Agent Provocateur

I spent some time this Bank Holiday proof-reading Kate Harwood’s fascinating and information-packed interview for TwelvePoint (forthcoming weeks). She not only talks about her current view of status drama in British television but also about how the BBC drama department relates to BBC films, its attitude towards single dramas, the lowering of drama budgets, what Ben Stephenson’s role is, how writers can best approach the BBC with series ideas and how writers get onto series teams. All of that is just in part two of the three-part interview.

Among the many thought-provoking things she said was that “the idea is only a small part of the whole and you can have a brilliant idea for series but if the writer hasn’t the ability to execute it, there’s no point. We have been there any number of times labouring away at a really good idea with the writer who can’t pull it off.”

I often get a niggling feeling when I read through the submissions at the agency and come across so many unlikely ideas for films or television dramas by writers have not worked extensively anywhere in industry. Given how much there’s been in the press lately about the number of graduates students who can’t get work, and the number of school leavers who are not going to get into university, one should perhaps try to draw some conclusions from this.

Writing is, as George Orwell said, egotistical. Which is a very good reason why anyone who really wants to do it should be encouraged to do so. However encouraging people to express themselves and encouraging them to spend money on higher education and training when there is very little evidence of talent (and a severely limited job market) are two different things.

Encouraging very large numbers to have a go in the hope of discovering one or two who are brilliant is probably as detrimentally egotistical as anything else that takes place in the industry. It effectively implies that those who are taking people onto courses to train don’t really have the ability to make judgements based upon reading scripts, interviewing applicants and putting them through some paces.

I recall being told that when the NFTS made its selections the shortlisted candidates spent two whole days there getting known by the tutors before the final selection was made. This might appear to be rather labour-intensive but I bet it ensured higher-calibre students enrolled on the course.

The problem really stems from the fact that writing is a very personal and idiosyncratic creative performance that has to slot into a fairly industrial process. The usual chicken and egg situation also applies that when you need most to be working with in a team of producer, script editor, director and actors you can’t because you’ve never proved yourself. It’s a miracle, it would seem, that a significant number of new writers do manage to break in every year, but break in they do.

Also in the news this weekend, after James Murdoch’s attack on the BBC, were a number of interviews in defence of the BBC. Kate Harwood refers in her interview to the fact that the BBC tries to provide a broad range of drama, something suitable for everyone. She also talks about the BBC’s Writers’ Academy and I think that one of the most important contributions the BBC has made to national culture has been the opportunity it has afforded many writers to begin to find a voice to say something about the world we live in.

For any writer who wants to have a professional career, having a detailed understanding of the inner workings of the BBC is invaluable. You don’t have to know how a combustion engine works to drive a car but you do have to know the rules of the road.