Gudni Lindal Benediktsson

gudni_edinburgh

Already established as a short film-maker of some reputation in Iceland, Gudni came to SAS to move up a level and develop his skills and confidence as a writer of feature films, TV projects and online content. Winner of the University Medal, Gudni is staying on in Scotland and is already developing a slate of new projects, including a TV series for Icelandic TV, pitching live projects to a leading games advertising company in Glasgow and designing narratives and puzzles for a local Escape Room. Mentor/film-maker Annie Griffin is working with Gudni on the development of his graduation script Oh, And My Brother is Dying, a black comedy set in Gudni’s home town in Iceland. Gudni is also helping to teach Screen Academy Scotland’s evening class Introduction to Screenwriting, along with a similar class at Glasgow School of Art. This summer he published his third children’s book in Iceland and wrote and directed a short film in Edinburgh, titled Donor, which was just awarded 2nd place in the “Best Icelandic Short” catagory of “Frostbiter – Icelandic Horror Film Festival”. 

“The Screen Academy helped me in various ways, the most important of which was to validate the standards of how to format and treat a screenplay and all the various documents needed in the business, in a professional and industry-standard way. The course helped me fine tune my story-building skills, character development and provided me with a great insight into funding options in Scotland for future projects. It also got me in contact with people from all over the world who I hope to work with in the future. I loved my time in Edinburgh and I´m grateful for all the contacts I made. The teachers were both knowledgable and caring, providing a positive yet realistic view on the industry. I´m very glad I went to SAS.”