±«Óătv Writers Feed
Keep up to date with events and opportunities at ±«Óătv Writers. Get behind-the-scenes insights from writers and producers of ±«Óătv TV and radio programmes. Get top tips on script-writing and follow the journeys of writers who have come through ±«Óătv Writers schemes and opportunities. Â
2024-04-17T13:00:00+00:00
Zend_Feed_Writer
/blogs/writersroom
2024-04-17T13:00:00+00:00
2024-04-17T13:00:00+00:00
/blogs/writersroom/entries/8d553673-c098-4dcd-856e-15a78116e0a1
Emma Luffingham
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<p><em>Recently the Head of Development at <a href="https://www.world-productions.com/">World Productions</a> posted <a href="https://x.com/luffers/status/1775587907719315874">a great thread on Twitter/X</a>. We asked Emma to expand on her thoughts and advice from that thread here on our blog.</em></p>
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<p>Itâs been a strange start to 2024, with a variety of issues culminating in so many brilliant people looking for work in scripted TV. Iâm emailed daily from people wanting to introduce themselves, ask advice and enquire about opportunities.</p>
<p>A thread I posted on X offering some advice on networking received an overwhelming response (I mean, overwhelming for me), which clarified quite how difficult things are.</p>
<p>In an industry that can feel isolating and closed off at the best of times, building a network and making yourself visible is essential. Often itâs your one shot to make an impression and I remember walking away from meetings thinking Iâd failed miserably. It took practice to work out how best to make the most of the conversations I had, and now, on the other side of the table, Iâve gained a bit of an insight into what might help you stand out in a crowded market.</p>
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<h2>1) Always remember itâs in the interest of the industry for us to meet new people.</h2>
<p>The industry has grown significantly over the last decade and competition to win the shows is tougher than ever. Talented development people are golden and we all want the best to help us do it â to bring new relationships and a different perspective, to help identify talent and have the skills to nurture that into greenlights. The more people WE know in our networks, the more we can ensure weâre finding the right person when we need them. As an industry we often fall back on the people we know, which is great, but there are always more devils to know and we hate missing out on the best.</p>
<p>As one of the replies to the thread put it, âpeople buy peopleâ. Itâs easy to forget this as we try to find new work, prioritising fitting in over standing out. So donât feel nervous about cold-emailing companies and people you want to connect with, but be aware...</p>
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<h2>2) You may not always get a reply.</h2>
<p>Production and development can often be demanding. Weeks of writers' rooms or working on set mean emails are picked up at random times and weâre regularly responding to the urgent demands of the projects weâre working on with all the best intentions to circle back to the requests to connect later on.</p>
<p>If you donât get a reply to your attempt to connect, wait six weeks or so and try again. Donât sound put-out or accusatory, just check to see if theyâd received your initial approach and ask if thereâs anyone in the team it might be better to coordinate with. When Iâm up against it, often thereâs a colleague who might be better placed who can be a brilliant ally. Still no reply? Move on with grace.</p>
<p><strong>But back to that first email...</strong></p>
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<h2>3) Make an effort.</h2>
<p>Be polite. Direct the email specifically to the person and production company you want to connect with, and please only email one person from the company at a time. Reference shows they make and have worked on, and why you like their content. There really is nothing worse than an impersonal mail merge or a cut and paste job. Youâre asking people to give up their time to connect, so show youâve done the same in return.</p>
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<h2>4) Be clear what youâre looking to gain.</h2>
<p>You may only get one shot with this. Are you looking for advice about the industry and breaking in, or to introduce yourself for future work and opportunities? These are two different conversations and itâs hard to do both in one.</p>
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<h2>5) You want advice to break in or on the industry?</h2>
<p>Think about who would be best to have this conversation with. Introduce yourself and what you do. Share your CV and be prepared with the questions youâd like to ask as a starting point for any meeting. In advance, if you already work in a different industry, think about how your skills can transfer and why you want to work in TV development.</p>
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<h2>6) You want to introduce yourself for future opportunities?</h2>
<p>Make sure you make an impression. Attach your CV and be clear about where you are in your career and what youâre looking for in terms of your next steps. Name the last show you worked on or the companies youâve been working with.</p>
<p>Are you interested in development or looking for a production role? Itâs easy and understandable (especially in todayâs market) to say âanything!â. I know I did for a long time, but try and work to your strengths and what you can offer. Be realistic if youâre looking for a step up â make sure you are able to articulate why and what your contribution has been to the projects youâve worked on. Titles are free, so take a look at the roles at the companies youâre approaching and the experience/credits of those with similar titles to check youâre being realistic.</p>
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<h2>7) Ensure your CV reflects what you want.</h2>
<p>I could write a whole blog on CVs. Itâs understandable to want to outline all your experience, but in a world of talented multi-hyphenates and hustle, a CV can often feel confusing and do you a disservice if it doesnât give a strong indication of who you are. You want the reader to get a clear and confident sense of where you sit in the industry and the path youâre on. Tailor your CV to the role youâre looking to achieve and focus on the relevant experience and transferable skills that speak to that.</p>
<p><strong>So youâve got the meeting...</strong></p>
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<h2>8) Make an impression.</h2>
<p>You want the person youâre meeting to get a sense of who you are, where your strengths lie and what gap you could potentially fill in a team.</p>
<p>Iâll be honest, Iâve come away from generals without a real sense of the taste and editorial judgment of the person Iâm meeting which makes it hard to consider them properly when we do have an opportunity. If itâs on zoom or teams, meetings often blur into one rectangular shaped box, so impressions become even more important to distinguish yourself.</p>
<p>Can I judge how your taste will fit into our team? Can I tell which shows on my slate youâll be a natural fit for? Tell me what you like and why. We donât have to agree â I can pinpoint two roles Iâve been offered in my career that were down to respectfully NOT agreeing!</p>
<p>Be humble. Donât inflate your role. Being part of a team is essential. We all know telly is made by a whole team of countless skilled people collaborating, and thatâs how we like it. How did you play a part in that, what worked well and what do you think mightâve gone better?</p>
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<h2>9) Have an opinion.</h2>
<p>Thatâs what weâre paid for, so give us a glimpse of that. It can be controversial, it can be niche, but let us know you think deeper and wider and can analyse content. We all loved Fleabag/Breaking Bad/Happy Valley â so tell me something I might not have considered about them before.</p>
<p>Youâre obsessed with sci-fi? Tell me your thoughts on the ones that work and the ones that donât. You did your dissertation on Austen? What underrated classic do you think is ripe for adaptation next?</p>
<p>Tell us what youâre watching and be ready to chat about them, but donât list endless US shows. Theyâre brilliant, I love them too, but sadly we have neither the run lengths nor the budgets, and our audiences are very different.</p>
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<h2>10) Have an awareness of the industry.</h2>
<p>We all love great writing, but the best people also realise weâre a business. Try and express an opinion on that - whoâs watching what, what are the trends youâve noticed, where has a particular streamer/broadcaster got it right or wrong in their commissioning. And the million-dollar question: whatâs next?</p>
<p>Itâs hard to be across everyone making waves in the writing world. Bonus points if you can tell me about someone I might not have heard of and what youâve identified about them. Who have you been tracking? A voice in theatre you think we need to see in TV? A writer youâve worked with or read you think is on a path to properly breaking through?</p>
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<h2>11) How you express that opinion is EVERYTHING.</h2>
<p>Opinions are our currency, but delivering them is how we develop and thrive in the industry. Creative relationships can be lifelong and how we flexibly resolve editorial differences and give notes are our bread and butter. Be humble, our world is built on collaboration and development is about facilitating the creative vision of a writer. Make sure you show us some of that.</p>
<p>It should feel like a conversation, a joyful fun one that builds and develops. We love to encourage an inquisitive team and are interested in how you can contribute to that. Absolutely be controversial, but a red flag rises quickly if itâs delivered in a way that feels inflexible or over-confident. Interpersonal skills are an essential part of the industry but as I was gently reminded a few days ago, these skills donât always come easily and as an industry weâre on a path to recognise that we have a whole host of differently wired brains that go to support our creativity. If that resonates with you, there are brilliant organisations that can support you in building a network, check out <a href="https://www.ddptv.org/">DDPTV</a> and <a href="https://triplec.org.uk/danc/">DANC</a>.</p>
<p>The industry is changing, seen recently with the 2022 launch of <a href="https://www.channel4.com/4producers/creative-equity/tv-access-project">TV Access project</a>, an alliance of ten of the UKâs biggest broadcasters and streamers who have pledged to work together to ensure access provision for Disabled talent.</p>
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<h2>12) Follow up!</h2>
<p>Theyâve given up their time, so thank them! Perhaps reflect on an area of the conversation - expand on a thought youâd had, send a link to the article you mentioned or the name of the writer youâd loved. This will help cement you in their mind.</p>
<p>They have a sci-fi greenlit? Theyâll remember your opinion on the genre. Theyâre keen to find IP to adapt? Your obsession with classic literature is about to pay off.</p>
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<h2>13) Connect with your peers.</h2>
<p>Of course, you want to connect with people making hiring decisions, but donât overlook your peers! Development assistants and coordinators, Assistant Script Editorâs and Script/Development Editorâs know EVERYTHING. They have the inside scoop on who, what, and where. They have a much better sense of the best and current ways into the industry as well as the issues. They know where the jobs are, when theyâre coming up and the best places to find a home.</p>
<p>Email them, have coffee with them. If itâs advice youâre looking for, theyâve got it. Best case scenario, youâve found a friend and theyâll facilitate a meeting with someone else where you can use their advice and make that impression Iâve been banging on about.</p>
<p>Forget HODs and Exec Prods - your peers and those a role ahead of you are the people you need in your tribe. Nurture that and youâll be flying...</p>
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<h2>14) No meeting is wasted.</h2>
<p>There may not always be a job available but every connection will expand your network. Person by person youâll build a richer picture of the industry and how it works. Youâll leave with a sense of the company and whether it might be the right fit for you. Youâll pick up an insight into the industry that can help form a theory of your own and, if youâre lucky, thereâs a brilliant bit of insider knowledge to be had. If youâve made an impression, one day, I promise itâll pay off.</p>
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<h2>15) BE KIND</h2>
<p>Make the best tea, be an ear, be humble, roll your sleeves up and get stuck in and be the person everyone wants in the office. Scripted development and production can be stressful and demanding, and frankly, so it should be; weâre in a privileged position and there are big budgets at stake. Being trusted to always work with kindness and respect will take you a long way â itâs not always been prioritised in TV, but slowly and surely, weâll get there. Absolutely know your worth but be willing to learn, as we all do every day...</p>
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2024-02-19T12:15:00+00:00
2024-02-19T12:15:00+00:00
/blogs/writersroom/entries/20f973d7-31c5-47e0-b10a-bfa306d3bd88
