This document provides information about various job roles in the media industry for scriptwriting and production. It discusses the roles of commissioning editors, producers, scriptwriters, and agents. For commissioning editors, their main role is to find new ideas from scriptwriters to broadcast on TV and ensure the scripts match the brief or genre they are looking for. Producers have overall control of the production and bring the team together. Scriptwriters create the scripts and may pitch their ideas or work with agents. Agents help scriptwriters get their work noticed and sell their scripts. Examples of people in these roles are also provided.

1. Task 2
Unit 4, 5, 24, 31
Benjamin Karrass

2. Job Roles
As a scriptwriter who wants to publish their script they need to decide if they
want to go through an independent company or a corporation. If the script
writer decides to go with a corporation they will contact a commissioning
editor who will allow them to pitch their script to, as producers have met with
the commissioning editors they are able to show them what the scriptwriters
are offering allowing the producers to know what the corporation wants. An
agent will also help during the process if the corporation like the script. If they
decide to go with an independant company, it will be a bit different as it's not
as big, this might mean that both of the commissioning editor and producer
will be the same person. They also may not advertise for scripts meaning you
will have to go to them.

3. Job Roles - Commissioning Editor
Commissioning editors are the people who are ultimately in charge of what to commission when it
comes to script writers., and because they are in charge of commissioning it means they decide what
will be aired on TV. Commissioning editors are responsible for meeting up with producers of the
company they work for, this is where they would discuss what sort of programme or product they are
looking for in the media industry, this includes the timing they have available to fit shows in or even
what genre they want the product to be. After they have thought about their product they will publicly
advertise what they want for their channel and they would scout for people such as script writers for
them to pitch their scripts to them. If a script writer feels they have created something suitable for the
channel they would go out of their way and email the commissioning editors to arrange a meeting for
them to pitch their idea. If the pitch works out good and becomes a success the commissioning editor
will then work with the scriptwriter to further develop the ideas that the script offers. The
commissioning editors will then create different documents such as the treatment where they can get
an idea of what the end product may be for the channel. Both the Scriptwriter and the commissioning
editor start to create a pitch to show to the producers.

4. Job Roles - Commissioning Editor
The commissioning editors main role is to be able to find new ideas
from different scriptwriters that can be used to be broadcasted on
TV. the ideas the commissioning editors find off of scriptwriters
have to match the brief that they have set out. In the brief it
advertises what should be included for the script writers like if it's
after or before the watershed and what genre they want it to be.
The script must be appropriate for the specific genre or timing it
would be shown. The commissioning editors advertise the brief as
they want to find people suitable for the programme they want, by
them advertising the brief they will find people such as script
writers.

5. Job Roles - Commissioning Editor (Examples)
Steve Regan is a commissioning editor that works at Channel 5 at the
moment, Regan has launched TV shows such as Lip Sync Battle UK, this is a
huge successful Tv show on Channel 5 that averages around 1.9 million
viewers each week on friday at 10pm Steve also became co-commissioning
editor on Celebrity Big Brother. Before Steve Regan joined Channel 5 in 2015
he worked as Senior Editorial Director for MTV UK & Ireland and moved up
to Vice President of Commissioning and Production later in his career. At
MTV Regan commissioned and executively produced eleven series of Geordie
Shore and three series of Ex On The Beach. Regan will also be commissioning
popular factual and factual entertainment for the 10pm and 11pm slots on
Channel 5, with the potential to be shared across MTV and Comedy Central.

6. Job Roles - Commissioning Editor (Examples)
Another commissioning editor is Kate Phillips. She is responsible for
entertainment commissioning across BBC Television channels, BBC iPlayer
and BBC Three, maintaining the success of current shows as well as finding
new shows to broadcast over the channels. Kate phillips covers Saturday
night family shows such as Strictly Come Dancing and Let It Shine also other
shows such as Have I Got News For You, Mock The Week, this shows she
covers different genres in the media industry for the different BBC channels.
Kate Phillips says: “The BBC has some of the biggest entertainment brands in
the world” She has a lot of responsibilities as she commissions over 200
different titles for BBC which include Top Gear and The Office. Before Kate
worked for the BBC worldwide for all of the BBC channel she only worked on
BBC One and BBC Three as the channel executive.

