Search

This article investigates, through interviews, the script development processes of four female-identifying web series creators, contributing to scholarship around web series’ ability to serve diver...

In this chapter, we explore the notion of improvement as it relates to script development discourse and experience. In an attempt to open up debate for further conceptualisation and theorisation, we draw on two distinct datasets: script development guidelines from Federal and State/Territory screen agencies in Australia, and interviews with script development professionals. Screen agency documents were collated and analysed in 2018 for their explicit or implicit directives towards improvement, including analogous concepts such as betterment, quality and success. These were then considered in relation to 14 interview transcripts, the results of which were themed into groups. The interviews were conducted with industry professionals from Australia, New Zealand, the UK and the US in 2017, who have worked in a variety of script development roles across these countries, including as screenwriter, script consultant, script editor, story editor and storyline writer. This rich and diverse dataset is useful for comparing lived experiences—of both developing and being developed—with the discourses espoused by screen agencies.

© 2018, © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Comedy writers use their practice to raise questions and create awareness about social, political and cultural issues, but can these practitioners be considered academics? With creative modalities of enquiry now commonplace in universities–where research is used to shape one’s practice, resulting in creative work that embodies that research–when does comedy writing start to take on a different function? In this article, we discuss comedy screenwriting in an academic setting, arguing that it has potential as a rigorous mode of research that can sit happily alongside art, design, creative writing and media practice. Much has been written about creative practice research, yet not so much has been written about the form this type of research takes; specifically, why one might choose comedy to express, embody or otherwise perform the findings of research. Here, then, we draw on our experiences of undertaking screenwriting projects using comedy to discuss the ways in which researchers might use the comic mode to present their findings in imaginative, innovative and fun ways that can expand understanding and, potentially, garner impact.

Much has been written about screen cities, and within this literature it is suggested that the city itself becomes screen language with its light, colour, and architecture. But there are fewer, if any, scholarly explorations on the practice of screenwriting the city, whereby this language must first be realised in words. Moreover, traditional screenwriting models emphasise the importance of plot, but not necessarily the creation of those worlds into which viewers so readily enter. This paper draws from the author's own practice and pedagogy to discuss experiments in using the city - and the screen world more broadly - as a starting point for screen stories. It makes particular reference to the script development process of a Melbourne-set screenplay, and the development and delivery of an undergraduate media studio, one that used the location-as-inspiration approach suggested by Kathryn Millard's invitation to 'write for place' (2014). In presenting the attendant discoveries, this paper aims to open a conversation around writing the city and the ways in which notions of 'world' impact upon, or intersect with, other aspects of screenwriting practice. It is hoped that this leads to practical ways, in learning, teaching and script development environments, to approach a story's world.

Dr Helen Jacey is a screenwriter and script consultant, and teaches scriptwriting at Bournemouth University, UK. Her research interests include creative and critical approaches to screenwriting, screenwriting and gender, and screenwriting genre theory. Her book The Woman in the Story: Writing Memorable Female Characters (2010) was the first screenwriting guide for writers developing female driven projects. As a professional writer, she has written numerous film, television and radio projects for UK, US and European production companies and is currently developing a series of crime fiction novels, Elvira Slate Investigations. She is a story consultant for international filmmakers and film agencies.Editors Louise Sawtell and Dr Stayci Taylor asked Dr Jacey a series of questions relating specifically to the themes explored by the special issue: gendered practices, processes and perspectives in screenwriting. The following are the insights generously offered by this leader in the field.

Here we set out to map, through epitextual moves, the first year of our practice-based research into 'diary performance', taking up Watkins and Krauth's call for 'new ways of "doing" and of "writing up" research that are discipline and form/genre relevant' (2016. "Radicalising the Scholarly Paper: New Forms for the Traditional Journal Article." TEXT: Journal of Writing and Writing Courses 20 (1)). We offer the emergent methodology we call diarology much as it was discovered: chronologically, playfully and intuitively, through voicings, listenings, space for awkward silences and the serendipitous, and increasing attention to the metissage of our interleavings. We draw on the possibilities of playful practices both as means of inquiry and as sources of new knowledge, recalling Halberstam who encourages scepticism around modes of 'disciplinary correctness', suggesting they confirm the 'already known according to approved methods of knowing [but] do not allow for visionary insights of flight or fancy' (2011. The Queer Art of Failure. Durham: Duke University Press). The outcome re-purposes found materials to create new life narratives, each iteration finding form and gathering vitality within the extemporaneous/ephemeral architecture of 'essayesque dismemoir' (Murray 2017. "Essayesque Dismemoir: w/rites of elder-flowering". PhD Thesis, RMIT University). Refereed/Peer-reviewed

