We've had the
luxury of quite a few guest speakers who have worked in TV present to Line by
Line. Last year, Gareth Calverley spoke about the relationship the producer
has with the writer, Kelly Lefever spoke about TV roles and how to break in,
and Spencer McLaren shed light on the value of performers to the writing
process. All of them spoke about the passion and dedication required for this
industry and that TV genuinely offers an ongoing source of income for those
employed in its quarters.
I wasn't
sure it was possible to get any more inspiration from a guest speaker about
writing for TV. That was until the King entered court!
These are
some of Joss King’s words that struck a chord with me so I’ll elaborate on
these first, naturally imbibing them with my own thoughts:
1. Believe
in yourself
2. Use
life for inspiration
3. Be
adaptable to any type of show but with integrity
More on
BELIEVING IN YOURSELF...
Actually,
apart from stating this in his list of top tips, Joss didn't offer any more
about this specifically as he began talking about writing in general. I'm not
having a go at him for not expanding on this statement because it's self
explanatory, and certainly something we've all heard before. So simple: Believe
in yourself. Can you teach someone how to do that? Oprah probably thinks you
can. But it is somewhat vague a concept. How was Joss trying to teach us about
this?
Every time
he talked about a knock back I thought of this statement...believe in yourself.
What if the statement were "Believe in yourself even when you wrote 75
episodes in 18 months for a TV series and it never got up”? That's what
happened to Joss. So now are you getting a clearer picture of what it means to
believe yourself? It's probably not just sticking post-it notes to the mirror
so you can chant your mantra about self-love. It means believe in yourself
despite all else. And the 'all else' is really code for rejection. If you
believe in yourself (and let's face it, self-belief also has to be backed up by
some level of skill, you can't just be wishful) then what seems like rejection
is instead a learning experience and offers an opportunity to get better at
what you do. And sometimes rejection is also a result of chance and personal
preferences.
If we flip
it around the other way, we can say the same thing about acceptance, can't we?
A chance to learn and get better at what you do by extending on what you are
good at. And, like rejection, there is also the element of chance and other
people's preferences.
If
rejection and acceptance are so similar then why feel the terrible hurt inside
when something doesn't go your way? Joss dealt with that too. In TV land, you
face rejection at every turn and soon enough it stops being your enemy. When
you present your ideas at the writers table people are constantly editing you
(your thoughts, your ideas) discarding what is not useful and keeping what is.
Joss sees story-lining (coming up with episode stories and the threads that
link episodes) as 'practice pitching' and in TV you do it constantly. Joss says
you can figure out the idea from the feedback you get and you must shrug off
the hurt and slight.
When TV
executives choose not to proceed with a project you've been working on for
months, even years, it doesn’t mean it’s personal. There's the audience to
consider and the show that's the best fit for the network. These are market
decisions. So there’s no reason to stop believing in yourself.
'Water off
a duck's back' is one of my favorite expressions. Joss is testament to this
ability to take knock backs because he's still here, creating work that goes to
air, not hiding under a rock in the wilderness sobbing 'Why me?' while someone
else slips in to take his gig. The industry is competitive and Joss reports it’s
going through tough financial times, which draws writers to the safety net of
in-house employment on stable programs. Knock-backs are more likely than ever
so the ability to believe in yourself – armed with skill - applies to all
aspiring writers.
More about
USING LIFE FOR INSPIRATION…
Writers
can tread a fine line in reference to this piece of advice. Self-indulgent
fodder for an audience of one is not what Joss is talking about here. Even so,
writing can be therapeutic, says Joss. If your writing connects with people
there’s every reason to look internally for inspiration. Opportunities to draw
on your life experience can come up when you least expect.
After
years working on a popular soap, Joss went looking to expand his horizons. And
expand them he did, across the horizon and into the longitude and latitude of a
little place called Hungary. Here was an audience on the other side of the
world who he could still entertain just by tapping into his long-time talent of
connecting with people on an emotional level.
You never
know when your own life experience might provide insight for the show you are
working on but when the time comes use it! Believe that other people sitting at
the writers table are doing the same thing – an inevitable melting pot of experience
from all walks of life.