Alexis Hood
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<p><em>As part of a short series of blog posts related to script-editing we asked experienced Story Producer <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7350712/">Alexis Hood</a> to share some advice on getting started on the editorial side of television, in both development work and production.</em></p>
<p>When youâre starting out, the TV world can feel incredibly intimidating, and difficult to get your head around. If youâre reading this and wondering whether youâll ever be able to break in â trust me, this is the hardest part, and Iâm here to tell you that it gets easier!</p>
<p>The first step is to begin making some connections, while doing lots of research, and getting any experience you can.</p>
<p>There is no one âbestâ route into a creative role in TV: everyone comes to it in different ways. For example, I used to be a journalist, then moved into drama working as a researcher, which meant I got to know writers that way. With that in mind, here is some advice:</p>
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<h2>1) CULTIVATE YOUR KNOWLEDGE</h2>
<p>You want to be developing a deep love and understanding of story, and this means watching loads of TV, and devouring books, plays, and films.</p>
<p>Watch the great classic TV shows and movies from the past as well as the present, so that you can understand where the language of TV has come from. This is especially important if you want to work with writers, who are often voracious readers, and fans of films and TV.</p>
<p>If you can afford it, go to the theatre, especially theatres that showcase lots of new writing. To work in TV development, you will need to start thinking about the writers whose work you love and admire, and who are the new, exciting writers coming up. TV is different from film, in that we are ALL about the writer.</p>
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<h2>2) MAKE CONNECTIONS</h2>
<p>This probably feels like the trickiest part. If you can, you should attend any networking events that you can manage. Ask people already working in the industry if they would be kind enough to have a coffee and a chat with you. (They should be kind enough incidentally, as we all had people help us too when we were new!)</p>
<p>Look people up who have the kind of career you might be interested in, and when you write to them, use their first name, rather than anything more formal. Weâre pretty informal as an industry.</p>
<p>You want to start building a network of contacts, over time.</p>
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<h2>3) WHEN YOU MEET PEOPLE, DO YOUR HOMEWORK</h2>
<p>If you have a meeting with someone, itâs always wise to look them up, and find out what they personally have worked on, and what their production company has made. Remember that itâs a small industry, and lots of people know each other, so if youâve impressed one person, theyâre likely to mention you to other people they know, and to recommend you for opportunities.</p>
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<h2>4) FIND YOUR TRIBE</h2>
<p>Potential mentors are great, but so too are your peers â itâs a brilliant idea to start cultivating a network of people who are also starting out, because you will come up in the industry together, provide invaluable support to each other, and often become great friends.</p>
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<h2>5) GET ON SOCIAL MEDIA</h2>
<p>There are quite a few Facebook groups advertising TV jobs, and itâs definitely useful to see what the community is discussing on sites like X, Threads, and Bluesky. Jobs are mentioned on these sites too. Itâs also helpful to look at trends, and whatâs happening in the States, as the USA and UK are closely linked when it comes to television. One recent example is the Writer's Guild of America writersâ strike in the USA, which had a big impact over here too.</p>
<p>You should create a LinkedIn profile for yourself and start adding connections as you make them.</p>
<p>There are great resources for those looking for entry-level jobs, such as <a href="https://filmlondon.org.uk/the-equal-access-network">Film Londonâs Equal Access Network</a>, Creative Access, apprenticeships with <a href="https://www.screenskills.com/">ScreenSkills</a>, and of course the ±«Óătvâs early career schemes like <a href="https://careers.bbc.co.uk/content/EC_±«Óătv/?locale=en_GB">±«Óătv Get In</a>. Look for schemes, and also check out organisations championing greater diversity in TV, like <a href="https://triplec.org.uk/danc/">DANC</a> (the Disabled Artists Networking Community).</p>
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<h2>6) BE PERSISTENT AND TENACIOUS</h2>
<p>You might find it takes a while to find your way in, and that is completely normal. The big thing is to be persistent and keep trying.</p>
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<h2>7)Â Â Â ACQUIRE PRACTICAL, HANDS-ON SKILLS</h2>
<p>As a new entrant to the industry, you can best recommend yourself to potential employers with a great attitude and an eagerness to learn. You also want to start gaining skills as soon as possible â creative skills like understanding how to read and analyse a script, practical skills like how to use Final Draft, and how to take great notes in meetings, and administrative and organisational skills like how to manage a diary. Be prepared to work very hard!</p>
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<h2>8) GET YOUR HEAD AROUND ENTRY-LEVEL JOBS</h2>
<p>Your first step in an editorial career in TV drama might be in one of the following roles:</p>
<ul>
<li>As a runner in-house at a production company.</li>
<li>As a freelance reader of scripts for a company or a broadcaster.</li>
<li>As an assistant at a production company (a Team Assistant, Development Assistant, or a Personal Assistant).</li>
<li>An assistant at a Literary Agency (e.g somewhere like <a href="https://www.independenttalent.com/">Independent Talent</a> or <a href="https://www.casarotto.co.uk/">Casarotto</a>).</li>
<li>As a runner or Production Assistant on a show.</li>
<li>As a researcher, although these roles are few and far between.</li>
<li>As a Trainee, when this kind of role is offered by a TV company.</li>
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<h2>9)Â Â Â START UNDERSTANDING THE MORE SENIOR CREATIVE ROLES, AND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCTIONÂ </h2>
<p>When youâre building an editorial career in TV drama, itâs critical to understand the more senior roles, how you fit into the company structure, and the kinds of jobs you might be aiming for in time. </p>
<p>A great start is understanding the difference between development and production. </p>
<p>Development is when youâre pitching projects to broadcasters, networks and streamers, when youâre storylining and developing scripts, and very often, when youâre working in-house at a company. </p>
<p>Production is when the project is actually getting made. Production work is often freelance, or PAYE on fixed-term contracts. </p>
<p><strong>IN DEVELOPMENT:Â </strong></p>
<p>In-house at a company, the most senior jobs are usually Head of Drama, Creative Director, Executive Producer, and Director of Development. These people set the creative direction of the company, run the development slate, pitch to broadcasters, and usually Executive Produce shows. There are also Development Producers, another senior role, where people work directly with writers to progress projects, and might manage their own slate. </p>
<p>Mid-weight roles include the role of Development Executive, whose responsibilities include looking for new talent and developing projects with writers. </p>
<p>Junior roles include the roles of Development Assistant and Development Coordinator. </p>
<p><strong>IN PRODUCTION:</strong>Â </p>
<p>On a show, the Executive Producer is the person ultimately responsible for overseeing and delivering the show. (N.B there are often multiple Exec Producers). The Producer is the person responsible for the showâs day-to-day management, and for managing the budget, alongside the Line Producer.  </p>
<p>There will be a script team, led by the Story Producer, who manages the creative process, and who will work closely with the Showrunner and other writers to deliver the scripts. There is usually a Script Editor, who manages the technical side of the scripts (what we call the âamendsâ, i.e live changes to the script that are made throughout the shoot), and may also give notes to the writers (more on this below!), as well as liaising closely with other departments in Production, for example, the Art Department. You can also be a Script Executive â similar to a Script Editor, but more senior. </p>
<p>Sometimes there will be an Assistant Script Editor too; this is great entry-level creative role in Production. </p>
<p>The script team are the guardians of the story and are responsible for the integrity and good health of the story and the scripts. </p>
<p>In time, youâll need to start understanding how the work of the script department dovetails into the wider production process on a show. As a creative, you should definitely aim to get as much production experience as possible, because this will enable you to come up with brilliant story solutions in high-pressure situations.</p>
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<h2>10) WORKING WITH WRITERS AND SCRIPT NOTES</h2>
<p>Working with writers to develop stories and scripts is a huge part of any creative role in TV drama. This includes giving script notes, which means feedback on the latest outline, treatment, or script draft the writer has been working on.</p>
<p>My advice on notes:</p>
<ul>
<li>Tell the truth, but be positive, and always say what you like, and what you think is working, as well as the things that need sorting out.</li>
<li>Understand that itâs a process, and that it takes time to arrive at a finished script. Most scripts go through multiple rewrites.</li>
<li>Developing a relationship with a writer is also a process. It takes time to develop the trust that is at the heart of a writer/script person bond, and itâs normal to experience some resistance from writers when youâre first getting to know them!</li>
<li>Notes form part of a conversation in a wider collaborative process between you, the writer, and often many other people, such as studio execs, commissioners, etc. Notes are for another human being, so they should not be your lit crit essay on the script, or your musings on the state of the universe. Great notes are respectful, actionable, and specific. You are there to champion the writer, and to help them realise what they are seeking to accomplish creatively.</li>
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<p>And with all of this in mindâŠ</p>
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<h2>11) BRUSH UP ON YOUR PEOPLE SKILLS, TACT AND DIPLOMACY</h2>
<p>You will need these skills to pursue a creative career in TV drama, and they will help you to create fantastic, long-lasting professional relationships, and to diffuse tensions with difficult personalities.</p>
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<h2>12) BE A GOOD HUMAN</h2>
<p>Itâs no secret to say that TV hasnât always been the easiest industry to work in. Iâm so encouraged to see how many of the young people coming into our industry exemplify the kinds of values we need more of - integrity, generosity, and kindness.</p>
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<p><strong>Alexis Hood is an experienced story producer, who has headed script teams on award-winning projects for traditional broadcasters and streamers, and who has worked in development and production for numerous companies. Her most recent credit is A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW for Paramount Plus and Showtime, starring Ewan McGregor.</strong></p>
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2023-11-14T11:00:00+00:00
2023-11-14T11:00:00+00:00
/blogs/writersroom/entries/5d1d1a48-c235-4ae4-88d0-ec53a581c616
Phil Hamer
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<p><em>Iâve recently been lucky enough to complete the ±«Óătv Writersroom (now ±«Óătv Writers) âVoicesâ programme, as part of the Wales cohort. Six months of expert masterclasses, craft sessions, industry gold dust and navigating zoom. Itâs been brilliant. Hereâs how it unfoldedâŠ</em></p>
<p><a href="/blogs/writersroom/entries/44e21ac9-fe8e-496a-b6e2-9b19f76c7966">Meet the Voices 2023 - Wales Hub writers</a></p>
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<img class="image" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p0fwz2w9.jpg" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/80xn/p0fwz2w9.jpg 80w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/160xn/p0fwz2w9.jpg 160w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p0fwz2w9.jpg 320w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/480xn/p0fwz2w9.jpg 480w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/640xn/p0fwz2w9.jpg 640w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/768xn/p0fwz2w9.jpg 768w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/896xn/p0fwz2w9.jpg 896w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/1008xn/p0fwz2w9.jpg 1008w" sizes="(min-width: 63em) 613px, (min-width: 48.125em) 66.666666666667vw, 100vw" alt=""><p><em>The 12 Voices writers in the 2023 Wales hub</em></p></div>
