Inside the Room

by Linda Venis

  The downside to writing specs for existing shows is that they are difficult, if not impossible, to sell. You could write a Modern Family script that knocks it out of the park, but chances are if the writing staff were to read it, they would think, That’s not our show…. Think of specs for shows as calling cards. If you’ve done a terrific job, there will be writers, agents, and executives out there who are fans of the show and will recognize your talent. Write specs for the shows you love and want to work for. Pay particular attention to first- and second-season breaking hits, as network executives get bored with reading older shows. And again, write a lot of them.

  Writing original pilots, in my opinion, is your ticket into writing for episodic television. Why? It’s your voice on that page—your characters, your franchise, your world. A spec pilot is the perfect place to showcase your talent. And if the script is good and the timing right, you could have a chance at selling it. Make no mistake, writing an original pilot is a big challenge, but there is no better way to show other writers as well as producers and networks what you can do. I interviewed a young staff writer who told me when he is not on staff, his goal is to write a new pilot every three months. A showrunner I know said the same thing: When you are not working on a show, write three pilots a year.

  In my own experience, I write about one new pilot a year, but I also develop three or four ideas to pitch. This allows me to build an up-to-date portfolio of my work so that when the networks call, I will have a script for that cool show they are looking for. Remember what I said about creating your own luck? Again, you are positioning yourself so that when the lucky phone call comes, you will be ready for it.

  Networking

  Networking: Start it now and continue with it throughout your career. Relationships are key for getting jobs and keeping them. Have you ever seen a position for writer/story editor for a TV show advertised on Craigslist? No, you haven’t, and there’s a reason for that. People hire who they know or people who come with strong recommendations from other people they know. Though networking seems counterintuitive to the writer’s life—after all, we sit in rooms all day, interacting more with the characters in our stories than real people—it’s a skill you must develop. As a television writer, you must be not only a talented, creative, knowledgeable writer but also a good salesperson. A TV writer once gave me the formula of 60/40 for success in the business. You need to spend 60 percent of your time writing, the other 40 on sales. This means creating and maintaining relationships, taking meetings, and pitching.

  I always tell my UCLA Extension students that the place to begin creating relationships is in the classroom—where everyone’s goal is to write for television. That’s a start. I encourage them to find the other class members they feel simpatico with and read each other’s work. When a feature film I wrote went into production, it was no accident the director and two producers were all graduates of the American Film Institute. They had worked together on student projects, trusted each other, and were excited to re-create the same relationships in the real world. By taking a class with like-minded peers, you have instantly increased your number of contacts by fourteen to twenty. Exchange ideas; share strategies and contacts. Be generous.

  Another way to find your posse, as you wend your way into the TV industry, is to join a writers’ group. Scriptwriters Network offers seminars and a working writers’ group that meets regularly. Or you could start one of your own with the writers you know. I have belonged to several in the past and found them useful. Like the UCLA Extension courses, a writers’ group holds you to deadlines. Above all, writing is a discipline. No matter what your job is during the day, you will want to spend time each day writing. A writers’ group can help you develop that discipline and will put you in contact with other writers working to launch their careers too. If they are as generous as you are with your experience and knowledge, the group can also be a useful source of information.

  Obviously, you need to be discerning when you pick your members. You want them to be as talented and motivated as you are. In my groups, writers had to send in an audition script and the group had to agree on granting them membership. Now I have a small circle of writer friends to whom I send my material. They read it before it goes out to agents and networks. They are writers I know and trust. I also know their strengths and weaknesses as readers and can filter their comments accordingly.

  Writing is a solitary process. Attending events and seminars about writing is another way of getting out and networking. Check the Writers Guild of America website and find speakers and seminars that interest you. Attend. Take notes. Introduce yourself. You don’t want to become that strange writer who never leaves her house and has too many cats. Enough said.

  Teleplay Competitions and Workshops

  Now that you have that smokin’ pilot under your arm and know a few people, your main goal will be to get noticed. Entering teleplay contests and workshops is a good way of attaining recognition. Teleplay competitions are not as prevalent as screenplay contests, though there are a few worthy of note. Slamdance has an annual TV script competition. UCLA Extension has the Television Writing Competitions, which are unusual in that they recognize excellence in both specs and pilots, and the odds of winning are much higher because only Writers’ Program students who have taken two TV writing classes are eligible. Check out Scriptapalooza and Final Draft’s Big Break competition as well. Whichever ones you enter, research them well before you send your script and entry fee. You want to make sure they are respected, are well connected, and can deliver on the promises they offer.

