1. HOW DO YOU BECOME A WRITER & WHATS IT LIKE TO WORK AS ONE?
To become a writer you must have a creative imagination and good writing skills. The quality of your work is more important than having a degree although what skills and what knowledge you learn whilst getting a qualification in writing is whats important. You need to have a good gripping story to make people want to carry on reading from the first page. You need to build a group of people that you can trust who will tell you if your script is worth trying to sell, you need positives and negatives to be able to become a better writer and you need people who can tell you the truth, always get feedback. Once you’ve wrote a script which you’ve put your heart and soul in you need to start sending them out to companies but don’t set your standards to high and you may not even hear anything back, be able to take rejection lightly and don’t let it effect you hugely. Keep on trying and do your best to get your script out there, an important part of being a writer is to meet other writers and others in the media industry who can help you and having these contacts will get you far. Try and get a job in the media industry even if it isn’t writing for now and keep on writing whenever you get free time, this can help build contacts who will believe in your script and help you get somewhere. Enter competitions for scripts and writing, no matter where you live be prepared to travel to get your break. Remember to be patient because you could be waiting a long time to get a break but never give up and believe in yourself, the more rejection is more fuel to want to succeed and write the best script/story you’ve ever written. Volunteer as much as you can get close to actors and directors to see how they work with scripts, listen to podcasts, read screenplays, write everyday! Also take extra writing classes to help your craft even if you have a degree in writing. Accept that you’re going to have to have a second job to get any money to be able to live but don’t settle until you get what you’ve been working so hard on.
2. WHAT IS A STAFF WRITER?
A staff writer is someone who doesn’t get credit for their writing but gets a weekly salary and are only contracted on a show for a certain amount of time depending on what he executive producer wants for the show. TV staff writers can be given step by step instructions on what to change on the script, other times they have to decide what fits and what doesn’t. They break down scripts, develop plot points and flesh out characters. To have an education in creative writing, english or film production are helpful in landing a job as a staff writer. Taking classes in entertainment business is good to be able to learn how to manage your career. Having thick skin is an important part of this business because it’s very hard to make a career out of the industry.
3. WHAT IS THE COMMISSIONING PROCESS, HOW DO YOU GET AN IDEA 'COMMISSIONED'?
Large organisations such as the BBC, Channel 4, ITV, Cable and Satellite channels have strict guidelines about commissioning and a large number of programmes that you see on television will have been commissioned by the broadcasters from ideas independent production companies developed.
Under ITC regulations, broadcasters must commission 25% of non-news and current affairs output from the independent sector and this includes the BBC.
"How does the commissioning process work in television?
I think there's a very clear message here. Commissioners make their judgements on two things. The quality of the idea and the quality of the person that comes with it. If you, came to me, when I was Head of Network Features in 1984 and you'd left University in 1983 and you came in with an idea, I might love the idea but I wouldn't believe you'd be capable of delivering it. I'd either say no thanks or I'd suggest to you that you should team up with somebody who's more experienced, who's capable of delivering it. So remember that the person who commissions is looking at two things; the calibre of the individual who's presenting the proposal and the calibre of the proposal itself." - Roger Laughton Head of Bournemouth Media School
These are the key factors to consider when pitching for commissions in television:
- Make sure that the idea is right for the channel you are submitting to
- Ensure you can see where the programme will sit in the current schedule
- Understand why people will want to watch this programme
- Identify any interactive or cross-platform potential
- Research your idea thoroughly and define the format
- List actors/actresses or presenters that will appear in the programme
- Ensure your proposal is clear and be able to sell it in the first line
- Make sure your idea is original
4. WHY DO YOU NEED AN AGENT AND WHAT ARE THE NAMES OF SOME SCRIPTWRITER AGENTS?
Having an agent is important for a screenwriting career because they read through contracts that you'd be agreeing to and help to get your script out into the world. To get a agent you can call numbers and listen websites such as www.wga.org and they have information on different agents. Email agents you're interested in and send them a query letter, which should hook them in and make them want to work with you. Tell them who you are and what you're trying to achieve but don't send the script unless they ask for one. If they ask for a script it's good news and you're closer to your dream coming true.
Names of agents...
