Task 2
- 1. Task 2 Unit 4, 5, 24, 31 Benjamin Karrass
- 2. Job Roles As a scriptwriter who wants to publish their script they need to decide if they want to go through an independent company or a corporation. If the script writer decides to go with a corporation they will contact a commissioning editor who will allow them to pitch their script to, as producers have met with the commissioning editors they are able to show them what the scriptwriters are offering allowing the producers to know what the corporation wants. An agent will also help during the process if the corporation like the script. If they decide to go with an independant company, it will be a bit different as it's not as big, this might mean that both of the commissioning editor and producer will be the same person. They also may not advertise for scripts meaning you will have to go to them.
- 3. Job Roles - Commissioning Editor Commissioning editors are the people who are ultimately in charge of what to commission when it comes to script writers., and because they are in charge of commissioning it means they decide what will be aired on TV. Commissioning editors are responsible for meeting up with producers of the company they work for, this is where they would discuss what sort of programme or product they are looking for in the media industry, this includes the timing they have available to fit shows in or even what genre they want the product to be. After they have thought about their product they will publicly advertise what they want for their channel and they would scout for people such as script writers for them to pitch their scripts to them. If a script writer feels they have created something suitable for the channel they would go out of their way and email the commissioning editors to arrange a meeting for them to pitch their idea. If the pitch works out good and becomes a success the commissioning editor will then work with the scriptwriter to further develop the ideas that the script offers. The commissioning editors will then create different documents such as the treatment where they can get an idea of what the end product may be for the channel. Both the Scriptwriter and the commissioning editor start to create a pitch to show to the producers.
- 4. Job Roles - Commissioning Editor The commissioning editors main role is to be able to find new ideas from different scriptwriters that can be used to be broadcasted on TV. the ideas the commissioning editors find off of scriptwriters have to match the brief that they have set out. In the brief it advertises what should be included for the script writers like if it's after or before the watershed and what genre they want it to be. The script must be appropriate for the specific genre or timing it would be shown. The commissioning editors advertise the brief as they want to find people suitable for the programme they want, by them advertising the brief they will find people such as script writers.
- 5. Job Roles - Commissioning Editor (Examples) Steve Regan is a commissioning editor that works at Channel 5 at the moment, Regan has launched TV shows such as Lip Sync Battle UK, this is a huge successful Tv show on Channel 5 that averages around 1.9 million viewers each week on friday at 10pm Steve also became co-commissioning editor on Celebrity Big Brother. Before Steve Regan joined Channel 5 in 2015 he worked as Senior Editorial Director for MTV UK & Ireland and moved up to Vice President of Commissioning and Production later in his career. At MTV Regan commissioned and executively produced eleven series of Geordie Shore and three series of Ex On The Beach. Regan will also be commissioning popular factual and factual entertainment for the 10pm and 11pm slots on Channel 5, with the potential to be shared across MTV and Comedy Central.
- 6. Job Roles - Commissioning Editor (Examples) Another commissioning editor is Kate Phillips. She is responsible for entertainment commissioning across BBC Television channels, BBC iPlayer and BBC Three, maintaining the success of current shows as well as finding new shows to broadcast over the channels. Kate phillips covers Saturday night family shows such as Strictly Come Dancing and Let It Shine also other shows such as Have I Got News For You, Mock The Week, this shows she covers different genres in the media industry for the different BBC channels. Kate Phillips says: “The BBC has some of the biggest entertainment brands in the world” She has a lot of responsibilities as she commissions over 200 different titles for BBC which include Top Gear and The Office. Before Kate worked for the BBC worldwide for all of the BBC channel she only worked on BBC One and BBC Three as the channel executive.
- 7. Job Roles - Producer The producer has overall control over the whole operation with the channel they are creating. The produces are also the ones who get accounted for the success of the finished show. The producer has overall control on the whole production in every aspect. They bring together and approve the whole production team . if the commissioning editor find a script that works with the breach they will bring it to the producer and the producer will review it and decide if that is the script the are going to use for their production. A contract is signed if the script is what the producer has chosen to work with. A contract won't be signed without the producer's permission. Producers have many responsibilities that include selecting screenplay, finding the right script, make sure everyone is on task . One main responsibility is making sure that the crew is in an environment where they can work without distractions.
- 8. Job Roles - Producer Producers would usually have experience with working in the film and TV industry . it is important for the producers to have a creative mind in order to make a successful and unique production for the media industry, having a creative mind allows the show to be more unique and different to the other shows creating a bigger audience. As the main purpose of creating a show is to create profit the producer needs to have a good financial understanding and be able to secure the finance for the product. Producers would need to know to work under pressure as anything can happen to them during the production, they should always be able to motivate the production team to make sure everything is done for the right date. This means that the producers communication skills are vital.
- 9. Job Roles - Producer (Example) Robert Kirkman is a producer for AMC, AMC have created many different TV shows that Robert has produced these include the walking dead and invincible for image comics that are now Tv shows Aired on tv. Robert started his career without TV shows but with creating comics, his first comic was created in the year 2000 named Battle Parody. He also created other comics in his early career but over time he created the walking dead as a comic that ended up becoming a hit show. The walking dead are still comics but it also has many shows such as the talking dead and fear the walking dead.
