Bafta Guru

Kenneth Longeran, writer-director of Manchester by The Sea, offers insights on his process and collaboration and shares advice for aspiring screenwriters. Kenneth Longergan’s stories are predominantly engaging character-driven dramas that explore the minutiae of the human condition and its many challenges and complexities, in such an intuitive way that they can’t fail to sympathetically connect with an audience. Often provocative, always sensitive, his films rarely offer easy answers, they simply provide a profound and poetic glimpse into the lives of everyday characters. Born in New York, Lonergan originally tasted success on the stage, writing shows that would perform both off and on Broadway. His first film script was for Analyze This (1999), before deciding to both pen and direct his next feature, You Can Count on Me (2000). It turned out to be a wise decision, with the script earning him both Oscar and Golden Globe nominations. Margaret, about a young woman (Anna Paquin) who witnesses a bus accident an