Julie Eckersley is SBS’s former head of scripted and previously spent nearly a decade at Matchbox Pictures. Inspired by sessions at the recent Future Vision Summit think tank, she outlines ways to improve the development process.
- Create a standard that we do five drafts and five polishes for every script.
- That being said, be flexible to what the process may need. Build in a contingency to development budgets that allows this flexibility to happen and variations on the process to be made for the project to get to the highest standard.
- What if screen agencies pre-approved three drafts when they were funding scripts so the project could keep moving without coming back through the whole process? You could build in an ‘opt out’ in case the project was not delivering.
- Start a podcast of industry ‘masterclasses’ that only talk about story craft.
- Let’s all make the language of ‘craft’ the foundation of our story conversations.
- What would happen if we all leant into the idea that taking an audience on an emotional journey was the most important factor in story creation?
- Create a forum or conversation where we can all share new and innovative methodologies we come up with that work – in development, production and post so we can help each other achieve excellence faster.
- Build mentoring into every role and everything we do. Regularly use your learnt expertise to elevate others.
- At the beginning of every project, take time to think the process through freshly. Look for opportunities to adapt or change depending on what the project most needs.
- What would happen if we collectively decided that we wanted to make Australia one of the top five creative powerhouses in the world?
- Imagine if we all committed to increasing our craft excellence in one area every year, for the rest of our careers.
- Remember that everyone in this process is just a human being, doing their best with their own stresses and pressures. This includes commissioners.
- What if we stopped thinking of a ‘showrunner’ in terms of America and accepted that we have our own ‘showrunner’ system, and while it is different for every show, our version usually involves a key creative team of the producer + writer/creator + director. We could even come up with a name for our version. Maybe the Creative Collective?
- What if we added just an extra two weeks to all our writing rooms?
- What if we added an extra four weeks to all our edits?
- Embrace that we are a trade – we learn our craft by doing – and build this into our systems more deeply. For example, every writers’ room has two student observers. This is the way physiotherapists etc. learn.
- Create time for the writer and director to spend two weeks doing a page turner to allow the director to get deeply immersed in the writer’s vision.
- Make sure writers spend time on set. This will give them a deeper understanding of the process of creating.
- Look to playwrights for great storytellers that want to step across to screen.
- Create pathways to share global intel. This is based on an idea of ‘all ships rise’. While we do have our own IP there is a lot we can share with each other that will bring us all up.
- A great producer will know who holds the singular voice and vision of the show and protect it. This may be more than one person. A great producer is a guardian.
- Let’s step into a deeper specificity in our stories. This does not require bigger budgets but deeper authenticity. Eg. Fleabag, I May Destroy You, Colin from Accounts.
- If a note is hard to hear, you can buy yourself time to process it by simply saying, “Let me think about that”.
- Make sure the core creative team or creative collective know what is at the heart of the project; the North Star. Clarify your shared vision and make sure your cast and crew are across this too.
- What if we started calling ‘notes’ – ‘thoughts’. “Here are my thoughts…”
- Start the notes process with really listening to what the writer is wanting to do.
- Or, as a writer, send your script with a narrative that talks the reader scene by scene through what you are trying to do, and why you made the choices you did.
- Accept that art does not exist without commerce, especially not in our industry. Let’s reconcile that this is the case and ask how we can use this truth to create even more powerful stories.
- Keep coming back to the question, “How will the audience feel when they are watching this?”
- Instead of passively waiting for a network exec to tell you what they want, do your research and then take to them what they need.
- Keep an audience focus right from the beginning; know why people are going to watch your show.
- Ensure the promise of the show is delivered in the idea as it develops.
- “Great drama is not about choosing between right and wrong, that’s easy. It is about choosing between two wrongs.” – David Mamet.
- Take wide gates to exciting places. Give the audience an entry point they can relate to. You need familiarity as well as surprise to keep viewers engaged.
- The first two minutes of your script it vital to keeping the audience engaged.
- Create clarity on what the show is about in the first 15 minutes. You don’t need to tell the audience everything, but you do need to anchor them in the world.
- “I believe that every story is a suspense story whether it is a comedy, a thriller or a drama. And the reason is that the two ingredients of a suspense is anticipation and surprise. Every story needs to fill the audience with an anticipation of what is going to happen next and hopefully when you get there it is surprising.
