Commissioning
Job roles within the
commissioning process:
• commissioning
editors-
Commissioning editors
are in charge of selecting show ideas and allocating funding to the
production companies who are the ones who created the idea to produce
the show/ film.
• producers
Producers oversee
things such as finance, legal, administration, marketing and
personnel. Sometimes producers are the ones who originated the
project. Producers must also find a screenwriter and if the script isn't up to standards they can order to have a new one written or hire a script doctor.
• directors
The directors job is to
take the idea or script and make it by directing camera men and women and
editors in smaller productions, in bigger productions the director is
driving the post-production process and directing DoP and camera
crew, Art and Design, Sound, Lighting,Wardrobe and Actors.
• script editors
A script editors job is
to ensure scripts are suitable for production and work with the
writer at each draft of their script giving feedback, suggesting
improvements that can make the show have a better continuity when
made.
• agents
An agents job is to
find work for their clients. They co–ordinate their contracts, and
secure appropriate deals for them.
• writers
Writers are the people
responsible for researching the story, developing the narrative,
writing the screenplay, and getting it to development executives.
Commissioning bodies
•Corporations &
independent production companies
You can have large
corporations or smaller independent production companies, if you
decide to sell your product to a production company you would use one
of these two. An example of a big corporation would be the BBC.
Smaller independent production companies sometimes receive financing
from larger ones for the return in money the final product makes, for
example BBC Sherlock is
produced by Hartswood Films who are a completely independent company which provide shows for the BBC, ITV and Channel 4.
•
independent directors or producers
Independent
directors produce their own screenplays and get a lot of power over
the final product however being able to afford to do that is quite
difficult, examples of directors who also write and direct their own
screenplays are Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriquez and Jim Jarmusch.
Sometimes they also write for other directors. It is very similar for
independent producers but they have the ability to find and find
funds for screenplays, it's all their responsibility if the product
does not do well if they get that far. Sometimes independent
producers like Sue Virtue have to do their own script editing.
•
organisations
There are organisations
like BBC Writers Room and The Script Factory which help screenwriters
and those who work with them, they are there to give advice to help
improve work and to help to get it seen. The BBC Writers Room website says "We know how hard it is to be a writer and we believe in finding ways to inspire and inform you, to keep you across changes, giving you access to commissioners and production departments but most importantly to the skills and and experience of established writers." in their section about who they are and what they do.
• competitions
There are often
competitions being run to find new writing talent. There is a list of
the competitions on BBC Writers Room, Internationally and ones from Britain, that are
being run. Usually prizes are financial, generally in exchange for
an option. Option is when the screenplay is taken by an person or
company who get the exclusive rights for a fixed price for a fixed time, the person who purchased
it is able to amend it.
The role of the
writer throughout production
•
pre-production planning and script editing
In
the stages of pre-production there may be suggested changes to make
the script more viable by the editors or the readers. Changes made to
your screenplays can put you in a difficult position, you sometimes
have to chose between keeping your artistic integrity or making
changes to have better chances of your work being commissioned .
Sometimes changes have to be made because of plot holes or the story
being too similar to one that's already been made, most of the time
it is to do with the budget or directors option.
•
shooting script production, page lock-down and adjustment during
shooting stage.
When
production starts on a script there will be page and scene numbers
decided to make it easier whilst it's being shot. There are special
guidelines for when there are changes being made to the script these
guidelines are for how the changes should be made and distributed.
Page lock-down is very important if the screenplays are to be made
effectively, it is when the changes made to the script are coded,
they are sent as individual pages instead of making people write lots
of notes into their scripts.
Working as a writer
• agent representation & professional presentation
If you have an agent you look a lot more professional and they have contacts which helps because you have more chance of producers seeing your work whether they be from small independent production companies or large corporations like the BBC.
• royalty payments
Royalty payments are the money that writers receives from film and TV, royalty payments are generally split between the writer, the agent (if there is one) and the producers.
Legal and ethical considerations
• copyright - copyright is the ownership of something, it give the creator exclusive rights to the original work.
• bias - bias is when something is favored over another, it is a non neutral point of view.
• censorship - censorship is the suppression of public communication which may be offensive or harmful, this generally decided by the government. the media outlet or another controlling body.
• watersheds - watershed is when after a certain time the shows on tv can be more adult and use swear words etc.
• libel - Libel is when you make a claim that is implied to be factual but is giving someone a negative image.
• plagiarism - plagiarism is when you take someone else's work and claim it is your own.
