Facebook memories keep reminding me, though I don’t really need them. I was already in a reflective mood with the year coming to an end. So here’s a little recap of my script club in 2025.
1. How it started: I was reading and analysing scripts on my own, reverse-engineering them to understand what made stories work. Then I discovered monthly script clubs and quickly fell in love with the idea. Inspired by CenterFrame’s Script Club and Sundance Collab, I founded my own script club in November 2024.
2. The name “Pazartesi”: It means “Monday” in Turkish. Somehow, despite its usual negative associations, I realised I actually love Mondays. I love their seriousness, that sense of beginning, the feeling that everything is still possible. Just like screenwriting, it requires discipline, but it’s also fun and exciting. Since it also marks time, it’s easier for it to feel like a tradition: meeting on a Monday once a month.
3. Groundhog Day: Groundhog Day is simply my all-time favourite movie, so it naturally became the subject of our first meeting. I was happy to find the script online, but as I kept reading, I realised it wasn’t the final draft. There were major differences between the version I had and the finished film. I got quite frustrated. My deep-dive internet search for the final version led nowhere, so I decided to ask the screenwriter himself, Danny Rubin. Audacity? Maybe. But I had nothing to lose.
4. Danny Rubin is my pen friend (not really): I sent an email explaining the situation, and he replied quickly. Not only did he kindly share a scan of the shooting script, but he also explained how Harold Ramis added an opening scene after test screenings and how Bill Murray improvised some of his lines.
5. The first guests: For our first meeting, my guests were Resul Ertaş and Ömer Pınar, an experienced writer duo who hold a very special place in my career. When I finally entered the industry, we worked in the same writers’ room. Even though they were far more experienced than me, they treated me as an equal and made that experience ten times better, if not more. Some of the most humble and funniest people I know. So it was no surprise they were my first guests. And in fact, we’re getting together again this month to talk about Billy Elliot.
6. The first meeting surprise: I was open to doing it even if only three people showed up but twenty-four people came to our very first meeting. And I swear, they weren’t all my friends. I simply announced it on my social media. No ads, nothing. And suddenly, there they were. As if people had been waiting for this.
7. A community forming: Throughout the year, the number of participants stayed around 20–30, even during the summer months. There were regulars and newcomers. I watched a small creative community form right in front of my eyes.
8. Translating the scripts into Turkish: When I announce each meeting, I share the script in both its original English and a Turkish version. Before screenwriting, I did freelance translation work, so I have some experience. Still, it’s fair to say that without AI, it would be almost impossible for me to provide full Turkish translations of these scripts. I do the first pass with ChatGPT, then heavily edit to make sure the dialogue sounds natural and the screenwriting terminology matches industry usage. It takes time, but it also allows for a much closer reading. And yet, sometimes I catch myself thinking: why on earth am I editing a script that has already been shot?
9. Broadening the scope: In the following months, we dived into the scripts ofFrances Ha, The Truman Show and The Sixth Sense, together with dear screenwriters Elif Özsüt, Fikret Bekler and Duygu Yıldırım İleri. Just as I was starting to worry that we might only be talking about American films and drifting away from Turkish stories, April brought a turning point. We met with Meriç Demiray after reading his own script Martıların Efendisi. After that came Turkish series: Afilli Aşkwith Barış Erdoğan, Aşk Oyunu with İlker Arslan, İkinci Bahar with Ayhan Sonyürek and Menajerimi Ara with Yeşim Çıtak. It is almost impossible to access original Turkish scripts if you’re not in the industry, so I’m deeply grateful to them for sharing their scripts with me and our participants.
10. Call My Agent: While preparing a presentation for the Turkish version of Call My Agent, I got a little carried away. In addition to the French and Turkish versions, I watched the pilot episodes of the British, German, Italian, South Korean and Czech/Slovak remakes. It turned into a comparative piece on these adaptations. If you haven’t read it yet, this is your chance.
11. Exploring Different Kinds of Stories: We also focused on The Devil Wears Prada, Ex Machina and Thelma & Louise, joined by screenwriters Pelin Gülcan, Gülçin İçöz and Lara Tecim Bulut. These very different scripts reminded us, once again, that every story has its own way of existing.
12. The one script that stood out: They say scripts are just manuals, not something you read for pleasure like a novel. Well, they clearly haven’t read The Sixth Sense. That script had a palpable energy. No wonder Hollywood was buzzing when it first circulated. Of course, I’d seen the film, I knew Bruce Willis’s character was dead, but still… the writing stirred something deep in me. Between the lines, I could feel Night Shyamalan’s passion for the craft, and from that moment on, my respect for him only grew.
13. One year already: This month marks the first anniversary of the club, and I’m genuinely excited about our collaboration with MUBI. I like to believe it’s a sign that the club will continue to grow in 2026, with new collaborations and new paths opening up. I’ve already made the arrangements for January 2026, and I’m looking forward to sharing what’s coming next.
As I look back, I realize what truly excites me about this script club. It gives me the opportunity to appreciate others’ work more deeply, learn from it, grow, and connect with new people. And I’m proud of myself for being able to offer others what I needed most when I was starting out: a sense of camaraderie, and a way of demystifying the writing process.
And here, I promise myself and you that I will keep following my curiosity and passing along what I learn. Thank you for sharing this journey with me.
A Screenwriter’s Journey 
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