Lesson 1: The Writers' Room

Learning Intentions

Identify the role of a script producer and writers’ room processes.
Reauthor an overview of a television synopsis using credible sources and quotes.
Identify reliable sources to reference in a written document.

Watch

Review the opening titles for The PM’s Daughter Series 2 and meet the script producer, Jessica Paine.

What is the role of the Script Producer?

The script producer is the leader of the writers’ room. Each member of the writers’ room brings story ideas, representing their perspectives and lived experiences in the script development process. This collaborative way of working enables the team to find the ‘best ideas’ by working together. The aim is to produce a television series that is relevant and entertaining.

Review

Read the following roles and steps to learn about the process of creating a script:

Roles in the writers’ room 

Script producer: Leads writers’ room 
Writers: Pitch ideas, contribute perspectives
Note taker: Documents all the ideas and possible story directions by taking notes of everything said in the room.

Steps involved in writing episodes for the screen

How to map the ‘big ideas’ of a series

Writers collaborate to brainstorm the central themes, challenges, characters, the story arc, and characters.
Writers generate questions that can be explored across episodes, for example in The PM’s Daughter season 2 one of the central questions is: ‘Is Artificial Intelligence (AI) good or bad?’

Mapping the ‘big ideas’ of a series

Writers collaborate to brainstorm the central themes, challenges, characters, the story arc and characters.
Writers generate questions that can be explored across episodes. For example, in The PM’s Daughter Series 2, one of the central questions is ‘Is Artificial Intelligence good or bad?’

Script development steps

The Script producer divides episodes among the writers to focus on.
Writers plot ideas to map what happens in each episode.
Writers integrate plots and ideas from the writers’ room to create a scene breakdown. 
Writers work on a draft of the episode, both individually and collaboratively.
Episodes are prepared for pre-production and production, then shared with the cast and crew.
Writers make updates to the scripts. Revisions can be made all the way through, even during the filming process.

The PMs Daughter Series 2

Review the following video to hear how Jessica Paine describes the second series. Focus on how the characters engage with and react to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and technology.

Activity

Using the Jessica Paine interview video and transcript, the Series 2 overview on the Australian Children’s Television Foundation website and other credible sources, reword a 100–200-word overview of Series 2.

Australian Curriculum Links

Civics and Citizenship

Year 8

Years 9

Years 10

Analysis, evaluation and interpretation

AC9HC8S02

Locate, select and organise information, data and ideas from different sources.

AC9HC9S02

Locate, select and compare information, data and ideas from a range of sources.

AC9HC10S03

Analyse information, data and ideas about political, legal or civic issues to identify and evaluate differences in perspectives and interpretations.

English

Year 8

Year 9

Year 10

Language |

Language for interacting with others

AC9E8LA01

Recognise how language shapes relationships and roles.

AC9E9LA01

Recognise how language empowers relationships and roles.

AC9E10LA01

Understand how language can have inclusive and exclusive social effects, and can empower or disempower people.

Language |

Text structure and organisation

AC9E8LA03

Explain how texts are structured depending on their purpose and how language features vary, recognising that some texts are hybrids that combine different genres or elements of different genres.

AC9E8LA08

Identify and use vocabulary typical of academic texts.

AC9E9LA03

Examine how authors adapt and subvert text structures and language features by experimenting with spoken, written, visual and multimodal elements, and their combination.

AC9E9LA08

Analyse how vocabulary choices contribute to style, mood and tone.

AC9E10LA03

Analyse text structures and language features and evaluate their effectiveness in achieving their purpose.

AC9E10LA08

Use an expanded technical and academic vocabulary for precision when writing academic texts.

Literature | Engaging with and responding to literature

AC9E9LE02

Share opinions about the language features, literary devices and text structures that contribute to the styles of literary texts.

AC9E9LE02

Present a personal response to a literary text comparing initial impressions and subsequent analysis of the whole text.

AC9E10LE03

Analyse how the aesthetic qualities associated with text structures, language features, literary devices and visual features, and the context in which these texts are experienced, influence audience response.

Literature | Examining literature

AC9E8LE05

Analyse how language features such as sentence patterns create tone, and literary devices such as imagery create meaning and effect.

AC9E9LE04

Analyse texts and evaluate the aesthetic qualities and appeal of an author’s literary style.

AC9E10LE05

Analyse how text structure, language features, literary devices and intertextual connections shape interpretations of texts.

Literature | Creating literature

AC9E8LE06

Create and edit literary texts that experiment with language features and literary devices for particular purposes and effects.

AC9E9LE06

Create and edit literary texts, that may be a hybrid, that experiment with text structures, language features and literary devices for purposes and audiences.

AC9E10LE06

Compare and evaluate how “voice” as a literary device is used in different types of texts, such as poetry, novels and film, to evoke emotional responses.

Literacy | Texts in context

AC9E8LY01

Identify how texts reflect contexts.

