By Elyssa Gershman, Staff Writer on Shameless Clip Shows, Writers’ Assistant on Shameless S11, John Wells Executive Assistant


THE COVETED WRITERS’ ASSISTANT JOB

A Showrunner once said to me, you are an assistant writer until you are a Showrunner, which means… you’ve made it. Congratulations! It’s true; it is the Showrunner’s show, vision, voice that every writer in the room, yourself included, want to emulate. And every room, show, and Showrunner is different, so it’s not one size fits all. It’s important to be amenable and imperative to be a good communicator. But here are some things that have worked for me and we consider to be best practices.


ROOM NOTES

Your priorities as a Writers’ Assistant:

  1. Making the writers’ lives easier.

  2. Room notes.

And one important way to make writers lives easier is to produce thorough room notes. The Writers’ Assistant job continues after the writers room ends for the day, because that’s when you edit the notes you took during that day’s room. Every night you will need to send out the room notes to all the writers. If you put anything on a white/cork/computerized spreadsheet board, create a board document and email that out too.

In the beginning of each season of the writers room is blue-sky pitching – meaning what would you pitch if you can make your character do anything (and your budget is infinite)? What if Fonzie jumps that shark type of pitches, but usually blue sky pitches are honed in to more realistic stories, versus actually going with jumping the shark. You start big; themes, stories, season arcs, character arcs, episode arcs – it’s all big arcs inside of smaller arcs inside of smaller arcs. The hope is to produce clear room notes that tell a cohesive story the room landed on, so someone who wasn’t in the room can still understand what’s going on.


HOW TO TAKE GOOD WRITERS ROOM NOTES

Every person has a specific set of preferences and Showrunners each have their own preferences. Communication with your Showrunner before you begin a show is essential. Some writers like to see the buildup or conversation leading up to the idea we land on. That’s when I bold the idea. An example:

  • In Shameless Episode 1105 Debbie is full on paranoid.

    • A huge revelation for Debbie is if Sandy has a car.

    • Sandy and Debbie hook up and Debbie sees on Sandy’s keychain a Toyota key.

      • I didn’t know you have a car.

      • We park it 5 blocks over, 24 hour free.

    • Or Sandy needs to wash her clothes and the key falls out of her pocket.

      • Shit I got something on my pants and I can’t get home, can I wash them?

    • Or Debbie’s pulling stuff out of the dryer and finds a Hyundai key in there. So Debbie starts to go through Sandy’s pockets, stuff...

Other writers may only want to see what we land on.

Debbie’s pulling stuff out of the dryer and finds a Hyundai key in there. So Debbie starts to go through Sandy’s pockets, stuff...

Often both writers are in the same room, but the Showrunner’s preference is the one you need to take into account.


ORGANIZING NOTES
The general thought when writing room notes is always: What would be most helpful to me if I were the one to write this episode?
A giant document of unorganized text?

  • So then Mickey and asfagd -- Ian and Terry all come back but Terry’s racist, cursing out, Ian doesn’t know what to do Ian not gona involved, Mickey is . So then maybe the company calls and then they say ,aHDSHSA we can’t help, can’t you, never seenRTHJAHFG anything like it. Or no maybe they send another person, who would they send? Maybe this time a nun or like a...?

Or...
A large but slimmed-down document of text organized by character arc, episode, and beats within the episode?

SHAMELESS EP 1108 NOTES:

MICKEY AND IAN STORY – WHAT TO DO ABOUT TERRY?

  • FIRST BEAT:

    • Mickey and Ian are trying to figure out what to do with Terry who now needs full-time assistance.

      • They consider getting him arrested, better healthcare that way. Decide to try to hire in-home help to take care of Terry.

  • SECOND BEAT:

    • Mickey and Ian return home to see the nurse quitting, calling Terry a racist. Mickey’s mad. But the company sends over a nun who doesn’t play.

  • THIRD BEAT:

    • Mickey and Ian return to find Terry dead in the chair and Sister Marie praying over him.

      • Unfortunately he passed away...

      • Passed away!?

Think of the notes as a quick outline. They’re meant to be useful and remind those in the room of what was discussed. You can really shine by doing a good job at them, but they do take time. You’ll get faster the more you do them and you can try to edit as you go, but like writing, it can be tedious (some days more than others). Plan your weeknights accordingly.


DAY-TO-DAY ROOM NOTES

These are the notes you take down in a literal day. You should email them out to all the writers every night (and check with your Showrunner to see if they want to be copied/bcc’ed/don’t care). You are going to spend hours upon hours editing these notes only to send them out and have some of the writers not read them right away. That’s okay, because they will eventually need your notes when it comes time to write their episode (and some writers do read the daily room notes).


