Unit 24: Script to Screen – writing a short film script: Task 1 – Working as a Writer

Commissioning a script

When a script is commissioned by a film production company for a new film a writer is selected to write it. The script then goes through several drafts before the final one is produced. Even then while the shooting of the film is taking place, there will be small changes in dialogue to better suit the setting of the film.

Writers contracts and employer expectations

When a writer is hired to write a script the production company will make them sign contracts so they won't sell the script to other companies. The production companies expectations is that the script is well written (Though sometimes it is doubtful that production companies know what a good script is sometimes) and keeps to the story of the proposed film.

 Legal and ethical expectations that concern writers.

The legal expectations for writers is that once a production company commissions a film for the script. They essentially own the script so you can’t sell it to another company. The ethical expectations are that they have to be paid well, except that they are not when they provide the skeletal structure for the film.