Job roles in the commissioning process.
Scriptwriter:
The
scriptwriter writes the script for a project, sometimes communicating with the
director.
They need
to be very creative and be able to translate ideas to scripts. They also need
to be able to produce a script in a professional way. The qualifications for a
script writer will vary a lot because it is a freelance market there aren’t set
qualifications a person will need to become a script writer. They just need to
have a good, creative idea. The script writer will be the first person to get
their hands on the script (because they’re writing it). They will have the most
involvement in the script out of everyone. Info from: ScreenSkills. Screenwriter. https://www.screenskills.com/careers/job-profiles/film-and-tv-drama/development-film-and-tv-drama-job-profiles/screenwriter/ [accessed 5th January 2020]-Aaron Sorkin. A very successful screenwriter.
Wikipedia. Aaron Sorkin. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Sorkin [accessed 6th January 2020]
Script
editor:
Script
editors will read the script the writer has written and point out weak points
and potentially harmful material. They must be able to thoroughly read through
the script that has been and be able to make accurate in-depth criticisms.
Script editors must be able to communicate clearly with the other people
producing the film. It would also help if they had experience in the film industry.
They are probably (depending on production) the second person to see the script
thoroughly. There entire job is to edit the script, so they are heavily involved
with the script.Info from: Guru. How to be a Script Editor. http://guru.bafta.org/how-to-be-a-script-editor [accessed 5th January 2020]njnmh
-Blogger. Script Marked for Editing. http://frankiechildsediting.blogspot.com/2014/06/script-marked-for-editing.html [accessed 5th January 2020]
Commissioning editor:
Commissioning editors advise what pieces of work to publish and pieces of work that shouldn't be. They need to be very good at communication with other people around them. previous experience in the industry would be good so they know what to look for in projects. Depending on the project they may or may not see the script.
info from: Wikipedia. Commissioning editor. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commissioning_editor [accessed 5th January 2020]
- It's Nice That. Film: Meet commissioning editor of AnOthermag.com Laura Bradley.https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/film-meet-commissioning-editor-of-anothermag-laura-bradley-in-between-the-lines [accessed 5th January 2020]
Commissioning editors advise what pieces of work to publish and pieces of work that shouldn't be. They need to be very good at communication with other people around them. previous experience in the industry would be good so they know what to look for in projects. Depending on the project they may or may not see the script.info from: Wikipedia. Commissioning editor. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commissioning_editor [accessed 5th January 2020]
- It's Nice That. Film: Meet commissioning editor of AnOthermag.com Laura Bradley.https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/film-meet-commissioning-editor-of-anothermag-laura-bradley-in-between-the-lines [accessed 5th January 2020]
Agents:
Agents are people that are hired by various kind of talent, (actors,
writers, etc.) their job is to find jobs and work for their clients. They need
to have lots of contacts within the industry, and they must be able to find a
lot of opportunities for their clients, they also need to be very good at communicating
with people in the industry. You could become an agent with very few
qualifications, although the more the better in this case. They could not be
involved in the script they could just get the job for their client and not do
anymore, or they could be a bit more involved.- Ari Emanuel, Co CEO of William Morris Endeavor.
Info from: Wikipedia. Talent agent. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talent_agent [accessed 5th January 2020]
-Wikipedia. Ari Emanuel. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ari_Emanuel [accessed 5th January 2020]
Producers:
Producers look over the whole filming process, they supervise
everything, (preproduction, filming. They will also pick the talent for the
film, they must be good at talking to people, making sure the talents are okay,
communicating with the director. No qualifications are entirely necessary but
would be helpful, producers often work free lance, so they would have to have
some experience, and be looked quite highly of in the industry. They will be
involved in the script a bit.Info from: ScreenSkills. Producer. https://www.screenskills.com/careers/job-profiles/film-and-tv-drama/development-film-and-tv-drama-job-profiles/producer/ [accessed 5th January 2020]
- Steven Spielberg. Famous director and producer.
