The Show’s on Time, but the Script Is Late

Director M. Night Shyamalan appears on the current cover of Newsweek, heralded in conjunction with the movie “Signs” as a potential new Steven Spielberg--another filmmaker whose name is splashed above a movie’s title and, theoretically, puts people in seats.

By contrast, Rod Holcomb directed the series prototype for the long-running NBC hit “ER”--a franchise worth more than the $600 million that Shyamalan’s “The Sixth Sense” grossed worldwide--but Holcomb can pretty much go about his day anonymously, even as ads run nightly promoting new TV series this fall from elite writer-producers such as “The Practice’s” David E. Kelley and “ER’s” John Wells.

In terms of power equations in the entertainment industry, television is the converse of film. It’s a medium where writers wield control over series, while directors are mostly guns for hire, moving from show to show.

And just as writers sought to address that inequality by making the “a film by” credit for feature film directors an issue in their last contract negotiations, directors are now rallying to curb a growing practice among TV writers that they claim causes series to run less efficiently, turn out worse and--not inconsequentially to networks and studios--cost significantly more to produce.

Specifically, a survey of Directors Guild of America members found that episodic TV scripts for dramatic and single-camera comedy shows arrive late more than half the time--a level of tardiness, they say, that means inadequate time to prepare and thus undermines program quality.

The issue, directors say, is that more and more top writer-producers who oversee programs, or “show runners,” are emulating heralded writers such as Kelley, “NYPD Blue” co-creator David Milch and “The West Wing’s” Aaron Sorkin, all notorious for writing and rewriting virtually every episode until the last possible moment.

“We felt that from conversations with the members, this problem was growing and needed to be dealt with,” said Holcomb, co-chairman of the guild’s subcommittee regarding late scripts.

Television directors cite several negative consequences of this trend, which they plan to document during the coming season. Beyond financial implications, they say late scripts help stifle efforts to provide younger directors of varied backgrounds opportunities, because established pros are required to turn episodes around that rapidly.

“If you can wing it, you’re OK. If you can’t wing it, it’s problematic,” said Mark Tinker, a director and producer who also supervises other directors on “NYPD Blue.” “I had my hands tied on what directors I could hire, because you couldn’t really bring in somebody green and then ask them to jump on a moving train.”

Under the DGA’s current contract, directors are supposed to receive scripts eight days before shooting begins, allowing them to plan camera angles and set up shots.

That timetable is rarely met--a point Wells conceded, in his then-capacity as head of the Writers Guild of America, in a 2000 article for the guild’s magazine. “Directors in episodic television

Directors Surveyed

This spring, the Directors Guild sent questionnaires about late scripts to 500 members who have directed dramas or single-camera filmed comedies like Fox’s “Malcolm in the Middle” (as opposed to multi-camera shows shot with a studio audience, such as “Everybody Loves Raymond” or “Frasier”). Of the 199 respondents, almost 80% said they had received a late script, estimating that over half of the more than 1,200 scripts they had directed arrived late.

Half of those surveyed said late scripts meant insufficient preparation time and compromised the finished product enough to hurt their professional reputation. In addition, two-thirds said late scripts diminish quality--giving actors little time to rehearse and making crews struggle to construct sets or find locations, resulting in more overtime, expense and stress.

Tardiness Affects Budget

According to Tinker, late scripts during a recent season of “Blue” padded the annual budget by roughly $3 million, a cost of more than $100,000 an episode. Sources say Sorkin’s last-minute delivery adds at least that much to the cost of “The West Wing.”

Given the emphasis on holding down production overhead, DGA members are hoping the data will inspire studios and networks to take action. “It’s a domino effect that impacts virtually every member of the crew, not just the DGA,” said Paris Barclay, who has directed for such series as “NYPD Blue” and “ER.”

“Every single department ends up doing their job on double time.... It’s never done as well, and it costs more money.”

Barclay acknowledged that “genius writers” on hit shows, such as Sorkin or Milch, may warrant an exception, but he added that too many writers lacking that talent level are following the lead of those auteurs. As an African American who produced the short-lived CBS series “City of Angels,” Barclay said he is also concerned that late scripts are an impediment to minority and female directors breaking into the business.

Studio officials were reluctant to comment, privately saying the issue is a source of frustration but adding that they have little recourse in compelling writers to work faster, especially with today’s emphasis on sophisticated, serialized programs.

TV executives also note that script delivery is only one cost-related factor they would like to remedy, citing a laundry list that includes union requirements and the fees paid top talent. “This is just one element that needs to be addressed,” said Gary Newman, president of 20th Century Fox Television, which is responsible for such shows as “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “24.”

Holcomb said the goal among directors is not to be adversarial but rather to find a solution, even if that means altering long-established schedules in order to start production sooner--an incremental expense that could pay dividends in less overtime and better shows.

“We need the cooperation of everyone to be able to solve this,” he said. “You have to have a script that’s done on time for everyone to efficiently do their job.”

Milch, who is sympathetic to TV directors’ plight, agreed that affording writers “a rational period of preparation” time would help the process run more smoothly.

“The burden that late script delivery puts on the production and pre-production process is enormous,” he said, citing the tyranny of prime-time economics that require producers to generate at least 22 episodes a year. Milch said he appreciates the toll his work habits have exacted on collaborators, adding that writers approach their work “with some deep, passionate need to make it as good as they can, and ultimately the process is going to suffer.”

Writer Defends Process

Charles Holland, vice president of the Writers Guild and co-executive producer on CBS’ “JAG,” said writers don’t relish being late but face a daunting task in generating the equivalent of a dozen feature films annually per series. “You cannot legislate that we’re going to be done sooner, because we would be if we could,” Holland said. “This isn’t making widgets.”

Although the process frequently bottlenecks at the executive producer level, Holland said input from networks and studios can also lead to rewriting and delays. He added that the WGA has proposed discussions with the DGA to address concerns affecting them in both film and TV but has been met with little enthusiasm--an assertion the Directors Guild refutes, saying it doesn’t see this matter as an inter-guild dispute.

Even directors acknowledge that while they see value in drawing attention to the issue, change will be difficult to achieve. “It’s hard to regulate creativity,” Tinker said.