Lydia Yeoman

Focusing on the rise of “magical realism” in television, my research takes a poetical approach and places it in an industry context. How does television blur the lines between “reality” and “fantasy” and how do screenwriters construct their storyworlds in a way that pleases both the audience and commissioners? By investigating these ideas through my own practice, I aim to write a “true” magical realist teleplay that draws on literary techniques in order to play with traditional notions of television genre. My current research is funded by a TECHNE AHRC scholarship.

My other academic activites include working as a Visiting Lecturer both here at Royal Holloway and at the University of Hertforshire as well as serving as Associate Editor at the Journal of Screenwriting.

Outside of academia I have worked as a script editor on both shorts and features, as well as working as a script reader for FilmNation Entertainment. I currently have several teleplays at different stages of development with my online event series, The Desert, due for a 2019 release.

My research interests include religion in television, adaptation theory, and narratology, as well as the poetics of television storytelling and genre construction.

MA2005 – Screenwriting. 2^nd Year undergraduate class. Syllabus design, providing lectures, running seminars and tutorials, marking. (Academic year, 2018-19.)

MA3015 & MA3005 - Advanced Screenwriting. 3^rd year undergraduate class. Providing lectures, running seminars and tutorials, marking. (Academic year, 2017-18.)

MA1153 – Introduction to Media Practice. 1^st year undergraduate class. Providing lectures, running seminars and workshops, live marking. (Spring term, 2018. Spring term, 2019.)

MASTFiR – Masters’ Retreat in Screenwriting. Guest lecturing and marking. (Dec 2016, Apr 2017, Dec 2017, Jan 2019)

I hold a BA in Media Arts from Royal Holloway, as well as an MFA in Screenwriting from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, Asia. My educational background has always had a balance of theory and practice and my research continues to do so, as one inevitably informs the other.