-Wikipedia. Steven Spielberg. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Spielberg [accessed 5th January 2020]
Director: Directors are the people who make the scrip come to life, they decide what everything will look like on screen, where everything will go, where the actors are positioned etc. Directors have to able to easily communicate with the whole crew to make sure everything goes smoothly. they also need to make sure everyone on the team listens to them. No qualifications are needed to become a director, good contacts in the industry would help, but anyone could become an independent director. They have a very close relation to the script generally, this depends on the production.Info from: ScreenSkills. Director. https://www.screenskills.com/careers/job-profiles/film-and-tv-drama/development-film-and-tv-drama-job-profiles/director/ [accessed 5th January 2020]
-Martin Scorsese. Very well known director.
- Wikipedia. Martin Scorsese. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Scorsese. [accessed 5th January 2020]
www.screenskills.com/
Optioning: is when a company buys your idea for a certain amount of time, they do this with the intention of producing it but that’s not always the case. Sometimes they'll just option an idea so no other companies can legally make it.
Commissioning: is when a company or a person pays someone to complete a piece of work. Production companies usually go through agents to hire talent, that's why it's important to have an agent to represent you.
There are a few things you need to do to have agent representation from Knight Hall, for example, initially it’s good to write to them explaining a bit about yourself and your work, it’s also okay to email them. Sending them emails with attachments would be a bad idea as they may contain viruses.
3 things writers should never do to an agent are:
-
Never call after sending a letter, it would just annoy them.
-
Don’t do anything to annoy them, try and leave a good impression
-
Don’t sound desperate.
- Knight Hall Agency. Knight Hall Agency. https://www.knighthallagency.com/ [accessed 5th January 2020]
-
It would be easier for an independent director to produce their own screen play rather than getting commissioned because they wouldn’t have to follow someone else's rules, everything is your responsibility. Which can be a good thing and a bad thing. You would get a lot of freedom in how to do everything although everything is your responsibility, you’re the one to answer everything. You must control the budget, you must make sure everything is going to plan.
Script factory is an organisation that helps young writers find work and help them improve their writing skills. They don’t finance screen plays for ideas. They also help young writers' scripts get noticed by production companies.
Bluecat is an organisation that holds a writing competition, which involves sending in a script and receiving written analysis, which would hopefully result in winning a cash prize. Winning would help young writers greatly in getting seen by production companies and getting their ideas and scripts optioned. Winners and finalists have been signed to major talent agencies in the past. So even if the writers that enter don’t get anywhere at least they’ll have their work marked by a professional which would be useful for self-improvement. Info and picture from: Bluecat. Bluecat. https://www.bluecatscreenplay.com/ [accessed 5th January 2020]
There many legal and ethical problems that need to be considered when developing a screenplay/ media production.
Copyright is a massive thing in terms of media productions, people creating productions need to be clear on the copyright rules to make sure they don’t break any of them, for example, writers need to be very careful when writing a script to not steal ideas from an existing production. This can happen accidentally if the writer is taking too much inspiration from somewhere without realising it. There's a fine line between copyright/plagiarism and just taking inspiration. If the production company gets sued in this early stage of the production it would be a massive hit, especially for a small production company, getting sued could put them out of business.
-Wikipedia. copyright. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright [accessed 5th January 2020]
The 1979 genre defining film Alien was taken to court by aspiring screen writer Jack Hammer, who claims that the idea for the movie was stolen from his unproduced screen play: Black Space. But he was unable to convince the court that this was true so the case was thrown out.
Info and picture from: Taste of Cinema. 20 Famous movies accused of copyright infringement. http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2018/20-famous-movies-accused-of-copyright-infringement/ [accessed 6th January 2020]
Bias is when the producer/director wants to push a certain message through a production. This is very common in factual programs, (documentaries) to make the viewer agree with the presenter. This would typically be done subtly, maybe by not explaining the opposing argument fully. An example of this would be the very famous, Bowling for Columbine. Although mostly accurate, the scene where Michael Moore (the presenter) goes into a bank that gives away a complimentary rifle when setting up a bank account with them, this is true, but the way it was filmed makes it seem like he walked in and a couple hours later he left with a gun. But in reality it takes a number of days.