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<p>Some people have addictions that are pernicious, eroding, even life threatening. So letâs be clear, in November 2022 my addiction to screenwriting podcasts was none of these things. But neither was it moving my craft forward as Iâd hoped. The idea was to blanket myself in the musings of all these âsuccessfulâ writers until enough of their craft seeped into me that I too would become âsuccessfulâ.</p>
<p>Some screenwriting podcasts often explore how difficult it is to write anything. At all. And these are 9 to 5 full time writers. [Strong L.A accent] âLast week I was feeling overwhelmed by which nutritional supplement I should be taking, so I didnât do any writing⊠I just focussed on self-care and spent the week in Malibu sitting inside my fear and allowing my juju to re-establish.â Hmm. Are podcasts just self-help books in audio form? There is a very ironic reason that self-help books are a ten billion dollar industry.</p>
<p>Maybe podcasts arenât the answer. How about screenwriting books? Well, I had tried but after 11 hours at my desk each day (3 writing/8 day job) I could barely read the instructions on a tin of beans let alone a book on story structure. I have a dozen screenwriting books sat 10% finished on my bookshelf.</p>
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<img class="image" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p0gqc5pf.jpg" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/80xn/p0gqc5pf.jpg 80w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/160xn/p0gqc5pf.jpg 160w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p0gqc5pf.jpg 320w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/480xn/p0gqc5pf.jpg 480w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/640xn/p0gqc5pf.jpg 640w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/768xn/p0gqc5pf.jpg 768w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/896xn/p0gqc5pf.jpg 896w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/1008xn/p0gqc5pf.jpg 1008w" sizes="(min-width: 63em) 613px, (min-width: 48.125em) 66.666666666667vw, 100vw" alt=""><p><em>Open Call is currently open for submissions, the window will close at 12 noon on Tuesday 5th December 2023.</em></p></div>
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<p>An email pings into my phoneâŠ</p>
<p>âWe are delighted to invite you to an informal zoom interview to be considered for a place on the ±«Óătv Writersroom Voices 2023 programme beginning in JanuaryâŠâ</p>
<p>Holy sh*t.</p>
<p>The pre-interview nerves start five days before. I need to get up to speed with ±«Óătv output so I hit the <a href="/iplayer">iPlayer</a>. Shall I watch every ±«Óătv drama ever made? Or just the ones made in the last 30 years? I grab my pad and pen.</p>
<p>Five days later, I click Join Meeting with slightly trembling hands but with a forensic knowledge of <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081831/">Detective Sergeant Jim Bergerac</a>âs internal obstacles, <a href="/iplayer/episodes/p070npjv/fleabag">Fleabagâs</a> external ones, and many things in between. Turns out I didnât need to know any of it. They were interested in me, not shows the ±«Óătv made decades ago. But the interview went well. I was in!</p>
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<p>So how do I get to the next level?</p>
<p>I wasnât doing terribly as it was. I had placed in the <a href="https://www.oscars.org/nicholl">Nicholl</a> and won a screenplay award at a small festival. However, quoting these âachievementsâ in query emails was not getting me anywhere. No two ways about it. As a screenwriter, I was treading water.</p>
<p>I was aware of ±«Óătv <a href="/writers/opportunities/open-call/">Open Call</a>. In terms of places to submit your script, it stands above all contests and festivals due to what happens if you are successful. You donât just win three hundred quid and a 30 minute zoom call with some disinterested producer in a basement in Los Angeles⊠You get onto an actual writing programme where you spend months learning from the people <em>who are writing and producing the TV that we all love.</em></p>
<p>Iâd submitted for the last couple of years and not succeeded. Maybe ±«Óătv Open Call was a step too far for a valleys lad in the back of beyond, writing about ex-mining communities and scheming politicians. Nevertheless, I submitted again and promptly forgot about it.</p>
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<img class="image" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p0f62368.jpg" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/80xn/p0f62368.jpg 80w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/160xn/p0f62368.jpg 160w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p0f62368.jpg 320w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/480xn/p0f62368.jpg 480w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/640xn/p0f62368.jpg 640w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/768xn/p0f62368.jpg 768w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/896xn/p0f62368.jpg 896w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/1008xn/p0f62368.jpg 1008w" sizes="(min-width: 63em) 613px, (min-width: 48.125em) 66.666666666667vw, 100vw" alt=""><p><em>±«Óătv Cymru Wales building Central Square</em></p></div>
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<p>Day one of the <a href="/writers/our-groups/voices/">Voices</a> course was in the majestic new ±«Óătv building in Cardiff. I had googled âWhat to wear on the first day of an emerging writers programmeâ until my fingertips were sore, and somehow ended up in a pair of skin tight chequered trousers and brown tank top. As the other âVoicesâ rolled in looking smart, confident and stylish, I waddled in cursing Google under my breath.</p>
<p>Theyâd sent out everyoneâs bio beforehand, and all the others sounded dynamic, competent and lovely. So I was devastated to find that they were indeed dynamic, competent and lovely. But despite this early setback, it was a fantastic afternoon, and a lovely sense of âthis is so cool and weâre all in it togetherâ started to develop within the group.</p>
<p>Incidentally, as well as lovely food, the ±«Óătv put on free coffee urns. I LOVE free coffee urns, but had previous here. When my employers had marked the end of lockdown by dragging us to an all-day bash in a hotel, theyâd put huge free coffee urns on for us. By the time I walked home, I was convinced the planet was about to be destroyed by a meteor. I went to bed at 5:45pm and spent 14 hours staring at the ceiling as the caffeine fear drained away.</p>
<p>So I stayed away from the free coffee as we chatted. First we met the wonderful Elise, who was to become utterly pivotal to our existence over the next six months, and then Ros, who outlined what was to come and infused us with a sense of calm and excitement. To round the day off, we met the writer of brilliant ±«Óătv Drama <a href="/iplayer/episode/p07f4j35/the-left-behind">The Left Behind</a>, Alan Harris. Alan, an alumni of ±«Óătv Writers, was very cool and we grilled him on how on earth you get into the industry, and what in Dickens name you are supposed to do when you get there.</p>
</div>
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<p>After the open day, the learning really kicked in with a series of Wednesday lunchtime Zoom masterclasses, often with the full UK cohort of 72 Voices. Ten minutes into the excellent first session, with <a href="https://www.dancingledgeproductions.co.uk/team">Gillian Clarke</a> from <a href="https://www.dancingledgeproductions.co.uk/">Dancing Ledge</a>, I had three notes which contain more clarity than I could get from twenty podcastsâŠ</p>
<ul>
<li>What is a simple thing that I want to say?</li>
<li>Share a secret and a truth with the audience.</li>
<li>Whatâs the truth you know that other people donât?</li>
</ul>
<p>The next masterclass is from <a href="https://www.scriptwritingnorth.co.uk/beth-mccann">Beth McCann</a>, whose passion for story and structure beams out like lasers and there are pretty much 72 smiles on the Zoom screen throughout the sessions. Incidentally, they always give us a Q&A at the end, but as a bit of a social anxiety sufferer, asking a question in front of 75 people is very nerve wracking to me. Some weeks I put myself outside my comfort zone and ask a question. My preparation for this simple task is long and arduous. While I am waiting for my turn, I am (behind a muted mic), giving it the full Am-Dram class warm up to try and open my terrified throat. LA LA LAAAA!! I AM TALKING NORMALLY⊠ONE TWO, ONE TWO⊠(repeat unbroken for 5 minutes). If I successfully ask the question, the relief is so immense that their answer is just a blur and I have to check the recording later to see what they said.</p>
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<p>The course bounds along. Story Producer <a href="https://twitter.com/LexHood">Alexis Hood</a> shows us how to create compelling characters, how to give them agency and utilise conflict and sub-plot to enrich them. <a href="/blogs/writersroom/entries/2307ef96-08e1-4b79-bac7-8659d3f9b8ae">Jess Loveland</a> takes us through the myriad types of development docs, something peculiarly ungoogle-able and therefore priceless.</p>
<p>I start to really see the talent in my fellow Welsh Voices now too. I am fortunate to read Melodieâs play about wellness scammers and Emmaâs play about catfishing and lost innocence. Both plays utterly blow my mind. I think back to the mess I was in my twenties and early thirties and am incredulous at the talented, imaginative people in this group. On masterclass Wednesdays, our Whatsapp group essentially becomes an immersive, multi-media comedy performance that any San Francisco improv troupe would be proud of.</p>
<p>Our personal project during this course is to come up with a series outline for a TV show. The feedback we receive at every step is incredibly insightful. Ros, and then <a href="/writers/about/who-we-are/">Celi</a>, laser in on more key questions and ideas in one hour than I could in a month. Weâre working with professionals here. By the end of the course Iâve outlined a four part supernatural thriller set in the Rhondda between the 1960âs and the 1980âs. I cannot wait to carry on developing it.</p>
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<div class="component">
<img class="image" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p0grwx5f.jpg" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/80xn/p0grwx5f.jpg 80w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/160xn/p0grwx5f.jpg 160w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p0grwx5f.jpg 320w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/480xn/p0grwx5f.jpg 480w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/640xn/p0grwx5f.jpg 640w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/768xn/p0grwx5f.jpg 768w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/896xn/p0grwx5f.jpg 896w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/1008xn/p0grwx5f.jpg 1008w" sizes="(min-width: 63em) 613px, (min-width: 48.125em) 66.666666666667vw, 100vw" alt=""><p><em>The Voices writers in the 2023 Wales hub at Chapter Arts</em></p></div>
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<p>We end the course with three priceless sessions. In consecutive weeks, we meet a group of literary agents, the <a href="/aboutthebbc/cymruwales/commissioning/">±«Óătv Wales commissioning team</a>, and a group of TV production bosses. Beforehand, rather than see these sessions as an opportunity to further my knowledge, I see them as an opportunity to mark myself out as an idiot to the very people I may need to connect with in future. But the Writersroom team have created an environment so safe and encouraging that this anxiety disappears and we all bombard them with questions, receiving mountains of insightful advice you just wouldnât get <em>anywhere</em> else.</p>
<p>The course ends with a glitzy bash in <a href="https://www.chapter.org/">Chapter Arts Centre</a>, and we get to meet lots of industry executives who are just as friendly and normal as the master-class guruâs weâve been learning from. I walk away from the bash, and therefore the Voices programme, feeling sad. But I also feel like twice the screenwriter I was before I started, and have lots of new friends and contacts on the same journey.</p>
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<p>In the same way that being told stories as a kid can take you to a magical place, writing stories can take you to a magical place too. Admittedly, as a screenwriter the stories you are involved with may have fewer enchanted forests and more drug fuelled assaults⊠but the act of creating a story can still take you to a special, vivid place when the words are tumbling over each other to get out.</p>
<p>And with 6 months of ±«Óătv Writers tucked safely under my belt, I feel far better equipped to translate that special vividness to readers and, maybe one day⊠viewers.</p>
<p>Oh, thatâs weird. I havenât been near a screenwriting podcast since starting Voices, letâs tune back in⊠[Strong L.A accent] âLast week I was feeling overwhelmed by the political situation in Guam, so I didnât do any writing⊠I just focussed on self-care and spent the week by the pool <em>sitting inside my fear and giving my chakra permission to weepâŠ</em>â</p>
<p>Ah, thatâs nice.</p>
</div>
2023-08-18T09:00:00+00:00
2023-08-18T09:00:00+00:00
/blogs/writersroom/entries/86ea994a-b8db-4e12-9474-d853d2eaacaf
Kat Rose-Martin
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<p><em><a href="https://leedsplayhouse.org.uk/job/the-kay-mellor-fellowship/">The Kay Mellor Fellowship</a> is a year-long paid opportunity for a writer based in Yorkshire and the Humber to develop their writing for stage and screen. We spoke to writer Kat Rose-Martin who is the inaugural winner of the Kay Mellor Fellowship, about her experience during her 12 month attachment and the advice she would give any writers who are hoping to apply this year.</em></p>
