Writing Television Drama

by Nicholas Gibbs

  A brief guide to US television drama commissioning (Networks)

  Pitching season

  This takes place in the summer from July and is where ideas that have been developed by individual writers or writing teams with agencies and production companies are brought to the attention of the Networks. This is a kind of feeding frenzy and the Networks suggest what they are looking for, something which is coloured by the number of slots in their schedule they have available. Existing returning series are already bedded in, so all the new shows are battling for what is left.

  Writing the pilot season

  Out of the pitches around about a fifth will go on to the next stage, which is the writing of the pilot episode script. The target is to deliver the best possible script – no doubt after many drafts – to the Networks by November.

  Pilot commissioning season

  Once all the pilot scripts have been read and assessed by the Networks, then once again between a fifth and a quarter will be greenlit for production. By the end of January all the pilots have been ordered. All this means is that one episode of your series will get made, though everyone hopes the series will run for at least four seasons of between 88 and 100 episodes (and thus lead to money-making syndication).

  Pilot production season

  Over the next two months the pilot episodes go into production and are delivered to the Networks. Once they are delivered they are screen-tested before audiences. After that, with possibly some re-editing, the pilots are sent to the top people at the Networks for ‘the upfronts’.

  The upfronts

  This takes place in May and is where the top executives decide which of those pilots they are going to commission for a series. They will simply say yes or no. If it is a no – you have to bite the bullet. If it is a yes, then the options are:

  a full season of 22–26 episodes. However, usually only the first 13 episodes are committed to; if the show is successful, the rest of the season will be taken up.

  a short order of 4–6 episodes. This is US conservative commissioning at its best. It is a ‘defer and see’ policy. If the series is not an instant success, no more episodes will be commissioned.

  a mid-season. This is when a show is given a later broadcast date (but also a shorter run), usually as a replacement for the inevitable cancelled shows that debut and quickly die.

  It is an overtly commercial system and solely depends on ‘bums on sofas’. If not enough people tune into the show, the Networks have no scruples about it pulling the show even after only two episodes have been aired.

  CABLE

  In recent years the subscription-based cable broadcasters that used to be home to syndicated Network shows have made forays into original drama output. This move was led by HBO and following in its wake have been the likes of AMC, Showtime and Starz.

  The series and serials produced for cable often have shorter runs (a maximum of 13 episodes). The most significant factor, however, is that the original shows that appear on these channels are very different to the fare that appears on the Networks. Since most are subscription-based, they are not exclusively beholden to advertisers but to the viewers. The approach has been to make drama that is ambitious, bold, innovative and riskier.

  HBO has led the way to a large extent. The HBO business model is not dependent on advertisers but viewer subscriptions. HBO shows do not have ad breaks and run, like the BBC, uninterrupted for the full hour. Since, arguably, HBO has a direct contract with the viewer, it can broadcast shows that shown elsewhere might offend advertisers.

  HBO dramas – some of which are international co-productions – can be more ‘adult’ in terms of their use of profanity, violence and scenes of a sexual nature. That is not to say that this ‘adult content’ is written into the shows for the sake of it. All swearing, sex and violence has to be relevant and important to the story.

  All the major networks love cop shows but none of them was ever going to show The Wire. Its natural home was HBO, as otherwise the scale and nature of the storytelling would inevitably have been homogenized and made bland. It would certainly not have been The Wire as envisaged by creator David Simon.

  HBO content has been different as it has been diverse. It has made award-winning dramas that have taken subscribers into the world of the Wild West, Prohibition America and the fantasy world of Game of Thrones. They have broadcast adapted novels including Game of Thrones and Mildred Pierce.

  In recent years other cable networks have begun supporting and producing their own original scripted content. They have been equally ambitious in carving out their own distinctive type of drama. AMC has won plaudits for Mad Men, Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead and has also reworked the cult Danish drama Forbrydelsen as The Killing.

  Showtime, which is a subsidiary of CBS, has also made distinctive dramas that would not play on the main CBS network. Dexter and Homeland have been big successes, as have Showtime’s historical dramas The Borgias and The Tudors.

  Below is a list of leading cable shows:

  AMC Breaking Bad, The Killing, Mad Men, Rubicon, The Walking Dead

  HBO Band of Brothers, Boardwalk Empire, Deadwood, Game of Thrones, Luck, Mildred Pierce, Six Feet Under, True Blood, The Sopranos, The Wire

  Showtime The Borgias, Dead Like Me, Dexter, Homeland, Shameless, The Tudors

  Starz Magic City, Spartacus, Torchwood: Miracle Day.

