The Commissioning Process

The commissioning process is the process of the script going through different people before finally going into production. The different job roles include; commissioning editors, producers, directors, script editors, agents and writers.

Agent representation is when an agency gives an actor, music artists, and screenwriters an agent who is in charge getting the client a job and, they deal with the meetings and legal work for the client. Some companies won’t accept a client unless they have an agent representing them. PBJ represent the writer, actor and director Jonnie Bayfield who went to the same college as I do: https://www.pbjmanagement.co.uk/artists/jonnie-bayfield

Optioning and payment are how long a film takes to make and how much money the producer/studio gets. The producer/studio can extend the payment and will receive another one however the negotiating process is based on different aspects which include the potential budget of the film. Writers can be optioned but never get their scripts made into films or TV programmes. A writer will be optioned for a certain amount of time for a certain amount of money which means they cannot sell their script anywhere else in that time.

Professional presentation is how professional you need to look while presenting your idea to your audience. When presenting you need to be clear and need to try to keep the audience engaged. Often the audience will ask you questions and so you need to know as much about your idea as possible. Also, in regards to your work, you should present work in the appropriate format and through the appropraite people. For example, if trying to get a screenplay optioned, you must format it correctly and submit it to your agent or a competition (although some places will still take unsolicited scripts).

Time management is really important for writers as people can be waiting on you. Also, you have to find your own work and often work to tight deadlines. If you don't meet deadlines, you can ruin your reputation and that is really important for a writer as it's how you get your next job.

Copyright is when someone creates an original piece of work and has exclusive legal right to say who can use their piece. Copyright laws last until 70 years after the author’s death, however if the creators date of birth is unknown then the copyright expires 95 years after publication. If someone uses the material without following the copyright laws, then they can get sent to court. The original creator can sell off their piece to a company which means that the company will then have the exclusive legal right to the copyright of the piece. An example of copyright infringement was when Michael Brown established the Lightsaber Academy which he didn't get permission for from Disney, who owns Star Wars. Writers have to be careful that they don't copy someone else's idea as they can be sued. Plagiarism is when someone uses or copies another person’s work and tries to pass it off as their own work. Due to people’s work being copyrighted whoever commits plagiarism will face legal charges, however this is an issue for scriptwriters as sometimes 2 people have a similar idea and so one of them might get accused of plagiarism even if it was unintentional, however it is still illegal and they can end up in court whether they intended to plagiarise it or not.

Bias is the prejudice for or against one person or group, this is usually in a way that would be considered unfair. In the terms of writing, the writer might be biased towards one idea, which they should try to avoid. When making a film being biased is frowned upon since the film might be too negatively biased towards a certain group of people and so some people might get offended. 

Censorship is when material that is considered objectionable is suppressed, examples of these are speech and public communication. Censorship can be conducted by a government, private institutions, and corporations. If a film has strong language, nudity or drug use then they will get censored, furthermore sometimes countries will ban a film due to it not following the censorship law.

Watershed is the part of the day when mature/adult themed programs are broadcast. Different countries have different watershed times, for example in Australia the watershed time starts at 7:30pm, where as in Italy it starts at 10:30pm. The reasoning for having a watershed time is because children might re-enact what they see and so the watershed it timed for when the children will be asleep. Writers have to think about the brief they have been given or who they are writing for as they need to make the script appropriate. There's no point writing a script for young people if C4 have commissioned it for a pre-watershed time slot.

Libel is when someone publishes a false statement that will be damaging to another person’s reputation. The person guilty of using libel then they can face legal issues. Sometimes someone might include an exaggerated character in their show to try and damage the persons reputation without being guilty of libel. Writers must therefore make sure they either change characters so they are not likely to be too similar to a real person or they need to be 100% sure that information they are including in their work is 100% true.