DAY-TO-DAY EPISODIC NOTES

These are within your day-to-day room notes and metamorphosize a couple weeks into the room when you’re placing stories into episodes. When writers are assigned episodes, in addition to sending out the daily room notes to all the writers, I email each writer individually whatever we discuss pertaining to their episode that day.

For example, this is part of the TABLE OF CONTENTS for a day-to-day room notes (which you can do easy on Microsoft Word or Google Docs) and is an outline for the notes document. Some Showrunners like this, some don’t so communicate per usual – but this is what it looks like:

DAY-TO-DAY ROOM NOTES FROM 12/22/22, SENT TO ALL THE WRITERS ON 12/22/22:
1102 ........................................................................................................................................

Carl ..............................................................................................................................................………………

Mickey .........................................................................................................................................………………

Lip scared to tell Tami about broken window ............................................................................………………..

1103..........................................................................................…………………………………………

Milton ..........................................................................................................................................……………….

1104..........................................................................................…………………………………………

Lip ...............................................................................................………………………………………………………….

Liam .............................................................................................................................................……………….


1102 NOTES ONLY, FROM 12/22/22, SENT TO WRITER OF EP 1102 INDIVIDUALLY:
1102 ........................................................................................................................................

Carl ..............................................................................................................................................………………

Mickey .........................................................................................................................................………………

Lip scared to tell Tami about broken window ............................................................................………………..


1103 NOTES ONLY FROM 12/22/22 SENT TO WRITER OF EP 1103 INDIVIDUALLY:
1103 ........................................................................................................................................

Milton ..........................................................................................................................................……………….

...and so on.

If we talk about a story change or swap over the course of multiple episodes, email all the writers it affects on one chain to remind them of who is doing what. Be across everything.


THE MASTER EPISODIC NOTES DOCUMENT

Ideally before a writer goes to Outline, you send them the Master Episodic Document. This is the compilation of what we’ve discussed and/or seemed to land on per episode, meaning there’s a Master Doc for episode one, another for two, and three, etc. So even though the writers may not read the daily room notes, it’s important to keep these clean and organized because it will help you stay organized when you’re crafting the Master Episodic Document. I start to compile these documents as we begin breaking the season. You may find that we discuss the same story on Monday 12/20 that we did on Wednesday 12/22. Be mindful of past pitches because often the writers will forget they’ve already come up with a solution to their problem, and you can jump in to remind them. Sometimes the room will discuss a new story for a character, or delve deeper into an existing story, and there’s new or changed information in later meetings. Update the notes by comparing the discussions on 12/20 and 12/22 to see where you landed. It’ll become easier and clearer the more you do it, and sometimes the room doesn’t land on anything or you are not sure. You can say that, and then just list all the ideas pitched in an organized way.

Below is an example of a Master Notes Document Table of Contents, organized by character and story.

SHAMELESS EP 1108 MASTER NOTES DOCUMENT (TABLE OF CONTENTS):

Frank ......................................................................................................................................

Board Beats .................................................................................................................................……………..

Family discovers dementia .........................................................................................................………………

Gallagher Elementary-Cancel Culture .........................................................................................……………

Dementia and re-naming of school tied together ..................................................................………………….

Debbie ....................................................................................................................................

Board Beats .................................................................................................................................……………..

Debbie second guessing herself as a mom .................................................................................……………..

Frank never thought about Debbie ............................................................................................……………….

Carl ......................................................................................................................................…

Board Beats .................................................................................................................................……………..

Carl recruited to work with Vice guys .........................................................................................……………..

Meets pregnant woman at Vice Cop Bar, she’s a school teacher ..............................................……………..

Lip .......................................................................................................................................…

Board Beats .................................................................................................................................…………….

Lip interrogated by cops, Tami goes criminal .............................................................................…………….

Bonnie and Clyde ........................................................................................................................……………

Kev ...............................................................................................................................................……………

Brad .............................................................................................................................................……………

Ian and Mickey ......................................................................................................................

Board Beats ................................................................................……………………………………………………….

Terry needs someone to look after him .....................................................................................……………..

I include what happened at the end of the previous episode (with plot and character emotions) so the writer has a clearer launching point.

Example:
Frank returns home after getting lost at the end of 1107 and wants to fight to keep the Gallagher house. At the top of 1108, Frank has a plan to do just that. His dementia worse than it’s ever been, but there are waves of clarity, though fewer and farther between.


