The RPP’s biggest success has been the finalist Robert Thorogood who created and wrote an eight-part detective series, Death in Paradise, that was a hit on BBC1 in 2011 and was immediately recommissioned for a second series. Two other writers, Chris Lindsay and Malcolm McGonigle, joined the writing team on MI High, a Kudos production for CBBC.
To enter, writers are invited, once the competition opens, to submit the first ten pages of their script of a 60-minute episode of their original television series. Those who impress in those opening ten pages are invited to submit the full script for the second round. It is from those full script reads that the eventual winner is chosen, along with other selected writers invited to participate in the mentoring scheme. In 2011/12 there were more than 2,000 entries.
Details: www.redplanetpictures.co.uk/prize
BBC WRITERSROOM
‘We do more competitions and talent searches now and more one-off things, which means I think you get a slightly better balance between the rolling scripts and putting up a brief to write a studio sitcom to be judged by Dawn French. That’s a great thing to go for, and people go ‘OK, I could have my script read by the judges’ – one of those judges is Dawn French and one of those judges is Controller of Comedy Commissioning. What chances are you going to get unless you’ve got a really great agent? What a position to be in.’
Paul Ashton, BBC Writersroom
The BBC Writersroom does run script competitions from time to time and it is worth looking on its pages. Indeed, the BBC Writersroom’s ‘Opportunities’ page lists leading competitions and initiatives, covering not just television but also radio and theatre.
The competitions are usually run with partners who have a specific goal in mind. CBBC, for example, looks for writers who want to write for children. Some competitions may have a geographical restriction with the aim of uncovering local talent in certain areas.
BAFTA ROCLIFFE FORUM
The BAFTA Rocliffe Forum is a fantastic initiative that exposes the writer’s work to the industry and can lead to the writer attracting the attention of agents, producers and commissioners.
The competition invites you to submit a 10 to 12-page section, with accompanying context documents, of your script with the potential to be performed on stage. There is a small entry fee. The judges, all of whom work within the industry, whittle down the scripts to a maximum long list of 25. From the long list, three are selected to have their 10–12 page performed on stage with professional actors, receive feedback from a leading industry professional (Julian Fellowes, Peter Kosminsky and Christine Langan have been previous participants) before an audience featuring representatives from agencies and production companies.
Details: www.rocliffe.com or www.bafta.org
SCRIPTAPALOOZA TV WRITING COMPETITION
‘The goal of Scriptapalooza TV is to connect writers with producers, managers, and agents … people that can make a difference in a writer’s career.
Scriptapalooza website
The Scriptapalooza TV Writing Competition is a well-respected annual event in the US and was first launched in 2002. The top cash prize is low (only $500 in 2012), but the 12 winners – that is, the top three in the respective pilot, half-hour, one hour and reality show categories – are promoted within the industry.
In terms of drama, the competition has a category for pilots, namely, original scripts. The other category is the one-hour programme which accepts spec scripts of existing US TV shows. So if you have the urge to write for your favourite show and play with your favourite characters, then this is the category for you.
There is an entry fee with a discount if you submit early.
Some of the winners each year have managed to gain representation as a result of their success in the competition.
Details: www.scriptapaloozatv.com
SCRIPT PIPELINE TV WRITING COMPETITION
The Script Pipeline TV Writing Competition is another US competition launched in 2007/08. In terms of television drama, the competition has categories of original pilot and a spec script of an existing show. It has a top cash prize of $1,500 (2012) and the winners’ details and their work are put before the industry. Again, being placed in this competition has helped some writers get meetings and has led to representation.
Details: www.scriptpipeline.com/tv-writing-competition
WRITERS ON THE VERGE
Writers on the Verge is an NBC-backed initiative to uncover new talent and is not open to any writer with staff experience. To apply, applicants must write and submit a script based on a show that aired new episodes in the current season prior to the application period. They also need to fill out an application form, submit their CV/résumé and sign a release form for their submitted script.
The successful applicants gain a place on the 12-week Writers on the Verge course in Los Angeles. The course consists of two night classes, the focus of which is to create an exceptional spec script. The course does not include accommodation and transport.
Participants have gone on to write for shows such as Burn Notice, Chuck, Friday Night Lights and White Collar.
Details: www.nbcunicareers.com/earlyprograms/writersontheverge
WARNER BROS. TV WRITERS’ WORKSHOP
For over 30 years, the Warner Bros. Television Writers’ Workshop has been the premier US writing programme for new writers looking to start and further their career in the world of television. The list of graduates who have gone on to do great things is long, including Terrance Winter (Boardwalk Empire) and Marc Cherry (Desperate Housewives).
Every year, the workshop selects up to ten participants out of almost 2,000 submissions and exposes them to Warner Bros. Television’s top writers and executives, all with the ultimate goal of earning them a staff position on a Warner Bros.-produced television show.