5. HOW DOES A SCRIPT GET CHOSEN?
If someone decides to make your script, you may have to go through an Option Period this is time given to the producer or studio to get the film off the ground is called the "Option Period." It could be for 6 months, 12 months, 18 months, or longer. Often times, Option Agreements will include an Option Extension that allows the producer or studio more time if needed.
The Option Agreement means how much money the writer will get for letting the producer using their screenplay for development purposes. The amount of money the writer can get can vary greatly from £10 to millions. It's just a negotiation process based on many factors like the writer's track record in the industry and the potential budget of the film. Producers will ask themselves a series of questions before paying the writer for example is this the writer's first screenplay or has the writer sold several screenplays to the studios before? What would a fair Option Payment be if the budget of the film were 1 million or 50 million? How much can they realistically afford to pay the writer?
The Purchase Price the third element involved is the amount of money that the writer will receive from the producer or studio when the script is made into a feature film. This is called the "Purchase Price." Is it 50,000, 100,000, or more? Sometimes the Purchase Price will be calculated on a sliding scale as a percentage of the budget, so as the budget of the film grows, so will the Purchase Price. All of these figures can vary greatly but everything is negotiated up front in the Agreement so that all parties are on the same page.
6. HOW DOES A SCRIPT WRITER GET PAID?
Most TV writers salary is regulated by the minimum payments that a writer must be paid, these minimums go up each year. Right now the minimum payment for writing one episode of a half-hour TV show on a broadcast network is 21,585. The minimum for an hour-long show is 31,748.
When a TV writer is hired onto a show’s staff, he/she is contracted to work on a certain number of episodes. But they're also contracted for a certain number of week (usually 6, 14, or 20), so the studio can’t bind you to 6 episodes of some show, then drag them out over two years.
Also there is minimum weekly payments. Right now, for example, the weekly minimum for 6-week hire is 3,817, and the minimum decreases if the writer is hired for more weeks, which sounds stupid because the writer will actually be doing more work. HOWEVER if they work more or less they're weekly average can never sink below the minimum.
Breaking Bad writers make a $3600/wk
7. WHAT LEGAL ISSUES DO YOU HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT AS A WRITER? (PLAGIARISM/LIBEL?)
Explain what the words plagarism and libel mean and then discuss why these are such big issues for writers.
Plagiarism is using or closely imitating the language and thoughts of another author without authorization and the representation of that author's work as one's own, as by not crediting the original author. This is a big issue for writers because writers won't be able to copyright their work and could get their ideas and writing stolen and used by other writers.
8. WHAT EXAMPLES ARE THERE OF LEGAL ACTION INVOLVING SCRIPTWRITERS OF TV AND FILM?
A court case for 'New Girl'
- Writers sue 'New Girl' creators for 'stealing the show idea from their television pilot script'
- Stephanie Counts and Shari Gold claim they shopped around TV pilot script 'Square One' from 2006-2011
- The screenwriting duo accuse Fox, WME and others of ripping off their ideas to create 'New Girl'
- They filed a lawsuit in California federal court on Thursday
- The women claim Fox made them a $10,000 settlement offer when the show aired in 2011, which they rejected
The lengthy lawsuit alleges that the women based the original script on 'Stephanie’s real-life experience when she discovered her husband was having an affair, leading her to move into a three-man bachelor pad'.
Counts claims she had moved in with her brother, a Hollywood stuntman, and two of his friends in Culver City. During this time, she took notes, which reportedly inspired the 'Square One' script.
This annoys me because there's actually nothing you can do if you're not high up in the media industry and it makes me not want to enter the world of media because of how evil it can appear.
9.WHAT DO YOU THINK ARE SOME OF THE HIGH POINTS AND LOW POINTS OF WORKING AS A WRITER FOR TV OR FILM?
High points of working as a writer is that once your in the job you get paid quite well off and your doing what you love doing and enjoy but even though there are high points I think that there is so many more low points as working as a writer because you won't get anywhere unless you've already got somewhere. For example producers usually only pay for scripts from people they already know its hard to get a good chance of them even listening to your ideas, it's a tough industry and most people aren't mentally strong enough to take the hard work that comes with it, you have to be amazing at writing and know lots of contacts which I find strange because to me most writers seem to be lonely and not very social people having to spend most of their time working. I think this job is only for people who are really passionate about having this goal exceeded in their life and crosses their dream job of their list and are willing to work hard enough.
