There are many aspects to the commissioning process, there is the actual commissioning, commissioning bodies, and the role of the writer. In commissioning there are various different job roles, there is the commissioning editor. The commissioning editor is a senior employee of the main broadcaster in a production, they are responsible for choosing programme ideas which they believe are good enough to be aired. They then allocate a budget to the companies which have thought of the idea so that it can be produced http://www.creativeskillset.org/tv/article_3485_1.asp. They will also usually work in a specific genre of the media industry, this might vary from drama's to entertainment programmes. They will overlook a production once they have given the company the money to make it. The producer also works in this area. They are in charge and oversee everything that happens in the specific media field they are in. They deal with things that the director does not, these are things such as finance, legal, administration, marketing and personnel. They guide a project from start to finish, setting it up, financing it and getting all the appropriate talent to make it successful. The director is the person who takes the idea which has been chosen and transforms it into a sequence of moving images and sounds, they oversee everything everyone else is doing on the production such as the camera operators, editors and directors of photography to make sure they are completing everything the way the director wants it. The script editors are the people in the production who make adjustments and amendments to scripts which have been sent in as an idea for a television programme. They have to make sure it is viable to be passed, and therefore used in a production. They make sure it isn't too similar to other texts, and usually try to keep it sounding ridiculous and unrealistic. An agent is the person who will represent you. They are the people who will showcase your ideas and have the same goals as you. It is extremely important that if you have an agent you're comfortable and confident you have similar interests. The writers job role is to think of all the new storylines to keep the programme interesting, e.g. the writers of soaps such as Eastenders and Coronation Street have to do this. An example of a storyline in Eastenders is 'who killed in Archie Mitchell?' and a storyline is Coronation Street is the tram crash. They think of the speech they're going to use, the characters they need involved in each scene, and how the situations in each episode will shape the series/story. They hire the directors for their story and work closely with them as each episode is made.
Getting commissioned is very difficult, major corporations such as the BBC give opportunities to get your work seen and used through their site, 'BBC Writers Room'. There are other commissioning bodies, like independant prodcuction companies. Theres a higher chance of getting commissioned by them as it isn't only cheaper for you, but it's cheaper for the company to employ you. Being an independent director or producer is an easier way to get your work produced as you have all the power, and don't have to be influenced by any elses opinions, it is completely individual. However the problem with this is being able to afford to get it produced. Organisations are also on offer to help new and upcoming screenwriters and those who assist them. They do not offer financial support but they exist to give advice on how to improve your script to get it recognised and seen. An example of an organisation who does this is like mentioned before, BBC Writers Room, ITV are another example of a commissioning body. Finally, the other way in which you can get your work identified is by entering your scripts into competitions. America and Britain are countries which do this, and once again the BBC have a competitions running continuously throughout the year to try aid screenwriters into getting recognition. The prize if you win is usually that of a financial nature.
The role of a writer throughout a production is very important, they are there from pre-production to the post production stage. In the planning stage they are the ones who think of all the storylines and plots, which has been said earlier. They edit the scripts to how they want the production to come across as they are ultimately the ones who have the vision of what they want their programme or film to be shown as. They have almost constant involvement with the directors and producers because they have to make sure what they have filmed and the talent which has been brought in reflects and portrays what the writer has thought of. Once the writer is happy that the script is good enough to be filmed, a page lock-down will occur. This means there can be no more edits or re-writes, it is basically when filming begins. The writer can however have his/her input during the filming stage though if they feel a scene is in need of adjustment. However, having a producers or directors input in the shooting of a script can have both positive an negative effects, the positives being they can add more ideas to improve the screenplay, and the nagatives being they might change to much causing friction between the writers and the directors.
When working as a writer, agent representation is vital. If you have an agent it is usually better because it looks a whole lot more professional and it can also be incredibly beneficial as they may have contacts which can make getting your work recognised a whole lot quicker. You also have to deal with royalty payments, this is more common in music videos, it means that everytime it gets shown it is you who retrieves the money from it. As a writer you also have to distinguish the difference between working by yourself and actually working within the work environment, and show professional presentation. So if you were to pitch your work, you have to make sure you're a punctual and speak in good english. You also have to come dressed smartly to show you are making the effort to impress. The layout of your work is also imporant, especially if you're a writer, you have to make sure your work has no spelling mistakes, and that the script flows. Time management can be a problem for writers, as any job has to have it, however this particular one isn't set with a 'start and finish' time. This is because most writers work as freelancers and they work on their own time. They do have to consider legal and ethical considerations when they produce their productions though, they obviously cannot break copyright laws and they aren't allowed to be bias they're allowed to make a point, but they have to be certain what they're including is actual facts and avoid getting faced with problems if they're found to be mis-representing someone/something and causing defamation. They have to make sure they have the appropriate censorship in place if it does have some offensive material before and in some cases after the 9pm watershed. This is a job also for the BBFC. Ofcom also offer protection as they make sure that television broadcasters are in compliance with all the rules involving the watershed because it is their responsibilty that anyone under the age of 18 are protected from any offensive material. http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/broadcast/guidance/831193/watershed-on-tv.pdf They have to be aware of libel problems as well, like said before if they have written clear defamation of a person, they could face a lot of bother. Finally, they must make sure none of their material has been used before, as it could mean that could be hit with trouble in terms of plagerism, this has happened before with the film Clonus and The Island. Director Robert S. Fiveson brought a copyright infringement suit against the makers of The Island (2005). The lawsuit cited 89 points of similarity between "Clonus" and "The Island", and the court ruled that Fiveson made a prima facie case for infringement. Before the case could go to trial, Dreamworks settled with the plaintiffs for an undisclosed amount. It's been rumored that it was a seven-figure sum.http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/Clonus?from=Main.Clonus
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