Learning aim A

 The job of a scriptwriter 

 

Script writer- what they are: 

A scriptwriter is a person who adapts a screenplay from a book, a short story or other written work as well as writing their own work and then they compose it in a way so that it would work in shows, films, radio, games and allows the reader to visualise the setting and feel the emotion portrayed in the script. The script writer also collaborates with the producer and director to draft and redraft their script to fit their ideas to finalise the script. script writers also have to take into consideration the elements that make up a good script such as showing respect which including people from different backgrounds, being aware of copyright as well as being aware of deformation, blasphemy obscenity and plagiarism as well as watershed and what could be considered as offensive towards certain demographics of people as it is their responsibility to make sure that the script follow these elements and that it flows nicely. 

 

Different types of scriptwriters: 

Radio scriptwriter-they create scripts for podcasts and other radio related work.

Television and film scriptwriter- create a script that fits what the show/movie is about and edit it with the producer and director to have the final script.

Game scriptwriter- compose story lines for video games as well as develop their stories this also includes making dialog for characters and background details for that character.

 

Obtaining work as a scriptwriter: 

 

Corporations-  

corporations are production companies such as Warner Bros, Universal and paramount pictures commission scriptwriters however you will have to be a well know successful scriptwriter as big companies like these do not take risk commissioning small time scriptwriters and these big production companies will have full ownership of the production and things such as funding, distribution, and marketing. 

 

Independent production companies- 

Independent production companies such as STX Entertainment, Sony pictures and IFC Films are more likely to take risks and get small time script writers and pick up their script and this applies to radio films and series. 

 

Organisations: 

Organisations can help scriptwriters find jobs as they help give them a kick start in writing and can give you a career in media also coming up with your own screenplay and ideas can help push your script and once your work has been accepted by and agency, company or producer it will help build your professional reputation and help you find a job easier. 

Starting out as a script writer:

When starting out as a script writer they will normally start with writing down their own pieces of work and screenplays and then try and sell them to agents and producers so they can get their work accepted and start to build a professional reputation so that later on they will have producers commission them to do some work for them and if they like their work the company will re-hire them so they can continue to do work for them or if they need them to re-write something in the script as well as polish the script as to make sure the script is catered to their needs.

Different hiring process for screen writers and radio writers: 

Radio writers usually get hired by companies and work with companies to write a script for the radio or podcast and work with the producers to draft the scripts and screen writers are freelancers and usually get hired by production companies to work with the directors, producers and the cast for films or tv series to draft the scripts and make improvements.  

 

Case study of film scriptwriter: 

Ryan Coogler an African American scriptwriter and director born on the 23rd of May 1986 in Oakland California. He attended Sacramento state university and later on USC school of cinematic arts and whilst there he directed four short films which later on won awards or were nominated for different awards. After graduating from USC he began developing his first featuring film called "Fruitvale Station" which was a true story of Oakland native Oscar Grant who was unarmed and shot in the back by police. And to make this film he partnered up with the Oscar winning actor Forest Whitaker who agreed to develop and produce the film.

Ryan Coogler, one of the scriptwriters for Black Panther and other popular films such as creed is a recipient of four NAACP image awards as well as four Black reel awards and has a Golden globe award nomination as well as two Academy award nominations. He made his debut with the independent film "Fruitvale Station" which won the Grand Jury prize as well as the Audience award for U.S. dramatic film He has also won the New York critics award as well as the satellite auteur award. His films have received widespread acclaim and commercial success. Ryan Coogler is also the youngest director to direct a film for the Marvel Cinematic Universe and helped direct two actors to an Oscar nomination: Sylvester Stallone and Angela Bassett. Ryan Coogler is aslo a member of the "Academy of Motion Picture Art and Sciences (AMPAS)

 

He has co-written and directed films such as creed one through three as well as the Marvel film Black Panther and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever which broke multiple box office records and became the highest grossing of all time by an African American. When it became time to write the script for Black Panther, he shared ideas with and collaborated with Greg Iwinski for certain scenes as well as the cast and other scriptwriters but because this was during the pandemic, they would all work on one document at the same time as well as being on zoom. and he has also said in an interview that he tries to pour himself into what he is doing and tries to stay in the moment. Usually in Cooglers work he often includes a scene where the lead character looks out over the landscape of their home town or country and he also includes scenes which includes flashbacks which are edited into a sequence when the lead is at their low point before their comeback he also includes scenes which have verbal altercations with a man from their past which then escalates into violence and he has done this through out the Creed series as well as well as the Black Panther movies Coogler has also worked on the movie "Space Jam: a new legacy" as well as the movie "Judas and the black messiah" Coogler is currently working on a project with Micheal B Jordan for an upcoming film “Wrong Answer”. 

