Ian's career has been built on the bedrock of his screenwriting. Originally nurtured by NORTHERN ARTS grants, training and professional mentroships, Ian has written award winning shorts and full length screenplays for film and TV, both on spec and on commission.
SCREENWRITING AWARDS
Royal Televison Society Award : Little Boy Soldiers - best student production.
Royal Televisoion Society Award: The Gatherers - best craft (script).
WHERE THERE'S A WILL
Original screenplay by Ian D Fleming
Producer / Concept : Danny Midwinter
Director : David Hayman
​
When three London wide-boys, the Rooney Brothers get an unexpected solicitor's letter from Ireland telling them they've inherited their long lost Uncle Tam Guinness' "fortune", "Guinness! We're minted!!!" surely? "Or at the very least it' s a pub!" says opportunist Tommy. But where there's a will, there's always a way and this way spells trouble! Fresh out of prison, going straight, eldest brother Danny flies over to Uncle Tam's funeral. What he finds awaiting them is a daffy, old solicitor who misspelt 'Guinnee'. What these n'er-do-well heirs have actually inherited is a ramshackle funeral parlour, stuck fast in the time-warp of a rural Irish village! Forced to retain their newfound cousin, 'wild alky arsehole' come incumbent embalmer Sean as a condition of the will A rom-com caper of errors ensues. With Elvis worshipping Father Power leading a conspiracy amongst his aged flock to retain village pride and keep the parlour open, things get sticky fast. With Danny falling in love with te ephemeral beauty that is the landlord's daughter Grace... local Garda Ryan fighting for her hand... and brothers Tommy and Louie arriving on the run from London gangsters (who happen to be family)... could it be any more of a chaotic 'fresh start' ? Care of a bunch of rogue Tinkers, their new business is palmed off with an 'unliscensed deceased'. They need shot of it and sharpish! With Aunt 'Ma' Ronson and her goons closing in, the erstwhile Rooney Brothers have no choice but to make it all work!
UK- Eire : feature film. See iMDB
THE BRUSH OF A BUTTERFLY'S WING
An original screenplay by Ian D Fleming
In the long, hot summer holidays of 1984, ten year old Andy and Debbie find themselves on opposing sides in the most divisive socio-political conflict to ever wrack the UK - the Miners Strike.
With Andy's family ostracised when his father Ronnie won't strike, Debbie's dad, the forcefully charismatic man's man Jimmy, bans her from even speaking to her best friend. Through the eyes of babes, a poignant Romeo and Juliet scenario unfolds where Andy is "...gonna be a scientist." and Debbie is "Gonna be a miner like me Dad" . Under the watchful eye of Andy's pet frog Frogga and Debbie's toy rabbit Lucky, they collect frog spawn and caterpillars, studying their wondrous metamorphoses in a derelict pit head bath house. Under the last rain shower of the summer holidays, a pinky promise is made, but will prove impossible to keep when their secret friendship is discovered by Debbie's bullying brother Paul. The dreams of children are set to be shattered in a heart wrenching climax. Only the wisdom of babes can save the adults now. If only they'd all listen!
UK drama feature : rights available from Screenworks Motion Picture Media Co Ltd.
WITCHBANE
Original screenplay by Ian D Fleming & Sara Morrison
A Screenworks developing project.
Screenworks Motion Picture Media Co Ltd.
​
​
England 1650; the king is dead! Parliament rules the land under Cromwell’s iron fist.
38 years after the infamous witch trials in the darkest northern county of Lancashire, a deserting New Model Army soldier hides in the shadow of Pendle Hill. Raulyn Chattox; haunted by cruel visions, wracked by pious puritan guilt, carries a shocking secret he can reveal to no one save his maker … or the sensuous young witch Lisbet Devize he saves from the Pricker. Harboured by Lisbet and her crone wise-woman grandmother Jennet, Chattox is locked in a twisted menage-a-trois, where mystical ritual meets religious piety … and a family vendetta is resurrected on the grave of the Pendle Witches.
UK: feature film. See iMDB
Work in progress.
THE PRIZE
Pilot screenplay by Ian D Fleming
Concept : Danny Midwinter
London 1965. Pit-fighter Sonny is ‘The Prize’ everyone pursues: Jimmy the hustler, Reg the gang-lord, Scotch Tony the muscle, Madam Nekrov 'the owner' and Lily … the woman who loves him. Period crime saga of blood, honour, betrayal, revenge and ultimately … love.
Adult TV drama - commissioned by Diplomat Films' Dawn & Keith Thompson (Alan Bleasdale's Oliver Twist, New Tricks, Vikings)
