The People's Republic of China. 1.4 billion people. 20% of the human race under one flag. Many Westerners express a deep fear of this behemoth nation and its culture. I was no different.

I’m a screenwriter and story consultant by trade, with over a decade's experience, working in London and Hollywood. A few years ago, I seguewayed into part-time teaching at one of the London film schools. My only regret - I didn’t dip my toe into the teaching profession earlier. I absolutely love working with new filmmakers and writers, helping them formulate their creative concepts and screenplays.

However, when my oldest school friend suggested I follow him to China - and teach a three-week film class at Henan University - I was beset with fear, worried about all the potential banana skins awaiting me in Zhengzhou, a gritty metropolis of 14 million souls.

Banana Skin Number One - the class sizes. The biggest class I’d ever taught was thirty students, which I find is contained enough to allow all members of the class to exchange and discuss ideas. How do you share ideas and get creative with 140+ students? Especially given…

Banana Skin Number Two - most of the students do not understand spoken English, and I have zero understanding of their language, Mandarin Chinese.

In China, every foreign language teacher is assigned a translator who communicates with the student cohort. But what if…

Banana Skin Number Three - the translator’s English isn’t up to scratch?

If you want to find out whether my fears about teaching in China were realised, please check out this video.

What I will say about China is this:

If you can push past your fears, and deal with the inevitable culture shock, China will blow your mind and senses in ways that you could never have imagined.

Who is SCRIPTFELLA?

I'm a veteran screenwriter, story consultant, film & TV lecturer. I've been optioned or commissioned by over 30 US and UK studios and production companies including: Universal Studios, Working Title, Bold Films, Scott Free, BBC and ITV. Recent produced credits include the award-winning motion picture Bram Fischer (2017) and the not-so-award winning Hard Target 2 (2016)...

If you're a producer, screenwriter or brand, and you'd like me to help you tell YOUR story, shoot me an email on [email protected] and let's have a chat.