One of the major considerations in creating a premise for an enduring television series is choosing what is variously termed the “hub” or “precinct.” Focusing primarily on the television series ​Wentworth ​ (2013–) and its antecedent, ​Prisoner (Cell Block H) (1979–1986), this chapter looks to practices of screenwriting, script editing and serial drama development through the lenses of television studies and genre theory, to suggest that the unique appeal of women-in-prison series is broader than a general fascination with life on the inside. We argue that the prison-as-hub more broadly does much of the work of facilitating the internal logic of the interconnected lives and storylines of the characters. We contextualize these ideas within a broader investigation into how the prison hub functions within script development processes and suggest that this is a more productive conceptualization of the “hub” than the more common “world-building.” These factors pave the way for the greenlighting of a female-centered series, with transformative possibilities. We aim to also draw conclusions around the wider function of the female hub as a catalyst for industry change, especially at the level of series commissions. By focusing on gender in relation to script development processes, we hope to augment and deepen concurrent discourses on gender and representation, particularly in the television series. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

Public diary-reading events, arguably originating in the USA in 2002, continue to draw participants eager to share their teenage angst and juvenilia, yet there is little scholarly reflection on this peripheral practice of performative writing. Having birthed our own version in 2017 within the safe harbour of the academy and using an intuitive, practice-based methodology we believe there are some useful questions to pose about the autoethnographic contributions of this mortification rite. Eighteen months in, we are further moved to ask, what is happening in the presentational and performative space as we show our younger selves to one another as we have, and do? This article, a follow-up to our previous Diarology for beginners (2019), formally reiterates on the page the associative leaps and communal meaning-making arising from our explorations so far. Prompted by questions, such as, Is the practice of diary keeping inherently gendered? Is it about becoming visible? Audible? Memorable? What? And what is the impulse to publicly share the archives? (Munro, Murray and Taylor 2019), we draw on the literature around diary keeping, as well as theories on voice, gender and creative autoethnography, as a way into understanding diary performing and the public sharing of juvenile shame. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

The comedy web series is often celebrated as a mode of production which allows for a creative voice ‘[un]diminished by consensus’ (Miller cited in Williams, Web TV Series: How to Make and Market Them. Harpenden: Kamera Books, 2012, 179), providing an opportunity for content to be produced and distributed to audiences whilst still being developed (Williams, Web TV Series: How to Make and Market Them. Harpenden: Kamera Books, 2012, 67). This iterative approach to development challenges traditional notions of key creative roles, as content creators have the potential to engage in feedback with their audience before an episode is even realised. This chapter will focus on two of these roles, the Writer and Producer, investigating how they function throughout the development of a comedy web series across three different contexts: pedagogical, independent (self-funded) and what we’ll call commercial (projects that have received external funding). This will include a definition of what these roles are in each context, where they intersect and where they remain distinct. Further to this, an argument will be put forward about how these roles are evolving into what Cunningham and Silver refer to as ‘entrepreneurial and innovative creators’ (Ellingsen, Media International Australia, Incorporating Culture & Policy, 150, 106–113, 2014); those who can identify opportunities presented by a form for which few conventions appear yet to be established, and have the ability to not only create and distribute their content, but also integrate promotional outcomes and commercial opportunities into their concepts from the outset. Ultimately, the purpose here is to investigate the development phase of a comedy web series, and for this discussion to be centred on a practitioner-based enquiry of key creative roles within this form, in order to better understand the opportunities and limitations that working within this form presents.

