Andrea Mann

Andrea Mann is a screenwriter based in the UK

  • ABOUT ME
  • ABOUT MY WRITING
  • MUSIC
  • MUSINGS
  • CONTACT

Here’s To The Ones Who Dream: A 17th Helpful Reminder for 2017

15 Jan 2017 by Andrea //

lala desktop
SPOILER ALERT: La La Land is really rather lovely.

(Hope I haven’t ruined it for anyone who accidentally read that.)

To be fair, it was never exactly going to be a hard sell for me. I’m a jazz singer who loves MGM musicals, Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling and Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash. Put all these ingredients together and tease me with a poster that mimics the colour palette of Singin’ In The Rain? I am IN.

And the film is truly adorable. Charming, funny, unashamedly romantic… and I mean the latter in the widest sense. There may be a love story at its heart, but above all, La La Land is a film about pursuing your dreams. And there are few notions more romantic than that.

In January 2016, I wrote a piece for Standard Issue called ‘16 Helpful Reminders For 2016’. So naturally, what with it being January 2017, I’ve been thinking about a 17th reminder to add to the list. And after much head-scratching, soul-searching and, yes, watching La La Land, I’ve decided on one. It is… *big musical-style overture* …

‘You’re never given a dream without also being given the power to make it come true.’

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Films, Musings Tagged With: Damien Chazelle, dreams, Emma Stone, La La Land, Ryan Gosling

Labour Of Love (Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Join A Political Party)

17 May 2015 by Andrea //

labour badge

broadcast news

One of my favourite movies is Broadcast News – and one of its many, many beautifully written, witty exchanges that has always stuck with me is the one above. Super-smart, super-informed TV news producer Jane Craig (Holly Hunter) schooling not-as-smart, super-handsome TV news anchor Tom Grunick (William Hurt). I think I’ve always remembered it because deep in my heart, I want to  be Jane Craig – but somewhere even deeper in my heart, I have a terrible fear that I’m Tom Grunick (without the super-handsomeness). It resonates because my inner Tom fears that my inner Jane is right.

It’s a scene that came back to me recently in the run-up to the election. Like most people, I read news stories and political commentaries, and occasionally shake my head and sigh at the computer screen (in the absence of a TV). But, like Tom, how informed, how prepared, how qualified am I, really, about the issues I care about, about the things that make me shake my head at my computer screen? And more importantly: what do I do about them? Apart from sharing links and writing satirical pieces – the latter of which had a very powerful impact on the final election result, clearly – very little. My ‘taking part in the political process’ has, in practical terms, consisted of voting in elections. And that’s it.

But there was something about this election that galvanised me. It may have galvanised me at the very last minute – but it did galvanise me. Many polices of the Tory-led coalition – and the policies the Conservatives were proposing if they won – are things which I am opposed to. Austerity, and the ideology of austerity – which effectively punishes the most vulnerable in our society for something which they didn’t bring upon themselves – is something I am very strongly opposed to. Not only did I firmly not want the Conservatives to win – I firmly wanted Labour to win. And the closer the election got, the more important this became for me.

So while I have always sat left of centre (politically, not literally – it’s not some weird tic I have when choosing concert seats), I have never aligned myself fully and properly with a party. Until now.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Films, Musings, Politics

  • Bluesky
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Substack

© Copyright 2025 Andrea Mann

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Read More

Decline Cookie Settings
Accept
Powered by WP Cookie consent
Cookies are small text files that can be used by websites to make a user's experience more efficient. The law states that we can store cookies on your device if they are strictly necessary for the operation of this site. For all other types of cookies we need your permission. This site uses different types of cookies. Some cookies are placed by third party services that appear on our pages.
  • Necessary
    Always Active
    Necessary cookies help make a website usable by enabling basic functions like page navigation and access to secure areas of the website. The website cannot function properly without these cookies.

  • Marketing
    Marketing cookies are used to track visitors across websites. The intention is to display ads that are relevant and engaging for the individual user and thereby more valuable for publishers and third party advertisers.

  • Analytics
    Analytics cookies help website owners to understand how visitors interact with websites by collecting and reporting information anonymously.

  • Preference
    Preference cookies enable a website to remember information that changes the way the website behaves or looks, like your preferred language or the region that you are in.

  • Unclassified
    Unclassified cookies are cookies that we are in the process of classifying, together with the providers of individual cookies.

Powered by WP Cookie consent
Cookie Settings