IMDb. Bowling for Columbine. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0310793/ [accessed 6th January 2020]
It’s very important to consider bias when researching because sources could be bias and not completely the truth. Therefore, it is very important to look at many different websites when research to make sure what you’re reading is true. It is also important to not take everything you see in documentaries at face value, it’s very unethical to lie about something in a documentary, but a lot of the time the documentary will be made in a way to make the viewer agree with the presenter.
Censorship is a massive thing in the films industry, if a project is very explicit it will have a higher rating. The ratings are: U, PG, 12A ,12, 15, 18. These ratings are very important because they determine how young someone can be to view it in a theatrical release or purchase it. Big production companies will tend to want to get their films as low of a rating as possible to make it more accessible, thus making it more money. Once a film has a final draft it must be sent of the BBFC it has an age rating paired with it. The film company will get it back and have the chance to make changes to lower the age rating. Info and picture from: bbfc. bbfc. https://bbfc.co.uk/ [accessed 5th January 2020]
Watershed is the time on British television (9pm) where programs are gradually allowed to show more and more explicit content, e.g. swearing, nudity etc. This is to not expose young children to inappropriate language/ visual hence why it's 9pm). The things they can show progressively get more explicit as time goes. Programs are not allowed to have a lot of cursing and full nudity just as it turns 9. Info and picture from: Ofcom. What is the watershed? https://www.ofcom.org.uk/tv-radio-and-on-demand/advice-for-consumers/television/what-is-the-watershed [accessed 5th January 2020]
Libel is when someone publishes something untruthful and damaging to someone's reputation, this is a very similar thing to slander, although slander is spoken, and libel is written. Therefore, if someone’s producing a media project and basing it on a real person in a negative light, they need to change their name to something else. This would be to avoid being libel, this could result in being sued by the person who was mocked, which could have a major impact on the project in the making. Info from: Wikipedia. Defamation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defamation [accessed 5th January 2020]
Plagiarism is when someone's work is copied or very heavily inspired from, so much so that it goes past copyright laws. This is a very important thing to consider when developing a script because it could get you in a lot of trouble. It is possible to do this by accident as well, so it is vital to do research before starting a project to make sure that you’re not plagiarising anyone's work, this could result in a lawsuit, which could heavily damage the project. Info from: Wikipedia. Plagiarism. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plagiarism. [accessed 5th January 2020]
-Grammarly. 5 most Effective methods for avoiding plagiarism. https://www.grammarly.com/blog/5-most-effective-methods-for-avoiding-plagiarism/ [accessed 5th January 2020]
Optioning: is when a company buys your idea for a certain amount of time, they do this with the intention of producing it but that’s not always the case. Sometimes they'll just option an idea so no other companies can legally make it.
Commissioning: is when a company or a person pays someone to complete a piece of work. Production companies usually go through agents to hire talent, that's why it's important to have an agent to represent you.
There are a few things you need to do to have agent representation from Knight Hall, for example, initially it’s good to write to them explaining a bit about yourself and your work, it’s also okay to email them. Sending them emails with attachments would be a bad idea as they may contain viruses.
3 things writers should never do to an agent are:
- Never call after sending a letter, it would just annoy them.
- Don’t do anything to annoy them, try and leave a good impression
- Don’t sound desperate.
- Knight Hall Agency. Knight Hall Agency. https://www.knighthallagency.com/ [accessed 5th January 2020]
It would be easier for an independent director to produce their own screen play rather than getting commissioned because they wouldn’t have to follow someone else's rules, everything is your responsibility. Which can be a good thing and a bad thing. You would get a lot of freedom in how to do everything although everything is your responsibility, you’re the one to answer everything. You must control the budget, you must make sure everything is going to plan.
Script factory is an organisation that helps young writers find work and help them improve their writing skills. They don’t finance screen plays for ideas. They also help young writers' scripts get noticed by production companies.
Bluecat is an organisation that holds a writing competition, which involves sending in a script and receiving written analysis, which would hopefully result in winning a cash prize. Winning would help young writers greatly in getting seen by production companies and getting their ideas and scripts optioned. Winners and finalists have been signed to major talent agencies in the past. So even if the writers that enter don’t get anywhere at least they’ll have their work marked by a professional which would be useful for self-improvement. Info and picture from: Bluecat. Bluecat. https://www.bluecatscreenplay.com/ [accessed 5th January 2020]
There many legal and ethical problems that need to be considered when developing a screenplay/ media production.
