The document discusses various job roles within the media industry, including scriptwriters, commissioning editors, producers, agents, and corporations. Scriptwriters come up with scripts to sell to production companies. Commissioning editors evaluate scripts for suitability and provide briefs to scriptwriters. Producers oversee all aspects of production and distribution. Agents represent scriptwriters and help sell their scripts. Corporations own subsidiaries and have more resources than independent companies. Legal and ethical considerations like censorship, copyright, and watershed ratings must also be addressed within the media industry.

1. Job Roles Within the
Media Industry
Unit 4,5,24,31
BY MUSTAFA SAID

2. How Job Roles Link
 There are many stages of how a professional production is created. Firstly, a
scriptwriter will come up with a script in order to sell to companies of either film,
television or theatre. Once the script is finalized, the scriptwriter calls an agent
who then contacts other companies that wold want to buy the product and
negotiate the pricing. The script is then taken to a commissioning editor that
decides if the product is suitable for what they are looking for. If so, the product is
finalised by the producer and he/she will make the call if they want to proceed as
the producer is in control of the whole operation.

3. Commissioning Editor
 A commissioning editor is an essential buyer of the product (script). They are given
the product and they edit the product meaning they take out things that may seem
irrelevant or they would new suggestions making the product suitable for their needs.
They make sure that they are able to find new ideas from scriptwriters and give out a
brief. The brief decides if the content is suitable to be aired before or after watershed
on television for example. Scriptwriter would usually find commissioning editors
online and have them look through their product in order to sell. The commissioning
editor then approves if its very suitable and then pass it on to the producer.
 An example of a great Commissioning Editor is Ewan Angus who has worked with
the BBC in Scotland for more than 25 years. He was known to commission edit the
show ‘A History of Scotland’.

4. Screenwriter
 A screenplay writer is also called a screenwriter for short. A scriptwriter, is
someone who practices on how to screenwriter, writing screenplays for media
such as films, television programs, comics or video games. Screenwriting is
done as a freelancer (A freelancer or freelance worker is a term commonly used
for a person who is self-employed and is not necessarily committed to a
particular employer long-term) profession by anyone even without any
education, anyone can become a screenwriter as there is no process in
becoming one. In order to become a screenwriter you must need to have good
storytelling abilities and imagination. Screenwriters are not hired by companies
but are contracted freelancers.
 Most, if not all, screenwriters start their careers writing on speculation (spec)
and so write without being hired or paid for it. If such a script is sold, it is
called a spec script(A spec script, also known as a speculative screenplay, is a
non-commissioned unsolicited screenplay. It is usually written by a
screenwriter who hopes to have the script optioned and eventually purchased
by a producer, production company, or studio).

5.  Every screenplay and teleplay begins with a thought or idea, and screenwriters use their
ideas to write scripts, with the intention of selling them and having them produced. In
some cases, the script is based on an existing property, such as a book or person's life
story, which is adapted by the screenwriter. The majority of the time, a film project gets
initiated by a screenwriter. The initiator of the project gets the exclusive writing
assignment They are referred to as "exclusive" assignments or "pitched" assignments.
Screenwriters who often pitch new projects, whether original or an adaptation, often do
not have to worry about competing for assignments and are often more successful.
When word is put out about a project a film studio, production company, or producer
wants done, they are referred to as "open" assignments. Open assignments are more
competitive. If screenwriters are competing for an open assignment, more-established
writers usually win the assignments. A screenwriter can also be approached and
personally offered a writing assignment.
 One famous scriptwriter is Quentin Tarantino who has not just written but
directed many famous films such as Desperado, Kill Bill and Pulp Fiction

6. Producers
 In the film and television industry, a producer is responsible for many things such as looking after different
projects from conception till completion. Producers are also responsible for finance, marketing their
product and distribution. For example, if a film was completed and had a release date, in advance the
producer will have to advertise the film and how it will be consumed by the target audience. The producer
will make this happen by having trailers or posters made and the film can be distributed to the cinema,
online streaming sites, DVD or Blu-ray. The producer also has to supervise everything from production to
post production while also keeping up to date with the director about scenes and characters on the given
production
 A producer arranges funding for each project and keeps the production within the given budget. For
example, a film producer will use the ‘dragon’s den’ method in order to convince investors to fund their
film and why. With the given amount of the investors’ money, the producers must try to make sure the
money is spent well on necessary and relevant equipment. The producer focuses on not blowing the given
budget in order to also save money so that the cast and crew and make more profit out of it.
 Producers always have a range of contacts and make new ones too. These contacts are people who have
important job roles within the same industry and can be very useful. For example, if I knew a person who
makes props and was very skilled and had experiences in television and films I would ask that person to
work in my production. This is also because it is the producer’s job to hire the director and crew to shoot
the production whether for film or television. This means the producer also creates and is control of the
shooting schedules.
 An example a Famous producer is Iain Smith who has produced Oscar winning and Nominating films such
as Mad Max.

