Skip to main content

The Business of Script Development: Insights from Industry Practitioners

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Palgrave Handbook of Script Development

Abstract

Script development has emerged as a rich site of scholarly interest, providing definitional and methodological foundations, theoretical explorations and critical insights, as well as case studies of specific screen projects and of particular roles within the screen industry. But what of the practical realities of script development? How do those developing or being developed feel about its practices and processes? What can we learn about the screen business from those who undertake it, and equally, what might the screen business learn about itself from these insights? This chapter draws from a collection of interviews with screenwriters and script development personnel, mapping lived experiences of script development. Focussing on the ways in which people and process operate, and how people feel about the work they are doing, we offer a snapshot of the ‘human dimension’ of script development; and by doing this, speculating on some of the implications this might have for those working in script development in the future.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 189.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 249.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 249.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Batty, C., & Taylor, S. (2019). Teaching screenwriting through script development: Looking beyond the screenplay. In C. Batty, M. Berry, K. Dooley, B. Frankham, and S. Kerrigan (Eds.), The Palgrave handbook of screen production (pp. 459–472). Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Batty, C., & Taylor, S. (2021). Room for improvement: Discourses of quality and betterment in script development. In C. Batty & S. Taylor (Eds.), Script development: Critical approaches, creative practices, international perspectives (pp. 271–289). Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Batty, C., Taylor, S., Sawtell, L., & Conor, B. (2017). Script development: Defining the field. Journal of Screenwriting, 8(3), 225–247.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bevan-Mogg, W. (2021). Saying what must not be said: Exploring communication in the script development process. In S. Taylor & C. Batty (Eds.), The Palgrave handbook of script development (pp. 87–102). Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bloore, P. (2013). The screenplay business: Managing creativity and script development in the film industry. Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Conor, B. (2014). Screenwriting: Creative labor and professional practice. Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Davies, R. (2021). Nordic noir with an Icelandic twist: Establishing a shared space for collaboration within European coproduction. In C. Batty & S. Taylor (Eds.), Script development: Critical approaches, creative practices, international perspectives (pp. 113–127). Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dooley, K. (2021). Crafting immersive experiences: A case study of the development of three short narrative cinematic virtual reality (CVR) projects. In S. Taylor & C. Batty (Eds.), The Palgrave handbook of script development (pp. 503–516). Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellingsen, S., & Taylor, S. (2019). Writers, producers and creative entrepreneurship in web series development. In C. Batty, M. Berry, K. Dooley, B. Frankham, & S. Kerrigan (Eds.), The Palgrave handbook of screen production (pp. 181–191). Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hambly, G. (2020). Cultural influences in screenwriting: Australia vs hollywood. Journal of Screenwriting, 11(1), 45–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hambly, G. (2021). Cultural difference in script development: The Australian example. In C. Batty & S. Taylor (Eds.), Script development: Critical approaches, creative practices, international perspectives (pp. 69–82). Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krauß, F. (2021). Writers’ room and showrunner: discourses and practices in the German television industry. In S. Taylor & C. Batty (Eds.), The Palgrave handbook of script development (pp. 251–266). Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Macdonald, I. (2021). Originality and authorship in the development of the screen idea. In C. Batty & S. Taylor (Eds.), Script development: Critical approaches, creative practices, international perspectives (pp. 9–26). Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maloney, N., & Burne, P. (2021). So much drama, so little time: Writers’ rooms in Australian television drama production. In C. Batty & S. Taylor (Eds.), Script development: Critical approaches, creative practices, international perspectives (pp. 185–202). Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Milligan, C. (2021). Script development as a collective enterprise: The writing of the indigenous feature film Waru. In S. Taylor & C. Batty (Eds.), The Palgrave handbook of script development (pp. 175–186). Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moore, C. (2021). Textual manifestations of collaborative screen idea and story development: A Danish case study. In S. Taylor & C. Batty (Eds.), The Palgrave handbook of script development (pp. 279–294). Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Napoli, J. (2021). Script readers as gatekeepers: Demystifying processes of script coverage. In S. Taylor & C. Batty (Eds.), The Palgrave handbook of script development (pp. 33–46). Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Meara, R., & Moore, C. (2021). Negotiating television authorship and gendering creative identity: Vicki Madden as Australian showrunner. In S. Taylor & C. Batty (Eds.), The Palgrave handbook of script development (pp. 121–134). Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Price, S. (2017). Script development and academic research. Journal of Screenwriting, 8(3), 319–333.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sengupta, R. (2021). Scripting for the masses: Notes on the political economy of bollywood. In S. Taylor & C. Batty (Eds.), The Palgrave handbook of script development (pp. 217–228). Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Szczepanik, P. (2021). Script development and the post-socialist producer: Towards a comparative approach to cultures of development. In C. Batty & S. Taylor (Eds.), Script development: Critical approaches, creative practices, international perspectives (pp. 51–67). Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Widows. (1983–1985). Cr. Lynda La Plante. London, UK: Thames Television.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stayci Taylor .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Taylor, S., Batty, C. (2021). The Business of Script Development: Insights from Industry Practitioners. In: Taylor, S., Batty, C. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Script Development. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-82234-7_11

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics