I’m going to speak to each of these areas and what’s worked for us at JWP, but let’s start with what I believe is the most important skill you need to develop to succeed – organization. And to get yourself organized you need to create schedules and set deadlines. Your biggest challenge as a Showrunner is time. You won’t have enough of it. The job is too big, there aren’t enough hours in the day. You must create schedules and deadlines and stick to them to succeed.
The most important schedule you must create is a --
WRITERS SCHEDULE
What is a writers schedule? It’s the schedule that lists the due dates for each story outline, revised story outline, rough draft, first draft, and second draft you are going to write (or have written) for every episode of your show. Why is this so essential? Because you must have a finished, ready to shoot, script on the first day of every episode’s prep period to succeed.
Let me repeat, you must have a finished, ready to shoot, script on the first day of every prep period for every single episode!
At JWP we want a finished second draft (third pass) of each script on the first day of prep – a draft of the episodic script that’s already incorporated at least one round of studio and network notes. A draft that is ready to be shot.
It’s extremely difficult to succeed as a Showrunner if you don’t have finished scripts on the first day of prep. Why? Because you’re depriving your collaborators (your director, actors, line producer, ADs, designers and department heads) of the ability to do their jobs efficiently. You’re also depriving yourself of the latitude to make changes during prep, to spend money wisely and schedule your show in an efficient manner. You’re depriving your actors of the time they need to prepare properly (late scripts are the cause of most conflicts between Showrunners and actors). Without a script on the first day of prep you’re going to be forced to do everything in production in an accelerated manner -- and that costs money, lots of money. Creating a writers’ schedule and sticking to it is your number one priority as a Showrunner and as a manager.
When you’re hired to run a show, whether it's on streaming, broadcast, pay or basic cable, (whether for 22 episodes or 6 episodes or anywhere in between) understand that you are now the manager of a multi-million-dollar factory. Yes, you’ve written a great script they want to make, but that’s the writing part of the job. Now you’re the CEO of a multi-million-dollar company. We like to think of what we do as a solely creative process, but running a show is also running a huge startup business. One in which you're required to hire 125 to 200 people in the matter of a few weeks and to then begin making your show, on time and on a budget within weeks or a few months. Often with no previous experience as a Showrunner or manager.
Think of your network or studio as a financing partner that’s giving you tens of millions of dollars to make a product, your show. Would you give you 40 to 100 million dollars to spend in less than a year? The nervousness you experience from your network and studio isn’t crazy. It's not a lack of confidence in you personally. It's the “oh my god”, did we make the right decision trusting this writer with millions of our dollars?
From the moment your show gets picked up, you need to be concerned with how you are going to be an organized manager. It’s not important that you understand every function of how to produce a show. If you were the new manager of an auto manufacturing plant, nobody would expect you to know how to build a carburetor. You're hiring people who know their jobs.. You're not a composer or a painter working in solitude, you're running a one hundred-to-two-hundred- employee factory.
And factories require organization, schedules, and have contractual delivery requirements to meet or they lose their customers and their financing. This is true of Showrunners too. I’m going to share a horrible truth. You can succeed creatively but fail managerially as a Showrunner and you may not get a second chance to run a show again for years. But if you succeed managerially and the shows fails to attract an audience, you will get another opportunity to be a Showrunner. Most shows fail, everyone understands that. But if your show failed and you were over budget because scripts were late, and the production was chaotic because scripts were late, and your cast was mutinying because the scripts were late -- you will very likely not be given another opportunity to work as a Showrunner. When you’ve had a show that failed and you’re trying to sell your next show, the first thing the studio/network wants to know is whether you were a successful manager on your last show. They call around and ask how you did. If the answer is “it was a mess, scripts weren’t done on time, and we were over budget” you’re not going to get to be the Showrunner. And in case I haven’t said it enough already, the thing you can do to make sure this doesn’t happen to you is to make a Writers Schedule and stick to it.
What is a Writers Schedule? It’s a schedule that lists the dates that all the story outlines and drafts of your scripts for the entire season are due. The goal is to be on the third draft (rough draft, first draft, second draft) of the script by the first day of prep for each episode. If a writer suddenly dropped dead on the first day of prep we can shoot the prep draft because it was ready to go.