  Participating in workshops or internship programs offered by studios and networks is another excellent way to gain recognition as an emerging talent. The programs are designed to find promising writers and initiate them into the business; some focus on training racially or socially diverse writers. The Warner Bros. Television Writers’ Workshop is one of the most well known and the competition to get in is fierce. It meets for three consecutive months, one evening a week, on the Warner Bros. lot, and is free to those accepted. A friend of mine went through the workshop four years ago and said it was the best thing she had ever done to launch her career. She was taken through the steps of creating a spec pilot and was mentored by executives, who then put her forward for Warner Bros. shows. It’s a win for the studio as well because it builds a farm team of writers.

  NBC Universal’s Writers on the Verge is a similar program. Disney/ABC has an internship program where the participants are actually paid. Research them all. When your spec scripts are in the best possible shape and you think you know a thing or two about the business, go ahead and apply.

  The Writers’ Assistant

  Perhaps the most celebrated and straightest route to a staff job on a television show is working as a writers’ assistant. Working side by side on a show with writers can be a terrific way to learn what a television writer’s life is actually like. (The glamour will be stripped away fast—trust me.) Working on a show will clue you in to how a writers’ room works, which is another skill set you will need to develop as a TV writer. Learning to work with other writers will be critical to your success. The experience could also give you a boost to a freelance episode on the show and even a staff position. It’s been done. I have worked on several shows where the assistant was promoted to staff writer. Before we go there, let’s take a look at what the job entails.

  Most staffs on shows have an assistant to the writers, and the job can have various aspects to it. Essentially, the job is to care for the writers. That could mean supporting the entire writing staff or just the head writer/showrunner. Your task is to make life easier for the writers and ensure the script department runs smoothly, which could entail getting coffee, ordering lunch, replenishing office supplies, doing research for a story, and setting meetings with the network. The job could include taking detailed notes in the room when writers are “breaking story” (which means creating the story). You could also be script coordinator, which mea
ns proofing drafts of outlines and episodes, locking scripts for production, and generating revisions. The duties are primarily administrative, so if your organizational skills are top-notch, this could be the entry-level job for you.

  The advantage of working as a writers’ assistant is that you will get practical experience and see for yourself what a television writer’s job is all about. The pros’ creativity in a writers’ room, their ability to brainstorm concepts and structure story, to write drafts and submit them on time, and to address notes from both the story room and the network will all be played out before your eyes. These are aspects of the job you will need to master as a TV writer, and to observe experienced writers doing this can be the best education you will receive in the business. If you do succeed in securing this job, consider it a paid learning opportunity.

  Working as an assistant might also afford you the opportunity to write a freelance script for the show. Showrunners often allow their assistants to collaborate with a staff writer and write an episode, though don’t come to the job expecting it. Some showrunners don’t ever give their assistants scripts. Find this out before you take the job—ask around. Does the person you are going to work for promote from within?

  I spoke with one former writers’ assistant (now a staff writer) who said he worked on four seasons of three different shows before he was offered a freelance script. His advice? Do your job well. Learn as much as you can, but above all, take care of the writers for whom you are working. That way, they will become invested in your success as a fledgling writer. Happy writers are helpful writers.

  There can also be disadvantages to taking this career route. Currently, the writers’ assistant is a tough job to get. You will need to employ the same strategies to land this job as the ones you will be using to get hired as a writer. Attend events, enter competitions, network with fellow writers, get to know executives, have great material and get it read, and create a circle of professionals who are invested in your success. These are all the steps you will take to get someone to make a phone call on your behalf for a job on a show as a writers’ assistant. All that for what?

  Depending on the show and its budget, assistants are paid at or around minimum wage. Is it worth it? If you are single, with few financial commitments, I would say yes. Pursue it. If you are married with three kids and a mortgage, you might reconsider. Only you can decide. Before you start applying for the job, however, make sure you can do it. Otherwise, don’t waste your time.

  In addition, a possible drawback of working as an assistant is that, for some, it becomes a ghetto. Ten years working as an assistant and still no freelance script? It happens. Perhaps your writing isn’t strong enough to prompt your boss to give you that chance. Perhaps the drive for you to take that step is not in you.

  Another important aspect to a successful career in television is a willingness to engage in honest self-assessment. Is it really everyone else’s fault you didn’t get that promotion? Or is there something within you that’s holding you back? Go to your executive producer and ask what it is you need to do differently. The answer might surprise you and activate a new course of action. Constructive criticism is useful, so don’t argue back. If you need to scream, find a pillow.

  Establishing Yourself in Another Domain

  You think you aren’t cut out for the writers’-assistant route. You never were a gofer (“go for this, go for that”) and don’t plan to be one in the future. Are there any other ways into the TV writing business? Lucky for you, Hollywood loves both entrepreneurs and writers who have managed to establish themselves successfully in other mediums. If you are a playwright, your produced work could open doors for you in the television world. Showrunners often seek that unique voice to complete a writers’ room. Looking toward playwrights has become a frequent practice. If you are a playwright wanting to break in, you will need to find an agent right away to represent your work (more on that later). This doesn’t mean you don’t have to build your portfolio of TV spec scripts. You do.