</div>
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<p><strong>What encouraged you to apply for the Fellowship? How did you find the application process? What idea did you submit for your application?</strong></p>
<p>When I saw that <a href="https://leedsplayhouse.org.uk/">Leeds Playhouse</a> and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0578117/">Kay Mellor</a> were partnering up for a <a href="https://leedsplayhouse.org.uk/job/the-kay-mellor-fellowship/">New Writing scheme</a>, I knew that I had to apply. Leeds is my local producing theatre, and Kay Mellor had been such an influence in all the TV I watched growing up. She represented that female working class voice that so many of my stories are about. I remember watching <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111890/">Band of Gold</a> and thinking there was nothing else like it on the screen.</p>
<p>There were a few stages to the application process, even at the interview stage, I learnt so much. I walked away with ideas and a plan of how to develop my idea further, and then later got the phone call â I felt like my insides had turned outsides, I was that excited.<br /><br />I submitted my sample script which was a play called ÂŁ1 THURSDAYS and a pitch for an idea about women who worked in adult services. It explored the nature of exploitation both in the arts industry and in online sex work.</p>
</div>
<div class="component">
<img class="image" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p0g6vwy8.jpg" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/80xn/p0g6vwy8.jpg 80w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/160xn/p0g6vwy8.jpg 160w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p0g6vwy8.jpg 320w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/480xn/p0g6vwy8.jpg 480w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/640xn/p0g6vwy8.jpg 640w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/768xn/p0g6vwy8.jpg 768w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/896xn/p0g6vwy8.jpg 896w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/1008xn/p0g6vwy8.jpg 1008w" sizes="(min-width: 63em) 613px, (min-width: 48.125em) 66.666666666667vw, 100vw" alt=""><p><em>Kay Mellor, Kat Rose-Martin and James Brining at Leeds Playhouse. Photography by Anthony Robling</em></p></div>
<div class="component prose">
<p><strong>What stood out to you during your time on the Fellowship? Was there anything that surprised you?</strong><br /><br />What surprised me most during the Fellowship was getting to peek behind the curtain at the day to day running of a big regional theatre and a TV production company. Getting to sit in on meetings and see how decisions get made, how development actually works. I had all these pre-conceptions about what the conversations in decision making rooms were like and it wasnât at all as I imagined. That insider insight for TV and theatre is invaluable. It helped me to understand how rejection is more than likely not personal or about the idea but about lots of other moving parts and metrics that need to be aligned across a slate of work.</p>
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<p><strong>Did you discover/learn anything new during the experience?</strong></p>
<p>Something that I learnt during the fellowship was how different writing for TV and theatre is and how to really lean into what is special about each medium. In the theatre you have the audienceâs attention, and they are present in the space with the actors for a LIVE experience. What opportunities does this present? Then with TV, the audience have a hundred other distractions, so how can you draw them in, hold their attention, keep them glued to their screens. And then what is similar with both mediums â character, emotional heart.</p>
<p>I learnt a lot about what sort of writer I want to be. Iâm still learning this, but a full year to really refine and focus my voice, helped to define the stories I was wanting to tell next.</p>
</div>
<div class="component prose">
<p><strong>How did you find working with Kay Mellor?</strong></p>
<p>Working with Kay was incredible. Something Iâll cherish forever. Her feedback was blunt and to the point. I loved that. No messing about, sheâd say, "but nothing happens, you have to make something happen!". She was gifted at story engine and seeing story potential in everything. How can we make things worse for our characters? She had brilliant anecdotes from her vast experience that always made me laugh. One thing that struck me was how much she supported new writers, not just myself. She would attend awards ceremonies and events and say peopleâs names. She would mention my name to people. I will never forget that. Itâs so important to pay it forward and SAY A NAME whenever we can.</p>
</div>
<div class="component">
<img class="image" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p0g6vx00.jpg" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/80xn/p0g6vx00.jpg 80w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/160xn/p0g6vx00.jpg 160w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p0g6vx00.jpg 320w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/480xn/p0g6vx00.jpg 480w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/640xn/p0g6vx00.jpg 640w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/768xn/p0g6vx00.jpg 768w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/896xn/p0g6vx00.jpg 896w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/1008xn/p0g6vx00.jpg 1008w" sizes="(min-width: 63em) 613px, (min-width: 48.125em) 66.666666666667vw, 100vw" alt=""><p><em>Kat Rose-Martin and Kay Mellor at Leeds Playhouse. Photography by Anthony Robling</em></p></div>
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<p><strong>What work did you create as a result of the Fellowship?</strong></p>
<p>During the fellowship, I developed a TV pitch â WHIPPED and a play CHEAP AS CHIPS. From the same seed of an idea â the women in adult services. The TV pitch introduced me and my voice to commissioners for the first time. The play is currently under commission with <a href="https://leedsplayhouse.org.uk/">Leeds Playhouse</a>. As I worked on the ideas, they became very different on a surface/plot level but they both had the same beating heart, themes, and knotty central argument.</p>
</div>
<div class="component prose">
<p><strong>What advice would you give to anyone who is hoping to apply/be selected for the <a href="https://leedsplayhouse.org.uk/job/the-kay-mellor-fellowship/">Kay Mellor Fellowship</a>?</strong></p>
<p>If youâre thinking about applying, really consider what story YOU WANT TO TELL. Kay always spoke about how she loved fusing real life experience with fictional stories. So, think about a feeling or situation that feels true and relatable to you and then start spinning that story web and branching out from there. Be ready to learn, absorb everything, make mistakes, and really commit to the opportunity. <a href="https://leedsplayhouse.org.uk/job/the-kay-mellor-fellowship/">The Fellowship</a> opened so many doors for me. It was basically a fire-lighter for my career. And with the additional team-up this year with <a href="/writersroom/our-groups/voices/">±«Óătv Writersroom Voices</a>, itâs basically the hottest ticket in town for a new writer. Embrace it.</p>
<p>Kay was and is an inspiration. She put Northern voices on the stage and screen and let down the ladder to support and nurture so many new writers. Iâm proud to be a tiny part of her legacy, and thrilled that this scheme is continuing so go for it, grab the bull by the horns and apply. Kay paved the way, now itâs on us to keep those warm, complex, Northern characters coming down the pipeline.</p>
</div>
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<p><strong>The <a href="/writersroom/opportunities/kay-mellor-fellowship">Kay Mellor Fellowship</a> is a year-long paid opportunity for a writer based in Yorkshire and the Humber to develop their writing for stage and screen. Applications are open until Tuesday 29th August 2023, 10am.</strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="https://leedsplayhouse.org.uk/job/the-kay-mellor-fellowship/">Click here to find more information about the Fellowship</a></strong></p>
</div>
2023-08-16T09:58:48+00:00
2023-08-16T09:58:48+00:00
/blogs/writersroom/entries/f651f826-3050-430c-a769-cde80e2e0104
Hamish Wright
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<p><em>Our <a href="/writersroom/opportunities/pilot">Pilot</a> opportunity for credited and/or agented writers opens for applications between 5th and 26th of September 2023. We spoke to writer Hamish Wright (who was on the scheme back in 2018 when it was called the TV Drama Writersâ Programme) about what it meant for his development as a writer.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="component prose">
<p>Some careers go off like fireworks. Mine was more like a fire lit with damp logs. To torture the metaphor a bit more, <a href="/writersroom/">±«Óătv Writersroom</a> was a vital squirt of kerosene that kept my fire burning right when it couldâve gone out. Let me explain.</p>
<p>I grew up in Australia an Anglophile, suckled on the best of British TV; <a href="/iplayer/episodes/b006q2x0/doctor-who">Doctor Who</a>, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090424/">Edge of Darkness</a>, <a href="/iplayer/episodes/b00glhzn/the-young-ones">The Young Ones</a>, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0202722/">Chocky</a>, <a href="https://uktvplay.co.uk/shows/red-dwarf/watch-online">Red Dwarf</a>. I moved in 2004. I didnât really know anyone, or much about the industry, but I knew I wanted to write. I found a home in Manchester working in the <a href="https://www.itv.com/coronationstreet">Coronation Street</a> story office, and then script edited and wrote on <a href="/programmes/b006m8wd">Casualty</a>. Continuing Dramas (CDS) get a bad rap (unfairly so), but I learned so much writing craft and, more importantly, I started finding my people. What do I mean by that? If you meet someone who shares your taste, whoâs excited by your work, hold onto them tight. Theyâre your people.</p>
<p>One of the hardest jumps in our industry is going from writing CDS to original or more âauthoredâ work. In some ways this is pure snobbery on the part of development execs and commissioners, an example of how CDS can brand a writer â but there can be some substance to it. While thereâs often a great deal of creativity and innovation involved in writing a CDS script, youâre working within a house style. What happens when you take those guardrails away?</p>
</div>
<div class="component">
<img class="image" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p0739dw8.jpg" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/80xn/p0739dw8.jpg 80w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/160xn/p0739dw8.jpg 160w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p0739dw8.jpg 320w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/480xn/p0739dw8.jpg 480w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/640xn/p0739dw8.jpg 640w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/768xn/p0739dw8.jpg 768w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/896xn/p0739dw8.jpg 896w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/1008xn/p0739dw8.jpg 1008w" sizes="(min-width: 63em) 613px, (min-width: 48.125em) 66.666666666667vw, 100vw" alt=""><p><em>The writers for the fourth ±«Óătv TV Drama Writersâ Programme including Hamish Wright</em></p></div>
<div class="component prose">
<p>Thatâs where I was at when I applied to the ±«Óătv Writersroom scheme that is now called <a href="/writersroom/our-groups/pilot/">Pilot</a>. Iâd just moved to Belfast, and I was feeling very far from the centre of the industry. Iâd had a few original things optioned by that point, but they were withering on the vine. I was making the vast majority of my income working on continuing drama but it all felt pretty parlous, like I was surviving script by script. So just as I was mulling the seed of an idea â literally just a paragraph about a lonely young boy writing a letter to a Mars-bound astronaut â I spotted this ±«Óătv Writersroom deadline and thought, whatâs the worst that can happen?</p>
<p>Spoiler alert: the script that resulted from this idea â Sunny â never got made, but I can honestly say that the Pilot process kicked my career to a new level. I was paired with <a href="https://elementpictures.ie/">Element Pictures</a>, and ran several outlines and drafts with their brilliant development team. Along with that, I and the other Pilot writers did a series of masterclasses with legends of the industry; <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0604448/">Abi Morgan</a>, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5411362/">Mike Bartlett</a>, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0580519/">Jed Mercurio</a>. There was advice Iâve kept as part of my process to this day: Jed Mercurio talked about looking for the âlock inâ, the moment in your pilot script that locks your hero into the key action of the series. But the best part of it was forming friendships with the other Pilot writers. Sharing knowledge; good indies to work for, bad indies to avoid, weird stuff in contracts, significant life announcements. It all comes back to finding your people, and I found a bunch through the <a href="/writersroom/our-groups/pilot/">Pilot scheme</a>.</p>
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<div class="component prose">