This chapter focuses on screenwriting pedagogy through the lens of script development, asking what might be gleaned from industry that helps students to learn about aspects of writing for the screen beyond the screenplay itself. In other words, is script development a more viable pedagogy for teaching and learning the craft of screenwriting, one that exposes students to the wider world of industry and career ‘success’ than merely focusing on the writing of a script? The chapter draws on a dataset of 14 interviews with industry professionals from Australia, New Zealand, the UK and the USA. The interviewees have worked in a variety of roles in the screen industry across these countries, including as screenwriters, script consultants, script editors, story editors and storyline writers; and as screenwriting educators in universities, colleges and private training and consultancy settings. They represent a rich and diverse dataset for the discovery of new insights into what this chapter argues could be an important and distinctive screenwriting pedagogy.

This article argues that, for Australian comedy series creators, the web platform has opened a new space in which the ‘rules’ of script development are being expanded, enhanced or otherwise refashioned through having direct connection with and input from their audience. With the audience’s potential as a ‘comedy gatekeeper’, the web series audience becomes integral to the ways in which these texts are developed, namely skipping the erstwhile second-guessing of demographic tastes by more traditional broadcast development executives and commissioners. Referring to a range of well-known Australian comedy web series, such as Bondi Hipsters (2011–2017) and The Katering Show (2015–17) – including what their creators, writers and audiences have said about them – we investigate the processes behind the success of these series to argue that a new form of script development has emerged: namely, that development is both facilitated and influenced by the direct line that exists between comedy creators and their viewers. Furthermore, we suggest that through such a collaborative and open-access process of script development, comedy writers and performers might also benefit from an expanded form of talent development. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

© 2018 Intellect Ltd Article. Both a process and a set of products, influenced by policy as well as people, and incorporating objective agendas at the same time as subjective experiences, script development is a core practice within the screen industry –yet one that is hard to pin down and, to some extent, define. From an academic research perspective, we might say that script development is a ‘wicked problem’ precisely because of these complex and often contradictory aspects. Following on from a recent Journal of Screenwriting special issue on script development (2017, vol. 8:3), and in particular an article therein dedicated to reviewing the literature and ‘defining the field’, an expanded team of researchers follow up on those ideas and insights. In this article, then, we attempt to theorize script development as a ‘wicked problem’ that spans a range of themes and disciplines. As a ‘wicked’ team of authors, our expertise encompasses screenwriting theory, screenwriting practice, film and television studies, cultural policy, ethnography, gender studies and comedy. By drawing on these critical domains and creative practices, we present a series of interconnected themes that we hope not only suggests the potential for script development as a rich and exciting scholarly pursuit, but that also inspires and encourages other researchers to join forces in an attempt to solve the script development ‘puzzle’.

© Max Schleser, Marsha Berry 2018. In his chapter "Smartphone Screenwriting: Creativity, Technology, and Screenplays-on-the-Go", Craig Batty argues that while technological advances might seemingly be breeding new types of screenwriting practice via apps and digital tools, in fact they are almost exclusively responding to market demands and facilitating existing, rather than inspiring new, practices: "every tool and app is still reliant on what the screenwriter brings to it" (Batty, p. 113, in: Berry and Schleser (eds) Mobile Media Making in an Age of Smartphones. Palgrave, New York, 2014). The question still remains: if technology can determine the type, style and form of screen media being produced (e.g. smartphone filmmaking, the web series), can it also influence the ways these works are written, beyond replicating what happens in the analogue world? How might the capabilities of mobile media shape and enhance the story-making practices of a screenwriter?

By approaching different aspects of screenwriting and its place in the growing field of creative practice research, this paper reflects on our experiences of undertaking PhDs by creative project. We acknowledge the challenges that come with any creative practice research degree, such as generating new knowledge in ways not always easily measured by more traditional rubrics, and are especially interested in the added complexities that arise with screenwriting, a practice with fewer PhD completions to draw from and with an uncertain footing in the fields of both (or neither) creative writing and screen production. In order to come to a better understanding of what it means to write a screenplay in the academy, and more specifically, how a researcher responds to the challenges of framing a screenplay as a research artefact, we posed a series of questions to ignite discussion and debate. Covering topics that range from research design to screenwriting-as-creative-writing, the themes below represent a summary of these questions, collated in a way that we hope will invite further conversations in the field of screenwriting-as-research. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

