ABOUT WRITERS’ ROOM: SEAT AT THE TABLE

Writers’ Room: Seat at the Table is an initiative funded by Irirangi te Motu New Zealand On Air to bring Pan-Asian writing talent to writers’ rooms in Aotearoa and beyond. Featuring a range of workshops including “mock” writers’ rooms led by local and international industry experts, the programme seeks to deliver experiential learning to writers who are serious about series writing.

WHAT:
Writers’ Room: Seat at the Table

WRSATT Part 1 - Writers’ Rooms Fundamentals

WRSATT Part 2 - Mock Writers’ Rooms

WRSATT Part 3 - Observerships

WHO:
PASC Members

WHEN:
3-6 October 2024

WHERE:
Auckland

Applications close Monday 19 August, 5pm

“It is difficult for most people to catch a break in this industry particularly in a climate when production funding is under threat. Unfortunately, during “austerity” inclusivity can easily become a ‘nice’ to have, instead of a ‘need’ to have.” But it is at such a time more than any, that we need to innovate, bring fresh ideas, and take some risks to find that one breakthrough show; that one singular voice.”

– Shuchi Kothari, creator and convenor of WRSATT

OVERVIEW

Writers’ rooms are the mainstay of collaborative development for episodic television especially in the USA, UK, and Australia. Historically, the lack of diversity and inclusivity in writers' rooms directly impacts underrepresented communities, and society at large in often harmful ways.

Irirangi Te Motu New Zealand On Air works actively to reflect and develop Aotearoa’s identity and culture by ensuring that the content it funds is an authentic reflection of the diverse audiences it serves. Referencing NZOA’s Diversity Report 2023, Pan-Asian practitioners only make up 11.1% of crown-funded screen productions. This figure, though falsely elevated by one anthology feature with 8 Pan-Asian directors, remains below census statistics that show the Asian population at 17.3%. 

PASC is committed to consistent mahi that ameliorates these statistics for Pan-Asian New Zealanders. One way is to develop television writers who can ensure that our screen industry reflects the current and emerging demographic changes in Aotearoa. Beyond just enabling careers, promoting diversity in the media fosters social cohesion by challenging stereotypes and advancing positive intercultural understanding that can lead to a more inclusive functional society that operates on the principles of trust. 

Diversifying writers' rooms with unique perspectives and different lived experiences also breathes fresh air into all stories. Inclusivity ensures that stereotypes and one-dimensional characters do not become entrenched in our screen narratives. A diverse writers’ room expands the potential for new voices and stories to reach a broader audience both locally and internationally. The visibility of recent Asian shows such as Creamerie, Homebound 3.0, Raised by Refugees, and Miles from Nowhere is changing and challenging perceptions of industry stakeholders and audiences.

This initiative also aims to nurture Pan-Asian writers' ambitions to create and contribute to narratives beyond their own culture and ethnicity. For instance, Asian writers have also written for recent shows such as Far North and My Life is Murder.

Despite these celebratory moments, Pan-Asian writers struggle to find a seat at the table. It is difficult to demonstrate experience when you are not hired to gain experience in the first place.

PASC has taken on this mantle to a) advocate for broader inclusion in writers’ rooms;  b) develop Pan-Asian New Zealand writers to become active contributors and productive disruptors in the local and international screen industry. 

It is with these two goals in mind that Writers’ Room: Seat at the Table has been conceived and designed by screenwriter and academic Dr. Shuchi Kothari.

PROGRAMME

Writers’ Room: Seat at the Table is an initiative in three parts

WRSATT PART 1 - Writers’ Room Fundamentals

This full-day workshop, consisting of two parts, will discuss various aspects of a successful writer’s room. 

Workshop A: How a Room Works 

Beyond understanding the organisational dynamics of a writers’ room, attendees will explore the roles of the lead writer, the storyliners, and the notetakers - each crucial to crafting compelling narratives and supporting the creative synergy of the team. This session will also include topics such as:

  • Roles and responsibilities of the lead writer, and storyliners

  • Efficient workflow in the room

  • Types of contributions

  • Understanding and managing expectations

  • Time management and daily goals in the room

Workshop B: Note-taker Masterclass

The note-taker plays a crucial role in recording and organising the ideas which swirl around the high-velocity environment of a writers’ room. Detailed and accurate notes may determine whether a winning idea gets lost in the din or helps launch a series into the stratosphere. 

