Network interference is changing our show

This is why I find it annoying when people dislike a show and blame the writers. In my experience 9 times out of 10 the writers know what they’re doing but are forced to dance around a bunch of business people who think they know how to write better. Sometimes their points are legitimate- they know their audience, marketing, etc. Sometimes they make earnest pitches and usually if that’s the case they’ll understand if it’s not taken. But sometimes notes just come from someone in power thinking they can write better and not trusting their rooms.

This is the reality of our job though. Having a network trust its writers is a rarer occurrence. Your showrunner doesn’t have to take every note, though. Sometimes execs forget about small notes by the time you turn your next draft around. For bigger things, showrunners may have to talk to the network and put them at ease. I know a showrunner who is great at talking to execs, and who knows what notes he can take to satisfy the network without compromising the show (and honestly sometimes the notes do make it better… it’s not always black and white).

/r/Screenwriting Thread