Copyright is a massive thing in terms of media productions, people creating productions need to be clear on the copyright rules to make sure they don’t break any of them, for example, writers need to be very careful when writing a script to not steal ideas from an existing production. This can happen accidentally if the writer is taking too much inspiration from somewhere without realising it. There's a fine line between copyright/plagiarism and just taking inspiration. If the production company gets sued in this early stage of the production it would be a massive hit, especially for a small production company, getting sued could put them out of business.-Wikipedia. copyright. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright [accessed 5th January 2020]
The 1979 genre defining film Alien was taken to court by aspiring screen writer Jack Hammer, who claims that the idea for the movie was stolen from his unproduced screen play: Black Space. But he was unable to convince the court that this was true so the case was thrown out.Info and picture from: Taste of Cinema. 20 Famous movies accused of copyright infringement. http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2018/20-famous-movies-accused-of-copyright-infringement/ [accessed 6th January 2020]
Bias is when the producer/director wants to push a certain message through a production. This is very common in factual programs, (documentaries) to make the viewer agree with the presenter. This would typically be done subtly, maybe by not explaining the opposing argument fully. An example of this would be the very famous, Bowling for Columbine. Although mostly accurate, the scene where Michael Moore (the presenter) goes into a bank that gives away a complimentary rifle when setting up a bank account with them, this is true, but the way it was filmed makes it seem like he walked in and a couple hours later he left with a gun. But in reality it takes a number of days.IMDb. Bowling for Columbine. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0310793/ [accessed 6th January 2020]
It’s very important to consider bias when researching because sources could be bias and not completely the truth. Therefore, it is very important to look at many different websites when research to make sure what you’re reading is true. It is also important to not take everything you see in documentaries at face value, it’s very unethical to lie about something in a documentary, but a lot of the time the documentary will be made in a way to make the viewer agree with the presenter.
Censorship is a massive thing in the films industry, if a project is very explicit it will have a higher rating. The ratings are: U, PG, 12A ,12, 15, 18. These ratings are very important because they determine how young someone can be to view it in a theatrical release or purchase it. Big production companies will tend to want to get their films as low of a rating as possible to make it more accessible, thus making it more money. Once a film has a final draft it must be sent of the BBFC it has an age rating paired with it. The film company will get it back and have the chance to make changes to lower the age rating. Info and picture from: bbfc. bbfc. https://bbfc.co.uk/ [accessed 5th January 2020]
Watershed is the time on British television (9pm) where programs are gradually allowed to show more and more explicit content, e.g. swearing, nudity etc. This is to not expose young children to inappropriate language/ visual hence why it's 9pm). The things they can show progressively get more explicit as time goes. Programs are not allowed to have a lot of cursing and full nudity just as it turns 9. Info and picture from: Ofcom. What is the watershed? https://www.ofcom.org.uk/tv-radio-and-on-demand/advice-for-consumers/television/what-is-the-watershed [accessed 5th January 2020]
Libel is when someone publishes something untruthful and damaging to someone's reputation, this is a very similar thing to slander, although slander is spoken, and libel is written. Therefore, if someone’s producing a media project and basing it on a real person in a negative light, they need to change their name to something else. This would be to avoid being libel, this could result in being sued by the person who was mocked, which could have a major impact on the project in the making. Info from: Wikipedia. Defamation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defamation [accessed 5th January 2020]
Plagiarism is when someone's work is copied or very heavily inspired from, so much so that it goes past copyright laws. This is a very important thing to consider when developing a script because it could get you in a lot of trouble. It is possible to do this by accident as well, so it is vital to do research before starting a project to make sure that you’re not plagiarising anyone's work, this could result in a lawsuit, which could heavily damage the project. Info from: Wikipedia. Plagiarism. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plagiarism. [accessed 5th January 2020]-Grammarly. 5 most Effective methods for avoiding plagiarism. https://www.grammarly.com/blog/5-most-effective-methods-for-avoiding-plagiarism/ [accessed 5th January 2020]
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