The Writer-Producer Dance

Does this sound familiar? A producer has a blindingly brilliant idea for a project - a film, a series, a play, a book, doesn't matter. She/he is determined to make it happen and has the sense to bring in a professional writer to make it happen. The writer is hired, writes a draft or two and then - the producer hates it. The writer is let go and the producer starts over again with a new writer who writes a draft or two and then - the producer hates it. This goes on until the producer runs out of money or time or patience. The end.

Here's why this happens.

1.: The producer does not realize that having the initial idea makes her/him the original writer not the producer. (The role of the producer is to: identify the project, bring talent and resources to the project and organize and support that talent to form a cohesive team and maximize success). But if the producer originates the idea, she/he is functioning as the original writer and should carry the ball alone as far as possible, at the least through a one page treatment and preferably a complete outline. The more is put down on paper at the idea stage the more on target the final result will be. "Two guys sneak into Saudi Arabia and disguise themselves as women" could go in a billion directions.

2. When hiring the writer, the producer is thinking about the end product and not about the professional relationship. The writer is hired for the wrong reasons - economics (cheap), experience (credits), familiarity (pals) or convenience (first available). Instead the producer needs to match him/her self with the writer - do they click as a team? Do they compliment each other with different talents or do they replicate one another? Are their work ethics, habits compatible?

3. Not enough communication. The producer does not fully explain her/his project vision and the real world financial/production limitations to the writer. Or the writer does not confide in the producer about how the writer is working with that vision and those parameters, what new ideas crop up. One or the other or both do not express themselves fully. Or they don't listen.

4. Failure to accept change. Producer gets sidetracked by rating the developing script according to whether it fulfills his/her original vision. This is practically impossible. Writing is an act of transformation - of the story and of the storytellers. Writers, good ones anyway, understand this. Producers often do not. Once a producer hands off a story to a writer, that story is going to change. If the producer wrote it her/himself, the story would change anyway. That's the nature of narrative.

5. Failure to exploit change. Producer refuses or is unable to re-envison the project based on the writer's work. Oftentimes, the writer will come up with something very different from the producer's original idea BUT BETTER. But just as often, the producer's ego won't accept the prospect of adapting the original idea. Result - writer is fired, new one brought in , and the result usually the same.