Here are a couple of examples of Writers Schedules we’ve used in the past.
We use five steps to get to the second (production) draft.
An initial story outline.
A revised story outline that is due one week after the initial story outline.
A rough draft of the script that is due two weeks after the revised story outline.
A first draft that is due one week later.
A second draft that is due one week later, on the day before prep begins.
You create a Writers Schedule by getting the prep date for each episode from your line producer or unit production manager (UPM) and working backwards from the first day of the final episode’s prep to find out when each story/script step for each episode is due.
It's sometimes easier to think of these due dates in reverse order to come up with your Writers Schedule. So, if --
The second draft of the script is due the day before the first day of prep –
The first draft of the script is due one week earlier –
The rough draft of the script is due one week before that –
The revised story outline is due two weeks before that –
And the initial story outline is due one week before that.
This means each script has a seven-week process to get to completion of that second (production) draft on the day before prep begins for each episode.
Why is a Writers Schedule the single most important thing you can do to organize yourself and succeed as a Showrunner? Because late scripts are the explanation you discover when you examine virtually every situation where the Showrunner has failed managerially.
Over budget? Late scripts.
Difficult actors? Late scripts.
Hostile line producers and department heads? Late scripts.
Disappointing direction from your directors? Late scripts.
Incoherent storytelling? Late scripts.
Let’s break these issues down individually.
Over Budget? If you don’t have a ready to shoot script on Day One of prep, your production team can’t plan effectively or efficiently. They can’t do their jobs. A finished script on the first day of prep allows your production team to do their best work. They need their prep days to break down the script, set shooting schedules, order equipment and crew. They need their prep days to ask you questions about the scenes, about your intentions for the characters, the arcs, what you want. Your location managers need time to find and permit the best and most cost-effective locations. Your casting directors need time to find the best actors. Your production designers and costume designers and prop masters aren’t forced to do everything at the last minute. Doing things at the last minute is expensive, very expensive. When your scripts are late your production team is forced to throw money at everything to keep the company from shutting down. With late scripts there’s no time to think, to plan wisely, everyone is in survival mode. You’re risking their careers, risking their health. And if you do get another season, many will choose not to return, meaning you’re losing good employees because of your inability to do the most important part of your job – getting your scripts done on time.
Difficult actors? Actors get crazy when scripts are late. They don't have time to read the script and talk to you and your writer(s) about it. They don’t have time to learn their lines and properly prepare. They have every right to get angry and belligerent. Put yourself in their shoes. They don’t see a finished script until the last minute (or worse yet, they arrive at their trailer in the morning to find new pages for that day’s shooting). They don’t have a weekend or days off to learn their lines. Or maybe they only get the first thirty pages before shooting begins. They work on those thirty pages but when they arrive on set they discover you’ve finally finished the script but when you got to the end you realized you had to change things in those first thirty pages that the actor’s already learned. Oh and the AD needed to add a scene on the set for the day that didn’t even exist before. The actor’s never seen that scene until they find it on their make-up chair at five in the morning.
Now your actor is desperately trying to relearn what’s changed from what they learned the night before and memorize the new scene for later that day and then they’re called to the set and seventy people on the crew are standing around watching them stumble through as they try to get the lines right. Your actor is humiliated in front of the crew and their acting peers.
You might as well have stripped them naked and shoved them out in front of a full theater audience. They’re angry and embarrassed – and that’s your fault. And guess what else happens? They stop wasting their time at home memorizing the half-written scripts because they know the scenes are likely going to change. Why should they waste their time? They start coming to set and wandering around with a script learning their lines, taking up very expensive shooting time (a new scene that the actors haven’t had time to memorize will take three to four times longer to shoot). Why should they act professionally if you’re not treating them professionally by giving them finished scripts on time so they can learn their lines, do their scene analysis, and do their best work?