7.  Any graduate is welcome to become a producer, however to increase your chances at getting the job a degree or HND
would help. HND stands for Higher National Diploma which further educates you in your subject, takes two years to
complete and is equivalent of two years at university. With this you may get qualifications in job roles such as broadcasting,
communication and media studies, information technology/multimedia and photography/film/television. Entry without a
degree or HND is possible, but most producers are educated to degree level. Courses containing practical work experience
may also increase your chances in success as this industry is very competitive. Most graduates may need some previous
experience so that you can give evidence of your practical skills and your work.
 Skills for this specific job role is necessary. There are many skills one must require in order to become a successful producer.
You must be confident in yourself and in what you are trying to achieve. Confidence is key and without it you may not
achieve your goal. This is because, for example, if I was to make big contacts within the industry, I will need to be able to
socialize and talk to different people. If you are not confident with your production, there may be errors caused as you won’t
want to put any effort into it. You also need strong communication, leadership and people skills. You must know what your
audience want and should be able to instruct your cast and crew in control in the way you want. Presentation and pitching
skills are also a must. This is because, for example, when you go to Investors to help fund your production, you would want
to be able to convince them why they should invest in you and what makes your production a guaranteed success.
 Time management skills are necessary. For example, you should be able to manage your time for when auditioning your cast
and crew, hold meetings with the director and should be able to spend your time at the studio during the production. This is
important as you don’t want to be rushing around and stressing over time. You must be professional and manage your time
calmly. Handling stress is very important as you should be able to cope under pressure. You don’t want to be under pressure
and look unprofessional. This would make some of your cast and crew not to work with you again and your success rate may
drop making people not want to hire you.

8. Agents
 An Agent is someone who takes care of looking after their client by getting
them work within the industry. In this case, a scriptwriter gives his product
which is the script to the agent who will negotiate and sell their product to
big companies. This is as the agent usually has many contacts within the
industry such as producers from different companies big or small. The
agent will then talk to their contacts in order to sell and negotiate a price
for their clients product. The agent also work on commission meaning he
gets a certain share/percentage from the money his client is getting paid
from selling the script.

9. Commissioning Bodies
Corporation
 A corporation is a business company that owns other subsidiaries meaning other smaller
companies they have bought in order to end competition with them. They also make more than
other independent companies due to this reason. A corporation is also a well established company
that are given broadcasting rights for television.
 Corporations also will tend to have a higher wage therefore having even more job prospects in the
future due to the company earning a lot of money. Being able to work in such corporation are seen
as very impressing however, applying to such companies are very difficult. This is as the company
would want very highly skilled individuals and also the competition between individuals to gain the
same position they aim for. A scriptwriter would contact a corporation or an independent company
to find a brief. Yet again, due to the amount of competition, the script is less likely to be
commissioned.
 An example for a corporation company within the media industry is Disney as they own many other
subsidiaries such as Marvel productions and Pixar which caused Disney to make large profits and
eliminate competition.

10. Independent
 On the other hand, Independent companies do not own any broadcasting
rights. This is because they do not have much power as they own no
subsidiaries and so do not make a lot of money as corporations. This
means these companies only work amongst themselves and so getting a
job is a lot easier is there is not much competition. However, for example,
if a scriptwriter is to be better off with independent companies yet would
not receive as much money for their script as the companies do not make
large profits.

11. Legal and Ethical Consideration
 Within the film/media industry, codes of practice and regulations are studied and practiced during
pre-production within all projects whether it be films or television programs. This is because the
productions given out to the public have to be contain suitable content for the given target
audience in order to not get sued by other individuals or not have their productions banned or
cancelled. For this reason two companies such as the BBFC and Ofcom exist. Even if a production
has unsuitable content for certain audience members, they are given an age rating suitable for the
right audience members.
 There are legal actions every production must take including having the permission to use copyright
material and/or product placement. Just before production all cast and crew must be familiar with
safety and hazard precautions and even be aware of who appears in the production as some people
would not like being shown on camera. Public liability is another legal action every production
company must take while filming such as having permission to film at certain locations and warn
people that filming is taking place so that they are aware and not be in danger of any production.
For example, if there is an action scene being filmed, the people near should be aware to be sure
they don’t get involved or are not part of a serious injury such as getting hit by a car are getting
involved in a fighting scene performed by professionals. Most companies would usually have
insurance to cover the mess for example, if any of their employees get injured. Every company
during pre production therefore take safety precautions and have a route for the nearest hospital
and an ambulance ready on set just in case of an injury.