7. Job Roles - Producer
The producer has overall control over the whole operation with the channel
they are creating. The produces are also the ones who get accounted for the
success of the finished show. The producer has overall control on the whole
production in every aspect. They bring together and approve the whole
production team . if the commissioning editor find a script that works with the
breach they will bring it to the producer and the producer will review it and
decide if that is the script the are going to use for their production. A contract
is signed if the script is what the producer has chosen to work with. A contract
won't be signed without the producer's permission. Producers have many
responsibilities that include selecting screenplay, finding the right script,
make sure everyone is on task . One main responsibility is making sure that
the crew is in an environment where they can work without distractions.

8. Job Roles - Producer
Producers would usually have experience with working in the film and TV
industry . it is important for the producers to have a creative mind in order to
make a successful and unique production for the media industry, having a
creative mind allows the show to be more unique and different to the other
shows creating a bigger audience. As the main purpose of creating a show is
to create profit the producer needs to have a good financial understanding
and be able to secure the finance for the product. Producers would need to
know to work under pressure as anything can happen to them during the
production, they should always be able to motivate the production team to
make sure everything is done for the right date. This means that the
producers communication skills are vital.

9. Job Roles - Producer (Example)
Robert Kirkman is a producer for AMC, AMC have created many different TV
shows that Robert has produced these include the walking dead and
invincible for image comics that are now Tv shows Aired on tv. Robert started
his career without TV shows but with creating comics, his first comic was
created in the year 2000 named Battle Parody. He also created other comics
in his early career but over time he created the walking dead as a comic that
ended up becoming a hit show. The walking dead are still comics but it also
has many shows such as the talking dead and fear the walking dead.

10. Job Roles - Producer (Example)
One other producer that airs Tv shows is Steven Spielberg, he is one of the
most influential film producer in the history of film from his projects. He has
created film like, Saving Private Ryan, Schindler's list, Catch Me If You Can
and many more. Steven is one of the most wealthiest film producers in the
world who is worth around 3.6 Billion Dollars. He started as an assistant
editor for the film wagon train in 1957. After a while he started his early
producing and directing years creating battle squad in 1961. This was his first
attempt as a producer that then lead him on to producing many big name
films today. Steven Spielberg is still creating new film every year such as
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.

11. Job Roles - Script Writers
The scriptwriter is the person who creates and writes the script. It is the
person that comes up with the ideas for the production based on the brief.
The scriptwriter has creative control over what they write, but when they are
commissioned there are multiple rules the script writer may need to follow.
Scriptwriters would go online to look for different commissions where they
may be looking for scripts and when the scriptwriter find a good suitable
commissioner with a good brief the scriptwriter would then write a script
based on the brief.
When the writer finishes the script they would then go to their agent who
would then add any final detail and then publish the script online for
commissioning editors to view.

12. Job Roles - Script Writers (Example)
George R.R. Martin is a novelist and writer in the fantasy, horror, and science
fiction genres, not only is he a writer but he is also a producer for his biggest
show Game Of thrones. George created Game Of Thrones as a book and
became very popular in the market. As the Books were so popular George
decided to create a show about it and it has done very good out on TV. he is
also well known for writing the series Beauty and the beast in 1989. He is still
writing scripts and novels for a Tv movie named night flyers as the HBO
Series Game of thrones has just finished its 7th season and are now getting
read to start writing season 8 with the help of George.

13. Job Roles - Script Writers (Example)
Leigh Whannell is a scriptwriter who has written many different horror films.
His main agenda is in fact horror films as he has wrote scripts for big movies
such as Saw, Insidious and the bye bye man, he is still writing scripts for
upcoming films such as Insidious:The Last Key. At the age of 4 Leigh Whannel
was obsessed with telling stories whether it was through filmmaking acting or
writing. In 1995 Leigh was accepted into the the Royal Melbourne Institute of
Technology's prestigious Media Arts course. At his course he met a famous
film maker james wan who is also known and specialises in many horror films.
Over time Leigh started to work with James Wan and produce and create
films scripts for productions such as insidious. Leigh had written the
screenplay for what he thought would be a self-financed this was saw.

