Abstract
The study examines how Czech screen producers approach screenplay development as a collaborative practice. It provides new interpretations of qualitative data collected for an industry report on feature film development, commissioned by the Czech State Film Fund. Based on more than 60 in-depth interviews with key Czech producers, screenwriters, and directors, the report shows how the typical business model of Czech film producers limits possibilities for more systematic screenplay development and for longer-term production strategies. Development is described as a critical point of the Czech film production system, responsible for the weak performance of Czech films at international festivals and on foreign markets. Screenplays are underfinanced, underdeveloped and producers approach their projects one by one, without any strategic continuity. They leave their screenwriters in precarious working conditions, are not used to attending international workshops, and do not discuss their scripts with competent script editors. As will be discussed, the main reason is that their business model is based not on selling films to audiences, but on producing itself.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
The research team consisted of Johana Kotišová, Jakub Macek, Jan Motal, and Eva Pjajčíková. See Szczepanik et al. (2015a) for an English translation of the report’s introductory section.
- 2.
Back in 2014, the only existing industry studies of contemporary feature film development practices we were able to identify were: AFC (2014); Rolfe et al. (2007); and Rogers (2007). Although they helped us specify our qualitative and quantitative questions, they could not be used as a model for our ethnographically informed in-depth study.
- 3.
The group consisted of 26 film and TV producers, 20 directors and writers–directors, 12 screenwriters and script editors, 2 local coordinators of international support funds, a distributor, and an entertainment lawyer.
- 4.
Which insisted—due to the bureaucratic approval and censorship system—on a strict distinction between the so-called literary screenplay and the technical script (see Szczepanik 2013a).
- 5.
See the history of the Czech Film Fund’s development schemes’ calls: https://fondkinematografie.cz/zadosti-o-podporu/archiv-uzavrene-vyzvy/vyvoj-ceskeho-kinematografickeho-dila.html
- 6.
References
Adamczak, M. (2014). Obok ekranu: Perspektywa badań produkcyjnych a społeczne istnienie filmu [Beside the Screen: Production Studies and the Social Practice]. Poznań: UAM.
AFC. (2014). Development of Feature Films in Australia: a Survey of Producers, Directors & Writers, 2003. Woolloomooloo: Australian Film Commission. Retrieved from https://afcarchive.screenaustralia.gov.au/downloads/policies/devsurvey_final.pdf
Batty, C., Taylor, S., Sawtell, L., & Conor, B. (2017). Script Development: Defining the Field. Journal of Screenwriting, 8(3), 225–247.
Bloore, P. (2013). The Screenplay Business: Managing Creativity and Script Development in the Film Industry. London: Routledge.
Bordino, A. W. (2017). Script Doctoring and Authorial Control in Hollywood and Independent American Cinema. Journal of Screenwriting, 8(3), 249–246.
Bourdieu, P. (1996). The Rules of Art: Genesis and Structure of the Literary Field. Cambridge: Polity.
Caldwell, J. T. (2008). Production Culture. Industrial Reflexivity and Critical Practice in Film and Television. Durham: Duke University Press.
Conor, B. (2014). Screenwriting: Creative Labor and Professional Practice. London/New York: Routledge.
Hallin, D. C., & Mancini, P. (2004). Comparing Media Systems: Three Models of Media and Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge UP.
Hepp, A., & Couldry, N. (2009). What Should Comparative Media Research Be Comparing? Towards a Transcultural Approach to “Media Cultures”. In D. K. Thussu (Ed.), Internationalizing Media Studies (pp. 32–48). Abingdon: Routledge.
Herrero, L. C., et al. (2017). Rethinking Hallin and Mancini Beyond the West: An Analysis of Media Systems in Central and Eastern Europe. International Journal of Communication, 11, 4797–4823.
Macdonald, I. W. (2013). Screenwriting Poetics and the Screen Idea. Houndmills/Basingstoke/Hampshire/New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Pjajčíková, E., & Szczepanik, P. (2015). Group Writing for Post-Socialist Television. In V. Mayer, M. Banks, & B. Conor (Eds.), Production Studies, The Sequel!: Cultural Studies of Global Media Industries (pp. 105–120). New York/London: Routledge.
Rogers, S. (2007). Writing British Films – Who Writes British Films and How Are They Recruited. London: UKFC. Retrieved from www.bfi.org.uk/sites/bfi.org.uk/files/downloads/uk-film-council-writing-british-films-who-writes-british-films-and-how-they-are-recruited.pdf
Rolfe, D., et al. (2007). A Study of Feature Film Development and Screenwriter and Development Training in the UK. A Final Report for the UK Film Council and Skillset. Retrieved from www.bfi.org.uk/sites/bfi.org.uk/files/downloads/study-into-film-development-and-training-in-the-UK.pdf
Ross, A. (2009). Nice Work If You Can Get It: Life and Labor in Precarious Times. New York: New York University Press.
Sanson, K. (2018). Stitching It All Together: Service Producers and the Spatial Dynamics of Screen Media Labor. International Journal of Cultural Studies, 21(4), 359–374.
Szczepanik, P. (2013). The State-Socialist Mode of Production and the Political History of Production Culture. In P. Szczepanik & P. Vonderau (Eds.), Behind the Screen: Inside European Production Cultures (pp. 113–134). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Szczepanik, P. (2013a). How Many Steps to the Shooting Script? A Political History of Screenwriting. Iluminace, 25(3), 73–98.
Szczepanik, P. (2016). Transnational Crews and the Post-Socialist Precarity: Globalizing Screen Media Labor in Prague. In M. Curtin & K. Sanson (Eds.), Precarious Creativity: Global Media, Local Labor (pp. 88–103). Oakland: University of California Press.
Szczepanik, P., et al. (2015). Studie vývoje českého hraného kinematografického díla. Prague: Státní fond kinematografie. Retrieved from http://fondkinematografie.cz/assets/media/studie%20komplet.pdf
Szczepanik, P., et al. (2015a). A Study of Feature Film Development in the Czech Republic (An Introduction). Retrieved from https://fondkinematografie.cz/assets/media/files/H/EN/SFK_studie_2018_ENG_KOR2_2_3.pdf
Acknowledgements
This study was supported by the European Regional Development Fund project “Creativity and Adaptability as Conditions of the Success of Europe in an Interrelated World” (reg. no.: CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/16_019/0000734) and by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic project “Research on the impact of current legislation and the European Commission strategy for Digital Single Market on Czech audiovisual industry: Evaluation of the copyright system and preparation of cultural politics within the DSM” (reg. no.: TL01000306).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Szczepanik, P. (2021). Script Development and the Post-Socialist Producer: Towards a Comparative Approach to Cultures of Development. In: Batty, C., Taylor, S. (eds) Script Development. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-48713-3_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-48713-3_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-48712-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-48713-3
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media StudiesLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)