- … (and) suspense only works when you… (care about) the characters.” – Neil Landau
- Make sure you know what else is in the market that is like your show.
- Make sure your show knows what it is. Pick a lane.
- Ask yourself: What would pop for me about this show if I was a viewer?
- Baby Reindeer is a great example of a deeply personal show. Look for opportunities for deep honesty within your own writing.
- We are not just looking for ‘diversity’. We are looking to create real and complex characters.
- Genuine, authentic storytelling includes us all because it comes back to our shared humanity.
- When thinking of what stories you want to tell ask yourself, “What can I put out into the world so I don’t implode?”
- We all need tenacity. No one makes it in this industry without it. Be relentless.
- Remember that people primarily watch narrative content to feel – to laugh, cry, feel scared etc. Make sure your story delivers on this.
- Put your energy behind a narrative that moves you so strongly you just have to share it.
- Whether or not you get to share your story depends on how strongly you can enrol people into the vision you see and feel.
- Stories have the power to move hearts and minds because they enable people to suspend their intellectual walls and engage though emotion. In doing this we have the power to move fixed mindsets and create cohesion, empathy and understanding of others.
- Craft is the conduit between your story and your audience.
- The greatest power we have as storytellers is to create a point of view. Know which point of view your story is in.
- As an artist you need creative input as well as generating output. Look for opportunities to feed your soul. This will empower you more as a creator.
- That which is specifically, authentically and uniquely you will connect more deeply with others.
- Great storytelling has not changed that much since the beginning of time. We still need someone to root for and invest in.
- Look for opportunities in your writing to make the world bigger without relying just on budget. For example, you can add to the tension of a scene by setting it in an underground carpark rather than an office.
- Make creative rigour your baseline. Practice your craft and getting better at it every day.
- Find your creative tribe. Don’t look to people who are way ahead of you in their journey. You may get to work with them one day, but first look sideways and build a community of your peers so that you can elevate each other together.
- Invest in yourself and your own growth to excellence. Don’t wait for someone else to pay you for this.
- We (Australia) think of ourselves as mavericks, but we are really quite compliant. Let’s not limit our innovation. Look for opportunities to try new things and question the way things have always been done. “An industry without innovation withers on the vine.”
- Let’s move away from ‘Yes… but’; to ‘Yes… and’. Get into the habit of finding solutions and reasons why things could be possible.
- Let’s create a culture where failure is seen as part of success. When one of us fails they have learnt, and will be better next time. Let’s make sure we embrace the opportunities for people to keep getting better.
- Create more space in development and more space in post. These are two areas we can push for deeper excellence.
- Take control of being brave. Don’t let your fears and limitations limit you.
- Let’s explore different models of development and then share what we learn with each other so we can all find new processes that drive us to deeper excellence.
- What if there was a new level of development at screen agencies called ‘advanced development’. And it allowed projects that were already really strong to go to an even deeper level of brilliance.
- When we start the development process what would happen if we asked writers what they need to do their best work as a starting point and created a process from there.
- How can we learn as an industry to give and take really honest and helpful feedback?
- How do we build flexibility into the creative process from beginning to end? If we can do this through development, funding, commissioning, production and post we can all keep striving for new and better ways to get to excellence.
- Let’s think about what ‘courageous’ storytelling really is. Does it have to be dark, or is Bridgerton a brave show?
- Master the art of the pitch. You need to write your pitch with the same care as you wrote your show. Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. Create specific pitches tailored to the platform you are pitching to.
- When you are pitching a show know why it belongs on the platform you are pitching to.
- Explain your connection to the show and be clear and passionate about why you must tell this story and why it is the only story you want to tell.
- Execs are going to have to re-sell the show to many others if they like it, so make sure you give them the tools for that. Clarity on what the show is; a catch phrase they can repeat; or easy comps can all help.
- Create empathy for the key character and for the idea.
- When preparing your pitch play offence and defence. What do they want to hear from you and how can you counter any questions they may have.
- Make sure the narrative arc is clear. People will not buy something they do not understand.
- Whether the network requires it or not, writing the pilot script is a great way for you to really get to know your show before you pitch.
- If the show is funny, make sure the pitch is funny.
For more details about Julie Eckersley or to contact her go to: linkedin.com/in/julieeckersley/.