Applications must be made during a one-month window in May of each year when writers are invited to submit a writing sample of a primetime or cable network show that aired new episodes during the previous television season.
Details: www.writersworkshop.warnerbros.com
FOX WRITERS INTENSIVE
The Fox Writers Intensive (FWI) is a highly selective writers’ initiative, held at the Fox Studios in Los Angeles. The intensive course is designed to introduce experienced writers with unique voices, backgrounds, and life and professional experiences that reflect the diverse perspectives of US audiences to a wide range of Fox staff writers, showrunners, directors, screenwriters and creative executives. The scheme works with the selected writers to build on both their general craft and the business of writing for television, feature films and digital content with the added goal of creating a viable source of experienced staff.
FWI is for trained writers and/or previously staffed writers who have a strong command of their craft and who are deeply committed to pursuing that craft as their profession. A maximum of ten candidates are invited to participate.
Details: www.fox.com/fwi
Agents and literary managers
To get an agent, the first thing you have to do is write a script, preferably two, and be working on a third and have loads of ideas. These scripts need to be good and they will need to stand out. The agent will have to feel passionate about the script if they are going to promote it (and you), either as a spec to get you an assignment or to try and sell it with the goal of getting it commissioned.
Remember you are competing against thousands of other writers all of whom are also seeking representation. So the quality of the script and the originality of your voice are very important. It should not be derivative or obviously sound like anyone else.
There are a finite number of agents and a finite number of clients any one agent can manage. If they are going to take you on, it may involve another writer being released. For them to do that, they want to be sure that their investment in you is going to pay off and that is why they want to know if you are more than a ‘one script wonder’.
You will need to impress them and show you
have a commitment to writing. Agents will want to know what other endeavours you have made. Have you done any other writing, for example? Have you written for the theatre or for radio? Have you made any short films? Are you involved in the industry in some other capacity? Have you entered and had any success in any reputable writing competitions? Have you undertaken any reputable writing courses? Have you formed any relationships with or gained referrals from anyone within the industry? What industry events have you attended?
Increasingly, it is getting harder to get people to read your work and, when someone says they will, it can take a very long time for them to do so and get back to you.
HOW TO CONTACT AN AGENT
Write your script.
Research the agents available. Look at publications such as the Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook (in the UK) and Writer’s Market (in the US) and look online at agents’ websites. Also, if you are able, research individual agents. Read or view or listen to any interviews they have given and look at their client list.
Check whether their preferred method of approach is it by email or letter or by referral.
Write a brief but polite email/letter introducing yourself and attached your writing CV/résumé. You can add the title and logline of the script you wish them to read.
Do not send a script unless it is asked for.
If an agent does invite you to send them a sample of your work, establish whether they want an electronic or paper copy. Make it a pristine copy. You should also ask if they want scene numbering or not, in case they wish to make any specific comments about the script.
Be patient. Agents are busy people and so you may have to wait a while before they read and respond to your script. They may say at the outset how long it could take – you may have to wait several months. Follow up ten weeks after submitting and politely enquire about your script’s status.
THE REPLY
There are two broad categories (of course):
Reply 1 The agent, after reading your script, says no. They may state a reason why or they may not. Thank them politely for taking the time for reading. You may either need to relook at the script or it may be a matter of taste. A rejection doesn’t stop you approaching another agent.
Reply 2 Your writing piques their interest and the agent invites you for a meeting.
THE MEETING AND AFTER
As with every meeting or interview, prepare well and be yourself. Do not make claims you cannot substantiate. Agents are savvy people; they will know.
During or after the meeting they may invite you to submit something else. They may keep the door open and, if you’re lucky, agree to represent you.
If you do get representation with an agent, it does not mean you have made it. You still have to write. An agent cannot help you to write. They can be an independent set of eyes when reading your work and their knowledge can potentially direct your work to the right producer, indie or broadcaster. On the strength of your writing – by which I mean your completed scripts – they can get you meetings that can lead to assignments on continuing drama or other shows, or even your own series, but all that depends on you continuing to write.
Being a television drama scriptwriter is largely about series writing. Series writing – that is, writing to somebody else’s format – is most writers’ bread and butter. Agents have to be able to believe you will be able to do that, so that both you and they can earn some sort of living.
And remember: there will be somebody like you looking for representation and approaching your agent. If they are impressed with that newcomer, they may have to cull someone from their client list – you don’t want it to be you.
New writers can sometimes focus too much on trying to secure an agent. In some ways it can lead them into believing it is the ultimate goal, that you must have an agent to get into the industry. There are myriad different ways to enter into the industry and, once you have and you do get a commission, you will certainly require an agent. Agents will be definitely more interested if you have carved out your own road and have the writing and talent to support it.
