1. The role of the writer in the
commissioning process

2. ‘Spec’ Scripts
• A writer writes without being paid
• Targets a particular potential producer
/ production co for development
• Research essential – to know what
they are looking for ‘next’
BBC Commissioning
Channel 4 Commissioning
• Sometimes known as a ‘calling card’
script
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_
D-QLo4lxD8
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w
DIZuMIZ_c8

3. ‘Optioned’ Scripts
• There are two main types of
optioned scripts.
• A script is ‘optioned’ when
it is bought from a writer
with a view to being made.

4. ‘Optioned’ Scripts
• The first type of optioned script is when
a speculative script is bought from the
writer who wrote it.
• Usually happens in film industry
(sometimes in TV, eg literary
adaptations)
• A Producer buys your script with the aim
of finding funding to produce it.
• You could receive anything from 1p to
£10,000
• The Producer usually has ownership of
the script for a year to find the funding,
they can’t sell it to anyone else.

5. ‘Optioned’ Scripts: An example
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The King’s Speech (2009)
Written by David Seidler
Produced by Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Gareth
Unwin
Worked on the idea in the 70s and 80s, when he
heard that the king’s speech problems mirrored his
own.
The Queen Mother asked that the film not be
made in her lifetime.
Wrote it as a stage play in 2005
It then reached the producers at Bedlam
Productions, who sourced funding from the
Lottery and BFI to make the film.
Won 4 Academy awards, including best Picture and
Best Original Screenplay
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzI4D6dyp_o

6. ‘Optioned’ Scripts
• The second type of optioned
script is where a producer buys
(or ‘options’) the rights to an
existing property, such as a novel,
comic book or play.
• The rights may often sit with the
producer for years without
getting made
• The producer will seek a writer
who can adapt the existing work
into a screenplay

7. ‘Optioned’ Scripts: An example
• No Country for Old Men (2007)
• Original Novel written by Cormac
McCarthy
• Produced by Scott Rudin, who
bought the frights to the book
shortly after release
• Rudin approached Joel and Ethan
Coen with the idea of adapting the
novel in 2005
• The Coens adapted the screenplay
and then directed the film, which
was released in 2007, winning 4
Academy awards, including Best
Picture, and Best Adapted Screenplay
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y
BqmKSAHc6w

8. ‘Optioned’ Scripts...
• Important to find a Producer who
can access funding for development
& production.
• Ideal option – get your script
‘packaged’: get on board a producer
who has access to money, some
names signed as cast, a potential
director & possible sales /
distribution opportunities lined up.
Film 4 Funding
UK Film Council Talent Development
Fund

9. Other roles...
• Script Readers often
employed to read through &
select appropriate scripts for
further consideration
(incorrectly formatted scripts
immediately rejected).
• Once script has been
accepted, it undergoes a
development process.
• Script Editors involvement,
rewriting.
Script Reader & Script Editor
Job Descriptions

10. Agents
• Some production companies
will not read unsolicited
scripts
• Require writers to have an
agent
• Spec scripts will often be
sent to agents in order to
find writer work
• Will take 10-15% of cut from
fees
• They will endeavour to find
work for the writer and to
get their work seen by
producers

11. ‘Commissioned’ Scripts
• When the scriptwriter is paid
to produce a script/s for a
specific purpose / existing
concept i.e. a series or
episode, or a film.
• You are required to write &
re-write according to the
needs of the production.
• You are a ‘cog in the system’;
you have little creative input
in terms of shaping the piece.
• Often well paid work.

12. The Process
Spec Script
Gets optioned by
producer
Producer makes
film with
Director
Existing
Property
Gets optioned by
producer, and Writer
commissioned to
adapt,
Producer makes
film with
Director
Long running
series
Team of writers
commissioned to
write on long-term
basis
Producer (usually
employed by
channel)makes
programme with director