WRITERS SCHEDULE, LIASON WITH PRODUCTION, AND YOU

After the writer goes off to Outline, you can retire the Master Document for that episode. You’ll still be doing the day-to-day room notes, but now for the writer of the episode – in this example’s case episode Ep 1108 – the notes documents will be based on the drafts that the writer turns in. Our Writers Schedule at JWP is as follows:

  • Story aka Outline

    • We’ll do notes as a room on this and the Showrunner gives heavy feedback.

    • You’ll send the writer the notes from that meeting on their outline.

  • Revised Story aka Revised Outline

    • We’ll do more notes as a room, hopefully a less intense round of notes if the story is working, and then we send the Revised Story to the Studio/Network. The Studio and Network receive the Writers Schedule when the writers do at the top of a season, so they’re aware when we need their notes back by to keep on schedule.

    • You’ll send the writer the notes on their revised outline, and so on and so forth for the rest of the drafts sent in the room.

  • Rough Draft

    • We’ll do notes as a room on this and the Showrunner gives heavy feedback.

  • First Draft

    • First or Second Draft is shared with the Line Producer and often Department Heads (but always discuss with your Showrunner before sending anything out).

  • Second Draft

    • More room notes and notes documents.

  • Third Draft

    • Share with Studio/Network

    • If you’re in production this is the WHITE draft.

Of course this is through the JWP writers room lens so not everything may apply, but this process has been beneficial in ensuring quality, on-time scripts.
When you’re in pre-production (and beyond), part of your job as Writers’ Assistant is acting as the liaison between the writers and production. Talk to your Showrunner about who should get what drafts and when. Typically, the
script coordinator
Script Coordinator - Acts as the liaison between the writer’s room and production. They distribute drafts to the crew and actors and are also responsible for the paperwork that is filed with the WGA and studio that triggers credit and payment.
doesn’t start until the show is in pre- production, and writers rooms start at all different stages in relation to production:

  • A month or two before pre-production wrapping with production (though usually writers have different spans, which we touch upon below).

  • All before pre-production, writers write all scripts ahead of time.

  • A mini room where production is not guaranteed as the show has not been greenlit.

Along with ensuring the writers get paid (which I touch on in Payment section below) you want to make sure the people who need scripts have them. But you need to make sure you are distributing drafts approved by your Showrunner, so it is imperative to double and triple check your Showrunner wants you to send that First Draft to the Line Producer/Department Heads, because the Showrunner may have larger story notes and you don’t want to send your department heads in the wrong direction. Never assume that just because the Showrunner wanted the second draft distributed last time that it’ll be the same this time. It often isn’t. Casting always wants a draft as early as possible, but if it’s too early in a season break to send them a draft, one way you can help is by giving casting a heads up about potential new characters with a vague character descriptions (Girl, 20s but open) so that they have a general direction of where they might be looking. Always be non-committal until told otherwise, which also saves you when the episode ends up needing a Man in his 40s. You want to help and make everyone feel cared for, but you need to protect information, so judge wisely. You’ll often be asked to help write breakdowns for casting, loglines for publicity, and so forth. Again, always get approval from your Showrunner before sending anything.

Additionally there are
Clearance
Clearance - The process of approving real or fictional names of businesses, persons, or artwork that will be shown on screen, both from a legal and creative perspective. Most studios have a clearance department that works in tandem with production and writer’s rooms.
reports, which is a list from the Network or Studio’s legal team of business names, brands, words of dialogue, and so forth that we are either not permitted to use, or may be liable by having a character say, or smoke, or drink, or wear, or may have to pay a bunch of money to license, or is the name of a real life person, or associates a negative connotation with a brand, or whatever – it’ll be on the Clearance report. Part of your job can be, along with the script coordinator and managers or whomever on your team, to come up with fake alternative business names, people names, comic book titles, etc. The Clearance reports are by episode, so you’ll want to flag to the writer of the individual episode what needs adjustment. Come up with suggestions for them. This is the time to show your creativity. Name a grocery story after your last name or your favorite pet. But again, check with the writer first. Sometimes clearance requests come from the art department in which case you’d check with your Showrunner, unless they don’t care about the tiny smoke shop ten yards away in the background.


NETWORK AND TABLE READ NOTES

When you have a Writers Schedule, your Studio and Network know when to expect drafts and when they need to turn in their notes (hopefully within 48 hours or less). If you get lucky your Studio/Network sends written notes, but often there’s a phone call or Zoom and you’ll need to take detailed notes. Likewise, you’ll take notes at the cast read-thru. These have to be turned around quickly as the episode is shooting very soon.



