Read on Twitterhey, its me, an overconfident and moderately qualified man here to tell you what I& #39;ve observed sitting on the sidelines of tv writers& #39; rooms during my ultra-modest "career" (if you can even call it that yet)
1) DON& #39;T!!! Seriously. It& #39;s your first week? First day? You have anywhere from 12 - 40+ weeks to make an impression on these people. It doesn& #39;t all need to happen on Day 1. And if you do it on Day 1, it will leave a bad impression. Unless you are asked to give an opinion, don& #39;t.
2) Take a week to observe the room. Understand the hierarchy: are assistants encouraged to pitch? what kind of pitches land with the showrunner? in your first weeks, you& #39;re likely breaking large story ideas anyway. Leave thematic and major storyline conversations to the writers.
3) Are you actually in the room? Not all assistants get to observe. I was lucky enough to always have a seat in the room as an WPA/SA/WA/SC. But if you don& #39;t, there are other openings.
Writers& #39; PA? Ask to sit in on the room once in a while.
Script Coord? Same.
Writers& #39; PA? Ask to sit in on the room once in a while.
Script Coord? Same.
4) But WAIT!!! What if your showrunner doesn& #39;t invite you to pitch, what now? Staff writers, friends. Know them. Talk to them. Ask them if they think if maybe "X" pitch is a good idea. If they say yes, have them introduce the idea in the room and leave an opening for you to pitch
5) Write down your pitches ahead of time. This is KEY for me and I& #39;m 100% sure I will continue to do it as a staff writer. This helps me stay on track when pitching, especially if it& #39;s multiple beats. And nothing worse than losing your pitch as it comes out of your mouth.
6) Sometimes, you& #39;ll write down a pitch and the moment will pass and it& #39;s all for nothing. That& #39;s fine. You don& #39;t need to say it aloud if the idea is already dead or the room has moved on. And sometimes, things circle back! There& #39;s a rhythm of conversation in each room.
7) Remove qualifiers and vocal crutches from your pitches: um, ah, you know, etc. The fewer sentences you can use in a pitch, the better. I& #39;ve noticed some writers or assistants will have a huge preamble leading up to the actual pitch about why it might not work. Just say it!
8) Each day, I allowed myself 3 pitches MAX. Limiting myself meant I had to be really sure it was a solidly thought-out pitch or I was wasting one of my only speaking opportunities in the room.
9) And LISTEN to how the upper-level writers pitch. Everyone has different strengths. Some people are problem-solvers. Some give beautiful scene-level character pitches. Some go for high-level character arc. Use the right pitch for the right scenario.
10) Know what the showrunner is looking for. I& #39;ve mostly assisted on prestige dramas as a queer comedy writer. Great rooms, but not the stories I respond to the most. And that& #39;s the challenge of being a staff writer. Using your perspective to elevate the showrunner& #39;s vision.
11) In conclusion: please hire me lol
