1. Script Development and
Commissioning.
By Jenny Strand

2. Script Development.
Screenwriting is a “collaborative process” according to the book Screenwriting by Ray
Frenshams, he thinks if you‟re unwilling to change anything in your script then you will
have to produce and direct the film yourself. My idea of script development is the same as I
think there will be certain things the director and producer can adapt to make a script better
quality so it will be better on film.
Ray Frenshams says Script development has many stages; I have listed the stages below.
• The producer meets with the scriptwriter and discusses changing and adding parts.
• Once a script goes into pre-production it is then viewed by special effects people/ set
designers.
• The script will then be added to if needed
• The script can then change again whilst in post production if still needed.

3. The First Step Of Development.
Initially the first step in script development is to decide on your story. The script writer
needs to know what genre their production is going to be. Filmsite.org categorizes genres
and says they all are used to make audience feel different things.
‘Comedies are light-hearted plots consistently and deliberately designed to amuse
and provoke laughter (with one-liners, jokes, etc.) by exaggerating the situation,
the language, action, relationships and characters’ (online)
I agree with this statement from the site as it gives us an idea of how to put a script together
if we were to.
A video I looked at on YouTube called How to Write a Script – Story Structure was about
script development. It featured script writers saying what they thought needed to be done in
order to make a script worthwhile and able to be made into a film. One part of the YouTube
video that I agreed with was the chart which was shown on screen as a man was explaining
his thoughts on how many acts there should be in a script and how long they should be so
that it would be able to be adapted into a film. The clip then went on to show what each of
the acts should cover.

5. Another YouTube clip I looked at was called „David Goyer Screenwriting lesson‟ the clip
was of him being interviewed and talking about how he got into scriptwriting and how he
found out what to do.
‘Nowadays with the internet and all these other tools, I don’t think it’s entirely
necessary to go to film school, I mean there’s so many film makers that didn’t go
to film school that are successful’ (online)
Here David Goyer is saying that although he went to film school to learn what he has,
that doesn‟t mean all scriptwriters have to go to film school in order for them to create a
good script. I agree with this concept as I think the some sites on the internet can give you
the vital information that script writers would need.

6. I then went on to look at another book called Writing the Short Film by Pat
Cooper and Ken Dancyger. The part of the book I focused on referred to the main
characters in the script and the plot of the script and also the script itself, how to
structure it etc.
‘The script is essentially the elaboration of a treatment or step outline,
including visual description and dialogue. The script should always be
presented in master scene format (an example of master scene format is
given later in the chapter’
(Cooper & Danceyger, page 107)
I think it‟s important for the script to already have as much detail as possible so
that when it gets to being looked at by potential producers/directors in the
commissioning process they will already have a quite a clear picture in their head
of what the script writers idea is.

7. However sometimes it is good to mix genres, the magazine Media Magazine
thinks this.
Matt Freeman of Media Magazine says ‘A director such as Ridley Scott, for
instance, thrives on film–making where old and new, high and low, are
meshed into one. Alien (1979), for example, is a lowbrow horror flick elevated
to a higher artistic realm by novelised science – fiction themes; Blade Runner
(1982), is a generic cop movie merged with a high end film noir sensibility.’
This to me is saying that it’s good to mix
say a low brow action film with a high end
political film for example. So I agree with
this quote and find it helpful.

8. Script Commissioning.
Commissioning is for people that have written a script and commissioning is the
process they go through to get it published/looked at by potential producers and
directors.
E-commissioning on the BBC website describes how you go about sending your script
off to them for reading.
‘Each offer sent to the BBC Commissioning team is automatically and securely
logged with a unique reference number for your records following your
submission. E-Commissioning enables the BBC to handle the huge volume of
proposals it receives faster and more effectively so producers submitting
proposals to the BBC receive a quicker response.’ (online)
This is basically saying what happens when you have sent your script into the BBC to
be viewed by them; they say that it will be logged onto their system and how this
process gives you a quicker response as to whether your script means anything to them.

