I just returned from London, where I was attending the Orange British Film Awards, also known as the Bafta’s. Big Fish was up for seven awards, including Best Adapted Screenplay. We won exactly zero. But it was a very fun time, and truly an honor to have been nominated.
A few observations:
- Stephen Fry is much, much better than any other awards host I’ve encountered.
- The British don’t capitalize acronyms if it’s possible to pronounce them. Therefore Unicef supports people with Aids, while SBC stock is listed on the DJIA .
- Scripts are five pages shorter when printed on A4 paper, the European standard.
- The English are much smarter about binding scripts. Instead of brads, they use clips that go through two holes and fasten in the back.
- British phone numbers are wildly inconsistent. At least three times, I had to ask a native how to dial a number.
- London has an alarming number of traffic cameras. Borderline Orwellian. In Los Angeles, we have cameras that can catch you running a red light. London has cameras that can measure your average speed between two points, or determine whether your car was driven inside a certain zone on any given day, and charge you a congestion fee. Americans would revolt.