<p>It took a few more years, and a lot more pushing, before <a href="https://www.itv.com/watch/significant-other/10a1755/10a1755a0001">Significant Other</a> came about. Iâd formed a writing partnership with <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2264771/">Dana Fainaru</a>, the very first writer I edited on <a href="/programmes/b006m8wd">Casualty</a> (find your people!) and weâd just had an agonising near miss with a thriller script that we both still use as a sample. Our exec on that piece, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0793864/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1">Nicola Shindler</a>, encouraged us to contact her with any other ideas we might have. Dana had just watched an incredibly unconventional Israeli black comedy about two lonely misanthropes whoâve hit rock bottom (sounds great right?) and suggested it could work as an adaptation. I watched it and agreed. Two years and one pandemic later, Significant Other broadcast on <a href="https://www.itv.com/">ITVX</a> in June 2023. Iâm incredibly proud of the show we made, no matter what one reviewer from The Guardian might think.</p>
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<div class="component">
<img class="image" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p0g5y7rj.jpg" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/80xn/p0g5y7rj.jpg 80w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/160xn/p0g5y7rj.jpg 160w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p0g5y7rj.jpg 320w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/480xn/p0g5y7rj.jpg 480w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/640xn/p0g5y7rj.jpg 640w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/768xn/p0g5y7rj.jpg 768w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/896xn/p0g5y7rj.jpg 896w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/1008xn/p0g5y7rj.jpg 1008w" sizes="(min-width: 63em) 613px, (min-width: 48.125em) 66.666666666667vw, 100vw" alt=""><p><em>Youssef Kerkour and Katherine Parkinson in Significant Other. Photograph: Matt Squire/ITV</em></p></div>
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<p>So while I wouldâve loved to âmake itâ (whatever that really means) much sooner, I like to think that the time it took, and the relationships I formed along the way, has made my career a wee bit more sustainable. Thatâs why Iâd say, if youâre thinking about applying for the <a href="/writersroom/our-groups/pilot/">Pilot programme</a>, if youâre wanting to make the jump to writing and selling your own original work, do it. Definitely.</p>
<p>This year youâre going to need to send in a TV spec as a sample. So what should you send? The clichĂ© goes that you should write something only you can write. Iâd add to that; what is the unique thing your script does that no other script can do? No other show but <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mad-Men-Season-1/dp/B00GH6WBXK">Mad Men</a> had that dramatic crucible of Don or Peggy making an ad pitch â only <a href="/iplayer/episodes/p070npjv/fleabag">Fleabag</a> broke the fourth wall in that exact way â only Significant Other has its main characters meeting while one has a heart attack and the other takes an overdose of pills (sorry, couldnât resist). Because itâs all about bringing something new into the world, right? I wish you the best of luck, and I canât wait to see your work on the air.</p>
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<p><strong>Applications to <a href="/writersroom/opportunities/pilot">Pilot 2024</a> are open from Tuesday 5th September 2023 at 10am to 12 noon on Tuesday 26th September 2023 for credited and/or agented writers. <a href="/writersroom/opportunities/pilot">Visit the Pilot page to find out more about the opportunity and entry criteria</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>Please Note: This is a separate scheme from our open submission Open Call, with more restricted entry criteria. </strong></p>
<p><strong>The next Open Call submission window will be open between 12 noon on Tuesday 7th November 2023 and 12 noon on Tuesday 5th December 2023. <a href="/writersroom/opportunities/send-a-script/">Visit the Open Call webpage to find out more about that opportunity</a></strong></p>
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2023-08-01T08:00:00+00:00
2023-08-01T08:00:00+00:00
/blogs/writersroom/entries/75a8ecdd-d93c-44e8-9708-a44a44065e22
Josh Weinstein
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<p><em>In our </em><a href="/blogs/writersroom/tags/writing-today">WRITING TODAY</a><em> series of blog posts we throw open the doors of the ±«Óătv Writersroom blog and ask writers to tell us about the issues which are affecting the industry from their perspective.</em></p>
<p><em>In the latest WRITING TODAY blog post Josh Weinstein, who has worked in both the US and UK systems on shows including The Simpsons, Futurama, Strange Hill High and Danger Mouse, explains the background to the current Writers' Guild of America writers' strike, from his perspective.</em></p>
<p><em>The views expressed in the blog post are the author's personal opinion.</em></p>
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<p>Writers have never had it so bad. And that's after 100 years of having to fight for protections, compensation and credit that should've been given in the first place.</p>
<p>Think about it: the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_Writers_Guild">Screen Writers' Guild of America</a> was formed in 1920 to <a href="https://www.wgfoundation.org/screenwritersguild-history">"correct the numerous abuses to which the screen writer is subject."</a> Hollywood was still in its infancy and already writers were getting screwed. Writers were forced to raise their collective voices before you could even hear people talk on screen.</p>
<p>You know the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steamboat_Bill,_Jr.">silent movie scene where a building falls on Buster Keaton</a> but he's still standing there, unharmed? Think of that as a metaphor for the writer in Hollywood who has union protection. Except that every block the writer walks, there's another facade falling. On every sidewalk.</p>
<p>Which brings us to the WGA strike of 2023.</p>
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<img class="image" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p0g3hv95.jpg" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/80xn/p0g3hv95.jpg 80w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/160xn/p0g3hv95.jpg 160w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p0g3hv95.jpg 320w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/480xn/p0g3hv95.jpg 480w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/640xn/p0g3hv95.jpg 640w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/768xn/p0g3hv95.jpg 768w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/896xn/p0g3hv95.jpg 896w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/1008xn/p0g3hv95.jpg 1008w" sizes="(min-width: 63em) 613px, (min-width: 48.125em) 66.666666666667vw, 100vw" alt=""><p><em>Past and present writers of The Simpsons who attended the picket</em></p></div>
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<p>The sidewalks now have 11,500 WGA writers joined by the 160,000 actors in <a href="https://www.sagaftra.org/">SAG-AFTRA</a>, marching, carrying signs and pushing the occasional striking baby and/or dog in a pram (Obviously, not every member is out picketing every day, but look at the photos outside studios, corporate headquarters and filming locations in LA and NY, it's a massive turnout and growing each day. )</p>
<p>Writers and actors have a lot of complaints in common, as do many Americans and people around the world who are feeling the horrible squeeze of the Gig Economy and the general unpleasantness wrought by the Silicon Valley way of thinking (Remember when we were all inspired by it?)</p>
<p>When <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streaming_television">Streaming</a> began about 15 years ago, we were optimistic. The promises of creative freedom and additional venues for creativity felt real. But like any new technology that requires a pipeline of art (and craft) to supply it, the people creating that flow needed to be paid and protected. Hence, the last <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7092571.stm">writers' strike of 2007</a>, which was largely about making sure we got residuals and minimums from those nascent streaming services, just like we earned from the networks in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1988_Writers_Guild_of_America_strike">strike before that in 1988</a>.</p>
<p>Writing a script is the same amount of hard work whether it's for a network or a streaming service. Yet, a script for a streamer earns a fraction of the residuals the same script would earn for a network or even basic cable. That needs to change.</p>
<p>Scripts and writers are the foundation shows and films are built upon - and are often the creative spark that brings it to life and keeps it alive - and writers should be rewarded in success. BTW, residuals are but a tiny percentage of the zillions a company earns from any successful project. In fact, if the WGA got everything we're asking for, it would only cost the studios/streamers 2% of the profits they make off our writing and work (<a href="https://www.wgacontract2023.org/announcements/the-cost-of-settling">figures from the WGA</a>).</p>
<p>In the past, if you worked hard - and had some luck and a good spec script - you could actually get hired on a staff and have a nice middle class life as a writer in LA or NY. In the 90's, I remember how if you got a writing job on a TV show, there were certain things you could count on: you would be on staff for the life of the show and because of that, not only would you be getting a regular salary, you'd have the opportunities to learn everything you needed to know about making a show and maybe even someday running one; if the show went to multiple seasons, you'd get promoted each year, all the while gaining more responsibility and more valuable skills; Writing a script - and rewriting it as a group - was just one part of a rewarding TV writing career. And you'd get decent residuals for the episodes you wrote.</p>
<p>Now much of that has been taken away, especially the word "career".</p>
<p>Gradually but radically the studio system has been reframed into a gig economy where job security is never guaranteed. Where instead of being on a show for its entire run, you're lucky if you get hired for a 10 week mini-room where the studio insists you work out the entire season in those short weeks then boom, you're kicked out, time to find another job. Oftentimes, the showrunner is left to make the show with either a fraction of the writing staff or no staff at all. The idea of being able to rewrite an episode with a staff of writers during production? When you actually see a scene on its feet with real actors and realize changes need to be made right then? A proven way that worked well since, well, pretty much the beginning of television? Forget it. (The show <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7660850/">Succession</a> is a good example of the rare show that was able to fight this - creator and showrunner <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1104036/?ref_=tt_ov_wr">Jesse Armstrong</a> insisted he have his staff for the entire production and you can see the difference that made.)</p>
<p>And speaking of Succession, this is all happening at a time when there has never been more great television and the community of television writers has never been more wonderfully diverse. This should be an era that feels incredibly promising, where all sorts of tired creative boundaries are being broken and the fusion of art and commerce is working symbiotically to improve everyone's lives and everyone wins.</p>
<p>But - cue hacky 80's RECORD SCRATCH - along comes corporate greed, whispering in CEOs' ears. Psst, if you kill a show after its successful third season, not only can you save a ton of money, those annoying actors can't renegotiate for higher salaries. And if you pull it entirely from your service, you won't have to pay them or those pesky writers ANY residuals. And that movie or TV series you sunk millions into? Well, pull it before it's even released and take a big tax write off. It's the short term bottom line that matters.</p>
<p>(Sorry about the attempt at satire here. It could use a rewrite but I'm on strike so that's all you're getting in terms of entertainment. I'll try to toss in some Simpsons references later.)</p>
<p>What's particularly scary about all these useful things being taken away - just to satisfy the short term bottom line - is it hits younger writers - those just starting out in the profession - the hardest. They're the future of this industry but the CEO's and their lawyers and accountants don't seem to care. I have a feeling a lot of mid-level executives care but they're increasingly powerless. More and more people in Hollywood are powerless and the frustration is beginning to bubble over.</p>
<p>There are now endless levels of approval, an infinite series of hoops writers must jump through before they ever get paid. Even Buster Keaton would get exhausted by this and jump on the first train out of here. Well, the very front of the first train out of here, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_General_(1926_film)">you know the shot</a>.</p>
