The Commissioning Process
Comissioning is a term used for someone specifically asks another person of company to make a project. Not every film made is a direct commission, someone would have to be very in demand to be asked to create something. Most are done via pitching. This is where an individual person gives their idea to a company to see if they are interested, occasionally the small company will be backed by a larger one to provide funds, such as Sherlock, which is created by the independent company Hartswood film but is shown on the BBC. There are also other ways, such as winning a script writing or screenplay competition, such as winning a spot on the BBC writer's room.
Directors who've written their own script
In film, there is always a scriptwriter, who creates the story, and the director, who translates it to film. They are typically separate roles, but there are a number of directors who have been an integral part of the writing process. This eliminates the need to pitch to directors, as they have both roles. A good example of this is George Lucas, famously known for Star Wars and Indiana Jones. The script for A New Hope was turned down by many companies, before approaching 20th Century Fox. After this film succeeded much more than expected, he produced the sequels independently, though he did not direct all of them.
Literary Agents
If you have an agent representing you, you're much more likely to be commissioned as this gives an impression of professionalism.
Literary Agents are in charge of taking Script writers and actors and representing them, by finding them work and getting them opportunities. 'The Agency' works with a large amount of clients, from scriptwriters to Sound engineers.
A good way to find an agent is to write to the agency and enclose samples of writing, The company can then decide whether they have anyone that would want to represent you.
What is Optioning?
Optioning is when a producer buys the rights to a film for a small sum of money, that lasts around 12-18 months. this means that the scriptwriter cannot sell to any other company. At any point during this period of time, the producer can buy the full rights to the script or drop it. When the months are up, the producer loses rights to it and, if they do not buy it, the scriptwriter can sell it to someone else.
An example of this is the book 'Miss Peregrine's home for peculiar children', which had been optioned as a script and is set to be released as a film in 2016.
How a script is created
- Someone, either an aspiring writer or a large name comes up with an idea for a story that they think would sell.
- They develop this idea, looking at research, checking copyright and set out writing a draft of their script.
- When they've written a draft, they can seek out places that would be willing to produce the films and pitch the idea to them. This can end with them buying the film, rejecting it or optioning it. They could also find a literary agent to help them.
- The crew will choose how to fund the film from a variety of options. Using the creators own money, getting Bank Loans or creating an internet kick starter to raise money for it. The right option will depend on the scale of the production and how much money there is,
- Once the script has funding and a crew behind it, they pre production work needs to begin. This involves casting all the actors in it, designing sets and costume then making them, sorting storyboards and shot lists and anything else that needs to happen before any filming starts. The writer will help with pre production planning and in some cases they may double as a director.
- The filming then begins, which can take anything from a couple of weeks to several years depending on the size of the film and crew
- When it has been filmed, it needs to be edited and made into a movie that closely follows the screenplay and looks good
- It then needs to be advertised on a number of platforms, to gain excitement for the product.
- It will eventually be distributed to the public, through Cinema, TV and discs. This will gain revenue and make money for the scriptwriter, depending on what source of finance they originally used.
During this, the writer would be involved with different elements at different stages of production. Such as:
Pre Production planning: helping with how the scenes should look according to what's written
Script Editing: Making changed when the director sees fit, and making sure it still makes sense with the rest of the story. Changes can be suggested or insisted upon due to budgeting issues, plot holes or copyright.
Director or Producer Involvement: Talking to other crew members when they want direction on how they interpreted a scene.
Page Lock down: Deciding on the final script that will definitely be used.
Adjustment during shooting stage: Making any small edits to dialogue or direction.
Job Roles
Commissioning editors work to buy and commission new publications, such as scripts or books, that they believe could be popular and monitor how published works are selling.
Producers are responsible for all parts of a film's creation , working with all members of the crew. They choose story ideas and turn them into films that they believe will make money.
Script Editors find new scripts and writers, and prepare stories for filming.
Working as a Writer
Working as a writer is very difficult, as there are many things that could have your work stopped, abandoned or never seen. Agent representation is important, as agents are the ones in charge of finding work and representing you. If the agent isn't good, then you'll never get any work.
Royalty Payments and optioning mean that you never know whether a story will actually make you money, you may have someone take interest in it but then never use it.
Sometimes royalty payments can benefit a lot though. Actor Alec Guinness received much more that his coworkers from Star Wars, where he negotiated to receive 2% of the gross profit given to George Lucas. This has caused his to earn millions in terms of royalties.
.
A writer who typically creates scripts for Film is Lee Hall, who worked on Billy Elliot and War Horse. In a 2011 Seminar, he talked about the issues in screenplays. According to him, he'd written around 40 scripts, but only 3 had ever made it to film, though that's surprisingly impressive for a writer. He said that a main issue with work was finding directors, as you'd never know what they'd do with a script once it was given to them.
He believes that pitches are incredibly important, as there isn't much chance to get your work commissioned due to a lot of 'pre commissioned' shows and films that are already being worked on. If your pitch is good and engages people, then there is much more of a chance that your screenplay will be made. And once you get your first script ready, it's much easier for your other work to be made.
There are also issues surrounding Professional Presentation, appearing as a good choice for companies, being someone who's got good time management and will be able to give a worthwhile script.
When writers are creating their script, there are several considerations they need to check
Copyright: There are certain things that cannot be used in the story unless permission is given
Bias: If they have real people or events in the story, they must be accurate and not one sided or it's likely people related to the people or involved in the event will complain.
Watershed: Depending on what rating it is, particular references must not be included unless the show or film is on TV at a late point in the evening.
Libel: This means writing an fake fact about someone that causes them to be ridiculed or attacked. This applies when writing about real people.
Plagiarism: If a story is too similar to someone else, they could be sued for it. A show that was sued for Plagiarism was Fox's 'New Girl', where two screenwriters claimed the project was based on their own work that was written around their personal experiences, and that several elements (The characters, plot and location) were the same as their script.
No comments:
Post a Comment