What does it mean to write the city? And how do you write the city if you live on the streets? This chapter explores the implications of writing (and editing) the city through a collaborative creative project that non/fictionLab at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University has developed in Melbourne in conjunction with STREAT, a social enterprise that provides homeless youth and young people who are experiencing severe disadvantage with supported pathways from living on the street to a sustainable livelihood. As an experiment in applied creative writing, #STREATstories aims to foster a meaningful sense of belonging and connection through the making and distribution of place-based urban stories and poetic expression as a way to create prospects for social change. If we take maps to be representative documents, this case study asks: what is the potential for the act of mapping through a process of collaboration, and the maps themselves, to reconfigure representations of homelessness? Furthermore, if we explore the ways this project might be expanded, transferred and shared, what are the implications for who is represented, how they are represented and how the material outcomes are received by varied audiences? Through facilitating workshops, collecting stories and ‘composing’ the stories into material artefacts, we have explored both the potential for shared storytelling to positively affect participants and their communities—and the potential for applied creative writing to enrich the aims of social enterprise itself.

This article explores ‘the exegesis now’ from the perspective of the screenwriting practice PhD. Using as a playful homage to traditional screenplay structure, the archetypal Hero’s Journey, it maps the landscape and offers examples of how the screenwriting exegesis/dissertation is occurring at RMIT University. This includes a comedy feature film about gender and perspective; a multiple-protagonist feature film set in the world of avid Doctor Who fans; and a hybrid form, the screen novel, set in the politically corrupt world of contemporary Melbourne transport infrastructure. Guided by their supervisor ‘mentor’, two candidates and one recent graduate embark on a collaborative journey that probes, prods, prises open and proposes what the screenwriting practice PhD can do and look like, and by doing so raise important points about the purpose and form of the dissertation. Collectively, the authors assume the simultaneous roles of the candidate who is doing, completing and has completed; the experienced supervisor; and the in-training supervisor.

Through an extensive survey of the field, this article asks, what is script development? How is it defined in industry discourse and in screenwriting scholarship? While definitions of script development can be found across the spectrum of screenwriting and screen production resources, ranging from the instructional guidelines offered by funding bodies to references in the how-to market, the article posits that academic scholarship on the practice is still emerging. As such, this article seeks to establish a platform from which we can both define and conceive of further research into script development - however it might be named, practiced and studied - possibly as a sub-discipline of screenwriting studies and/or central to the study of screenwriting practice. The article brings together extant definitions and documented experiences of script development, to offer a basis from which to discuss both academic and practice-based approaches to the phenomenon. While not suggesting that the practice of script development should be standardized or limited by definition, the article does argue for the importance of investigating the available definitions and identifying the gaps in literature. By seeking out the various angles and overlaps of those researching in this field, the article proposes to begin a conversation and invite further research around what script development is and looks like in various international contexts. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

Script development is a creative, commercial and social process in which ideas, emotions, people and personalities combine, cohere, clash and are contested by the practicalities, policies and rapid movements of the screen industry. It is an activity often controlled by hierarchical and financial powers, yet experienced by individual and usually sensitive practitioners trying to tell their stories to an outside world. Script development is a highly exciting yet potentially very daunting aspect of screen production and in recent times has crept into the university, with academics and academics-in-training developing screenplays for research projects and degrees. In this article we discuss and provide examples of the academy as a site for research based script development, an activity that draws on creative practice research methodologies to find ways of conceiving and executing screenwriting differently. By taking away the commercial constraints of the industry and instead incubating ideas in a research environment, we consider the potential of the screenwriter to use the academy as a space in which their practice can be broadened, deepened, expanded and experimented with. While this practice might sit outside of the industry while in process, we see its results as having the future potential to be used in - or at least valued by - that very industry. As creators, writers, storyliners and script editors of a range of screen works across a range of industry settings, we draw here on our collective screenwriting practice experiences within the academy to focus on the notion of thinking through the screenplay - using research to underpin creative practice, resulting in what we might call an 'academic screenplay' - as a way of writing differently for the screen. Refereed/Peer-reviewed