Hostile Line Producers and Department Heads? Imagine you’re a line producer or department head and you don’t get a finished script on the first day of prep. You can’t do your job. If what your Line Producers, ADs and Department Heads get on the first day of prep is an outline, or a partial script, they can’t possibly do their jobs. They can't prepare a schedule or a budget that makes sense. As the Showrunner you’ve given your line producer, ADs, and department heads a blueprint for only half the house! How is she or he supposed to figure out what equipment they need to order, what sets need to be built, how many people they’re going to need, how much it’s going to cost? They can’t. And they’re afraid to commit to securing locations or building sets or ordering equipment that might not even be in the script when it’s finished. Understand that they get their jobs when studio/network executives recommend them, and by putting them in this situation you’re jeopardizing their future employment. They have kids, mortgages, bills and believe me, they’re not going down with your ship. If you’re not getting your scripts done on time, they will sell you out to the studio/network – why should they be damaged professionally for your inability to get your scripts written? And don’t kid yourself that giving them a verbal description of what you think is going to be in the script on the first day of prep makes up for a finished script. It doesn’t. They’ll do some cursory work to find a few locations while they wait but they won’t be able to commit to a schedule off your verbal description. You’re going to be over budget.
Disappointing direction from your directors? Your directors want to be able to do their best work. Finished episodes are their calling cards for future employment. But if they don’t have a shootable script to work from on the first day of prep, they can’t spend the time they need to analyze and understand your scenes. To ask you questions about your intent, the characters’ intent, the point of view of what’s been written. They can’t choose locations, participate in casting, set a shooting schedule, figure out the equipment they’re going to need, create their shot lists. Prep periods are already short, there’s barely enough time for directors when they get their full prep period. If you’re giving them partial scripts during prep (or no scripts), and/or new pages every day, you’re depriving them of the opportunity to be properly prepared and you’re making them look bad. They can get defensive and angry. You don’t get their best work. They must simplify their blocking and camera movements because they’re losing valuable time on set while the actors are learning their lines. They don’t have the locations you had hoped for because there was no time to permit them. Your show suffers.
And here’s something you need to understand – directors talk to each other and if you’re running a show where scripts are always late you will find it much harder to book the directors you want in the future. Directors don’t want to work on shows where they can’t do their best work. You’ll be “that” Showrunner. The one that no one wants to work for if they can avoid it.
Incoherent storytelling? Late scripts. This is one of the most damaging consequences of late scripts. Because of all the problems that come with late scripts (see above) it is very difficult to maintain the integrity and continuity of your episodes in the chaos of a show that’s over-budget, with disgruntled actors and unprepared directors, unhappy line producers and overwhelmed department heads. Consistency of performances and visual complexity are sacrificed.
And a finished script on the first day of prep has other benefits. You want to share the Writers Schedule with everyone. Your writers, but also your production staff and your studio and network executives. When your producers and executives see a Writers Schedule – they relax, they understand you know what you’re doing, and they know when to expect stories and drafts. They’re not calling you all the time asking you when they’re going to get the script. They have the schedule that tells them when to expect it. At JWP, production staff (line producers, ADs, casting and department heads), the network and the studio get the Revised Story Outline and the First Draft of every script. This gives the production staff time to ask questions and the studio/network time to give notes.
The Writers Schedule also helps others keep you on schedule because your writers know when they have work due and if you haven’t started talking in the room yet about an upcoming episode the writer is supposed to be writing, they’ll let you know – “Hey Boss, my story is due in ten days, and we haven’t even started talking about it yet!”
In summary, not having a finished script that is ready to shoot on the first day of every prep period is the number one cause of Showrunner failure. You must be organized to have success as a Showrunner and a Writers Schedule is the most important organizational tool you can master.
Have I convinced you of the importance of the Writers Schedule yet? I hope so.
THE SHOWRUNNER’S WEEKLY SCHEDULE
You’ve done your Writers Schedule, great. But it is the first of many schedules you need to create to keep yourself organized in the chaos that is the day-to-day life of a Showrunner. You need to create a weekly schedule for yourself. There aren’t enough hours in the day when you’re running a show. You must prioritize and delegate. It requires you to discipline yourself and acknowledge that the most precious resource on your show is your time. Every day is a series of mini crises that you can’t allow yourself to be pulled into and a Showrunner Weekly Schedule can keep you from being dragged under. Here’s the one we use.
Each week changes slightly based on where you are in your prep and post but each week needs to include two essential sets of meetings. The Writers Meetings and the Producers Meetings.
