Join top UK television drama writers Jed Mercurio and Sally Wainwright as they discuss their writing process, challenges of TV series production, transitioning from medicine to writing, creating complex characters, navigating failures and successes, adapting novels, and offering advice to aspiring writers.
Dedicated writing space boosts productivity, adapting locations for efficiency during productions.
Showrunner role entails diverse responsibilities from creative leadership to casting decisions.
Reflecting on failures aids growth, discussing cancellations' disappointments and importance of learning from setbacks.
Deep dives
Jed Maccurio's Writing Process
Jed Maccurio discusses his writing process, emphasizing the importance of having a dedicated space for writing, dividing his time between working from home and on set during productions. He highlights the need for script revisions during filming and how he adapts his writing locations to suit the production needs, often working on set during breaks in filming to maximize productivity.
Role of a Showrunner
Jed Maccurio explains the role of a showrunner, emphasizing the diverse responsibilities involved in leading a TV series, including creative leadership, decision-making on casting and overall creative direction. He reflects on his experience with Cardiac Arrest, detailing his transition from writer to medical advisor, ensuring authenticity in the script and actively participating in on-set discussions to improve the representation of the story.
Challenges in Writing and Adapt Handling
Jed Maccurio candidly shares his views on challenges in writing, comparing the difficulties of creating both bad and good programs. He reflects on the impact of show cancellations, particularly in the case of Bodies, highlighting the disappointment when well-received shows face cancellation due to external factors beyond creative control. Additionally, he acknowledges the necessity of learning from failures and the importance of discussing unsuccessful projects openly to provide insights for aspiring writers.
Navigating Success and Failure in TV Production
The podcast delves into the experiences of the speaker in navigating success and failure in TV production. The speaker reflects on past projects like 'Invasion Earth,' highlighting challenges in script, performance, and direction synchronization. They share how taking control and being supported led to successes in later projects like 'Bodies' and 'Line of Duty,' where they feel empowered to drive change.
Transition from TV to Film Writing and Work-Life Balance
The podcast also covers the speaker's shift from TV to film writing, revealing experiences of writing for premium American cable networks. They discuss the financial dynamics between the UK and US systems and how success in TV influenced their focus. Additionally, the speaker shares insights on work-life balance as a freelance writer with a family, discussing the challenges and support in managing professional and personal responsibilities.
Join the UK's leading television drama writers, including Jed Mercurio and Sally Wainwright, as they lay bare their writing habits, habitats and career paths for the BBC's Abigail Gonda. A series of up close and personal interviews with the UK’s most brilliant writing talent inside the room where each of these writers actually writes.
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