Read Reality TV: An Insider's Guide to TV's Hottest Market Online
Authors: Troy DeVolld
Reality TV: An Insider's Guide to TV's Hottest Market (17 page)
Note the complete absence of any suggested course of action save for the third note, which fails to explain the motivation behind the weird addition even while knotting your eyebrows as to how you can make a specific thing happen long after your tape’s been shot and the gang’s gone home.
When execs hand you lemons, make lemonade. If there’s absolutely no way to get around a clinker of a note, there are three remedies that (usually) work.
First, you and your superiors can push back on the note, respectfully disagreeing and supporting the decision with an easily absorbed explanation like “material does not exist” or “change is likely to undermine the punch of the payoff in Act Five.” Language should not challenge the merit of the note, only why the change cannot (or should not) be made.
Second, you can address their notes to the letter and let the exec realize on their own that the suggestion doesn’t work. I’ve never liked this approach, as it’s passive-aggressive, a colossal waste of time, and there are no guarantees that the exec will actually realize that anything’s been made worse as a result of their note. It’s risky.
Third, you can come at it as I most often do: Make changes based on the “spirit” of the notes, which is my fancy way of saying that there’s no way to address them except by sleight of hand. By that, I mean that you, your Editor and your Supervising Producer can probably survive them by changing a few music cues, compressing an act to create enough room for a short scene you initially deleted (making the action more dense), or peppering in a few more reaction shots or side comments. Your annotated replies to these notes, which usually accompany your next output in written form, should look something like this:
For “This needs to be better,” respond with “Act improved significantly by use of more upbeat music cues and minor revisions to scenework.”
For “Act Two is boring,” tell them you “Revised scenework to quicken pace.”
For the impossible action request, try “Reviewed source material, but found no such action. However, added x/y/z to draw more focus to Hank.”
See that? You’ve materially changed the episode and supported your decisions by suggesting how this largely meaningless shuffling should be interpreted, which registers to the note giver as respecting/addressing their notes. Yes, with a bit of good luck, your less-experienced, less-articulate exec or their pet assistant will feel that they’re being listened to and that’ll be that.
Most often, networks ask for more than one review, so your new version will be output and sent back to them, where the refinement process continues (sometimes after multiple rough cut passes) with the fine cut.
6
The Fine Cut
Once the network has exhausted their agreed-upon number of rough cut passes, you and your Editor will attempt to address the notes you’ve been given while tightening the cut as closely as possible to the exact length at which it will air.
The fine cut will include final graphics and more closely approximate the product the viewer will see. Your Editor will be busy addressing music, graphics and other non-story notes in addition to making the changes you provide, so as with all stages of postproduction, don’t micromanage them.
The Locked Cut
Once the network signs off on your edited-to-time final cut, it’s time to lock the cut. You and you Editor may still need to tweak the show to
exact
time before passing the show off to the Online Editor, who will be responsible for color correcting the show, remixing the audio, and sweating the small stuff that makes your product airable.
Once that’s completed, congratulations! Weeks or months of hard work later, you’ve finally finished an episode!
CHAPTER SEVEN EXERCISES
NOTES PASS EXERCISE ONE
Watch an episode of a Reality show as if you were an EP or network exec, writing up your notes on how the episode could be improved. Once you’ve finished your notes, set them aside for an hour and then read them, answering the following questions on each note:
• On a scale of one to ten, how easily interpreted is your note?
• On a scale of one to ten, how difficult do you expect it would be to address this note? In other words, would it involve reshoots or additional time with voice over or host talent?
• Is your tone constructive or derogatory? How would you feel if you received this note?
NOTES PASS EXERCISE TWO
Watch a second Reality show, preferably a primetime cable Docu-Soap. Imagine that your role is that of the network executive once again, but that you’ve just received a mandate that shows on the network need to be “toned down” to contain less overtly sexual or verbally offensive material.
• Give notes that could actually be addressed, using resources likely to be available already. Some suggestions might include removing or bleeping some dialogue, removing some scene content, or asking if alternate coverage may be available.
Notes:
1. Applied carelessly, these can cost you the trust of your audience.
2. See Appendix B for tips on writing great V.O. and host copy.
3. Yes, it happens. With the compressed schedules nowadays, you can be in post while the field is still shooting.
4. Temporary audio helps to better guess program length and brings the show to life in early screenings with your coworkers and superiors in a way that cards can’t.
5. Even in this age of DVRs, when viewers often record their shows and speed through the commercials on playback, commercial breaks still trigger the question “Do I want to keep watching this?”
6. No guarantees. Some request multiple rough or fine cut passes.
Get to Work!
A
t this point, you know most of what goes on behind the scenes of your favorite Reality shows. Now all that remains for those of you ready to take on the business is finding out how to get your foot in the door.
While you might be thinking “well, what does he know… he came to Los Angeles and had a contact in the business right from the beginning.” Well, you can have one, too. My friend Steve, now a successful production coordinator for huge movies and television shows, kickstarted his career by writing a letter to the Coen Brothers and getting a break as a Production Assistant on the blue screen unit for their film
The Hudsucker Proxy
. Fifteen years later he counts among his credits the TV series
Lost
and
Heroes
as well as some of the
Twilight
films. Steve decided early on to make his own contacts and didn’t expect anyone to hand him anything.