WRITERS’ MEETINGS
We meet as writers three times a week at JWP. Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons. Three hours for each meeting. In these meetings we plan and plot the season, the episodes and do group notes on all outlines and drafts. Nine to ten hours a week. No more. After years of running literally thousands of writers’ meetings, I promise you that three hours is more than enough time to get everything done you need to get done. Three hours keeps the meetings focused and productive (you don’t have to take my word for it, there’s extensive research to support limiting group meetings to three hours or less). You don’t have more time than this as a Showrunner anyway. These writers’ meetings are understood by everyone in production to be sacred and inviolate. Everything else is scheduled around them. No one interrupts them. Everyone knows that whatever they need will have to wait until after the writers’ meeting. When we are in the early stages of working out the season (before prep and shooting has begun), we meet five days a week for three hours a day. It’s important to have a minimum of four weeks of these five-day-a-week meetings to plot out your character arcs and season-long plots before your first story outlines are due. Six to eight weeks is even better if your schedule can support it. We usually spend the first two weeks discussing characters and storylines in general before we begin assigning these elements to individual episodes. If you always come into your writers’ meetings prepared and with an agenda of what you need to accomplish, nine to ten hours a week will be more than enough time. While this is all the time the Showrunner can commit to writers’ meetings during the week that doesn’t mean we discourage the writers from getting together informally to work out issues, pitch ideas, etc. One of the joys of being on a writing staff is the opportunity for writers to pop into each other’s offices and assist each other. We never discourage that, but the Showrunner must limit their time with their writers to be able to successfully manage the many other issues that are the Showrunner’s responsibility.
PRODUCERS’ MEETINGS
Schedule two Producers’ Meetings a week on your show (we do Tuesday and Thursday mornings). They take an hour or so. What’s a Producers’ Meeting? It’s a meeting in which everyone on your team with a “producer” in their title gets together to go over the episodes. This includes our writer-producers, the line producer, the production manager, and our post supervisor/post producer. We use this meeting to go through each episode and discuss issues that have arisen along with publicity and marketing requests, time off requests from actors, scheduling issues – you name it. The Showrunner begins by saying “Ep 1”. If it’s in prep the writer and production staff then discuss what needs to be accomplished for that episode. If it’s in production, production staff gives an update on how it’s going and we discuss dailies, etc. If it is in post the post supervisor/producer gives an update on the editorial process, music clearance issues, VFX process, etc. We then go down the list of every episode, one at a time, discussing any pertinent issues. As we get to episodes that haven’t yet entered prep, the writers detail sets that may be needed, anticipated locations, guest casting needs, possible SFX and VFX needs. This process allows everyone in the room to hear the same information at the same time, ask questions and get onto the same page. It lets us get ahead of problems. Most importantly it gives you, the Showrunner, an opportunity to weigh in on issues and make decisions that would otherwise require hours of your time if each issue were presented to you separately. It also allows you to push many, many questions that come up at other times into the Producers’ Meeting. When you’re running a show, you’re bombarded with texts and emails asking for your input. If you respond to all of these you’ll never have enough time to do the rest of your job! My standard response to 95% of the questions being fired in my direction is “lets discuss at the Producers’ Meeting”. People get the message not to bother you and bring a list of questions they have to the next Producers’ Meeting. A bonus is the meetings facilitate communication between all your producer/writers and your production staff. Everyone is on the same page about what is going on with your show.
OTHER REGULAR MEETINGS
There are other meetings that need to be in your weekly schedule depending on where you are in your prep and production periods. These meetings are routinely scheduled around your Writers Meetings and Producers Meetings.
EPISODIC CONCEPT MEETING
Because you always have finished scripts the day before prep, a Concept Meeting can be scheduled on the first day of prep. This meeting should take two hours. In the Concept Meeting you (or the writer of the episode) lead the production team through the script scene by scene. We discuss casting, sets, locations, and answer questions. This meeting is attended by your line producer, director, writer (if not you), ADs, production manager, production designer, costume designer, casting director, department heads (props, transpo, etc), extras casting, post supervisor, editor, music supervisor and anyone else you feel is essential on your creative team.
