Time to Write

The reality of reality TV

The New York Times got some reality show participants whose non-disclosure agreements had expired to tell about what happened. Here are a few highlights—or should that be lowlights?

 “…the programs routinely use isolation, sleeplessness and alcohol to encourage wild behavior. During the 2006 season of the popular ABC dating show “The Bachelor,” the contestants waited in vans for several hours while the crew set up for a 12-hour “arrival” party where, two contestants said, there was little food but bottomless glasses of wine. When producers judged the proceedings too boring, they sent out a production assistant with a tray of shots.

 

“If you combine no sleep with alcohol and no food, emotions are going to run high and people are going to be acting crazy,” said Erica Rose, a contestant that year. “

 

Mark Andrejevic, author of “Reality TV: The Work of Being Watched,” added:

 

“The bread and butter of reality television is to get people into a state where they are tired, stressed and emotionally vulnerable, “That helps make them more amenable to the goals of the producers and more easily manipulated.”

 

The article reveals, “Phones, computers and periodicals are taken away before the start of taping. On “Project Runway,” when contestants were allowed to make a rare phone call, it was monitored by a producer, contestants say. They were also not allowed to listen to music. Jessica Cabo, from the 2005 “Hell’s Kitchen,” said even the production crew would not interact with contestants.”

 

Next step, waterboarding.

What's ahead for TV and film writers?

I had dinner with a very experienced European producer the other day and asked his opinion of where things are going with TV and film. Here are our combined educated guesses:

On the TV side, we will see even more reality shows that are get more and more manipulated and edited to provide the same kind of conflict we used to see in scripted shows. Also, more shows of various kinds that can be cut up into snippets for the social networking sites, or watch for a few minutes while you’re flipping around the dial, to fit the Twitter-era attention span.

He’s produced a lot for television but feels it’s a rapidly sinking ship. Dramas and scripted comedy are going overboard first, but eventually broadcast TV as we’ve known it will disappear and the TV will be just a delivery device for the internet. Increasing fragmentation will make it ever more difficult to capture the huge audiences that TV used to attract.

What about films? There the best niche seems to be comedy, because you can make a comedy film for under $100 million, and people still like to laugh, especially in tough times.

So what does that mean for writers?

There’s still a considerable amount of work for scriptwriters, but the market is shrinking so competition is increasing. If you’re writing a spec script, I’d make it a comedy.

If you like reality shows you might end up as an associate producer who shapes the material both as it is being shot and in conjunction with an editor.  For example, a friend who is a camera operator for a reality/docu show being shot in Las Vegas was paired with a producer who guided him as well as suggesting to the participants things they could say or do that would make the action more interesting.

Otherwise, it could be time to start thinking about ways you might be able to link up with aspiring directors, actors, and others to create material for the internet. The biggest challenge there isn’t creating the material, it’s how to find a paying audience.

 (for guidance on creating your writing career, see my book, “Your Writing Coach,” published by Nicholas Brealey and available from Amazon and other online and offline retailers)

Writing for TV - What's Hot?

A few months back, Stuart Elliot wrote an article in the New York Times about what's hot on the new U.S. TV season. He refers to the spate of supernatural shows and quotes one expert as saying this trend "is reflective of increasing anxiety--personal, economic, and national," and that many of the shows that failed last season were "too close to home" in taking on subjects like domestic terrorism, kidnapping, and hostage-taking.The new series are more about fantasy and the spiritual. Another trend is escape into the glitzy and sexy world of the rich and glamorous.

However, it's another observation in the article, this one by Steve Sternberg, executive V.P. for audience analysis at Magna Global, that is more important for writers trying to come up with new ideas. Sternberg said, "People are not looking for a genre, a program type." Instead, they want shows "that are like nothing else already on, and nothing like each other." Notice that he says this is what the audience wants--not necessarily what people at the networks tend to order. Sometimes bridging that gap is the uphill part of our battle, but it's one worth fighting.

And in a few more weeks, we'll know h ow the trends of May stand up to the whims of the audiences of October.