We all start at the bottom and should, because there’s a huge learning curve when it comes to understanding the process well enough to tell great stories. Hang in there, because if you play your cards right, this stage of your career won’t last long.
Entry-Level Positions
“In this business, everything is word-of-mouth. You build up a reputation that carries you through day after day, year after year.” —
Hector Ramirez, Camera Operator and most nominated individual in the history of the Emmy® awards
1
Unlike screenwriters, whose careers can go from zero to sixty with one great spec script, virtually no one starts out as a Story Producer.
2
In the entire course of my career, I’ve only seen it happen once, when an Executive Producer hired an old college friend of his for that position. By mid-season, his pal was out the door and the rest of the story team was racing to pick up her slack.
I’ve seen receptionists and executive assistants become Story Producers, and even a few Editors I know have taken mid-career stabs at straight-up story gigs. By and large, however, most story folks come up through a few key positions.
Remember those Loggers and Transcribers I mentioned back in Chapter Seven? You can’t beat those jobs for gaining experience while enjoying daily access to your potential mentors in the story department.
In major entertainment cities, job listings for Loggers and Transcribers abound in the pages of websites like
www.craigslist.org
,
www.mandy.com
,
www.entertainmentcareers.net
and
www.realitystaff.com
. Coldcalling Post Supervisors at Reality production companies can also work. Most of them prefer to work with experienced people, but don’t let that keep you from applying. Never send a blind fax, as they’re seldom read.
When you’re called in to interview, be sure to ask about which software the company uses to log tapes. There are many kinds (like PilotWare and Teresis, for example) and knowing enough to ask implies that you have at least a passing familiarity with the business. Be candid if you’re unfamiliar with a program they mention — most are easy to learn, but impossible to bluff any competency with once you show up to work.
Tip: When inquiring about Logger or Transcriber positions, know your typing speed in case you’re asked… there are plenty of free tests online.
Once you’re hired, always take the day shift if you’re given the choice. You’ll have many more opportunities to interact with the higher-ups if you’re in the office while everyone else is there. My first logging job was a 7 p.m.–3 a.m. shift, but I always dropped by the office around 5 p.m. to check in and nab some “face time” with everyone before the daytime crowd bailed out at 6 or 7.
There are two ways to approach logging and transcribing:
One, come in every day ten minutes late and looking like you dressed yourself out of your glove box, log half your tapes, take an hour and eighteen minutes for lunch, log your other tapes, and head home complaining about how everyone on the show is an overpaid pain in the butt who doesn’t notice you until they’re breathing down your neck about typos.
Two, come in every day ten minutes early and dressed like someone with a job, drop by the story department to ask if there’s anything they need you to keep an eye out for, log half your tapes, spend your lunch break relaxing but thinking about what you’ve been reviewing, and generally seize every opportunity to prove yourself as something more than a despondent robot wage-slave. Finish the day by asking the story folks if anyone needs anything else before you head home.
If you can manage the second approach without overdoing it, you’ll likely get some solid references out of your Post Supervisor and the story people you’ve worked with. You may also find yourself in the story department next season as a Story Assistant or alternately titled Assistant Story Producer.
Asking for opportunities and making your long-term goals clear is crucial. I’ve known Loggers and Transcribers who have worked in the same positions for years, and plenty of others (like me) who were able to turn their work ethic and story sense into story positions in just a few months to a year because we made it known that we wanted to learn and move up the creative ladder.
“As I’ve built up my experience and moved forward, I continued to work under the same title of Story Producer but take on additional responsibilities. At some point most of us find ourselves in a classic Catch-22. Companies are happy to have you do the work, especially when you’re good, but reluctant to give a higher title whether deserved or not. You can’t move up to a better position (Supervising Story Producer, Supervising Producer…) without the title on your resume, but how do you get the title when no one will move you up?” —
Heather J. Miller, Supervising Story Producer
If it doesn’t happen for you on the first show, just lather, rinse, and repeat. Your day will come.
Now… if logging and transcribing isn’t your cup of tea, you can try landing a job as a Production Assistant, either in the office or in the field.
Production Assistant work is also an attractive option because employment opportunities aren’t unique to major entertainment cities. Reality shows travel everywhere, and local-hire gigs ranging from a few days to several weeks are rare but findable on your local version of Craigslist.
As a “PA” in the field, you’ll get to see Field Producers (and sometimes Story Producers) in action. In the office, you’ll have regular chances to ask questions and express your interest in eventually working in story to your Supervising Producers, Line Producers, and other folks.
While your job will feel completely removed from writing (picking up sandwiches or unloading equipment requires little story sense), remember the actual point — you are inside production and building the relationships that will eventually pay off with an opportunity.
Whether you break in as a Logger, Transcriber or Production Assistant, what’s important is that you get in the door, listen, learn and start making contacts.
The Story Department
Congratulations. You’ve graduated from your entry-level position and are now a Story Assist. Bring on the glamour!
I kid, of course.
Story Assistants primarily aid Story Producers in hunting down sound bites and requested bits of source material. It’s not exactly exciting stuff, and the real reason you’re chasing these content fragments is because it’s not cost-effective to have a Story Producer making two or three times your rate waste their time on it. Be prepared to spend several hours one day combing source tapes and logs for a shot of a celebrity feeding his fish and the rest of the day trying to find someone else saying the word “pumpkin.”
