TELEVISION

The most lucrative form of script writing is writing for television. There are many different types of writing in this area, the main ones being sit-com, hour-long drama series, mini-series, serials, soap operas, and Movie of The Week (MOW)

None of these fields are easy to get in, but they are open for all to try.

THE UK

In the UK one submits sample works of various kinds to script editors who assess whether they can use you in series drama and soap operas, and then you pitch ideas for the series or write sample soap opera episodes under their guidance.

With sit-coms you submit sample script and original formats to Comedy heads, who read and assess whether they want to make a pilot for a single author comedy series. US sit-coms rarely have one writer, whereas UK sitcoms nearly always do.

There are no Movies of the Week, but the British Film Industry is closely related to the TV industry and one seeks out relationships with production companies and directors through submitting original scripts to them before contacting Commissioning Editors for such TV Channels as Channel 4.

Long form series, mini-series, and serials are more complicated and often driven by writer producers working within the companies. Nowadays many top writers have created their own independent production companies developing various projects that are then taken to the TV Channels as fully developed packages.

Where does that leave you? Essentially you have three options. Firstly, if you write theatre plays or radio plays and have had them produced then you can introduce yourself to Series producers to be considered for their shows. Or you can write Sit-coms, where the marketing is relatively straight forward. You write something, you submit it to a producer looking for new sitcoms, and they read it and assess it. Or you can write original screenplays with some easy connection to standard TV genres.

So if you write a detective thriller with a strongly realistic flavour to it, then you can submit that to one of the many cop shows. If you write human dramas in the form of a TV film then perhaps the hospital series people will take a look at you. And so on. There is a trend towards a more American approach where you write Speculative episodes of various different TV shows and send those in for assessment, but this is seen in the UK as amateur, where in the US it is seen as the professional approach.

There is no assumption that you have an agent in the UK, (Agents will dispute this.)  but if you do have one, the agent will be assessing your material and trying to get it to the shows at the right time when they are taking on new writers. Timing is very important and so is having an Agent, but nothing is as rigid as in the US and provided you do not make a nuisance of yourself, direct contact can take you a long way.

THE US

The American TV system operates on an apprenticeship system. You send in sample scripts based upon currently run shows - and there is a constant debate about which show is the best to write spec scripts for - then you can become attached on a freelance basis, and maybe get a job as a Writer's Assistant.

You then prove your worth by contributing to the research process, to the story meetings, and script editing functions, then finally you might get your own episode to write. If this goes well then you can become a Staff Writer overseeing other writers and writing your own episodes.

You can, with luck, determination, talent, hutzpah, turn yourself into a Show Runner, who has no life whatsoever. It is your job to make sure that every week there is an episode on the screen. You write, you rewrite others, you sack directors, you hire actors, you have nervous breakdowns, and if you survive you earn a lot of money and get the opportunity to develop your own show.

This system works much the same for sit-coms as for hour long series.

MOW, Syndicated Shows, Long Form series, are all more complicated, and often rely upon free lance writers. There is some truth that MOW and Syndicated Shows (Usually schlocky niche type products like Xena, Warrior Princess), are where the semi-retired (i.e. burnt out) series writers end up. The pressure is not as great but the money is not as good nor the work as reliable. Long Form series are usually driven by book based subject matter, though there was some talk a while ago of these being a brave new market for the dedicated original screenwriting talent. Last weeks wisdom is very often this weeks delusion.

The big bucks and the power in US TV is in the prime time Sit-Com and Series and if you want to get in there, you write Speculative Episodes. You also make sure that you are under thirty years of age. There have been infamous cases of thirty six year olds passing themselves off as eighteen year olds, and then being sacked when busted, but it is probably best not to go this route. If you are in your thirties, there is hope if you are very professional. But beyond that tender age, think more in terms of MOW and the syndicated shows using lots of freelance writers.

There is of course nothing to stop you writing a great stage play or novel and then using your fame to lever a deal with some producer and get yourself a long form series or even a series format. ER developed from an original screenplay that only resurfaced once its writer had made a name for himself as a novelist.

If you want to format your own TV Series, then go here.

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