  With the recent downtick in feature film production, there has been an influx of feature writers developing material for television. An executive producer who runs the company of an Oscar-winning director recently confided in me that the best writing in the industry right now is in television. And it’s no wonder. The work can be steady, lucrative, and immediate. A TV script can be written in April, shot in July, and air in September. For a feature writer, who can spend up to five years developing a script for production, this is music to the ears. So if you have several feature credits under your belt—yes, even low-budget, self-financed films that went straight to DVD—you will have some street cred in television. Again, you will need to have an agent and develop a firm strategy to launch yourself in the TV world.

  For those of you who haven’t established yourself in other mediums, you can go the entrepreneurial route. As you know, film and digital media have progressed today to the point where it has become economically feasible to write and produce your own material on a microbudget. You guessed it—I’m talking webisodes.

  A lot of creative people have tossed their hat into that ring and have produced their own material for the Internet. Anyone can shoot a three-minute minicomedy episode and post it on YouTube. Granted, the cyber universe has gotten pretty crowded and it’s more of a challenge to go viral than ever before. Nonetheless, creating webisodes and posting them online is a viable, creative enterprise for someone who wants to break into television. Sanctuary, a science fiction one-hour show, started as a six-part webisode series. Its popularity on the Internet drew Syfy’s attention. The show ran four seasons. Need I say more?

  Sustaining Your Career in Television

  You’ve sold your first script to television or gotten your first job on staff on a hot TV show. Now what? How do you keep the magic going? Not only that, but how do you keep it going for the next twenty-five years? A lot of what I covered in the “Launching a Career in Television” section of this chapter applies to managing a television writing career: keeping current on the market, always writing new material, and nurturing your relationships. But now they work on another level. Let’s take a look.

  Representation

  You may be surprised that I saved the discussion about agents, managers, and attorneys until now. In my conversations with various writers and agents working in the business, the opinion was unanimous: Find your first job and the agent will come. This doesn’t necessarily hold true for managers, but more on that later.

  Agents and Managers: What’s the Difference?

  An agent represents you in the television marketplace by submitting work to production companies and networks on your behalf, as well as solicits work for you. All reputable agencies in Los Angeles are signatories to the Writers Guild of America and are regulated by guild guidelines. For their work, agents take 10 percent of your gross income on all your television commissions, not including residuals. An agent can have up to twenty-five clients, though at the bigger firms, an agent can represent hundreds of writers as part of an agency team. The bigger writers/clients at these firms can have up to four agents representing them. Agents often represent writers who will be competing for the same jobs you are.

  At best, an agent is your business partner who knows and likes your work and will develop strategies with you to sell your material and staff you on television shows. Your agent also is licensed to negotiate deals for you. You must have an agent in order to work. Most producers and networks will not read work that hasn’t been submitted by an agency.

  A manager is like an agent in that he advises and opens doors for his clients; however, technically a manager is not allowed to solicit work on your behalf. Most of them do anyway, and honestly, you will want a manager who will look for work for you. The advantage of having a manager is that his client list is much smaller than an agent’s; therefore, he can devote more time to developing your career. Managers also commission 10 percent of your gross writing income and are not signatories to
the Writers Guild of America. They cannot negotiate contracts on your behalf.

  Often managers are working as producers, especially if you are developing original material. Managers can attach themselves to your projects as producers, and this can work to your advantage or not. On the plus side, numerous management firms have successfully launched television franchises as well as writing careers. Producing managers might also be able to attach talent (actors) to your project, which can sometimes increase your chances for a sale.

  That said, having a manager attached to your pilot could also hinder a sale. Television studios often do not want a manager on board as a nonwriting executive producer to a pilot. You could also find it difficult to attract top producers with a manager/producer attached. The producers’ fee is often set and they may not want to share it with someone else. When managers are attached as producers, they don’t commission 10 percent but negotiate their own credit and fee. Clearly, you will need to firmly establish the parameters of your business relationship with your manager before your television project hits the market.

  For you, the fledgling writer, a manager can also work to find you an agent. Many managers are former agents themselves, so their contacts can run deep within the industry. At their best, managers can bring another set of relationships to the table, increasing your access in the industry. They can also advocate for you when you are up for a job. After the agent, they can make that second phone call on your behalf to the network or showrunner. This can work to your advantage, especially if your agent has submitted multiple clients for the same job. The disadvantage of managers is that they are not regulated and anyone with a modicum of experience in the industry can hang a shingle and call himself a manager. Bottom line: Verify your manager’s bona fides.