<p>That's another complaint - it used to be (and I'm talking about the early 2000's, not the 1900's) you could have an idea, flesh it out in a month, go in to a network, pitch it and they might actually buy it in the room. Or you'd pitch it to a studio, they'd buy it and pay you to develop it. Now you have to spend a year developing it, find actors/studios/whatever to attach to it, go through endless rounds of notes from the studio that is supposedly there to "help" you before you can even pitch it. And all FOR FREE. And don't get me started on Pitch Decks, which no one seemed to need for, oh, let's say the entire first 100 years of the entertainment industry.</p>
<p>The idea that writers must do so much for free while the people they're doing it for are getting paid is, to put it mildly, extremely infuriating. Meanwhile, the writers who are getting paid to be on staff find their salaries getting stretched thinner and thinner. How can this all be happening in a prosperous time for the industry, one with "peak TV"? I won't go into the complexities of "Span Protection" but it's another incredibly important issue. I'll just tell you the following sobering fact: Ten years ago, 33% of working TV writers were earning WGA minimum. That's what you're supposed to get when you're starting out. <a href="/news/world-us-canada-65447383">Now that number has ballooned up to 49%</a>, including many showrunners (<a href="https://www.wgacontract2023.org/updates/bulletins/writers-are-not-keeping-up">figures from the WGA</a>). Not much incentive in that. And for film writers, it's even worse. Their median pay hasn't increased since 2018 and they, too, are facing increased demands to do free work. And comedy variety writers? They don't even have a minimum if they're writing for a streaming service.</p>
<p>Well, Buster Keaton didn't let buildings fall on him for free and neither do I.</p>
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<img class="image" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p0g3j1ww.jpg" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/80xn/p0g3j1ww.jpg 80w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/160xn/p0g3j1ww.jpg 160w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p0g3j1ww.jpg 320w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/480xn/p0g3j1ww.jpg 480w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/640xn/p0g3j1ww.jpg 640w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/768xn/p0g3j1ww.jpg 768w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/896xn/p0g3j1ww.jpg 896w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/1008xn/p0g3j1ww.jpg 1008w" sizes="(min-width: 63em) 613px, (min-width: 48.125em) 66.666666666667vw, 100vw" alt=""><p><em>Pictured from left to right are Futurama co-creator and showrunner David Cohen, Josh Weinstein, Conan O'Brien, Family Guy showrunner Rich Appel, King of the Hill, American the Office and Parks and Recreation co-creator and showrunner Greg Daniels, and Matt Groening.</em></p></div>
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<p>If you think I'm bringing up the past so much, there's a reason (and not just 'cause I'm a former Simpsons writer who loves oldtimeyness. ) The CEO's and the <a href="https://www.amptp.org/">AMPTP</a>Â (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers) are acting like oldtime movie villains. And not the sophisticated-though-flawed <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Foster_Kane">Charles Foster Kane</a> type CEO. I'm talking the old moustache twirling, tie-you-to-the-railroad-tracks villain. If you wrote the villainy that's taking place in Hollywood today into a script, it would be rightfully noted as too over-the-top and contrived. Yet here we are. But this time, thanks to the very internet I decry, the whole world is on to their shortsighted, unmotivated, out-of-touch, laughable-if-it-weren't-hurting-so-many-people cruelty. When a CEO made nearly half a billion dollars over four years yet a writer for the hit show, The Bear, <a href="/news/world-us-canada-65447383">couldn't even afford to pay their rent</a>, there's something horribly wrong.</p>
<p>So there you have it. As the world of streaming expanded, the life - and quality of life - of the working writer in Hollywood contracted drastically. To the point where many writers literally cannot make a living writing or even dare dream of it.</p>
<p>And if there aren't real people writing those words to give us hope, to make us laugh, to make us cry, to make us jump out of our seats with a really brilliant fright - if it's only AI generating those scripts and faces on screen, well, then, we've lost two important things. The Entertainment Business. And our Humanity.</p>
<p>That's why we're striking. And that's why so many hard working people from other professions - the Teamsters, the hotel workers and more - are joining our pickets and we, theirs. Everyone's feeling the pinch. It's time to pinch back.</p>
<p>So until it's resolved, I'll be picketing at the Fox lot, by the Galaxy Gate, where I used to drive in when I worked on the Simpsons and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Burns">Mr. Burns</a> seemed like just a funny cartoon character.</p>
<p>There's your Simpsons reference.</p>
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<p><strong>For more background to the 2023 WGA writers' strike visit the ±«Óătv News website:</strong></p>
<p><a href="/news/entertainment-arts-65447046">±«Óătv News - 2nd May 2023</a> </p>
<p><a href="/news/world-us-canada-65447383">±«Óătv News - 2nd May 2023</a></p>
<p><a href="/news/av/world-us-canada-65465491">±«Óătv News - 3rd May 2023</a></p>
<p><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7092571.stm">±«Óătv News - Find out more about the previous writers' strike in 2008</a></p>
<p><a href="/news/topics/cx3xv05k4ydt">Read more Hollywood news stories on the ±«Óătv News website</a></p>
<p><a href="https://press.amptp.org/node/19211">AMPTP - Read their response from 4th May 2023</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/06/05/1179595456/jesse-armstrong-succession-interview">Listen to an interview with Succession creator Jesse Armstrong on NPR</a> - including details of the writing process and his reaction to the strike</p>
<p><a href="https://georgerrmartin.com/notablog/2023/05/08/writers-on-set/">Game of Thrones creator George R. R. Martin on the rise of 'mini-rooms'</a> - read his blog post</p>
<p><a href="/writersroom/resources/be-inspired/josh-weinstein/">Watch an interview with Josh Weinstein on the ±«Óătv Writersroom website</a> </p>
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2023-03-10T10:48:00+00:00
2023-03-10T10:48:00+00:00
/blogs/writersroom/entries/c87f1143-6df9-4b93-8eaa-e3985e10bdf7
Laurence Clark
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<h3><strong>This blog post is part of a series where the ±«Óătv Writersroom approached selected writers to offer them a platform to discuss what they feel are the most relevant topics affecting the broadcast industry today.</strong></h3>
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<p>From as long as I can remember, I have always wanted to write for TV. I was one of those nerdy kids who would watch the credits at the end of programmes. I began to notice which writers I particularly liked, writers whose work spoke to me. I was in awe of the fact that everything Iâd watched had come out of one personâs head. But I couldnât help but notice that it was rare to see a character who was disabled, and even rarer to see a character with cerebral palsy like me. I decided long ago that this was something I could help change.</p>
<p>So I was proud to finally have my first original pilot produced and broadcast last year. It was a long slog. Iâd been writing TV pitches and scripts for the previous 13 years. Iâd practically become an expert at getting rejected. I remember vividly going for a meeting with some ±«Óătv TV producers in 2009 about my first attempt at a comedy pilot script. They told me that, if you took away the fact that my main character was disabled, then the script didnât have a USP. I asked why on earth would you want to take that away? Surely making the character disabled gave him a different home life situation and lived experience that would be unique and engaging to audiences? But at the time they did not agree.</p>
<p>Now Iâm not for one minute claiming that first script was perfect, far from it in fact, which is somewhat ironic given that I gave it the title Perfect! Between then and finally getting produced, there have been a string of other failed pilots, script notes, mentoring schemes and training courses. I learnt that the only way to really get better at screenwriting is to pick yourself up after a rejection, dust yourself down, learn from your mistakes and have another go. As Jack Thorne once told me, 95% of this job is being told where youâve gone wrong!</p>
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<img class="image" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p0f7jf87.jpg" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/80xn/p0f7jf87.jpg 80w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/160xn/p0f7jf87.jpg 160w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p0f7jf87.jpg 320w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/480xn/p0f7jf87.jpg 480w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/640xn/p0f7jf87.jpg 640w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/768xn/p0f7jf87.jpg 768w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/896xn/p0f7jf87.jpg 896w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/1008xn/p0f7jf87.jpg 1008w" sizes="(min-width: 63em) 613px, (min-width: 48.125em) 66.666666666667vw, 100vw" alt=""><p><em>Laurence Clark's original Comedy, 'Perfect' aired on Dave in August 2022</em></p></div>
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<p>But also a lot has changed in terms of the screen industryâs attitude towards including disabled, deaf and neurodivergent people over the past few years, although undoubtedly thereâs further to go. Significantly, there is a growing recognition that there are only a certain number of stories to tell, therefore a way of making those stories new, interesting and exciting is to include characters from a range of diverse backgrounds, drawing on lived experience. For example, a thriller about a single mum suddenly gets an added dimension if we make that character a wheelchair user who as to navigate all of the various attitudes, barriers and systems that come with that situation.</p>
<p>Iâve noticed, particularly in continuing drama, it feels like thereâs a tendency to have disabled characters because they know they ought to, but the writers donât really know what to do with them. So, these characters are present on screen but donât get any of the juicy storylines. I put this down to two factors: a fear amongst non-disabled writers of getting it wrong; combined with a lack of disabled, deaf and neurodivergent writers up until now. Certainly, whenever Iâve done writersâ rooms, Iâve always put myself forward to write for the disabled characters, not least because itâs easier as I can draw upon my lived experience.</p>
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<img class="image" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p08zd6h6.jpg" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/80xn/p08zd6h6.jpg 80w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/160xn/p08zd6h6.jpg 160w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p08zd6h6.jpg 320w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/480xn/p08zd6h6.jpg 480w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/640xn/p08zd6h6.jpg 640w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/768xn/p08zd6h6.jpg 768w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/896xn/p08zd6h6.jpg 896w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/1008xn/p08zd6h6.jpg 1008w" sizes="(min-width: 63em) 613px, (min-width: 48.125em) 66.666666666667vw, 100vw" alt=""><p><em>Laurence was a part of the Writers' Access Group 2020/21</em></p></div>
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<p>This is why itâs so important that ±«Óătv Writersroom are currently recruiting another cohort of disabled, deaf and neurodivergent writers for their <a href="/writersroom/opportunities/writers-access-group/" target="_self">Writersâ Access Group</a>. As someone who did it last time, I can vouch for the fact that it gave me the knowledge and skills I needed to start earning a living from screenwriting. The more screenwriters like myself we have working in the industry, the more authentic, nuanced portrayals informed by lived experience we'll see on our screens.</p>
<p>And what did I call my pilot which was broadcast last year? Why what else but⊠Perfect! It was a completely different script to the one that was rejected in 2009, because Iâm now a better writer, but it had the exact same themes. It just wasnât dismissed as lacking a USP as the industry has moved on and learnt to value lived experience. And I figure, if you are going to plagiarise, probably best to plagiarise yourself!</p>
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<h3><strong><a href="/writersroom/opportunities/writers-access-group/" target="_self">Applications are currently open for the Writers' Access Group training programme for deaf, disabled and/or neurodivergent writers.</a></strong></h3>
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2023-01-25T16:23:14+00:00
2023-01-25T16:23:14+00:00
/blogs/writersroom/entries/63109790-a2ff-4c2d-9527-d2c6f0045686
Tamzin Outhwaite