9. The BBC Writers Room has information on what scripts they don‟t accept. The BBC
Writers Room won‟t accept scripts written for existing or previously produced
shows/characters; samples or extracts from scripts – they want the whole thing;
scripts from overseas or resubmissions of work previously rejected. This has been
taken from the BBC Writers Room website.
The Writers Guild of Great Britain is an organization based in the UK that helps
writers gets their work viewed by potential buyers. It also bargains with the price etc.
There is also a fee you have to pay to have a membership with them. This information
I have collected has been taken from the website.
Personally I think this website is really good as it gives amateur script writers a real
chance of getting their work read and viewed by important people.
If then your script is successful with the organization you‟ve sent it into, then you
will then get called in to see them to pitch your script. If you yourself don‟t know
what you‟re doing when you‟re talking to agents, they won‟t take you as seriously.

10. A short video clip that I looked at on YouTube gives basic examples of how not
to pitch an idea. For example, don‟t rush through your ideas. Below is the
opening clip from the video.
I think these are really good tips on how to present
your script when speaking about is as it says don’t
rush through what you’re saying, find an in between
on telling the story straight but with the detail that is
needed. Also I find the tips in this video are really
basic and easy for pretty much anybody to
understand and interpret.

11. A magazine I looked at called Media Magazine once your script has been
commissioned, that process afterwards isn’t to see how high the ratings are, but
to see whether it meets their standards when on screen.
‘For us, we’re not judging the success of a show necessarily by how high the
rating is, we are judging a successful show by whether or not its level of
quality and excellence meet our standard and serves a part of our 30 million
subscriber base’

12. Summary.
By doing two reports on Script Development and Script commissioning
I have learnt;
• How to write a script
- ideas generation
Such as deciding on characters and what genre relates most to
characters chosen, etc.
- story structure
Deciding the plot
- formatting
How to present a script to the best of your ability
• How to sell a script
- Where to send your script
What companies accept scripts from amateur scriptwriters
- Pitching a script
What the right things to say are when presenting a script and the
wrong things.

13. By having to write a report on both script commissioning and script development, I have
developed a new knowledge on how to set a script out and what the requirements are
for a finished script if you want to send it if TV company to be looked at for
commissioning either into a film or programme. Personally I didn’t think you had to do
an awful lot before sending your script off, for example I didn’t think you had to make
sure your script was at least 30 minutes long. I found out from the Writers Room that it
has to be for them to actually consider it so they know you will be able to produce more
than one script in case it is just a one off. They are actually quite strict requirements. I
think this is because many big companies are bound to get many amateur script writers
sending their scripts in everyday and they can’t possibly look at all of them to find out
they don’t meet the suitable standards.

14. Script Development – Websites Reference Page.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/commissioning/tv/pitching-ideas/e-commissioning.shtml
E-commissioning.
Accessed 19/11/11
http://www.wga.org/
Accessed 19/11/11
http://www.filmsite.org/genres.html
Comedies
Accessed 19/11/11
http://www.filmsite.org/genres.html
Genres.
Accessed 19/11/11

15. Script Development – Books Reference Page.
Screenwriting by Ray Frenshams
Page 10
Telling the audience how to get their scripts noticed by producers.
Accessed 15/11/11
Writing the short film by Pat Cooper and Ken Dancyger
3rd edition
Page 105 and 107
Accessed 22/11/11
Media Magazine
The culture issue
Style Over Substance – Or A New Creativity
Matt Freeman
Page 51
Accessed 29/11/11

16. Script Development – Videos Reference Page
‘How to Write a Script – Story Structure’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0yqUmedyOM
Accessed 20/11/11
‘DAVID GOYER Screenwriting Lesson’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhSwb6XciS8&feature=related
Accessed 22/11/11
Script Development – Magazine Reference Page
Media Magazine
Page 51
Matt Freeman
Style Over Substance – Or A New Creativity
The culture issue
Accessed 29/11/11

17. Script Commissioning – Website Reference Page
http://www.bbc.co.uk/commissioning/tv/pitching-ideas/e-
commissioning.shtml
How E-Commissioning Works.
Accessed 23/11/11
http://www.writersguild.org.uk/
The Writers Guild.
Accessed 23/11/11

18. Script Commissioning – Videos Reference Page.
•How Not to Pitch
•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0l7lJLswBhk&feature=player_embedde
d#!
•Accessed 22/11/11

19. Script Commissioning – Website Reference Page
Media Magazine
Page 32
The Change Issue
Carly Sandy
Accessed 29/11/11