroom.

​

Traded was a finalist in the C21 Drama Series Script Competition, and my mentor was Line of Duty/Bodyguard creator/writer, Jed Mercurio. As a finalist, I pitched to hundreds of industry executives at the Picturehouse Central, Piccadilly. In November 2017, I participated in a writersroom at C21 Media's Drama Summit. I am currently developing a variety of projects for both the small and big screen.

​

VASS:

​

The 23rd of April 1980. The Stadio Comunale, Turin. With just two minutes remaining of the European Cup

Winners’ Cup Semi-Final between Arsenal and Juventus, rookie striker Paul Vaessen, aged just eighteen, rises to head home a Graham Rix cross to give the North London side victory, and precious passage to the Final.

​

Paul becomes an instant hero to Arsenal’s legions of fans and his future seems secure, but a chronic, persistent knee injury results in a premature end to his footballing career at the tender age of twenty. What follows is a tragic fall from grace, perhaps best demonstrated in the heroin addiction that bedevils his prospects. Paul battles his addiction with the love of his family; partners, Debbie and Sally; children, Jamie and Jack; and via 

rehabilitation courses that offer hope of a new life.

​

Indeed, Paul’s future appears bright, amid plans for a career in physiotherapy; until a final knee operation, followed by the onset of gangrene, test his resolve to remain clean. His biggest problem, however, is being anchored to the moment that so fundamentally transformed his life, and which would forever define him in the eyes of his once-adoring public. As his life starts to become unmanageable again, Paul is forced to recommence battle with his demons, as he struggles to remain afloat in a world that has largely forgotten him.

 

VASS has been acquired by Lizard King Entertainment, with a view to shooting a feature film of Paul’s life.