NOTES TURNAROUND

Ideally you’re sending out the daily room notes within the same day – or night -- of the room. I tend to lean on the side of taking longer and doing a better job on organizing the document than rushing it and getting a less-helpful document out earlier. But I always get them out on the same day. If a writer is on deadline talk to the writer about when they plan to write and will need the notes. If they aren’t going to write until the next morning, you know you have more time. If the writer wants to get some writing done after dinner, you should give them something to look at quickly.



WHAT TO LISTEN FOR IN THE ROOM

You’re gaging the direction the Showrunner is taking the story, so you want to listen to see what the Showrunner responds to. For example’s sake, let’s call the Showrunner... JON (No ‘H’). Did Jon laugh really hard at that joke Rachel pitched? Bolded in the notes to bold for later. Or, did Jon quickly change the subject when Ross pitched that he and Rachel were, in fact, on a break? ....... Stop typing. You don’t need to remind anyone of the pitch that failed. Or you can pretend-type to make the writer feel less embarrassed but do something to remind yourself to delete it later. Your choice.



BE THE ENCYCLOPEDIA

If a writer asks a question and it seems like something everyone needs to know the answer to right now, look it up as fast as you can and get that answer. You’ll get faster and it makes you invaluable. If it’s a longer thing to research, for example if someone asks how to illegally remove an ankle monitor, highlight it to remind yourself to research later. You want to be the person with all the answers. If it’s a recurring show, you are the encyclopedia. Watch every previous episode at least 3 times. I don’t care if there are twenty-five seasons prior, don’t complain, watch. Remember that you get to watch a bunch of TV for a living and that’s pretty cool. And it’ll save your Showrunner (and you) the agony of rebreaking last-minute because a story’s been done before. But you never want to pitch a problem only. If you’re flagging a problem you should always try to venture a possible solution. After you flag the problem once to your Showrunner, they can decide how much they care, but you’ve done your job.



PITCHING IN THE ROOM/ THE HIERARCHY

The priorities of a Writers’ Assistant are room notes and making the writers job easier. So after you’ve mastered the notes and mastered the art of listening, remember to take a deep breath and set your ego aside. You should never speak just because you feel like you have to have something to say. Speak if you have something of value to add. Err on the side of saying less versus saying more. You never want to be the reason the room breaks its flow or creative wave. And every room is different, so 80% is just feeling the energy of the room.

There is a hierarchy even if they say there isn’t. Again setting ego aside, accept that you have a lot to learn from the other writers, but you also have something to give them that they need. The better you do at your job and help them with theirs, the more willing they will be to teach you what they know and be prepared to let you throw in the occasional idea or joke.



GETTING WRITERS PAID AND CREDITED

Writers don’t care if it’s not your job to process their paperwork. They care that they’re not getting paid. It’s your job to communicate with the script coordinator so they know who is writing what episode and when Outlines are due to be sent to the Studio/Network. Again, having a Writers Schedule you distribute to everyone working on the show will ensure on-time payments. Often with mini rooms or at the beginning of a season there is no script coordinator. Every Friday the WGA Weekly Worklist needs to be submitted to the WGA (and often a studio representative requests a copy too). This is a timecard for your writers for the week. https://www.wga.org/employers/employers/weekly-worklist-requirement

Essentially, to get full payment you’ll need a completed Writers Assignment Memo, Fully Executed Writers Contract, And Script Payment Authorization, sent to appropriate parties. More information from the WGA below: https://www.wga.org/contracts/know-your-rights/writers-need-to-know

Just to touch on the NTWC (Notice of Tentative Writing Credits) – double, triple check you have the appropriate names down for all EPs, writers, directors, or else credits are split and it becomes a whole mess you don’t want to deal with. Receipts. Emails. Cross I’s, Dot T’s. Your future self will thank your past self for covering your butt.



WORK/LIFE BALANCE AND BOUNDARIES

If you treat every writer like they’re the most important person in the world they will love you forever but you may never sleep, so it’s important to set boundaries. The more you work with writers and the more they like working with you, the more job opportunities you’ll get. Proofread scripts for the room, or for other stuff they’re working on outside of the show. This is the time to push yourself, but know when there’s no gas left. To be honest I’m still figuring it out too, so maybe I’ll write an addendum when I do.



IN CONCLUSION

Your priority as a Writers’ Assistant is to make the writers’ lives easier. Master the notes documents before you start to pitch. Be someone the writers can trust, but remember it’s the Showrunner’s show so know when to use discretion. Be reliable. Set your ego aside. Listen and absorb. And congratulations – you’re an assistant writer until you’re the Showrunner, so you’ve made it.