14. Job Roles - Agent
Most script writers would have an agent who will help their script get noticed in
the world, they would also help their product sell. Agents do most of the
negotiations when it comes to selling the scriptwriters script to companies. Most
agents have a past with different contacts of companies who may be interested in
scripts that scriptwriters produce and are willing to buy their products. This allows
them to find someone quickly who is willing to buy the script they offer. For an
agent it's important for their client to find work and achieve relationships with
decision-makers in order for them to take on their clients. Agents would make
their money off a percentage they receive off their clients such as a scriptwriter
from the work they have produced. Skills such as being able to create contacts
with social skills are important as an agent as they need to be prepared to give
different contacts to people in the media industry for their clients.

15. Job Roles - Agent (Example)
An example of an agent for a scriptwriter is Lily Williams. Lily
became an agent in 2011 for the Television industry. She
worked in Ben Hall representing different writers and directing
talent, theatre, Film and television. Lily Williams has multiple
clients she works with, she also joined Curtis Brown in 2005 after
a career in politics, as she worked with curtis brown for 10
years it has taught her many things and is grateful for working
with Ben Hall.

16. Commissioning Bodies Involved-
Corporations
A corporation is an established company with rights to broadcast on TV. A corporation is a
business that owns many other companies which means they earn more money than smaller
independent companies. A script writer would go to either an independant company or a
corporation to look at a brief to write a script about. As corporations earn quite a lot of money a
script writer who works for them will most likely receive a higher wage. When working for an
established company it will look good for the future when finding another job based in the same
area you worked with when working in the corporation. However to get a job in a corporation
isn't as easy as people may think. As it is a very good job a lot of people may also want the job so
you need to show the people hiring that you're the person they want and you provide the right
skills, as there is a lot of competition when applying for this job.

17. Commissioning Bodies Involved-
Independant Companies
An independant company is not as big as a corporation as they don't have as much power.
As independent companies are not big they don't have the same rights meaning they don't
have rights to broadcast. Independant companies only work for themselves this means
they don't own any subsidiaries. Although in the independent companies they aim to still
broadcast their products out to the media, they do this to get as much attention as
possible so they can progress as a company. As a scriptwriter who is looking for work it
would be easier to find a job in an independant company as they are more likely to be
brought on board as there isn't as much competition between other companies compared
to a corporation. However in an independant company they don't receive as much profit
compared to a corporation so their wages may be less and won't receive as much money
for their script. An example of an independant company is Twofour who created programs
such as This time next year and Educating Greater Manchester.

18. Role Of the Scriptwriter
The role of the script writer is to create scripts for movies and TV shows depending on
their brief. The people who read the scripts need to imagine as the story is really
happening and how it will work on screen. The scriptwriter would write their scripts in
the format of dramatic construction as it is important to fit the aspects the industry
want of the script. For example the BBC’s commissioning editors of both corporations
and independent companies are usually just freelancers. They would either pitch their
ideas to the commissioning editors to allow them to see if their script would be worth
showing to the producers. Most of the time scriptwriters would have agents that help
them sell their scripts instead of them pitching their scripts to commissioning editors of
different companies. Scriptwriters would need skills such as understanding a story and
the brief for how the producers would like their script to be about and also other skills
are having a good understanding of the different ways films have effects on the
audience.

19. Laws And Ethics- Copyright (As a Scriptwriter)
If a scriptwriter was to copy someone's script it would be very unethical as their idea wouldnt be
creative or original. People would be able to spot their someones script was copied as another
film or Tv show would have somewhat the same story. People wouldn't be able to sell their script
to companies as they would know if it has been copied or not. Also companies cannot risk taking
on scripts that may be too similar to other people's work as the may get sued by the other
companies and people wouldn't want to risk it.

