Nick Ward: On self-plagiarism for success...

Nick Ward is a prolific and award-winning screenwriter. He attracted notice with the hit feature film Stickmen, a Wellington lads-on-the-make tale that potted him the best script gong in the 2001 New Zealand Film and TV Awards. He originated, and then co-wrote, popular recycling relationship comedy Second-Hand Wedding (2008); and wrote the original script for Love Birds (2011). His TV screenwriting credits include Outrageous Fortune, Burying Brian, Nothing Trivial and The Cult. Ward has also worked in front of the camera, co-presenting The Big Art Trip with Douglas Lloyd Jenkins.

In this ScreenTalk, Ward talks about:

• How he plagiarised his own life in writing Stickmen
• Creating a fake bar for the film that everyone seemed to know
• Acting a ‘hurtful’ sex scene with Luanne Gordon
• Driving Douglas Lloyd Jenkins up the wall in The Big Art Trip
• Basing the script of Second-Hand Wedding on his own family
• How all of the second-hand props in the movie belonged to his Mum
• Resisting pressure to change the film
• Bringing his obsession for pub quizzes into the scripts of Nothing Trivial
• Realising he is still learning the craft after 10 years writing

This video was first uploaded on 21 February 2012, and is available under this Creative Commons licence. This licence is limited to use of ScreenTalk interview footage only and does not apply to any video content and photographs from films, television, music videos, web series and commercials used in the interview.

Interview, Camera and Editing – Andrew Whiteside