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)