20. Laws And Ethics- Copyright
The Copyright Law gives the creators of literary (books, song lyrics), dramatic (plays, dance),
musical (recordings, score), artistic works (photography, painting) and films the right to control how
their content may be used. The rights cover, broadcast and public performance, copying, renting
and lending copies to the public. The act was introduced to protect the investment of time, money
and effort by the people who have created original pieces of work. The act has two main purposes.
Firstly, to ensure people are rewarded for the work, and secondly to give protection to the
copyright holder if someone tries to copy or steal their work. An example of a breach to the
copyright, design and patents act was between Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica. 20th Century
Fox sued Universal Studios (Battlestar Galactica) for copyright infringement and claimed that it had
stolen 34 distinct ideas from Star Wars, including a character called Skyler, which was similar to
Star Wars’ Skywalker. Universal Studios countersued, saying Star Wars had stolen ideas from the
1972 film Silent Running. After all, the case was decided in favour of Battlestar Galactica, but, the
original Battlestar Galactica had been cancelled and the new Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

21. Laws And Ethics- Copyright
In some cases where someone else uses someone’s product, they would often be credited for it
somewhere on the work. For example, in a youtube video someone may use someone else's music
so they would link that person's content from where they got it from in the description of the video.
someone else is still able to write their own book or Movie around the same idea, provided they do
not directly copy or adapt the same idea that you came up with. If you don’t show evidence for
creating the idea before someone else comes up with the same idea, the work would not be
protected. The person who comes up with the idea of a book owns the right of it, but if you are
owned by a company to people who hired that person who came up with the idea means that the
idea is owned by that company. It is up to the creator to copyright their work. They may mark their
work with the international copyright symbol © followed by their name and the year of creation.

22. Laws And Ethics- Censorship
In order for the script to be published as sold to a company and made into a production they
need to check that the script follows all the ethics and media laws. The laws include Censorship,
copyright and watershed. If the script contains inappropriate things such as violence or bad
language it would need to be broadcasted after the watershed.
Censorship is a big part of the media industry as it stops unfamiliar culture to the young age
such as promoting racism. This also includes content that won't scare a younger generation if it
isn't before the watershed. Its part of the law to follow the censorship on any free channel
broadcasted on TV in the UK, this is untill the watershed and then people will be able to
broadcast more mature content for older viewers that include violence and bad language.
Essentially censorship is suppressing people freedom of speech as some content cannot be
broadcasted during the day.

23. Laws And Ethics- Libel
The Libel act states that the media cannot do damage to someone's reputation by
misrepresenting or using fake information, however over the past couple of years the
media has taken the mick out of different genres of media such as religion or race, this is
mostly about the media who take the mick out of people, using misinformation can cause
an actual court sentence and could cost the company lot of money if they don't respect the
Libel Laws. The scriptwriter would be the one who gets the sentence as he/she is the one
who came up with the idea of it and overall wrote the script of the Programme or movie,
they can faced being sued.
When scriptwriters create a script they need to make sure that what they are writing
about does not damage anyone's reputation because this can lead to suing that company.
This will give the scriptwriter a bad reputation meaning for the future it will be harder for
the scriptwriter the get a job or other future work.

24. Laws And Ethics- Watershed
The watershed is a period of time on TV which allows other content to be viewed, this content
wouldn't be appropriate for a younger audience. The watershed is a time which splits both
daytime and nighttime television. The watershed is by OFCOM for broadcasting in britain, is
the time where programmes with adult content is aired on TV, the time this takes place is 9pm
till 5am. This is because more young viewers would not be watching Tv around this time so it is
safe to broadcast more mature content as adults will still be up watching TV. The Watershed
splits the time between when more young and sensitive minds are asleep. The 9pm watershed
allows people to know when it's safe to broadcast their shows, it is illegal to broadcast any
content that may be sensitive for younger viewers before the watershed so companies need to
abide by the rules.The content that will be shown during the watershed may include violence,
swearing, nudity, gore and drug use which is all unsuitable for children's viewing. As a
scriptwriter it is important to make sure that the commissioning editor has made it clear that
the brief includes content for before or after the watershed and included if it is going to be
broadcasted after the watershed so the scriptwriter knows what to write about. This is
important as a scriptwriter because they want to be commissioned and sell their script.