WRITING — OWEN FRANKLIN

“Owen has all the critical acumen, steady concentration, and stylistic flair that one looks for in the very best young writers and producers.”
Stephen Regan, Professor of English, Durham University

Writing is a crucial component of much of Owen’s day-to-day work. After experience working on independent feature films, Owen is developing longer form projects for television and radio.

Nowadays, when he is not actively writing for new projects, he spends his free time creating Murder Mystery evenings to test out on his peers.

FILM

To date Owen has written three feature film scripts, all of which have been produced and completed as independent projects.

To learn more about these films, click here.

TELEVISION

Owen currently has several projects in development for television, including limited series and longer form sitcom, ranging from mockumentary to docudrama. Click on a title below to read more.

After a student’s brutal murder rocks the quintessentially British university town of Holmford, a semi-retired detective struggles to catch a killer as he uncovers a campus-wide drugs ring run by the victim and her friends. As the surviving students tell their conflicting stories, it becomes clear that Holmford’s tranquil façade has been hiding a much darker underbelly.

Diamonds In The Rough is a psychological crime thriller, challenging perceptions of drug dealing and its consequences in an environment of privilege, where the police are also struggling with politics and prejudice.

4 x 50 min limited series, with potential for further seasons.

EAST BY SOUTH WEST - sizzle reel

Based on a harrowing true story of the unlikely friendship between a young British Bangladeshi and one of Britain’s leading politicians. When Luthfur opens his first restaurant in an unassuming English town, he is confronted by extreme racism and violence; as he stands up to the aggression with the support of Paddy Ashdown, he sets in motion a chain of extraordinary events that will change both men’s lives and have ramifications on a national scale.

East By South West [working title] is a 1990s-set drama/biopic, exploring identity, prejudice, self-discovery and faith. An important untold story from the recent history of race relations, politics and multiculturalism in Britain.

For this project, Owen has undertaken extensive research, including numerous interviews with the restauranteur and the late Paddy Ashdown’s estate, to put together a sensitive, accurate and compelling account of this shocking story.

4 x 50 mins limited series.

Two naïve wannabe rock musicians faithfully document their cynical attempt to break into the music industry by forming and managing an all-female rock band - but the new band quickly form their own plans, and the road to stardom is far from straightforward.

Rockumentary is a lo-fi, “fly-on-the-wall” format mockumentary comedy with semi-improvised structure incorporating a strong musical component. It’s loosely inspired by Owen’s own experiences playing drums in a fledgling rock band on the Bristol circuit as a teenager.

The series explores the state of the modern music business, including the gender gap - particularly in the rock and metal genres - without ever losing its heart and humour.

After working on a feature film based on the story, Owen is collaborating with the actor and musician Katrina Kleve (who stars in the film) on a wider series.

10 x 25-30 min series, with three season story arc.

Trailer for the feature film version of ROCKUMENTARY

Music video for ‘I Don’t Want You’, written for the feature film version of ROCKUMENTARY

RADIO

Owen is working on his first writing project for the radio/podcast medium. The project’s working title is Piper Bill, and will follow the remarkable true story of Bill Millin, who landed in Normandy on D-Day armed with nothing but a set of bagpipes and a sgian dubh.

Piper Bill features both dramatic re-enactments and ‘talking heads’ discussing the background and context of this unique experience of one of the defining moments in modern history.

The project could form the first chapter of a wider series called The Normandy Tales, exploring some of the more unusual and lesser-known stories from the landings.

OTHER

Owen has written for several local publications in his home city, including book reviews for Arena magazine and an article on the fall of the Edward Colston statue for popular lifestyle blog Best Of Bristol.

His BA dissertation (concerning the use of humour in First World War trench poetry) was selected for publication in Vol 2, No.1 of the Durham English Review, an academic journal open to the international community.

As part of a promotion linked to the London Olympics, Owen wrote a digital history to London that contained one fact per year about the city from 1066-2012. The extensive research undertaken for this project revealed that while some years were admittedly duller than others, London is never short of history.

“Owen has all the critical acumen, steady concentration, and stylistic flair that one looks for in the very best young writers and producers.”

Stephen Regan, Professor of English, Durham University

Writing is a crucial component of much of Owen’s day-to-day work. After experience working on independent feature films, Owen is developing longer form projects for television and radio.

Nowadays, when he is not actively writing for new projects, he spends his free time creating Murder Mystery evenings to test out on his peers.

FILM

To date Owen has written three feature film scripts, all of which have been produced and completed as independent projects.

To learn more about these films, click here.

TELEVISION

Owen currently has several projects in development for television, including limited series and longer form sitcom, ranging from mockumentary to docudrama. Click on a title below to read more.

Diamonds In The Rough is a psychological crime thriller, challenging perceptions of drug dealing and its consequences in an environment of privilege, where the police are also struggling with politics and prejudice.

4 x 50 min limited series, with potential for further seasons.

East By South West [working title] is a 1990s-set drama/biopic, exploring identity, prejudice, self-discovery and faith. An important untold story from the recent history of race relations, politics and multiculturalism in Britain.

For this project, Owen has undertaken extensive research, including numerous interviews with the restauranteur and the late Paddy Ashdown’s estate, to put together a sensitive, accurate and compelling account of this shocking story.

4 x 50 mins limited series.

Two naïve wannabe rock musicians faithfully document their cynical attempt to break into the music industry by forming and managing an all-female rock band - but the new band quickly form their own plans, and the road to stardom is far from straightforward.

Rockumentary is a lo-fi, “fly-on-the-wall” format mockumentary comedy with semi-improvised structure incorporating a strong musical component. It’s loosely inspired by Owen’s own experiences playing drums in a fledgling rock band on the Bristol circuit as a teenager.

The series explores the state of the modern music business, including the gender gap - particularly in the rock and metal genres - without ever losing its heart and humour.

After working on a feature film based on the story, Owen is collaborating with the actor and musician Katrina Kleve (who stars in the film) on a wider series.

10 x 25-30 min series, with three season story arc.

RADIO

Owen is working on his first writing project for the radio/podcast medium. The project’s working title is Piper Bill, and will follow the remarkable true story of Bill Millin, who landed in Normandy on D-Day armed with nothing but a set of bagpipes and a sgian dubh.

Piper Bill features both dramatic re-enactments and ‘talking heads’ discussing the background and context of this unique experience of one of the defining moments in modern history.

The project could form the first chapter of a wider series called The Normandy Tales, exploring some of the more unusual and lesser-known stories from the landings.

OTHER

Owen has written for several local publications in his home city, including book reviews for Arena magazine and an article on the fall of the Edward Colston statue for popular lifestyle blog Best Of Bristol.

His BA dissertation (concerning the use of humour in First World War trench poetry) was selected for publication in Vol 2, No.1 of the Durham English Review, an academic journal open to the international community.