A commissioning editor’s job is to buy authors, book titles or ideas for publication. This means that they must be able to go out to libraries and book fairs for their research, they also use the internet to do their research. A commissioning editor must be able to communicate well, as they often talk to their clients, this also means that they must be good at planning and negotiating as they would have to plan different things with their clients and negotiate with them. They also need to be able to have a proactive approach to work and be self-motivated, this is because they could become self-employed or freelanced which is a lot of work.  An example of a commissioning editor is Clare Sillery who is known for Louis Theroux's Altered States (2018).

Producers are the people in charge of the whole production which means they are the ones who take the idea and gather everyone who needs to help work on the idea (cast and crew). A producer needs to have a great understanding of every part of film making. This includes screenwriting, directing, editing and music. The producer also needs to have excellent communication and interpersonal skills, this is since they will be voicing their opinion on something to a whole crew of people. A producer’s responsibilities include all part of production, this includes; development, pre-production, production, post-production and marketing. However, it is rare to find a producer who have expertise in all four parts of production, which is why producers give some of their responsibilities to executive producers, co-producers, line producers and associate producers. An example of a producer is Steven Spielberg.

Directors are the people who direct the whole production and work closely with the other people involved, for example, producers and writers. A director must be able to see the broader picture and can lead and motivate actors and crew all while in a high stress environment. A director must know what is happening in each scene as they are being shot and how they all fit together at the end. A director is also responsible for both the creative and technical parts of shooting also they need to make sure the cast and crew are working in a safe environment. Sometimes directors started working as researchers then became script editors and then story editors before finally directors or producers. An example of a director is Quentin Tarantino. Directors often work very closely with the writer during the pre-production stage so that they have a shared view of the end product. Their relationship is important and people even run courses on how important collaboration is in Film & TV: https://lfs.org.uk/workshops/lfs-workshops/901/script-screen-directorwriter-collaboration-tim-fywell

Scriptwriters are the ones who write the screenplay that the producer, director, production designer, composer and editor, cast and crew use to make the whole production. A scriptwriter must produce highly creative writing within a strict deadline, also in order to create a viable product they must work with the script production team. A screenplay also needs to conform to the logical principles of dramatic construction, as well as industry format and style.  Screenplays are always written in Courier font at size 12 and they have the same conventions such as scene headings, actor directions and slug lines.

Some concerns someone could have if they choose script writing as a career is that they might, not actually have many ideas for a script and so are just writing similar stories. Also, they might only have one brilliant idea and then flop and so they then can’t get back to where they were. An example of a director is Aaron Sorkin

Script editor are the people who edit the screenplay that the scriptwriter wrote. The script editor must form objective, reasoned and valid opinions not just about the screenplay, but also about the premise, synopsis and treatment. Often the script editor has a keener insight on the structure of screenplays than scriptwriters, this is because the scriptwriters only need to write the script whereas the editors need to make sure it flows fine and will work well when it is put onto the screen. Script editors are heavily involved in a lot of different development meetings, one-to-one editorial meetings and regular email feedback. An example of a director is David Whitaker

Agents are the people who are responsible for finding work for clients. Agents must have great communication skills, as they need to talk to their client and the companies to get work for their clients. They often have different meetings and appointments which means that they must have a good memory and good time management skills. An agent also needs to have a clear understanding of films and the cinema in order to find their client the correct role, which is also why they need to be able to recognise when someone is talented.

A way that a script can go into production is through competitions where people can send their work in and it will be seen by whoever is running the competition, for example – BBC Writers Room. Also, sometimes a scout might look for talented writers to write for their company. Another way is that someone could just keep writing scripts and putting them out in the world and hope a corporation will see it. 

Sources:
https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/commissioning-editor

https://www.screenskills.com/careers/job-profiles/content-creation/producer/
https://www.screenskills.com/careers/job-profiles/content-creation/director/
https://www.screenskills.com/careers/job-profiles/content-creation/script/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watershed_(broadcasting)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bias
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Public_domain
https://www.bbc.co.uk/copyrightaware/what-is
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1900172/
https://www.upcounsel.com/disney-trademark-infringement