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<p><em>Following <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcGAib3-Bbc">Jennifer Coolidge's recent win at the Golden Globes</a> as Best Supporting Actress for The White Lotus <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0653666/">Tamzin Outhwaite</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/mouthwaite/status/1613104797594554369">tweeted a plea for writers</a> to create more great roles for mature women. In our latest blog post featuring guests discussing the topics that they feel are affecting the industry, we caught up with Tamzin to find out more.</em></p>
<p><strong>*CONTENT WARNING: This video contains strong language*</strong></p>
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<p><strong>What stood out for you about Jennifer Coolidgeâs win at the Golden Globes in The White Lotus. What was it about that role and performance that stimulated you to tweet?</strong></p>
<p>I think that sheâs an incredible performer and the role and the show (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13406094/">The White Lotus</a>) are brilliant, and I love it, but what really made it stand out for me was her acceptance speech. It really hit home because we have times in our career, I think, as women of a certain age, that we remember as fruitful. There are times that are fruitful and there are times which arenât, and I loved the way she spoke about that. To employ a woman who has been in the industry for an awfully long time and at times has been more successful than at others, and to get to a stage where sheâs standing in front of the whole Hollywood Foreign Press (and the world in a way) and for her to be able to say that there were times when work was thin on the ground, that really resonated.</p>
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<p>She spoke about how that one man, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0925234/">Mike White</a> (The White Lotus creator and writer), took what was, in her head, a chance on her. But to me it doesnât look like taking a chance. She seemed so humble and so grateful in her speech, but she did such an amazing job in the series that if I was a Producer or Commissioner or running a channel then Iâd think that she was a safe bet.</p>
<p>It seems like Mike White was a bit of a guardian angel for her, and we all need those at times, someone who champions you. Iâve had a few people like that in my life.</p>
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<img class="image" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p0dys3k3.jpg" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/80xn/p0dys3k3.jpg 80w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/160xn/p0dys3k3.jpg 160w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320xn/p0dys3k3.jpg 320w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/480xn/p0dys3k3.jpg 480w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/640xn/p0dys3k3.jpg 640w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/768xn/p0dys3k3.jpg 768w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/896xn/p0dys3k3.jpg 896w, https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/1008xn/p0dys3k3.jpg 1008w" sizes="(min-width: 63em) 613px, (min-width: 48.125em) 66.666666666667vw, 100vw" alt=""><p><em>Tamzin Outhwaite</em></p></div>
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<p><strong>Why do you think her speech had such a big response?</strong></p>
<p>Her speech in general smacked of someone who had lived a life but wasnât done yet. Who felt not just that she was being appreciated again in her 60s but felt âIâm doing a bang-up job of being a woman in my 60s in this industryâ. Jennifer Coolidge showed us that it isnât just about making a living. The passion and the gratitude that she showed for her career is also very deep inside me. I still feel that one day Iâll be âfound outâ â the imposter syndrome.</p>
<p>When you look at <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0177639/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_1">Jennifer Coolidge</a> you donât think of an old woman. She was flying the flag for all of us over 50s, even late 40s women who have moved out of the âjuveâ lead. Who are reading scripts where the role is the Mum or the Gran â sometimes Iâm even a Nan now â It struck a chord not just with me, but there are an awful lot of brilliant actors out there who I think have been side-lined when they get to a certain age. I suppose what we should be asking ourselves is âinstead of a 40-year-old man playing that role, could a 50-year-old woman?â</p>
<p>Itâs amazing that one win and one speech can start such a movement for women who feel the same.</p>
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<p><strong>From your experience how have the scripts and roles you are offered evolved during your career?</strong></p>
<p>Itâs a first for me to seem like a champion for older women in this industry, because Iâve never been this age before! This is a first for me to get to being 50 years old and suddenly the roles arenât there. They are a lot thinner on the ground. When youâre reading something, the parts are smaller. But watching the shows that I like to watch and the ones that have had such a massive impact recently â <a href="/programmes/b06zqjpj">Happy Valley</a>, The White Lotus â they have older women in lead roles. If they are so successful and so needed and so championed, then why do we not have more? We could do with a few more women like Happy Valley's <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0484104/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0">Sarah Lancashire</a> and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0278239/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0">Siobhan Finneran</a> at the forefront of Drama and Comedy.</p>
<p>Iâve worked a lot with <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0334150/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0">Julie Graham</a> who has written a few things with me in mind but the responses that we have had from the industry have often been along the lines of âitâs not our demographicâ. Most people seem to be chasing after the 15â25-year-old demographic, but that age group are not watching television. Iâm in that audience who still sit and put on ±«Óătv One, ITV, Channel 4, and I feel like weâre not seeing ourselves very much, but when we are then itâs lauded and celebrated.</p>
<p>Women are not seeing ourselves on TV as we really are. The women that I know who are over 50 are funny and sexy and interesting and clever and bright and sparky. They donât take any sh*t! They are very interesting to watch. I loved <a href="/programmes/p09r3q71">Almaâs Not Normal</a>, itâs all women, crazy personalities, it was so refreshing to watch. But there are very minimal projects either for us to audition for, meet for or read but also for us to watch. For a woman who still feels like sheâs in her 30s it feels like weâre not really done yet, weâre not ready to be shelved at a certain age just because youâre not the juvenile lead. There are interesting, funny characters to be written, watched, and played by women of an older age.</p>
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<p>To be fair I feel very lucky to have made a living and had a range of diverse jobs across theatre, TV and film but I donât feel âdoneâ. The stuff Iâm reading now is mainly much smaller roles, which Iâm fine with if itâs an interesting role. To give an example, Iâm in the next series of ITV's <a href="https://www.itv.com/watch/the-tower/10a1570">The Tower</a> and Iâm very proud of it. Itâs quite harrowing, itâs right up my street really. I play the Nan. That works because of the nature of the role you believe that she would have had her kids young, but I suppose that is now the area Iâm going into. But I had my actual kids âlateâ, I was 37 and 41, so Iâve still got a 10-year-old. I also have a 32-year-old man, so of course I still feel in my 30s, but the reality of it is that I donât really see that on the screen. Weâve made great moves forward in other areas, but I donât think thatâs necessarily true of ageism. And Iâm not unusual now to have young kids at my age.</p>
<p>You donât see female characters over 50 running around like a 30-year-old unless theyâre some kind of âcougarâ. Iâm looking for older womenâs roles which are written in a beautiful, rounded way where there are loads of different characteristics you can tap into, not just a broad brushstroke of âSheâs a Nanâ or âSheâs a cougarâ. But why does it still feel so unusual for the women to be older and the men to be younger? It doesnât have to come under the umbrella of a âcougarâ show or a teacher/student relationship that shouldnât have happened. It never seems to be two people happy in love. I read things and think âWhy is he 50 and sheâs 30?â, and that seems to come right down from Hollywood.</p>
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<p><strong>Do you think the problem lies with writers not creating these fully rounded and nuanced roles for more mature women? Or does it lie elsewhere in the industry?</strong></p>
<p>I donât think the problem is the writing, there is a flow of creativity coming from writers that seems to be three dimensional and rich and colourful. Iâve had many writers get in touch with me since the tweet and say âThatâs all I write, Iâve got four projects, I only write for mature womenâ. But if the feedback from industry is âthatâs not our demographicâ then thereâs nothing writers can do â except for get it made yourself - but thatâs easier said than done.</p>
<p>Where are the people who are making programmes for my demographic? I think the plays, the TV scripts and film scripts are out there. Maybe Jennifer Coolidge has just made it a bit âcoolerâ and things will change?</p>
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<p><strong>How important do you think it is that writers have the same life experience as the characters they write?</strong></p>
<p>I donât think writers need to have the same experience, but they do need to have an understanding. They need an understanding of the human psyche and where that person might be in their life.</p>
<p><strong>What would be your advice to budding writers who want to include more mature female roles in their work even if they are not from that demographic themself?</strong></p>
<p>Maybe younger writers could spend some time with some women over 50. Whether that means going and having a drink, shadowing them. Iâm not trying to sound patronising, but I think with much younger writers they need to be reminded of how youthful a 50-year-old woman is now. We are not in a rocking chair and knitting! With how people live much longer and healthier lives now on the whole the narrative of what a woman over 50 is like feels like it needs rewriting.</p>
<p>And once we hit 50 women donât all fall into one category (although I do think that more mature women tend to have developed greater emotional intelligence). Thereâs still a massive, colourful range of women who are completely different from one another and theyâre desperate to see themselves on telly. I would sit down and watch most things that have women in who are over the age of 45 and all of my friends feel the same. I also think writers donât need to shy away from tough subject matter when writing mature female roles.</p>
<p>When these characters are given a chance - we see that in the writing of Sally Wainwright, Sharon Horgan, the late Kay Mellor - their shows are brilliant. But there are more than just ten great writers for women. The main thing is that women are shown authentically, thatâs what weâre all striving for.</p>
<p>In the end this isnât a gripe, itâs just an observation. If Jennifer Coolidge can create such massive waves with a character thatâs drawn beautifully then think how women would feel represented if there was one character like that in every programme?</p>
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<p><strong><a href="/programmes/m001d4cr">Listen to Friends will be Friends</a> featuring Tamzin Outhwaite and best friend and fellow actor Julie Graham on ±«Óătv Sounds</strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="/iplayer/episodes/p0bwtn6q/freeze-the-fear-with-wim-hof">Watch Freeze the Fear with Wim Hof on ±«Óătv iPlayer</a> featuring Tamzin and fellow celebrities</strong></p>
<p><strong>Follow Tamzin on <a href="https://twitter.com/mouthwaite">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/glamzin/channel/?hl=en">Instagram</a></strong></p>
<p><em>(Editor's note: The title has been updated to </em>WRITING TODAY - Please write <em>more</em> great characters for women over 50<em> to more accurately reflect the content of the interview.)</em></p>
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2022-02-15T15:03:29+00:00
2022-02-15T15:03:29+00:00
/blogs/writersroom/entries/f6c03657-aab3-4deb-ac00-6ba5bbc177b9
Matt McDevitt
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<p><strong>This blog post is part of a series where the ±«Óătv Writersroom approached selected writers to offer them a platform to discuss what they feel are the most relevant topics affecting the broadcast industry today.</strong></p>
<p><strong>Matthew Mc Devitt is a Derry writer who was selected for Drama Room 2020. Previously he came through the Belfast Voices 2018 scheme. He's recently been commissioned for a radio comedy pilot about a pest controller with delusions of being a private eye, called Softboiled. He's also writing his first feature, A Clannish Breed, a coming of age comedy about a Father and Daughter duo, faking a satanic panic in 1980's Northern Ireland.</strong></p>