In this workshop, Marisa Brown, co-founder of Octopod Films and experienced writer, storyliner and story developer from Tony Ayres Productions in Australia, will run a master class on effective note-taking in writers’ rooms. Attendees will learn about: 

  • Writing in real time

  • Recording, organising, editing and presenting notes

  • Formatting and releasing scripts

  • Making the most of opportunities as a note-taker

WRSATT Part 2 - Mock Writers’ Room

This immersive workshop invites up to 18 selected writers to take the knowledge from Part-1: Writers’ Room Fundamentals into a three-day storylining simulation, under the leadership of seasoned Lead Writers and Developers of series television. 

During these in-depth, hands-on sessions, participants will be divided into teams of 6 across three rooms to create a compelling, multi-episode series arc and gain practical insights about: 

  • How to actively contribute as a storyliner 

  • How to steer a room as a Lead Writer

  • How to collaborate as a group towards a common goal

  • How to listen deeply and articulate clearly

  • How to be an indispensable notetaker (writers will rotate as notetakers)

Additionally, these workshops will include plenary sessions that offer a unique platform for robust, facilitated discussions around the opportunities, challenges and issues affecting Pan-Asian writers in this field.   

NB: Participant preparation for these sessions may involve viewing up to three seasons of their assigned series before the workshops.

WRSATT Part 3 - Observerships

Seat at the Table culminates with one-day observerships in which selected writers experience the dynamics of a professional writers’ room in the real-world. These opportunities will be negotiated with local production companies that are storylining for their scripted productions.  

This phase of the initiative will be subject to the schedules and availability of local scripted development across a 6-month period. 

WRITERS’ ROOM GALLERY

ELIGIBILITY AND APPLICATION INFORMATION

Please read through the eligibility requirements carefully. 

  • ALL applicants for this initiative must be residents or citizens of Aotearoa New Zealand. 

  • Applicants must be members of PASC

This initiative is designed for those with a serious interest in working as a storyliner, series writer or showrunner. Up to 18 experienced PASC writers or directors and producers shall be selected for this initiative. All applicants must demonstrate that they:

  • Are currently in development of a series for screen (even if speculative)

  • Have been credited as a writer for a short film or webisode that has had distribution/circulation, OR have previous experience as a series storyliner (with references)

  • Confirm their availability for four days of the programme – from Thursday 3 October until Sunday 6 October (Parts 1 & 2).

Applicants will be asked to submit a PDF that contains:

  • An accurate one-page CV with links to references and credits if relevant

  • A statement of intent containing responses to prompts that will cover:

    • An expression of how this initiative in its entirety would directly benefit their practice as well as their career plans in the next three years

    • An analysis of a character and their development across a series

    • A description of up to four of their most significant writing credits and their contributions or successes in the projects’ narrative development 

    • A personal statement that draws on any relevant perspectives, experience or attributes that align with the learning activities and aims of the initiative as a whole

ASSESSMENT 

A panel of diverse assessors will consider:

  • The relevance of prior experience

  • The clear articulation of commitment/plan to begin or continue as a series writer

  • The strength of analysis for the chosen character’s development and arc

  • The quality of answers within the limits of word-counts


APPLICATION PROCESS

Complete the online application form linked below and submit the materials before the deadline: 5:00pm Monday 19 August 2024. 

IMPORTANT DATES:

30 July Applications Open

5 August WRSATT information Webinar Q&A

19 August Applications Close

9 September Participants Announced

3 October Part 1: Writers’ Room Fundamentals Workshop 

4 - 6 October Part 2: Mock Writers’ Rooms Workshop

TBD Part 3: Writers’ Room Storylining Observerships

Please note that the workshops will run consecutively from the middle of the working week: Thursday 3 October until Sunday 6 October.