AC9E9LY01

Analyse how representations of people, places, events and concepts reflect contexts.

AC9E10LY01

Analyse and evaluate how people, places, events and concepts are represented in texts and reflect contexts.

Literacy | Analysing, interpreting and evaluating

AC9E8LY03

Analyse and evaluate the ways that language features vary according to the purpose and audience of the text, and the ways that sources and quotations are used in a text.

AC9E8LY05

Use comprehension strategies such as visualising, predicting, connecting, summarising, monitoring, questioning and inferring to interpret and evaluate ideas in texts.

AC9E9LY03

Analyse and evaluate how language features are used to represent a perspective of an issue, event, situation, individual or group.

AC9E9LY05

Use comprehension strategies such as visualising, predicting, connecting, summarising, monitoring, questioning and inferring to compare and contrast ideas and opinions in and between texts.

AC9E10LY02

Listen to spoken texts and explain the purposes and effects of text structures and language features, and use interaction skills to discuss and present an opinion about these texts.

AC9E10LY03

Analyse and evaluate how language features are used to implicitly or explicitly represent values, beliefs and attitudes.

Media Arts

Year 8

Year 9+10

Exploring and responding

AC9AMA8E01

Investigate the ways that media arts concepts are used in media arts works and practices across cultures, times, places and/or other contexts.

AC9AMA10E01

Investigate the ways that media artists use media arts concepts to construct representations in media arts works and practices across cultures, times, places and/or other contexts.

Developing and practices skills

AC9AMA8D01

Reflect on their own and others’ media arts works and practices to inform choices they make during the production process.

AC9AMA10D02

Reflect on their own or others’ media arts works and/or practices to refine and inform choices they make during stages of the production process.

Critical and Creative Thinking

	Year 8	Year 9+10
Inquiring - Identify, process and evaluate information	Identify and clarify significant information and opinion from a range of sources, including visual information and digital sources.
Reflecting - Think about thinking (metacognition)	Reflect on the thinking and processes used when completing activities or drawing conclusions.	Reflect on the thinking and processes used when completing activities and drawing conclusions.
Inquiring - Identify, process and evaluate information		Identify and clarify significant information and opinion from a range of sources, including visual information and digital sources
Analysing - Interpret concepts and problems		Evaluate the information selected to determine bias and reliability.
Analysing - Draw conclusions and provide reasons	Draw conclusions and make choices when completing tasks by connecting evidence from within and across discipline areas to provide reasons and evaluate arguments for choices made.
Reflecting - Transfer knowledge	Transfer knowledge and skills gained in previous experiences to both similar and different contexts, and explain reasons for decisions and choices made.

Watch

What is the role of the Script Producer?

Review

Roles in the writers’ room

Steps involved in writing episodes for the screen

Mapping the ‘big ideas’ of a series

Script development steps

The PMs Daughter Series 2

Activity

Australian Curriculum Links

Civics and Citizenship

Year 8

Years 9

Years 10

Analysis, evaluation and interpretation

Locate, select and organise information, data and ideas from different sources.

Locate, select and compare information, data and ideas from a range of sources.

Analyse information, data and ideas about political, legal or civic issues to identify and evaluate differences in perspectives and interpretations.

English

Year 8

Year 9

Year 10

Language |

Language for interacting with others

Recognise how language shapes relationships and roles.

Recognise how language empowers relationships and roles.

Understand how language can have inclusive and exclusive social effects, and can empower or disempower people.

Language |

Text structure and organisation

Explain how texts are structured depending on their purpose and how language features vary, recognising that some texts are hybrids that combine different genres or elements of different genres.

Identify and use vocabulary typical of academic texts.

Examine how authors adapt and subvert text structures and language features by experimenting with spoken, written, visual and multimodal elements, and their combination.

Analyse how vocabulary choices contribute to style, mood and tone.

Analyse text structures and language features and evaluate their effectiveness in achieving their purpose.

Use an expanded technical and academic vocabulary for precision when writing academic texts.

Literature | Engaging with and responding to literature

Share opinions about the language features, literary devices and text structures that contribute to the styles of literary texts.

Present a personal response to a literary text comparing initial impressions and subsequent analysis of the whole text.

Analyse how the aesthetic qualities associated with text structures, language features, literary devices and visual features, and the context in which these texts are experienced, influence audience response.

Literature | Examining literature

Analyse how language features such as sentence patterns create tone, and literary devices such as imagery create meaning and effect.

Analyse texts and evaluate the aesthetic qualities and appeal of an author’s literary style.

Analyse how text structure, language features, literary devices and intertextual connections shape interpretations of texts.

Literature | Creating literature

Create and edit literary texts that experiment with language features and literary devices for particular purposes and effects.

Create and edit literary texts, that may be a hybrid, that experiment with text structures, language features and literary devices for purposes and audiences.

Compare and evaluate how “voice” as a literary device is used in different types of texts, such as poetry, novels and film, to evoke emotional responses.