CASTING
We schedule one or two casting sessions each week so the director, and the writer (if not you) can attend casting. While many shows now do their casting digitally, I strongly discourage this. You need to be in the room to get a feel for the actor and to hear the script. It’s invaluable and you will end up with much stronger casts. Another plus is you’re in the room with your director and it gives you a chance to see how they are directing actors during the auditions. It can give you a sense of whether you and the director are seeing the same interpretations of the scenes, and if you agree on the same actors to hire. Is your director understanding the tone you’re trying to achieve? Sometimes the answer to that question is no. And you have time to discuss what you want. Again, invaluable.
EPISODIC TONE MEETING
We schedule a three-hour tone meeting on the third day of the prep period. This is a chance for your writer (if not you) and your director to go scene by scene through the script. We talk about intent, point of view, tone, visual storytelling, etc. This is your time to get your director to understand what you’re looking for, answer their questions and make sure they understand what you want. I’m always surprised how often two people can look at the same scene and have completely different interpretations. We also invite the AD, line producer and editor to the tone meeting. The AD and line producer will be on the set with your director during shooting and it’s useful for them to hear what you want. Same for the editor when they get the footage in post.
EPISODIC PRODUCTION MEETING
A two-hour production meeting is scheduled with the entire production team on the last day of prep to go through the script scene by scene and answer any final questions your director and production staff have. This meeting is run by your AD and your presence is essential. Thorough and thoughtful Concept, Tone and Production meetings will substantially reduce the number of questions coming to you during prep and reduce or eliminate the need for you or a writer to be on set.
CAST READ-THRU
On the next to last day of prep we schedule a cast read-thru of the episode with the entire regular cast in attendance. The director, writing staff and available department heads attend. This is usually scheduled at lunch – which we provide -- and will take at least a half-hour of time away from the day’s shooting time, but it’s well worth it. We ask the actors who have questions about the script to stay after the read-thru so we can answer their questions, always with the director present. Then we listen carefully to these questions and/or concerns and address them thoughtfully and respectfully. The network/studio often ask to attend and they’re always welcome. It's another opportunity for communication with your network and studio. We do ask them to wait to give their notes until after the actors have finished their questions and headed back to set.
EPISODE SCREENING
When the director has completed their cut, we schedule two hours to screen the cut and give notes. The editor and post supervisor/producer attend. The editor then goes to execute the notes. We invite the writers when possible. These director cut screenings are essential during the first year of any series.
EDITING
When the editor has completed the notes from the screening, we schedule two (three-hour) sessions to finish the edit. If you need more than three to six hours to complete your Showrunner pass on an episode, you need a new editor. It’s more than enough time for a talented editor to execute your notes. I like to say that editing is where Showrunners go to die. You can sequester yourself away in the editing room and hide forever -- spend twenty hours on an episode, or more. But you will fail as a Showrunner because you can only do that by ignoring many of your other duties. Editing is like your writers’ room; you need to keep your time there productive and your notes specific. The difficulty is disciplining yourself when an episode isn’t very good. You can throw yourself into the editing room for days trying to make a mediocre episode better. But it’s only infrequently going to be that much better, and you will have sacrificed hours you needed to devote to your many other responsibilities. Your show will suffer because of it. To quote Voltaire “the perfect is the enemy of the good”. Nowhere is this truer than too much time spent in editing. Don’t sacrifice your show in pursuit of the perfect.
WHEN DO I HAVE TIME TO WRITE?
You’ll have noticed on the sample Weekly Executive Producer Schedule that there’s no writing time left during the week for you. Yeah. You’re going to be writing nights and weekends. That’s the job.
A FEW FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT USING THESE SCHEDULES
What if writers don’t meet the deadlines on the schedule?
We all know that writer. The writer that emails or texts you at ten o’clock on the night before their story/draft/revision is due to say they’re stuck. Or it sucks. Or they need more time because their dog ate their cat. Or... or... or...? When I get that call or text or email, I tell the writer to turn in whatever they’ve got so far, and the writers’ room will finish it for them in our next Writers Meeting. We then give it back to the writer at the end of that meeting and tell the writer to meet their next deadline. If they miss a second deadline, we help them pack their office and send them off to screw up somebody else’s life. You can’t have that writer in your room. They’re trying to hi-jack your show and make it all about them and their needs. It’s narcissistic and has no place on a writing staff. They suck your energy and the energy of your other writers. With the Writers Schedule in place, every writer has ample time to bring plot, dialogue or character issues to the room long before their deadline. If they’re behind it’s because they’re procrastinating. As Showrunner you must be protective of your time, no one else’s time is anywhere near as valuable. A writer missing a deadline is stealing time and money from you and your staff. Don’t let it happen.
