Sarah Deane

Sarah Deane
Born	Sarah Elizabeth Deane 16 July 1972 (1972-07-16) (age 39) Liverpool, England
Occupation	Screenwriter, author
Nationality	British
Information
Debut works	Moving On

Sarah Deane (born 16 July 1972) is a British screenwriter noted for her collaborations with producer Colin McKeown and BAFTA and Emmy Award-winning dramatist, Jimmy McGovern.

Early life

Deane was born in the Mossley Hill district of Liverpool, England in July 1972. She was brought up in both Liverpool and Nottingham and has previously worked in the music industry and as a trivia question writer for pub quiz machines. In 1996, she was 'headhunted' from a public house after having been observed 'stealing' jackpots from quiz machines. The (Nottingham) company, Bell Fruit Games offered Deane a salary over-commensurate with what she would have won playing the quiz machines. The contract dictated she would not play any UK quiz machine for cash.

Deane wrote trivia questions for the company until 2001, when she left and established a freelance company - "The Questionmaster" - supplying similar trivia questions for numerous companies, including Bell-Fruit Games. The move to freelancing was to facilitate Deane's desire to write. In her own words (Liverpool ECHO, 2006), "Aside from writing, which was never going to be a proper job, there was only one other thing I ever wanted to do, and that was surgery. I am not squeamish, I hate faffing, blood is fine, but I hate big girls who can't stand the sight of anything nasty. I am fascinated by the machine we all inhabit and, because I don't have the patience to study and be a proper surgeon, perhaps I can pretend to be one, instead. Writing lets me do that. As soon as I could form letters, make words, that is all I wanted to do; write. I knew that. Instantly. To imagine, to create, to be able to be make up anything in the world you wanted to be....what is more special than that?"

Career

In 2005, Deane won the TenPlay Scriptwriting Award for her short play, "The Banner", about a 'dad and lad' making a flag to take to the 2005 Champions League Final in Istanbul. The competition was judged by Brookside co-creator Colin McKeown and Jimmy McGovern, which resulted in Deane being given further opportunities to write on projects under McGovern's tutelage through McKeown's company LA Productions based at Liverpool Film Academy in Kirkdale, Liverpool.

Deane has since worked on several projects for McGovern, including Moving On which was broadcast on BBC1 in May 2009 - Series Two November 2010. Deane was the writer on Series 1; Episode 3 – "Drowning Not Waving", starring Richard Armitage and Christine Tremarco, and Series 2 Episode 9 - "Rules Of The Game". These series were produced by McKeown's LA Productions, which used its in-house team of local writers, including Deane, Karen Brown, Marc Pye, Esther Wilson and Arthur Ellison.^[1][2]

The second series of Moving On was broadcast on BBC1 w/c 1st November 2010, preceding McGovern's prime-time series, Accused, which was highly acclaimed. and also included Moving On writers, Esther Wilson and Alice Nutter.

A third series of Moving On is expected (2011). Deane wrote the episode (S2 E 9) "Rules Of The Game", starring Alfie Allen, Richard Fleeshman, Tony Booth and Paula Wilcox, concerning teenage alcoholism and the pressures of sibling rivalry. Allen, in particular, was singled out as a significant player, shadowing his more famous older sister, Lily Allen. The Radio Times, especially, highlighted Allen's pathos in the role as 'Dave', the forgotten younger brother. He was quoted at the time (unreferenced), as saying "I was attracted by the part because it was me. That was who I was. I knew him. My sister was famous and nobody saw me. I was him. My life was defined by how famous my family was. But nobody saw me."

The episode garnered an 87% positive response on the BBC statistical measure.

Personal life

Deane is a Liverpool FC supporter and attends most games. An autobiographical novel concerning her years of attending European away games is due for publication in 2011.

References

1. ^ Sarah Deane on how Moving On came about
2. ^ Launch of Moving On

External links

• Sarah Deane at the Internet Movie Database
• Moving On at the Internet Movie Database
• Moving On – Press Pack at BBC Press Office.

Persondata
Name	Deane, Sarah
Alternative names	Deane, Sarah Elizabeth
Short description	screenwriter
Date of birth	1972-07-16
Place of birth	Liverpool, England
Date of death
Place of death