Literacy | Texts in context

Identify how texts reflect contexts.

Analyse how representations of people, places, events and concepts reflect contexts.

Analyse and evaluate how people, places, events and concepts are represented in texts and reflect contexts.

Literacy | Analysing, interpreting and evaluating

Analyse and evaluate the ways that language features vary according to the purpose and audience of the text, and the ways that sources and quotations are used in a text.

Use comprehension strategies such as visualising, predicting, connecting, summarising, monitoring, questioning and inferring to interpret and evaluate ideas in texts.

Analyse and evaluate how language features are used to represent a perspective of an issue, event, situation, individual or group.

Use comprehension strategies such as visualising, predicting, connecting, summarising, monitoring, questioning and inferring to compare and contrast ideas and opinions in and between texts.

Listen to spoken texts and explain the purposes and effects of text structures and language features, and use interaction skills to discuss and present an opinion about these texts.

Analyse and evaluate how language features are used to implicitly or explicitly represent values, beliefs and attitudes.

Media Arts

Year 8

Year 9+10

Exploring and responding

Investigate the ways that media arts concepts are used in media arts works and practices across cultures, times, places and/or other contexts.

Investigate the ways that media artists use media arts concepts to construct representations in media arts works and practices across cultures, times, places and/or other contexts.

Developing and practices skills

Reflect on their own and others’ media arts works and practices to inform choices they make during the production process.

Reflect on their own or others’ media arts works and/or practices to refine and inform choices they make during stages of the production process.

Critical and Creative Thinking

Year 8

Year 9+10

Inquiring - Identify, process and evaluate information

Identify and clarify significant information and opinion from a range of sources, including visual information and digital sources.

Reflecting - Think about thinking (metacognition)

Reflect on the thinking and processes used when completing activities or drawing conclusions.

Reflect on the thinking and processes used when completing activities and drawing conclusions.

Inquiring - Identify, process and evaluate information

Roles in the writers’ room 

Mapping the ‘big ideas’ of a series

Locate, select and organise information, data and ideas from different sources.

Locate, select and compare information, data and ideas from a range of sources.

Analyse information, data and ideas about political, legal or civic issues to identify and evaluate differences in perspectives and interpretations.

Explain how texts are structured depending on their purpose and how language features vary, recognising that some texts are hybrids that combine different genres or elements of different genres.

Identify and use vocabulary typical of academic texts.

Examine how authors adapt and subvert text structures and language features by experimenting with spoken, written, visual and multimodal elements, and their combination.

Analyse how vocabulary choices contribute to style, mood and tone.

Analyse text structures and language features and evaluate their effectiveness in achieving their purpose.

Use an expanded technical and academic vocabulary for precision when writing academic texts.

Share opinions about the language features, literary devices and text structures that contribute to the styles of literary texts.

Present a personal response to a literary text comparing initial impressions and subsequent analysis of the whole text.

Analyse how the aesthetic qualities associated with text structures, language features, literary devices and visual features, and the context in which these texts are experienced, influence audience response.

Analyse how language features such as sentence patterns create tone, and literary devices such as imagery create meaning and effect.

Analyse texts and evaluate the aesthetic qualities and appeal of an author’s literary style.

Analyse how text structure, language features, literary devices and intertextual connections shape interpretations of texts.

Create and edit literary texts that experiment with language features and literary devices for particular purposes and effects.

Create and edit literary texts, that may be a hybrid, that experiment with text structures, language features and literary devices for purposes and audiences.

Compare and evaluate how “voice” as a literary device is used in different types of texts, such as poetry, novels and film, to evoke emotional responses.

Identify how texts reflect contexts.

Analyse how representations of people, places, events and concepts reflect contexts.

Analyse and evaluate how people, places, events and concepts are represented in texts and reflect contexts.

Analyse and evaluate the ways that language features vary according to the purpose and audience of the text, and the ways that sources and quotations are used in a text.

Use comprehension strategies such as visualising, predicting, connecting, summarising, monitoring, questioning and inferring to interpret and evaluate ideas in texts.

Analyse and evaluate how language features are used to represent a perspective of an issue, event, situation, individual or group.

Use comprehension strategies such as visualising, predicting, connecting, summarising, monitoring, questioning and inferring to compare and contrast ideas and opinions in and between texts.

Listen to spoken texts and explain the purposes and effects of text structures and language features, and use interaction skills to discuss and present an opinion about these texts.

Analyse and evaluate how language features are used to implicitly or explicitly represent values, beliefs and attitudes.

Investigate the ways that media arts concepts are used in media arts works and practices across cultures, times, places and/or other contexts.

Investigate the ways that media artists use media arts concepts to construct representations in media arts works and practices across cultures, times, places and/or other contexts.

Inquiring - Identify, process and evaluate information

Reflecting - Think about thinking (metacognition)

Inquiring - Identify, process and evaluate information