- 10. Job Roles - Producer (Example) One other producer that airs Tv shows is Steven Spielberg, he is one of the most influential film producer in the history of film from his projects. He has created film like, Saving Private Ryan, Schindler's list, Catch Me If You Can and many more. Steven is one of the most wealthiest film producers in the world who is worth around 3.6 Billion Dollars. He started as an assistant editor for the film wagon train in 1957. After a while he started his early producing and directing years creating battle squad in 1961. This was his first attempt as a producer that then lead him on to producing many big name films today. Steven Spielberg is still creating new film every year such as Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.
- 11. Job Roles - Script Writers The scriptwriter is the person who creates and writes the script. It is the person that comes up with the ideas for the production based on the brief. The scriptwriter has creative control over what they write, but when they are commissioned there are multiple rules the script writer may need to follow. Scriptwriters would go online to look for different commissions where they may be looking for scripts and when the scriptwriter find a good suitable commissioner with a good brief the scriptwriter would then write a script based on the brief. When the writer finishes the script they would then go to their agent who would then add any final detail and then publish the script online for commissioning editors to view.
- 12. Job Roles - Script Writers (Example) George R.R. Martin is a novelist and writer in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres, not only is he a writer but he is also a producer for his biggest show Game Of thrones. George created Game Of Thrones as a book and became very popular in the market. As the Books were so popular George decided to create a show about it and it has done very good out on TV. he is also well known for writing the series Beauty and the beast in 1989. He is still writing scripts and novels for a Tv movie named night flyers as the HBO Series Game of thrones has just finished its 7th season and are now getting read to start writing season 8 with the help of George.
- 13. Job Roles - Script Writers (Example) Leigh Whannell is a scriptwriter who has written many different horror films. His main agenda is in fact horror films as he has wrote scripts for big movies such as Saw, Insidious and the bye bye man, he is still writing scripts for upcoming films such as Insidious:The Last Key. At the age of 4 Leigh Whannel was obsessed with telling stories whether it was through filmmaking acting or writing. In 1995 Leigh was accepted into the the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology's prestigious Media Arts course. At his course he met a famous film maker james wan who is also known and specialises in many horror films. Over time Leigh started to work with James Wan and produce and create films scripts for productions such as insidious. Leigh had written the screenplay for what he thought would be a self-financed this was saw.
- 14. Job Roles - Agent Most script writers would have an agent who will help their script get noticed in the world, they would also help their product sell. Agents do most of the negotiations when it comes to selling the scriptwriters script to companies. Most agents have a past with different contacts of companies who may be interested in scripts that scriptwriters produce and are willing to buy their products. This allows them to find someone quickly who is willing to buy the script they offer. For an agent it's important for their client to find work and achieve relationships with decision-makers in order for them to take on their clients. Agents would make their money off a percentage they receive off their clients such as a scriptwriter from the work they have produced. Skills such as being able to create contacts with social skills are important as an agent as they need to be prepared to give different contacts to people in the media industry for their clients.
- 15. Job Roles - Agent (Example) An example of an agent for a scriptwriter is Lily Williams. Lily became an agent in 2011 for the Television industry. She worked in Ben Hall representing different writers and directing talent, theatre, Film and television. Lily Williams has multiple clients she works with, she also joined Curtis Brown in 2005 after a career in politics, as she worked with curtis brown for 10 years it has taught her many things and is grateful for working with Ben Hall.
- 16. Commissioning Bodies Involved- Corporations A corporation is an established company with rights to broadcast on TV. A corporation is a business that owns many other companies which means they earn more money than smaller independent companies. A script writer would go to either an independant company or a corporation to look at a brief to write a script about. As corporations earn quite a lot of money a script writer who works for them will most likely receive a higher wage. When working for an established company it will look good for the future when finding another job based in the same area you worked with when working in the corporation. However to get a job in a corporation isn't as easy as people may think. As it is a very good job a lot of people may also want the job so you need to show the people hiring that you're the person they want and you provide the right skills, as there is a lot of competition when applying for this job.
- 17. Commissioning Bodies Involved- Independant Companies An independant company is not as big as a corporation as they don't have as much power. As independent companies are not big they don't have the same rights meaning they don't have rights to broadcast. Independant companies only work for themselves this means they don't own any subsidiaries. Although in the independent companies they aim to still broadcast their products out to the media, they do this to get as much attention as possible so they can progress as a company. As a scriptwriter who is looking for work it would be easier to find a job in an independant company as they are more likely to be brought on board as there isn't as much competition between other companies compared to a corporation. However in an independant company they don't receive as much profit compared to a corporation so their wages may be less and won't receive as much money for their script. An example of an independant company is Twofour who created programs such as This time next year and Educating Greater Manchester.