Key advice
In the UK the BBC’s Writersroom offers a unique opportunity for new scriptwriters – try it.
Competitions provide another valuable route into the industry as well as providing you with a goal (and a deadline).
You don’t have to have an agent, but they do have the experience of the industry that you don’t yet have and can gain you opportunities that you would not otherwise be able to access.
Agents are busy people – be patient with them.
Industry interview 7: the executive producer
INDUSTRY INTERVIEW: FRANCIS HOPKINSON
Francis Hopkinson is the Creative Director of Drama for ITV Studios. ITV Studios is seen as an independent production company but it primarily supplies programming to the UK broadcaster ITV. Hopkinson has worked for Granada, Channel 4 and Left Bank Pictures and his producing credits include Always and Everyone, The Jury, Colditz, Henry VIII, Murder City and, as an executive producer, Wallander, Married Single Other and DCI Banks.
Nicholas Gibbs: What did you learn script editing for The Bill?
Francis Hopkinson: The Bill was quite unique as a long-running serial. Every story was individual, so every writer had their own story but they just had to use the regular repertory of actors. It was much more like development. The Bill was unique in that way. It was a great place to learn. One week you could have one story that was a car chase; the next week it could be two people sitting in a room; it could be a murder investigation or a slice of life.
NG: That was the half-hour Bill?
FH: Yes, 1995. We were doing 150 episodes a year so you learned incredibly quickly. They were short stories before it became a soap. A writer would come in, pitch an idea, you would work on the idea and that would go before a committee of producers, then it became storylined, then a script. In a couple of months you could see your stuff on screen. As a script editor, you could see what worked and what didn’t work. It also meant you were working with writers as, I think, a script editor should work, with a writer as a kind of advisor, good friend, an encourager, advocate and cajoler. It was really good and stood everyone in good stead. Of all the team we had on The Bill, all have gone on to greater things within the industry. It was such a great learning ground for script editors. Most of them have gone on to producing. A couple of them are now running their own independent production companies. One of them has just become a writer and got a book deal. It was a great place to learn and you learn very quickly.
NG: When did you go into producing?
FH: Tony Garnett wanted to do a police series and he asked me what I would do. I said I’d break all the rules that were on The Bill. He said that’s what he wanted to do. Tony gave me the licence to do that using some of the writers from The Bill. We did a lot of research and created a series called Cops. Series 1 won a BAFTA as did the second series. I wasn’t working as a producer; I was called an Associate Producer. The producer was a guy called Eric Coulter and I watched what he was doing and realized I could do it. I thought I could see what producing is and I might be able to do some of it, if not all of it. Eric was a very good adviser and Granada, as it then was, offered me a chance to create and produce a medical series which was called Always and Everyone. And that’s kind of how I moved into producing. I worked on that for a couple of years and worked in another department with Andy Harries at Granada for five years. I went to Channel 4 as a commissioning editor for a couple years, then started an independent with Andy Harries because I enjoyed working with him. After five years I was asked to come back to ITV.
NG: So is ITV Studios seen as an independent?
FH: Yes. When I worked for ITV seven years ago they had five drama departments. They had the Drama Department run by Andy Harries; one run by Michelle Buck; they had two in Manchester effectively; and Keith Richardson, who ran Yorkshire TV. However, due to changes in the industry, all those drama departments but
one disappeared. So I’ve been asked to come in to help build the drama capacity. ITV as a company wants to have the majority of its programmes made by its own independent production company, ITV Studios.
NG: How does the process work with you? How do people approach you?
FH: We are normally approached by agents or we approach agents. We have an idea for which we look for a writer, or a writer approaches us with an idea through their agent and then we discuss it. We normally go to treatment. We go to treatment without discussing it with people, but before we go to script we would normally discuss it with a broadcaster to try and get a sense if they want it.
NG: You don’t automatically think, ‘This is for ITV’ – you look to find a broadcaster for the project?
FH: I’m looking for ITV projects. That’s my brief. That’s the market that is closest to us and most open to us. We will talk to everyone who will have our ideas but primarily we will talk to ITV. In a way, it’s not a formal first-look deal but everything we do will probably be seen by ITV before it goes anywhere else.
NG: When you approach ITV commissioning do you go in with a treatment at that stage?
FH: We normally talk with a verbal pitch first and if they like it a) to make sure they haven’t got anything similar, which is broadly when an idea can fall, and b) you have to see if they like it and quite often they will like it. We’ve all got a pretty good idea what ITV want, so very rarely do they say that’s not going to be right for ITV. More often they have an idea that’s similar. Normally, we have regular meetings where we will pitch stuff verbally. If they like it, we’ll go to treatment or we’ll send them the treatment we’ve got and then take it from there.
Writing Television Drama Page 14
