Thursday 29 May 2014

The Commissioning Process

The Commissioning Process 

A Agent is someone who finds jobs and opportunities for a actor, Script writer, producer, author etc..
They also defend and support their client and promote them in whatever they need their agent for. A Agent is a very good idea for a scriptwriter looking to get their screenplay produced. Warner brothers company do not take any scripts from the public and if you send them they will just bin them, so this is a advantage to having a agent, more companies will actually give you a opportunity. The disadvantage to having a agent is that you give away 10-20% of your wages to them if you get a deal with a company. Agents have been known to turn down offers from companies because 10% of that wage is not enough even though the script writer thought it was. This is a disadvantage to Talent Agents but over all it is recommended to have one was film companies often contuse talent agencies to look for people to work for them. Especially in the film industry it is incredibly hard to make a name for yourself, and with a help of a agent they can help you get you a position on a film set and work your way up.

A lot of major film studios will not hire people who are not part of a agency because employes can trust agencies to have the right person they are looking for. However some film studios Mainly indecent films will not hire someone from a agency as it is sometimes more hassle for them and it also shows that all your work has to be done via the agent which sometimes puts independent film makers of.

For someone who wants to become a screen writer, a talent agent is the properly the best way to go, As a lot of major film studios will not accept or even look at a script from someone without a agent. A agent can also get your internships as a script advisor. This is the first step to becoming a screen writer, as script advisor work with the screen writing to making better decisions for the script, once you have a position as a script advisor you can work your way up and it gives you a better opportunity to reach your goal as a script writer. So for script writers a agent is the best way to go to get experience.

E-commmissioning is the process where you send in your proposals to the BBC. You have to be part of a production company or have a job in the media industry to do this, therefore not every can do this. Thousands of people send in their proposals to the BBC each year so it is important for a writing and the company to make there idea stand out as a proposal is a very short brief description of your idea.

A Commissioning editor is someone who decides what goes on TV or not. Ultimately they have the final say in what is shown and what shows do not get seen. The BBC have what is called E-Commissioning, so the Commissioning editor will look through all the proposals sent to the BBC, if they see one they like they will go into talks with the company to see what they can make, Ultimately it is the Commissioning editor choice on what proposals to pursue and what ones to bin. This is again a example of why sometimes having a Agent is better as normal members of the public cannot send their ideas in.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/commissioning/whos-who/tv/knowledge/features-one-two/lindsay-bradbury.shtml

This is a link to a page i found about a women named Lindsay Bradbury, she works as a Commissioning editor at the BBC, it is her job to go through all the proposals that get sent in to the BBC, and decide which ones should be taking further and maybe be taking into going into production.

At Major Film studios such as Warner Brothers, a idea has to get Green lit, Once it gets green lit it means it will go into production. To get a idea green lit it has to be agreed by the producer or president of creative development. I found a page online about Paul Broucek who is the president of Warner Brothers, he is the man who decides what ideas will be made into films and what ones wont.
 http://www.warnerbros.com/studio/executives/divisional-executives/paul-broucek.html


Errors and Omissions insurance covers a person/or company against any claims you might get when your film is disrupted. It protects you if you accidentally use copyrighted martial, such as songs. Using a name of someone you know as a characters name or anything else that could get the company into trouble and giving them a fine.  This could be a claim against a brand, person a copyright song or a logo etc. If a person does not have this insurance most of the time companies won't release your film in fear of getting sued. It is important for all company but mostly smaller independent ones as if you get sued for copyright you could owe thousands of pounds.

The majority of the time when a script writer sells their script to a production company they won't have a say in what is done. The director change the characters, the plot, the tone of the whole film and the writer won't be able to do anything about it, Once the writer sells the script they are basically selling the ideas of it and the rights.

http://www.quora.com/Screenwriting/Why-do-studios-rewrite-scripts-after-buying-them

I found this link which goes to a Forum for screen writers, On it you can read about a mans brother who is talking about when his brother sold his script to a film company, and by the time the film was finished the only word that was left from the script was the title. The guy goes onto explain that the script isn't changed because it is bad, just the producer and director and lots of little changed to the script to make it better and by then end of it most of the original script is gone.

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