 

Demands and requirements: 

Agent representation- it's important for a scriptwriter to have an agent as they look after scriptwriters' sales and will negotiate the sale of the scriptwriters work to the producers and publishers. Some producers and publishers will not accept scriptwriters unless they have an agent however if you have a well know agent you can get better deals and have bigger advantages because they will already have contact with a lot of people and if you submit work as a scriptwriter without an agent or manger it will be classified as an unsolicited submission and if you do submit work with an agent or manger it will be classified as an solicited submission. 

One requirement for a scriptwriter is that they need to have good communication because they need to be able to communicate their ideas efficiently when pitching they also need to communicate with others in the industry to get more opportunities. Another reason why communication is important is because scriptwriters need to communicate with their audience through their work.  

Another requirement for scriptwriters s they need to have good time management and be organised as they need to finish work on time as if they are behind this could cause the production to fall behind and end up losing money and if your time is not used usefully you could end up wasting time writing a script because it will remain unfinished for a long period of time and if it remains like this you may end up giving up on the script. When being commissioned for work time management is important because the writer has to work with the whole team which are relying on them for the script to be finished on time as if it's not done on time, it may put strains on relationships with the people that commission you and agents as well as producers. 

Different demands for screenwriters and game writers: 

Game writers don’t really need to think about copyright as they mainly write dialogue for the characters as well as the background characters, but they do need to think about censorship as well as libel as to not offend or write misinformation about religion, but screenwriters need to worry about every aspect of the legal and ethical considerations as they are creating characters and their stories which some may relate to and they need to be aware of copy write since they write in the same genre as other writers the writing can begin to look similar or even the same so they have to take all the factors of legal and ethical considerations into account.

 

Legal and ethical considerations for scriptwriters: 

Legal considerations- The legal requirements that a scriptwriter has to follow are copyrights and plagiarism. copyright protects original work and after the owner passes its only effective for 70 years after one way to avoid copyright is to get permission to use it or to not use it at all. Plagiarism is when two pieces of work are similar and is an actionable offence and if you do get plagiarised you will need to pay royalties to the copyright holder one way to avoid this is to do research on your work. 

One film that did not meet the legal requirements is “The Island” it was accused of plagiarism and copyright infringements as it was accused of copying elements of the 1979 movie “Parts: The Colonus Horror” due to this Dream Works payed a settlement to prevent a lawsuit. As the creators of the film "Colonus" presented 90 different instances where the film "the island" was identical to it and seven different critics have drawn comparisons between these two movies as in both movies clones are raised as a source of spare parts for humans and two clones escaped into the real world into California and try to shut down the cloning facility.

 

Ethical considerations- scriptwriter have to be careful of libel which refers to writing inaccurate or malicious things about a religion and business, so writers have to do research to avoid writing incorrectly or with malice as to not end up in trouble. Scriptwriters also need to be aware about bias as they are representing different kinds of people, religions, races and events as representation is an issue in media. Another thing that scriptwriters need to be aware of is censorship as they need to make sure that its appropriate for the age demographic they are targeting as well as it may involve the depiction of violence as well as drug use and sexual activity. One more ethical requirement scriptwriters need to take into consideration is watershed as after watershed anything can be put on as it is aimed towards adults and more adult content can be put on such as blood and violence. 

One film which did not meet the ethical requirements is “Make Them Die Slowly" which is also know as "cannibal ferox" which is considered the most violent movie ever and because of this it is banned in over 31 countries. As the characters were in the jungle and were trying to flee from cannibals after an unprovoked attack however we later find out that the characters actually murdered one of the cannibals own and the characters end up taking another Natives life causing the tribe to want revenge. 

 

Evaluation: 

The roles and responsibilities of scriptwriters across all forms of media are to work with the people around them like producers as well as the cast and directors to draft and redraft scripts so it fits with what they are writing about and matches the scene. scriptwriters also need to work with agents so they can get a good deal and pay rate but to also help get their work solicited and more likely to be chosen as they are freelancers and gain work through working with production companies and organisations. As a scriptwriter it is also crucial to have good time management as if they are behind on their work it could lead to thing getting behind and also lead them to lose money and strain the relationship they have with their producer and agent which are important as they want to get re-hired to do work and it also helps build them a professional reputation so they can get commissioned to do other work. It's also important for scriptwriter to take legal and ethical requirements into consideration as it can land them in legal trouble as well as getting them a bad professional reputation leading to their work not getting picked up and banned or having a bad public reaction. 

Bibliography: 

Greg, I. (2022) https://www.wgaeast.org/onwriting/episode-101-ryan-coogler-and-joe-robert- New York : Writers Guild of American East

Ben, T.(2022) https://www.empireonline.com/people/ryan-coogler/ London : Empire

 

Film and Tv drama screenwriters (2023) https://www.screenskills.com/job-profiles/browse/film-and-tv-drama/development-film-and-tv-drama-job-profiles/screenwriter/ London : screenskills