  A brief guide of US television drama commissioning (cable)

  The US cable commissioning system is similar to the British system in the sense that commissioning takes place all year round. Furthermore, the seasons are shorter and can be anywhere between six and 13 episodes.

  Key advice

  The US TV drama industry is both much bigger and tougher than its UK counterpart.

  Most scripts are produced in-house by staff writers.

  The vast majority of US TV drama output is dominated by the need to pull in advertising, which can lead to a certain blandness.

  On the other hand, because of the competition for viewers (and hence advertisers), production values are usually very high.

  Taking it further

  Scriptwriting courses

  There are many and varied scriptwriting courses available to writers, from one-day workshops about a particular aspect of scriptwriting to a university four-year Master’s degree. As with all courses, research thoroughly what it is the right one for you and also consider the cost. In the UK universities can now charge up to £9,000 per year while in the US the equivalent courses can cost almost $50,000 in tuition fees for the complete course.

  Below is a list of some of the UK universities that offer undergraduate and/or postgraduate courses in screenwriting. Most courses are offered as part-time or full-time and the course duration varies as a result.

  Bournemouth University (www.bournemouth.ac.uk)

  City University, London (www.city.ac.uk)

  De Montfort University, Leicester (www.dmu.ac.uk)

  Napier University, Edinburgh (www.courses.napier.ac.uk)

  Goldsmiths, University of London (www.goldsmiths.ac.uk)

  John Moores University, Liverpool (www.ljmu.ac.uk)

  London College of Communication (www.lcc.arts.ac.uk)

  London Film School (www.lfs.org.uk)

  London School of Film, Media & Performance (www.lsfmp.ac.uk)

  National Film and Television School, Beaconsfield (www.nfts.ac.uk)

  Newport Film School (www.amd.newport.ac.uk)

  Sheffield Hallam University (www.shu.ac.uk)

  Southampton University (www.solent.ac.uk)

  University of Bolton (www.bolton.ac.uk)

  University of Central Lancashire, Preston (www.uclan.ac.uk)

  University of East Anglia (www.uea.ac.uk)

  University of Sunderland (www.sunderland.ac.uk)

  University of the West of Scotland, Ayr (www.uws.ac.uk)

  In the US there are a number of university courses that range from specialist screenwriting programmes to Ma
ster’s degrees. These are often geared to getting writers working in the industry, although this is not automatic and there are no guarantees. However, there have been notable successes – for example, the University of Southern California (USC) boasts Shonda Rhymes, who created Grey’s Anatomy, and Josh Schwartz, who created Chuck.

  Getting on these courses is a competitive business because each year the numbers are limited, as they are for all university courses. There are many courses run by various universities and organizations throughout North America but, arguably, the five leading institutions are:

  American Film Institute (AFI), Los Angeles (www.afi.com)

  Colombia University, New York (www.columbia.edu)

  New York University (NYU) (www.nyu.edu)

  University of California (UCLA) (www.tft.ucla.edu)

  University of Southern California (USC) School of Cinematic Arts, Los Angeles (www.cinema.usc.edu)

  These five institutions are in the two major cities where the television industry is based and they draw thousands of applicants each year.

  Do check the nature of the course and the tutors involved and, more importantly, what and who the graduate success stories are. While there may be benefits to undertaking such a course, there can be no guarantees and you should also realize that university is not the only way into the business.

  Various individuals and organizations run other short courses, some of which are residential. Again the fees can be variable – from quite competitive and open to most pockets to the four-figure range. Do your research, particularly concerning the tutor(s), and try and speak to others who have been on the course.

  Sources for scripts

  There are a number of websites that allow you to download scripts either for free or for a fee. Be aware that some websites offer transcripts of scripts which, as a general rule, are not helpful. If you can’t get a shooting script version, then a writer’s earlier draft is equally worth reading. Here is a list of websites where you can download TV scripts:

  www.bbcwritersroom.co.uk

  www.simplyscripts.com

  www.script-o-rama.com

  www.dailyscript.com

  www.scriptcity.com

  www.thescriptsource.net

  There are also script books that feature a compilation of a particular show’s episodes. Shows that have released script books include Babylon 5, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Doctor Who, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The West Wing.

  Some writers and production companies sometimes also publish scripts on their websites.

  There is no harm in asking agents, writers, producers or the shows themselves if you can look at copy of their scripts. Below is a suggested list of shows you should watch and/or whose scripts you should read. Read as many scripts for as many shows as you can. In particular, look at the very first episode of the shows because that is in effect what you are writing.