PASC can offer a modest travel and child care subsidy if required. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to the GM for support.

KEY BIOS

  • Dr. Shuchi Kothari

    Designer & Convener, WRSATT

    Shuchi Kothari is a New Zealand-Indian writer, producer and academic. Many of her award-winning films (Kainga, Firaaq, Apron Strings, Coffee & Allah, etc) have screened at over 100 international film festivals including Venice, Cannes, Toronto, BFI, Busan, and Telluride. She co-devised and produced A Thousand Apologies, New Zealand’s first Asian prime-time television Asian show. She regularly contributes to writers’ rooms, mentors critically acclaimed filmmakers/projects, designs and convenes workshops and has served on juries of Film and Television awards and national funding bodies. As the co-founder of the Pan-Asian Screen Collective she advocates for equitable representation and increased access to means of production for Asian screen practitioners in Aotearoa New Zealand. She is an Associate Professor in Screen Production at the University of Auckland in New Zealand where she teaches screenwriting and creative producing. Shuchi is the recipient of WIFT’s “Outstanding Contribution to the New Zealand Screen Industry'' award.

  • Vanessa Alexander

    AUS Workshop Speaker

    Vanessa Alexander is an award-winning writer and producer, nominated for Best Comedy Series and Best New Series at the 2021 Writers Guild of America Awards for her work on The Great (Hulu), a series which separately picked up three Golden Globe and multiple Emmy nominations. Alongside writing on season one and two of The Great, Vanessa wrote four episodes and co-executive produced the Netflix/MGM series Vikings: Valhalla. She has recently written a feature about the life of Queen Caroline of Brunswick for Richard E. Grant and Brouhaha, and has just had a pilot she developed with Hayley Atwell and Monumental commissioned by ITV. She previously also wrote on the UK crime series Tin Star for Sky Atlantic.

    In the more distant past, Vanessa worked in Australia and New Zealand where she has won Best Drama Series, Best Comedy Script, Best Short Film, SPADA New Filmmaker of the Year, Best Young Adult Series, as well as receiving multiple nominations for Best Drama Script and Best Director across more than one project. In 2018, she was nominated for an Australian Writers Guild Award for Best Script for the comedy/drama series The Wrong Girl (Channel Ten) while also writing for the award-winning series Love Child (Channel 9). Vanessa was also the first female director of the Power Rangers series for Disney, the Executive Producer of Taika Waititi’s Oscar-nominated short film Two Cars, One Night, and received an International Emmy nomination for her teen show Being Eve, which she also produced and directed.

  • Marisa Nanakhorn Brown

    AUS Workshop Speaker

    Marisa Nanakhorn Brown is an Australian-born writer, developer, script editor and creative producer of Thai-New Zealand heritage, who is passionate about a range of genres, but is always drawn to the themes of belonging, being an outsider, and finding your place in the world. In 2019, Marisa spent nine months working in the script department of the Netflix show Clickbait, then moved onto Development Assistant on Fires (ABC), before picking up a full time role in the development department at Tony Ayres Productions (part of NBCUniversal's International Studios division) in early 2020. Here she worked across a broad range of projects for the local and international markets, including writing, script editing and associate producing on the ABC/BBC live action kids show Spooky Files, and she is currently working in the script team of an as yet unannounced Netflix drama. However, Marisa started her writing career as a notetaker, and understands the importance of training the next generation of emerging writers in this pivotal role.

  • Dan Musgrove

    NZ Lead Writer

    Dan Musgrove is an Emmy award-winning screenwriter, producer, playwright, and actor based in Auckland, NZ. As co-founder of NZ production company Luminous Beast, Dan co-created the SKY Originals series INSiDE, in 2020. INSiDE picked up multiple international awards, including the 2021 International Emmy for Short Form series. Dan served as a writer and script editor on Seasons One and Two of the TVNZ/Hulu dystopian comedy drama, Creamerie, which picked up the best Drama Award at the 2022 New Zealand Television Awards. Other credits include story producing Kevin and Co’s critically acclaimed, half-hour comedy, Homebound 3.0 (nominated for best comedy in 2023) and writing for the hit one-hour drama Westside (winner Best Drama in 2018) in which he also starred. Dan is currently developing season 3 of Creamerie, alongside several Luminous Beast projects, and has recently completed scriptwriting for the upcoming musical comedy Happiness for TV Three.