When do we give actors scripts?
Actors receive their scripts during prep on the Friday before we start shooting (and at least two days before the cast read-thru). We always give the actors a weekend to read the script. The script we send has a cover note from the Showrunner encouraging the actor to reach out before the cast read-thru with any concerns or questions they may have. That way there’s time to make changes in the script to address their concerns (assuming you agree with those concerns). We then make ourselves available immediately after the cast read-thru for any further questions they may have. This gives the actors two opportunities to ask for clarification, express concerns and have their questions answered. Changes (if any) are made, and the script is then locked. No dialogue changes are made on set (in rare situations changes are made to accommodate location issues). We shoot what’s in the locked script on our shows. The actors have received their scripts with ample time to read and respond. We’ve had a read-thru -- another opportunity to discuss concerns. We’ve treated them professionally by giving them time to prepare and ask questions. We expect them to act professionally in return. This system saves endless time on set. The director has had a script from the first day of prep. The actors have had the script and have had several opportunities to discuss it with the Showrunner. Now we shoot.
Where is time on the Showrunner Weekly Schedule to be on set?
There isn’t any. That doesn’t mean I don’t visit the set regularly. It’s important to visit the set as a leader. Say hello. Ask after your crew members and show your support. But I believe Showrunners should not be on set. And I’m completely opposed to having a writer sitting on set full-time, much less the Showrunner spending their time there. Anytime I appear in front of groups to discuss running a show, this advice is always met with the most confusion (and sometimes hostility). So why do I believe Showrunners and writers shouldn’t sit on set throughout shooting? The presence of the Showrunner or a writer on set full-time undermines your director. The actors and crew inevitably start going to the Showrunner or writer to answer their questions. Approve takes, to discuss changing the dialogue. The writer on set or Showrunner quickly begins to hear about a costume an actor doesn’t like, a co-star, etc. The director is sidelined and left to direct traffic, and you’re pulled into a torrent of questions that your director should be answering. Why hire a director if you’re going to be on set dealing with most of the director’s job? Directors hate having writers on episodic series’ sets full-time (no matter what they tell you) and word will spread quickly among directors that your show is one of those shows where directors are relegated to being traffic cops. You’ll have trouble hiring directors you wanted to hire. You hire directors to direct, let them do their jobs. When you or a writer are on set, make sure to defer any question you get from cast or crew to your director. It’s easy, when approached, listen carefully then say, “Let’s get Lila (insert the name of your director here) over to answer that question.” I get it, the set is a fun place to hang out, but don’t.
How can I stay on schedule if the Network/Studio is slow with notes?
This is when you must suck it up and be a leader. Your network/studio gets your Writers Schedule, so they know when they’ll be receiving your Revised Stories and First Drafts. Before you begin production, call (or better yet set a lunch or coffee) with your creative executive partners at the studio/network in which you explain that you will be getting these outlines and first drafts to them on schedule, and you require a prompt response from them to keep the show moving forward in an efficient and cost-effective manner. We ask for notes in 48 hours or less. We’re treating them professionally by creating a schedule and sticking to it and we expect nothing less from them. (In their defense, they routinely have outlines and scripts on many other shows appearing without warning at the last minute, so they’re often overwhelmed). But you’ve told them when the outlines and drafts are coming so they can set aside time in their schedules to do your notes and get back to you in a timely manner. If they’re not getting notes back to you promptly, this is when you have to show leadership. Call and say that unfortunately you’ve had to move on to the next draft without their input. When they complain (or get angry or threatening) keep your composure and tell them that any changes they put forward now will be expensive and any costs their lateness causes will be their responsibility. Overages are on them. This isn’t hyperbole. Late network/studio notes (particularly notes that come in during prep or the week before prep requesting major changes) cost money. When you’re building a house, change orders cost money and late notes from the network/studio are change orders. Lower-level executives often claim that it’s their bosses who are slow to respond, not them. That’s their problem not yours. I’ve been told this is easy for me to do because I have the weight of previous success behind me. Sure, but do it anyway. You will be held responsible as a manager for overages and chaos, and no one will listen to your excuse of late network/studio notes. It’s your responsibility to stay on schedule and budget. Late notes from the network/studio are threatening your future. Treat them as such and demand you get your notes on time.
