the first thing you should know is that your qualifications as a writer wont matter they mean nothing, all they do is give you credibility in terms of you can one day become a producer or editor... but whats most important is the quality of your work, will people like reading your stories... i certainly don't keep reading a script after a few pages simply because the writer has a degree etc... , if the story isn't a page turner then im out. so always makes sure that you are a good writer.
you can always learn the basics of screen writing though a course or reading book and so but to develop as a writer you need some trustee readers to critic your work. preferably not other readers because if your story is good they will be envious and hater, and if its bad they will hate it because its bad writing so keep your work away from writers you don trust.
once you have a script ready it is wise to post your script to places that accept unsolicited script such as the the bbc writers room, its credible advantage is the fact that it does offer some useful feedback and critics your work well. you could also send your script to regional screen agency and with any luck they would get you in contact with a producer from a film agency. you must be prepared for rejection just incase your script isn't a page turner but never give up because failure is what makes us great, without it improvement can't happen.
as we all know it Hollywood is the place to sell your script but to writers in different countries this might seem a little hard. the truth is as long as your script is good and has some great actors attached to it, it doesn't really matter where your from. you can enter your script into script competitions and so on , that is how your work will be recognised.
you might also need to find yourself another job that pays well just so you can earn money on a side for your expenses, but be careful and get a job that will give you enough time to do your writing. it may take a while for you to get your first break , sometimes five years, more or less but the important thing for writers is to keep writing no matter how long it takes to get a break.
a staff writer for television is part of the writing staff that isn't really credited but it works under the actual writer. from that department is where writers for television are cultivated and developed. staff writers work on weekly episodes for a television show, they are payed weekly under a contract.
staff writers get the opportunity to sit in episode meetings and get to bounce ideas of the writers on episodes. they also occasionally sit in the reading stage with the actors and take notes on scenes that works or don't. staff writers aren't payed like normal writers , they are payed minimum wages as they don't have a lot of responsibilities even if they get to write an episode.
when it comes to commissioning the process is simple. all the tc executives get together and decides if your script/idea or show is compatible with their ideals and wither it is good enough for them to give it a green light. different channels operate in their own ways depending on what type of channel they are and which shows makes their identity. itv is well known for family friendly show and that is what thy gravitate towards to. the bbc is slightly more serious than itv and more dramatic so their approach to commissioning is more decisive and critical, they like to get feedback from different critics and analyse the genre and more before making a decision.
The BBC:
all ideas and proposals have to be submitted through the BBC pitch which enables the bbc to fulfil t commitments and monitor progress. the bbc commissions contents and agrees contract which is governed by the code of practice and the business framework. once your idea is submitted it will be looked at first by its genre. if the idea is good and compatible to their brand, they then tell you to develop it some more. converations and meetings will then be help as the idea is being developed creatively and it is managed by the genre commissioning editor. the decision is then made very quickly as they usually have a number of proposals to look at , if a you are rejected at an early stage you will not receive detailed feedback , it will be a general short feedback. but if rejected later in the commissioning process then you will be given detailed feedback such as: plot, characters, format, audience.
ITV:
ITV is known for their entertaining comedic shows. their shows are both engaging and entertaining; shows like the x factor, the cube Benidorm and more. so natural they ideas that they want need to have both elements to them or they wont have any luck, they are required to be both entertaining and comedic enough to make"Saturday primetime".
to submit an idea you would need to email them to entertainment-comedy.commisioning@itv.com
other commissioning areas are : drama, current affaires, sport...
it is very important for all writers to have at least an agent, they are the ones who will get your scripts to producers, directors and get you all kinds of opportunities. you could be a very outgoing person and have a few producers on speed dial but before singing an contracts or getting involved with any of them it is wise to have an agent for they will protect you and our work. some well known agents are: alan Brodie, Andrew mann, Cecil ware.
we all want to be the chosen one in everything, so does our scripts, they demand to be chosen by producers and get turned into big blockbusters. however like everything else in this world that involves money, there is a process. stage 1 is the option agreement; this is when the producer gets the wrights to the script for a certain amount of time , depending on the agreement. and during that time , the script is his to try and get it off the ground and green lit by studios. if failed to do so the writer could stay with the producers or take his script to another producer.
but lets stay optimistic and say that indeed the producer go the script greenlit, the next stage would be the option payment; it is the stage where the agent comes alive and to work, the agent will then negotiate with the production company the price of which the writer will get paid and make sure that the writer wont get taken advantages of. the last stage is a very delicious one , it the one where the smell of money begins to ignite the writers noise, only if the project gets turned int a featured film though. the production and the writer discuss the price the writer will get, usually it depends on the budget of the film, the higher the budget the higher the price.
just like the local drug dealer, cab driver or tax collector, writers also need to get paid pronto. the payment process is very simple, a writer for television gets payed per episode unless your a staff writer then your paycheck is a little smaller than the other writers. a writer for film usually gets payed according to their deal but the most common payment method is 10 or 20% of the films budget.
writers face a few legal processes when it comes to their work just like other professions, here are a few of them just to give you a clear picture. a writer writing s screenplay based on a true strory such as a biography will often rely of a numerous of sources and some of them will be public domain or even private. all that material will need to be cleared or a law suit will be on a fast track on its way to the writer. others are plagiarism, libel, intellectual property , moral right and more.
script writers are involved in a few legal action such as law suits and more. a famous one was in 2013 and it was a plagiarism law suit against the matirx trilogy. writer Thomas althouse claimed that the studio behind the matrix movies took the storyline for the film from his screenplay the immortals which he submitted to warner brothers studio back in 1995. he ended losing the law suit because his accusations were found to be irrelevant. there was no similarities found in both scripts apart from the fact that both stories portray a protagonist fighting against an oppressive dominant group.
personally i think a career as a script writer is a brilliant career choice. you have to be realistic and only chose to do it if you have a passion for it and are a talented writer, going after it for the money is a horrible choice. its advantages in the film industry are the freedom you get whiles writing, you can work at home, abroad or any other place of your choosing thats for those of us who hate offices. the money is Good and as writer the best thing to see is your vision being brought to live, your words being taken from the paper and brought to live on the big screen; that is the biggest advantage if you are a good writer. the disadvantages are the fact that you get rejected a lot, your script could get rewritten by another writer which is a choice a studio could make. deadlines get tighter before you even know it and you may have to wait a long time to get your script picked by a studio or get funding for it. the advantages of working as a scriptwriter for tv are the help that you get from the staff writers and the writing team, you bounce ideas off each other which benefits the show highly. the pay is great and you are constantly working on episodes so your barely unemployed. the disadvantages are the fact the the show you write for could get canceled and leave you unemployed. you will have to work your way up from the bottom as a staff writer before you get promoted. and there might not be a lot of ideas since most of them have already been made and you could get sued for copying someone elses work.
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