  • Judi McCrossin

    Judi McCrossin

    AUS Lead Writer

    Judi McCrossin is an award-winning Australian writer and producer. Judi’s career began when her first short film was selected for competition at Cannes. After that, Judi became the principal writer on the landmark Australian series – The Secret Life of Us. This game-changing Australian show won many awards for writing, acting and producing. In 2012 Judi wrote the telemovie, Beaconsfield, starring Lachie Hulme and Shane Jacobson. It's the story of two miners, Todd Russell and Brant Webb, trapped underground for 14 days after a rockfall in the Beaconsfield gold mine. It was screened on Channel Nine and was one of the highest rating telemovies ever shown in Australia. Judi created, wrote and produced two seasons of the ABC drama, The Time of Our Lives. This show was nominated for, and won, a number of awards including the AACTA award for best actress for Claudia Karvan. Judi wrote and produced Season 1 of The Wrong Girl. Recently, She developed, co-wrote and produced a children’s short form series The Listies Work for Peanuts, which she recently sold to the ABC.

  • Harriet Crampton

    NZ Lead Writer

    Harriet Crampton is a Creative Producer and Head of Scripted for Greenstone TV. Harriet is currently producing Aotearoa’s first musical comedy tv series Happiness, for Three Now (Warner Discovery NZ). She is Executive Producer on My Life is Murder Aotearoa seasons 2 & 3 for Acorn and TVNZ. She is EP of NZ’s first Jewish comedy Kid Sister for TVNZ, the second series of which goes to air in Aotearoa Q3 2024. Kid Sister is distributed by Red Arrow in Europe and the US, playing on ITVX, CBC and Yes! In Israel. In 2021 Harriet produced the action thriller Vegas and the feature-length The Tender Trap, the story of a woman caught in a romance scam, both for TVNZ. She developed, produced and Executive Produced three series of the teen sci fi drama Cul de Sac from 2015-2017 and produced Māori Television’s Tongue Tied, a comedy set in a kura pō, in 2017. Harriet’s career in television began when she produced long-running soap Shortland Street from the early 2000s.

Webinar Session

Monday 5th August, 5:30PM

Everything you need to know about Writers’ Room: Seat at the Table with designer and convener, Shuchi Kothari, and PASC general manager, Megan Blackwell.

The webinar recording is available here for those who missed it.

WRSATT FAQ

  • No. Each application is individual.

  • This initiative is designed for PASC practitioners who already have writing experience and demonstrable credits.

  • You may make a strong case which will be considered but priority will be given to experienced writers.

  • Sorry, if selected for Part 2, you must be available for the entirety of the four days. However, people who are only interested in Part 1, can register for that part only.

  • Yes you can. But your analysis should consider that character's arc in depth, rather than simply rehashing the plot of the series.

  • The programme is free for participants, which is why we expect a lot from you.

  • Participants will be assigned a room and series by the programme convenor.

  • Once assigned a series you are expected to view all the episodes in preparation. You’ll have at least two weeks to watch prior seasons as part of your preparation.

  • Unfortunately, not. We encourage you to be as resourceful as you can and be nice to your friends with existing subscriptions.

  • You will spend one full working day in a working writers’ room. This is an unpaid observership but what you gain will be invaluable.

  • No one and everyone. You’re storylining for existing series that are already out there. So there is no question of IP infringement. This is purely a joyous learning opportunity for upskilling.

  • There are a lot of aspects to consider with production companies for this placement, including scheduling, access and availability. We will make a determination and assign you to the best possible opportunity.

Acknowledgements

Pan-Asian Screen Collective acknowledges Irirangi te Motu New Zealand On Air for their financial support and Shuchi Kothari for designing and convening the initiative.