How can I stay on schedule when I’m waiting for notes from a network, a studio and a producer pod – and they all want time to give their notes separately?
You can’t stay on schedule if this is happening. There’s no way for you to successfully manage your show if your producer pod, then studio and then network want you to execute their notes before passing the outlines and scripts on to the next (usually producer pod first, then studio, then network). While there’s time to do this during pilot development, this doesn’t work during series production. Three separate sets of notes, with days between each set of notes, being delivered to you is a Showrunner killer. It’s one of the things you need to clarify with your possible employers before agreeing to take a job. From the first pitch meetings with a producer pod you need to discuss how they expect to work with a studio and network. Will they coordinate notes with the studio and network so you only receive one set of notes, or two at most? If the producing pod expects to have a notes pass on episodic stories and scripts, will they insist that the studio and network consolidate their notes into one set of notes? You do not have time to deal with three separate sets of notes. You need to resolve this early in your conversations with your possible partners.
How does the Writers’ Schedule work for Mini-rooms and Limited Series where the scripts will all be written before production begins?
Even if you’re writing the scripts in advance of production there is still a date when the scripts need to be completed. Usually this is the date when the writers in your room finish their contracts and move on to other work. You’re losing your writers and you need to be done by that date. You don’t want to write or finish all the scripts yourself. So now instead of the first day of prep of your final episode being the date you work back from to determine the due dates, use the date of when your writers’ deals are ending and work your way back in the same fashion to get three drafts and two outlines. Then pretend that you’re doing prep on each episode so you’re setting the second draft due date on the next to last script seven business days earlier than the last script, etc., for all the other scripts you’re writing. This is also an excellent way to determine if you’ve been given enough weeks with your writing staff to write the show. If after you do your Writers Schedule you discover that the first outline is going to be due weeks or even months before your writers are scheduled to start, you haven’t been given enough time with your writers! You should have at least four weeks with your writers before your first story outline is due.
What is your schedule’s greatest enemy?
Surprisingly, it’s the tool we count on more than any other for convenience.
Your smart phone.
Treat your personal smart phone’s number as a national security secret. Give your personal number to no one. Same with your personal email. Not your writers, your producers, your directors, your studio or network, not your actors. You will be bombarded with texts and emails and the expectation is that you’ll answer them all. People take it personally when you don’t answer quickly -- and you don’t have time to answer quickly. You’re in with your writers, in casting, in editing, in prep meetings. I give everyone my office email and my office phone number. My assistant is empowered to determine if something is urgent enough to interrupt me (“the lead actress just dropped dead” or “the set just burned down”). Everything else can wait. I check and answer emails first thing in the morning and at the end of the day. Here’s a typical text/email exchange – 10:30am “Urgent! We lost a location for tomorrow’s shooting! We’re screwed!” Then at 12:45 “Wait, we’re headed out to check another location we saw scouting last week”. At 3:15 “Location looks possible. Going for expedited permits and parking.” Then finally at 5:40 “Got the permits, we’re good to go!”. You could have spent the whole day wrapped up in this mini crisis, but that’s not your job. It’s your line producer’s job and she just solved it. At 6:30pm you read this when catching up on the day’s emails and send back a quick “Excellent job. Thanks so much for taking care of this!”
If you give out your personal cell phone it will be filled with texts all day long from cast, props, costumes – you name it. When I sift through emails at the beginning and end of the day seventy percent of them don’t require my attention. Another twenty percent of them get my “Let’s discuss at the producers’ meeting” response. Only the final ten percent require my attention. We’re addicted to our smart phones. Pull the digital needle out of your arm and let everyone do their jobs. They’ll love you for it and feel empowered. Occasionally a decision will get made that you don’t like, but that goes with running a show. You CAN NOT make every decision. If you try, your show will grind to a halt and you will fail.
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