12.  Regulations in the film industry such as censorship exists. Censorship helps the
industry to remove any content within the media text that may be too sensitive for
the public target audience to handle. They would move any content that is politically
unacceptable or a disgrace against a certain race or religion. Although most people
agree and/or disagree there are many advantages as well as disadvantages towards
censorship. One advantage is that censorship may prevent conflict. For example if a
film or television program was to have hateful or disrespectful content aiming a
specific religion or race, it may get those targeted audience angry therefore causing
war or other problems. Censoring that specific content may be then helpful to
prevent it. If a film for example included military information and secrets, that will
tend to strictly be remove as if another country was plotting to attack that military,
their classified information would be enough to give such terrorists intelligence to
attack them.
 If a film or program was to have very violent content or sexual scenes, they can also
be removed as children can be affected by it as it teaches or shows them things they
should not know about at all as they would start to want to experience the same
things they watch which can mentally damage and corrupt their minds.

13.  One of the biggest arguments with censorship is that people believe they are
entitled to their freedom of speech and should be allowed to express their own
views and opinions on things. Censorship however would stop that from
happening as they would stop people’s freedom of speech being exposed to the
public. People have different opinions amongst each other and have a different
way of managing their lifestyle and work. Censorship believes to only promote the
opinions and lifestyle that are morally acceptable. This may offend people with
immoral roles such as a pornographic actor/actress.

14. Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988
 Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988 is the current copyright law within the UK. This allows a
creator of any work or project to have authority of not letting anyone copy their his/her work
whether it be published or broadcasted or released to the public. In most cases, the creator is
given permission to have authority over their work unless they give permission to others to use
their material. Copyright protects written, theatrical, musical and artistic works. For example 2
brothers, Faraz Saddiq and Ayaz Saddiq from Leeds were arrested as they both had illegal film
websites which were ‘www.filmzzz.com’ and ‘www.legalmovies.tv’. Both of these websites had
copyrighted movies that the public were allowed to stream online but the websites itself was
not granted by any of the copyright holders to upload or distribute such material. This known as
Piracy which is illegal as the film production companies do not make money off their projects
due to watching them illegally for free online. They were warned that they were committing a
criminal offence under section 107(2A) of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and were
asked to remove all such material. On the other hand some people are allowed to take
inspiration from original work and projects. For example, If I was to make an action film inspired
by the A team and have 4 main characters yet a different plot yet similar, that is acceptable.
However, if I was to copy the whole story line and have the same characters and name, I can be
sued for that as I am making money off of someone else’s work and ideas without their
permission. If someone wants to use copyrighted work, they will need to seek permission to use
it and pay a fee to use it. However, you can use someone else’s same work or ideas once the
copyright has expired which is 70 years after the copyright is published. However, the author
may renew the copyright to add an additional 70 years meaning you will need to seek
permission. You cannot seek copyright protection for an idea, so before you decide to share
ideas with a third party, make sure you make a sign a non-disclosure agreement.

15. Watershed
 Watershed is the time when certain television program may or may not be
broadcast, this is a method used to specifically help take television shows that are
not acceptable for a younger audience, and decide when that program should be
played. For instance, shows such as ‘Teletubbies’ will obviously be shown before
the watershed time of 9pm, as it has no violence, and language, is family friendly
and is meant for the children. However, when films are broadcast on television,
films such as ‘Legend’ this will be broadcasted after 9pm for the adult audiences
so that it will not be viewable by kids due to its violent nature. Watershed is also
a part of OFCOM, so is regulated through the exact same way. However,
sometimes people aren’t happy with the use of their watershed, which is shown
by the viewers of ‘Coronation Street’ as many people complained about the use
of swearing within the show in a particular episode that was shown before 9pm,
and forced OFCOM to keep an eye out for any episodes prior to this for a short
period of time, in case of it including a similar increase of bad language used.

16. Defamation Act
 The defamation act was brought in to place in order to change the law
surrounding defamation and to ensure that a fair balance between the
protection of reputations and freedom of expression was being established.
Defamation is when a false accusations are made on someone, causing the
victim to retaliate against these false claims. In longer terms ,the law of
defamation allows individuals, groups of individuals, companies or firms to sue
for damage to their reputation. You can defame someone by publishing material
in various forms and people can sue so long as the material can be reasonably
understood to be referring to them Via: newspapers or other printed media,
Broadcasting on radio and TV, On the web, this also includes online forums and
social media sites, and by email.
 In the UK the act of defamation can be defended in several ways, these are first
of all proving the information that has been spread is true, some cases can
include more than point these accusations have to have evidence backing up
their truthfulness. Defamation must not include personal opinions so even if
someone posts their opinion which due to their influence damages the
reputation of the target they cannot be sued for defamation.

17. Libel
 It is important within the media under the Libel Act, it states that the
media can not do damage to any individuals reputation using false
reputation or evidence against him/her. Even just to make fun of certain
people using misinformation can cause a court sentence having the
scriptwriter being sued.
 A scriptwriter should take extra precaution to make sure their material do
not damage or person’s reputation or have a false accusation or claim
against them. This can look very bad for the scriptwriter as if he/she is
sued, their reputation go low and its kept as a bad record meaning for
them to find a job again will be more difficult or no work in the future.