More about
ADAPTABILITY AND INTEGRITY...
Joss says
you need to be very open and adaptable to any type of show. By that I think he
means you can bring your writing skills to a project even if you may not
necessarily know that much about the topic. His great example of this was ‘H2O’ a show for
kids about mermaids. Of course his resume did not show twenty years experience
writing in the mermaid subgenre. But he found a role for himself within the
vision. He had to think about what the show was really about – for its intended
audience – and bring it to life. He realised he knew quite a lot indeed that
would help him tell the stories for that subject.
But
adaptability comes with a warning from Joss. With lots of different projects on
offer you still need skill and appreciation for the subject matter. Don't
bullsh#t. If you can't find a way to believe in that project and do it with integrity,
don't take on the job. Writing is a way to discover and convey truths and
sometimes that subject is not yours. You need to have the spark to get you
through.
It’s hard
to work on something when you’re half-hearted. It’s not always obvious to a
producer that this just might not be a project to your liking so it pays to be
open about that.
Joss’
advice is not limited to those three pearls of wisdom. He drew from his broad
experience to paint an even bigger picture.
Joss’
first long term job was writing for New Zealand’s popular TV soap opera
‘Shortland Street’. He hadn’t studied screenwriting in a formal way so he
learnt all his tricks on the job.
When he
became Story Editor it was his job to manage the table of writers and train the
up-and-coming writers in a constant cycle. Joss emphasises that soap writing
helps you form good habits – writing for an audience, deadlines, getting along
with people – and the work is always there because soap is part of the network
stable.
I was
interested to note Joss’ comment that to him writing for soap is like enjoying
pop art. The more you do it, the more you learn about the specific art and
craft, the more you can appreciate it.
And it’s
satisfying because there’s a public passion for the shows in the way they talk
about the characters.
When Joss
left soap it was to discover what he called a more ‘slow burn approach to drama’.
The challenge of finding freelance work and making ends meet forced him to be
more mercenary. It appears he found his way through by recognising his talent
was playing with people’s emotions with his writing. Listening to the audience
is key to doing that successfully.
The upside
of freelancing was doing all kinds of projects in varied timeslots for varied
audiences. But he also mentioned a downside can be working with people at times
who are so set in their ways and prepared to protect their own permanent
positions they’ll quash creativity.
Joss
recommended writing for kids TV specifically. Kids TV, like soap, is often
over-looked by writers. But he says the rewards are strong audiences,
believability is less of an issue, it allows you to use more of your
imagination and the productions are more flexible which he pinpointed to the
personality-type of people running those kinds of shows.
Joss joked
about the invention of ‘Small Time Gangsters’, which developed out of a short
conversation in the pub with Boilermaker’s Gareth Calverley, whose company about
to pitch its slate interstate. The only project not written up was the one that
caught the attention of the network, so it pays to pitch whatever you have!
They were challenged to submit an episode within 24 hours which they managed to
do and went on to create the series.
I was
interested to hear Joss’ thoughts on the film industry. He conceded that none
of us can completely guess how the industry will come out of the technology
wash, especially after spending its spin dry cycle in the GFC. However, he was
able to distinguish two distinct types of film being made. There’s the massive
blockbusters made by the industry elite that none of us get a look into. And
there’s the low budget films. Middle budget films aren’t getting made as they
can’t recoup their money so there is a lot of pressure and competition at this
lower budget end now.
Changes in
television are pretty obvious too. Pay TV is a little up-in-the-air with Foxtel
yet to make announcements about its future. There are still lots of soaps –
there always will be - and across all
timeslots, playing the heartstrings of the middle market. And we know that
people are watching a lot made-for-television content via DVD box sets.
Joss tells
us that in TV, small ideas grow through the process, make adjustments as you go
and have empathy for the audience. The ideas don’t need to be over-worked to appeal.
Basic stories are told with heart so don’t try to conquer the world.
When
you’ve reigned, that’s easy for the King to say…
-Pony-
Fiona Leally
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