- 18. Role Of the Scriptwriter The role of the script writer is to create scripts for movies and TV shows depending on their brief. The people who read the scripts need to imagine as the story is really happening and how it will work on screen. The scriptwriter would write their scripts in the format of dramatic construction as it is important to fit the aspects the industry want of the script. For example the BBC’s commissioning editors of both corporations and independent companies are usually just freelancers. They would either pitch their ideas to the commissioning editors to allow them to see if their script would be worth showing to the producers. Most of the time scriptwriters would have agents that help them sell their scripts instead of them pitching their scripts to commissioning editors of different companies. Scriptwriters would need skills such as understanding a story and the brief for how the producers would like their script to be about and also other skills are having a good understanding of the different ways films have effects on the audience.
- 19. Laws And Ethics- Copyright (As a Scriptwriter) If a scriptwriter was to copy someone's script it would be very unethical as their idea wouldnt be creative or original. People would be able to spot their someones script was copied as another film or Tv show would have somewhat the same story. People wouldn't be able to sell their script to companies as they would know if it has been copied or not. Also companies cannot risk taking on scripts that may be too similar to other people's work as the may get sued by the other companies and people wouldn't want to risk it.
- 20. Laws And Ethics- Copyright The Copyright Law gives the creators of literary (books, song lyrics), dramatic (plays, dance), musical (recordings, score), artistic works (photography, painting) and films the right to control how their content may be used. The rights cover, broadcast and public performance, copying, renting and lending copies to the public. The act was introduced to protect the investment of time, money and effort by the people who have created original pieces of work. The act has two main purposes. Firstly, to ensure people are rewarded for the work, and secondly to give protection to the copyright holder if someone tries to copy or steal their work. An example of a breach to the copyright, design and patents act was between Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica. 20th Century Fox sued Universal Studios (Battlestar Galactica) for copyright infringement and claimed that it had stolen 34 distinct ideas from Star Wars, including a character called Skyler, which was similar to Star Wars’ Skywalker. Universal Studios countersued, saying Star Wars had stolen ideas from the 1972 film Silent Running. After all, the case was decided in favour of Battlestar Galactica, but, the original Battlestar Galactica had been cancelled and the new Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
- 21. Laws And Ethics- Copyright In some cases where someone else uses someone’s product, they would often be credited for it somewhere on the work. For example, in a youtube video someone may use someone else's music so they would link that person's content from where they got it from in the description of the video. someone else is still able to write their own book or Movie around the same idea, provided they do not directly copy or adapt the same idea that you came up with. If you don’t show evidence for creating the idea before someone else comes up with the same idea, the work would not be protected. The person who comes up with the idea of a book owns the right of it, but if you are owned by a company to people who hired that person who came up with the idea means that the idea is owned by that company. It is up to the creator to copyright their work. They may mark their work with the international copyright symbol © followed by their name and the year of creation.
- 22. Laws And Ethics- Censorship In order for the script to be published as sold to a company and made into a production they need to check that the script follows all the ethics and media laws. The laws include Censorship, copyright and watershed. If the script contains inappropriate things such as violence or bad language it would need to be broadcasted after the watershed. Censorship is a big part of the media industry as it stops unfamiliar culture to the young age such as promoting racism. This also includes content that won't scare a younger generation if it isn't before the watershed. Its part of the law to follow the censorship on any free channel broadcasted on TV in the UK, this is untill the watershed and then people will be able to broadcast more mature content for older viewers that include violence and bad language. Essentially censorship is suppressing people freedom of speech as some content cannot be broadcasted during the day.
- 23. Laws And Ethics- Libel The Libel act states that the media cannot do damage to someone's reputation by misrepresenting or using fake information, however over the past couple of years the media has taken the mick out of different genres of media such as religion or race, this is mostly about the media who take the mick out of people, using misinformation can cause an actual court sentence and could cost the company lot of money if they don't respect the Libel Laws. The scriptwriter would be the one who gets the sentence as he/she is the one who came up with the idea of it and overall wrote the script of the Programme or movie, they can faced being sued. When scriptwriters create a script they need to make sure that what they are writing about does not damage anyone's reputation because this can lead to suing that company. This will give the scriptwriter a bad reputation meaning for the future it will be harder for the scriptwriter the get a job or other future work.
- 24. Laws And Ethics- Watershed The watershed is a period of time on TV which allows other content to be viewed, this content wouldn't be appropriate for a younger audience. The watershed is a time which splits both daytime and nighttime television. The watershed is by OFCOM for broadcasting in britain, is the time where programmes with adult content is aired on TV, the time this takes place is 9pm till 5am. This is because more young viewers would not be watching Tv around this time so it is safe to broadcast more mature content as adults will still be up watching TV. The Watershed splits the time between when more young and sensitive minds are asleep. The 9pm watershed allows people to know when it's safe to broadcast their shows, it is illegal to broadcast any content that may be sensitive for younger viewers before the watershed so companies need to abide by the rules.The content that will be shown during the watershed may include violence, swearing, nudity, gore and drug use which is all unsuitable for children's viewing. As a scriptwriter it is important to make sure that the commissioning editor has made it clear that the brief includes content for before or after the watershed and included if it is going to be broadcasted after the watershed so the scriptwriter knows what to write about. This is important as a scriptwriter because they want to be commissioned and sell their script.