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<p>Whatâs your favourite montage of a writer at their desk overcoming writerâs block and turning out pages? <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000115/" target="_blank">Nic Cage</a> (as <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0442109" target="_blank">Charlie Kaufman</a>) in <em><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0268126/" target="_blank">Adaptation</a>Â </em>thoughtfully debating the pros/cons of coffee and a muffin as instigator for writing or reward for writing. Barton Fink slowly losing his mind in, well <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101410/" target="_blank"><em>Barton Fink</em></a>. <em><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086765/" target="_blank">Murder </a><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086765/" target="_blank">She Wroteâs</a></em> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica_Fletcher" target="_blank">Jessica Fletcher</a> gleefully typing away, remorselessly turning her hometownâs most recent murder into her next bestseller. Part of you is saying No Jessica, the body is still warm - itâs not right! Another part of you grudgingly admires, sheâll have a chapter done by lunch at that rate.</p>
<p>Itâs a trope and not even a good one. The writer rubs their face, mutters different opening lines to themselves, paper is rolled up and thrown into an already overflowing bin. What these scenes generally have in common is that they are set in large well lit rooms, with a mahogany desk, bookshelves everywhere. Autumnal light spills in the bay window. These writers also have a sickeningly endless amount of time to complete their magnum opus. The demands of rent, social obligations and time lost to their own inherent vices do not enter the story logic. Mahogany desk, autumnal lightâŠthis is not what my writing space looks like. I doubt yours does either.</p>
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<p>Iâm a glutton for writer interviews. Process, regime, technique. Apparently <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haruki_Murakami" target="_blank">Haruki Murakami</a> commits to writing a novel with the intensity of an ultra marathon runner. Life is reduced to a cycle of writing/exercise/sleep until the work is done. Itâs genuinely impressive. However my own regime is more akin to a malfunctioning couch to 5k app, where life is reduced to an endless cycle of writing/job 1/family commitments/job 2/relationship maintenance/dog walking/gentle weeping and not enough sleep.</p>
<p>Some writers set internet restriction apps, to prevent them from doom scrolling the news when they should be following their muse. Maybe I was lucky that the first desk where I ever took my own writing seriously was where the only thing that could distract me was the Rorschach test nature of the rising damp in the wall. <em>Hmm, that mould looks a bit like <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004874/" target="_blank">Vin Diesel</a> - maybe this script needs a car chase?</em></p>
<p>My problems were never about distractions when I got to the desk (in reality a breakfast bar in a shared house) but getting to the desk at all. Good news - I now have a desk where I donât have to scrape my housemates' encrusted cornflakes off before I start. Plot twist - that alone has not improved my writing.</p>
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<p>My first ever submission to a ±«Óătv Writersroom open call was a TV pilot that I wrote in 6 woozy nights after I clocked off from my bar job. To call it a first draft would likely see first drafts everywhere, unionise and counterclaim. It was gibberish. I was so tired/elated when I finished it, I decided at the last minute to change the title to size 45 IMPACT FONT so it would <em>really land home</em> with its first reader what a seminal work they held in their hands. Unsurprisingly I did not make any form of long, short or middling list. More surprising was that I did not end up on any government watch lists (that I know of). Whatever it was (it shall remain nameless) it was closer to Outsider art than Spec script. But I had finished something.</p>
<p>And then I started thinking about how it might be much less demented to think ahead with realistic specific goals, rather than put in for each approaching deadline, like a stray dog running after every passing car, barking wildly at the tail lights. And so work life/writerly aspirational life imbalance properly began, as I know it has for many others. My partner is likewise blessed/cursed with the compulsion to write. Like me, works in the hours and minutes that can be poached from doing all the things you do to keep the wolf from the door. Or at least not fully inside the house. We daydream about having <em>enough time to really write.</em> These musings tend to inevitably (and unimaginatively) drift towards reveries about rural cottages, near a flowing river. Well-lit rooms, mahogany desks and bookshelves tend to feature heavily ... alas our reality is much closer to a poorly furnished Escape Room during the cleanerâs week off.</p>
<p>But yet we both still (strive to) write for TV. Not always when we want. Rarely where we want to. Sometimes even (<em>oh the inhumanity! oh the irony!</em>) at the cost of actually watching TV. I now find myself unable to watch <em><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081505/" target="_blank">The Shining</a>.</em> Not because it terrifies me. It doesnât anymore. Now I can only feel anger at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Torrance" target="_blank">Jack Torrance</a> not using his boundless freedom to write a bit more efficiently (and ideally less murderously). <em>No talking to the ghosts until you hit your word count, Jack, Iâm thinking. Iâll let you into room 237 Mr Torrance, my brain reasons, when I see chapter two!</em></p>
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<p>I try not to let the fantasy of endless writing time become my own Overlook Hotel. I accept the reality that I have to write when and where I can. And try not to find myself reading listicles at 4am about which famous writers only wrote standing up/sitting down/after a long walk/or in a bath eating apples. Would having a writing space torn from the pages of a broadsheetâs Sunday supplement lifestyle section be nice? Iâm going to guess yes. Would having what felt like enough time to write, help? Almost certainly. Is breaking into professional writing a level playing field? Not even close.</p>
<p>But most open calls worth entering (like ±«Óătv Writersroom) are read blind. Your submissionâs first reader wonât know (or care) if you wrote it in a townhouse or a treehouse. Under the warm hue of autumnal light or the dull flickering of a broken streetlight. The only thing theyâll care about, is the only thing youâll have any control over - do they want to keep reading? ±«Óătv Writersroom schemes helped me stop seeing writing as a montage where inspiration strikes.</p>
<p>My first ever script editor Hamish taught me to fight for every percent your script can improve. Itâs not very cinematic but it works. Recently, for the first time in my life I now have both a desk of my own and enough time to focus solely on writing (for a month or two anyway). I suppose itâs time to find out if Iâm Jack Torrance or Jessica Fletcher.</p>
<p>I really hope itâs the latter.</p>
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2021-10-07T07:57:06+00:00
2021-10-07T07:57:06+00:00
/blogs/writersroom/entries/e4845779-2e83-4aa9-96a5-45f368f30271
Furquan Akhtar
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<h3>This blog post is part of a series where the ±«Óătv Writersroom approached selected writers to offer them a platform to discuss what they feel are the most relevant topics affecting the broadcast industry today.</h3>
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<p>I was recently having a conversation with one of my friends about diversity in TV when she asked me⊠âWhen was the last authored drama by a British South Asian writer?â and Iâll be honest my mind drew a complete blankâŠ</p>
<p>So, I took to Google and asked colleagues (just in case my love for television had let me down), and found that I wasnât the only one at a loss. Even in scripted comedy I can only think of one recent show that is written entirely by a South Asian writer.</p>
<p>Of course, itâs not as though this is news to me. Iâve been working in TV for over a decade, and I am aware that there are so few people who look like me when I walk into meetings or rooms. Itâs something that I am vocal about, but for a long time - and to be frank - because of my own insecurities, it didnât feel like I could talk about these issues openly. I didnât want it to seem as if I sounded bitter. But thereâs also a moment when you just feel like saying sod it - this isnât good enough.</p>
<p>Often Twitter is where I voice these thoughts and sometimes (read; often) this gets me into trouble from trolls. Contrary to what my friends think, I have started to spend less time on there as a result. Now Iâll pop on to say something I find funny and try to channel this energy into my work rather than the bird site.</p>
<p>This is for a couple of reasons really; being the angry Muslim man on Twitter can often bleed into real life, and your reputation can precede you before you go into meetings. It creates a culture of fear. Like youâre a troublemaker, or that youâve upset someone by stating what is quite simply the truth. If Iâm honest, itâs a concern I had before I started writing this blog, but such is the life of a freelancer.</p>
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<p>I was also hoping that by getting to a place where I could begin to âlet down the ladderâ after me, I could encourage and champion the work of brown creatives who are missing from the television landscape. I feel like I am getting there with the latter and thatâs because I am incredibly fortunate to be working on shows that have allowed me to tell stories as a Brown writer.</p>
<p>Our stories are needed. I started as a trainee on a scheme at Coronation Street. It was an invaluable training ground for me because I read everything that I could but I was well aware that in a huge machine that my voice could get lost. I began to write scripts that reflected my way of life. A working class, northerner, Muslim with immigrant parents. These may seem like mere labels but they make up the foundation of every story we tell. It was with this conviction I entered the ±«Óătvâs Alfred Bradley Award to tell stories about brown people even if it was on the radio. It has pushed me to write spec scripts that have opened doors for me so now I can voice my opinions on an equal footing. I canât say I kept that conviction in all my writing but what I can say is that you always come back to it. It helps you and it has helped me and shaped me as a writer and individual.</p>
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<p>I can only speak for my experience though, that to get to that point has been an uphill battle which (like for all writers), was littered with rejection. But like Tinder we must make the yesses count.</p>
<p>Brown writers are often made to feel like there is only enough space for one minority at the table, or that our stories must be bigger and more extreme. For us to get a script away it has to be about an extreme issue and why is that? Why canât we tell quiet and beautiful stories, its as though heartbreak in film and television is reserved for those who live in the wealthy parts of London. Isnât one of the joys of storytelling to unite people through universal themes? Yet it seems like this is something that just isnât available to us, and I want to know why.</p>
<p>Everyone has different facets to their identities, but being brown is something that Iâve been aware of before I learned anything else about myself. For many British Asians it takes a while to fall in love with your identity. It hasnât always been âcoolâ and a lot of that has been reinforced by stereotypes we see on TV. That needs to change. Allowing us the space to portray ourselves authentically on screen will be life changing for so many people who can pinpoint the first time they saw someone who even just looked like them on TV. South Asians should be shown as multifaceted and wide ranging on screen as they are in real life. And itâs possible as we see from the success of shows in America such as âNever Have I Everâ and âMaster of Noneâ but itâs time we had that here in the UK.</p>
<p>We must keep pushing our stories. We must keep hustling. We must keep lifting each other up. So that the powers that be are constantly reminded that there are no excuses. The talent is available and there are brilliant creatives of colour just waiting for the opportunity.</p>
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<p>Thereâs a push to be more âBritishâ when it comes to TV but what does that even mean? Who are the gatekeepers of âBritishnessâ? Itâs important to remember that we are part of the fabric that make this country.</p>
<p>We are behind in this country when it comes to South Asian representation, and we have to do more and that begins with commissioning writers of colour so that in the next couple of years people arenât struggling to think of shows by brown writers and thatâs the only way our stories become part of the mainstream.</p>
<p>And to the writers of colour who might be reading this; keep going.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.curtisbrown.co.uk/client/furquan-akhtar">Find out more about Furquan Akhtar on the Curtis Brown website</a></p>
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