Assignment 1 (Unit 24.1) – The Commissioning Process for Writing for Television and Video

The current practice of commissioning scripts for television and video has taken a shift from the conventional method of 'writing to assignment', to more writer-led systems such as proposal-based responses to commissions. The principals of commissioning scripts varies from different television channels or video companies, but essentially commissioned under the same process. There are many roles in the commissioning process which include commissioning editors and who must adhere to the conventions of the commissioning bodies such as the corporations or the independent production companies who employ them. There are many legal and ethical issues that the writer must consider when writing for television and video. Some of the most important considerations for a writer are copyright; biasness; censorship; watersheds and libel issues. *If the laws of copyright are broken, the production company could have legal action taken against them. Therefore it is imperitive that a production must never copy or use the material from another production without their permission, as this would be breaking the terms and conditions of copyright. *A programme may be deemed prejudice and unethical if the programme would only express the views and opinions of one party, and not that of another. *Censorship is to be considered in the example of programmes for a younger audience. Explicit aspects of a programme such as sex, violence, drug abuse and swearing are taken out of a programme to suit the younger audience. Therefore, the writer must have a comprehensive understanding of the levels of censorship within the industry. *The watershed threshold tends to be around 9 o'clock in Great Britain. This is the time when the transition of the material of programmes can take place. Programmes which feature sex, violence, drug abuse, and swearing are allowed to be aired on television. A writer may therefore create a programme which would be censored before the watershed, but uncensored after, even though it would run as one television programme. *A programme that is defamtory or damagingly misrepresents a party can be deemed as libel. This can also lead to legal action taken against the production company. Before any written work can be put forward for production, a commissioner will check that it has adhered to all rules when it comes to both legal and ethical considerations. A script must not breach the regulations of any of the issues mentioned. commissioning process of a script Know about the commissioning process. - Createhavoc www.createhavoc.org/...for.../18_Day_of_longboarding.html - Cached http://media3.bournemouth.ac.uk/profstudies/5commissioning/01overview.html