  UK

  Doctor Who

  Downton Abbey

  Hustle

  Life on Mars

  Luther

  Mad Dogs

  Monroe

  New Tricks

  Occupation

  Scott & Bailey

  Sherlock

  Spooks

  State of Play

  The Hour

  The Street

  Unforgiven

  US

  Battlestar Galactica

  Blue Bloods

  Dexter

  House

  Mad Men

  Once Upon A Time

  The Good Wife

  The West Wing

  The Wire

  Script consultants

  There are number of script consultant services on both sides of the Atlantic who will offer feedback on your script. Always check their credentials and understand the kind of coverage they will provide for your script. Below is a small list of consultants who provide feedback services. There are many others, so do your homework.

  www.scriptangel.co.uk

  www.bang2write.com

  www.scriptshark.com

  www.scriptpipeline.com

  www.scriptapaloozatv.com

  www.rocliffe.co.uk

  www.script-consultant.co.uk

  www.screenwritinggoldmine.com

  www.industrialscripts.co.uk

  Books

  Lawrence Meyers (ed.), Inside the TV Writer’s Room (Syracuse University Press)

  Paul Ashton, The Calling Card Script (A&C Black)

  J. Michael Straczynski, The Complete Book of Scriptwriting (Titan Books)

  Eileen Quinn and Judy Counihan, The Pitch (Faber & Faber)

  Russell T Davies and Benjamin Cook, The Writer’s Tale (BBC Books)

  Pamela Douglas, Writing the TV Drama Series (Michael Wiese Productions)

  Glossary

  Television drama, like everything else, has developed its own vocabulary. Below is a basic glossary to help you understand some of the terms of scriptwriting.

  Act An act is composed of a number of scenes which culminate in a cliffhanger that usually leads into an advertising break on commercial television or an imaginary ad break on public and cable television. There may be between three and six acts in an episode.

  Action/description This depicts on-screen events and conveys all non-dialogue information within a scene.

  Agent This is someone who represents a writer. Most producers and broadcasters will deal only with a writer who has an agent.

  Antagonist The rival of your hero.

  Arc The journey a character takes that sees them undergo a change in circumstances and/or attitude.

  Backstory The biography of your character that made them who they are by the time we meet them on screen for the first time.

  Beat (1) A scene or step of a story.

  Beat (2) A pause in the dialogue or action.

  Breaking a story Establishing the significant turning points and act breaks in a story. This is a step taken before writing an outline.

  Cliffhanger End-of-act moment of suspense, jeopardy or revelation that raises the stakes.

  Development The process of taking a script from idea to production to make it the best it can be.

  Dialogue Everything characters say.

  Episode One part of a TV series or serial.

  Executive producer The person responsible for the creative and business aspects of a show.

  EXT. (Exterior) Used in the scene heading to signify an outside scene.

  Greenlight Where a script or series is approved to go into production.

  Hook The early moment that grabs an audience (or reader).

  INT. (Interior) Used in the scene heading to signify an inside scene.

  Logline One- (or two-) sentence summary of the story.

  Outline A brief narrative story of your script or a ‘scene-by-scene’ in order where each scene has its own logline.

  Pilot Usually the first episode of a proposed series – effectively a test episode.

  Pitch Selling your story to a potential agent, producer or broadcaster.

  Plot The structure of a story from start to finish.

  Plot point A turning point or cliffhanger in your story.

  Premise The situation created by your inciting incident – the what if ?

  Producer The person responsible for the production process.

  Protagonist The hero/heroine.

  Rewrite Where a script is redrafted following pre-production and in response to production notes.

  Scene Smallest dramatic unit that make up an act.

  Scene heading The heading in the script that establishes where and when the scene takes place. Also known as: slug line.

  Season A complete series of a show aired in a television year.

  Serial A show where the characters evolve over the run of the episodes in a complete story.

  Series A show that has a self-contained story about the regular characters.

  Shooting script The final draft of the script that goes into production.

  Sh
owrunner Usually the creator of the show who is ranked as an executive producer and who oversees the creative direction of the show.

  Spec script A script written with the hope of demonstrating the writer’s ability with a view to getting an assignment on another show or, more rarely, in the hope of getting it made.

  Staff writer Writer employed on a high-volume episode show to write and/or contribute to the creative process of the show.

  Storyline A synopsis of a story strand within an episode or over a number of episodes.

  Syndication Minimum of 88 episodes that leads to a series being sold as a package to other stations or overseas markets.

  Synopsis A brief outline of a story.

  Teaser The drama before the opening credits which provides the hook to entice the audience. Also known as: cold opening.

  Treatment The complete episode written in detail in prose form.

  Working title The title of a show used for reference but probably not the one that will finally be used.

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  First published in UK 2012 by Hodder Education

  First published in US 2012 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

  Copyright © 2012 Nicholas Gibbs

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