Writers' room

This article is about the room. For other uses, seeWriters' room (disambiguation).

Awriters' roomis a space where writers, usually of atelevision series,gather to write and refine scripts.It is a common method of writing television series in the US, but is much less widespread in countries like the UK.

The Writers' Room plaque in New York City forYour Show of Shows

Composition

The television industry has long had a collaborative model for writing shows, though not all shows use a writers' room.Historically the rooms were physical spaces. Increasingly these collaborations are done throughvideo-conferencing.

With the explosion of scripted shows, and the competition among the networks and streaming channels, a "fluidity has developed to the way shows are created." The writers' room follows no single formula; it is an open-ended process with a range of set-ups. Room sizes vary from two to thirty, depending on the budget and number of episodes, each room with its own rules.

"Mini-rooms" exist for limited series and smaller shows, mostly those not yet approved.Mini-rooms consist of fewer writers than ordinary writers' rooms, who are paid less, and may not be employed for the duration of the production.The "proliferation" of mini-rooms in the 2020s, partly as a cost-cutting measure by producers, is one of the issues in the2023 Writers Guild of America strike.

Roles in writers' rooms

Theshowrunnerruns the entire writers' room. They have overall responsibility for the entire series; they are in charge of the budget, scripts, crew, keeping actors happy and interacting with thestudioornetwork.They are usually writers themselves and are generally listed as executive producers.

Anexecutive produceris a writer and second in charge and may act on behalf of the showrunner.

Producersin television writer's rooms are typically writers who have moved up the room hierarchy. This group includes co-executive producers,supervising producers,co-producers andline producer.They are involved in script approvals, casting, production and creative direction.A line producer is a managerial position, and often not a writer.

Executive story editoris a mid-level writer in charge of groups of staff writers.

Staff writeris an entry level writing position, reserved for someone working on their first or second scripts.

Writers' assistant is one of the most coveted early-career jobs in the industry.The assistant takes notes in the room and interacts with the writers and creators. They learn the business from the inside and make contacts, hoping to be able to later move up the hierarchy. It is their job to make sure that no good ideas are lost, do research, produce web material and occasionally make creative pitches.

Production assistantis an entry-level job, also hard to get. They run errands, make copies, get coffee and are described as the "legs" of the industry.

Writers as producers

On shows with a writers' room, the room does more than write; they cast, hire key crew, work on set design, and anything else a producer would do. A main writer of an episode will get credit as the writer. Aproducer creditfor a series will generally be given to each member of the writing staff who made a demonstrable contribution to the final script. The pecking order determines the level of the credit.The actual producer of the show (in the traditional sense) is listed underthe credit "produced by".Bill Lawrence,a televisionscreenwriter,said that:

... the end credits of a TV show, it will say staff writer, story editor, executive story Editor, co-producer, producer, supervising producer, co-executive producer, executive producer. (While) (s)omeone else will (also) be executive producer because they help to run the room, every other title is just... writer who's been here one year, writer who's been here two years, writer who's been here three years,... and it's just a pay scale.

Notable writers' rooms

• I Love LucywithMadelyn Pugh,Bob Carroll, Jr.,Bob SchillerandBob Weiskopf
• Your Show of ShowswithMel Brooks,Carl Reiner,Howard Morris,Woody Allen,Tony Webster,Lucille Kallen,Selma Diamond,Danny Simon,Mel Tolkin,Max Liebman,Sid CaeserandNeil Simon.Five years after the Holocaust and in the midst of theBlacklist(which frequently targeted Jewish writers)it has been noted that they were all Jewish except for Webster.
• The Smothers Brothers Comedy HourwithSteve Martin,Carl Gottlieb,Rob Reiner,Allan Blye,Mason WilliamsPat Paulsen,Tony Webster,Ron ClarkandBob Einstein
• The Dana Carvey ShowwithSteve Carell,Louis C.K.,Stephen Colbert,Robert Smigel,Robert Carlock,Jon Glaser,Dino StamatopoulosandDana Carvey
• The Dick Van Dyke Showwith Carl Reiner,Garry Marshall,Sam Denoff,Sheldon Keller,Dale McRaven,John Whedon,andJerry Belson.
• SCTV (1976–1981)withRick Moranis,Eugene Levy,Harold Ramis,John Candy,Joe Flaherty,Catherine O'Hara,andDave Thomas.
• Saturday Night LivewithBill Murray,Chevy Chase,Al Franken,Rob Smigel,Conan O'Brien,Bob Odenkirk,Gilda Radnerand many others.
• Late Night with Conan O'Brien(circa 1993-1994) withTom Agna,Andy Richter,Conan O'Brien, Louis C.K., Bob Odenkirk, Robert Smigel, and Dino Stamatopoulos.

In popular culture

The Dick Van Dyke Show ran on CBS from 1961–1967. One of the show's leadingstory linescentered on the work of television comedy writer Rob Petrie (Dick Van Dyke), the head writer for the fictionalAlan Brady Showin New York. The show was based onCarl Reiner'slife and was an early television depiction of a writers' room.

The Writers' Roomwas a 2013–2014 American television talk show hosted by screenwriter and actorJim Rash.Each episode featured a behind-the-scenes look at the writing staff of popular television series.

In the fifth and final season ofThe Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,stand-up comedian Midge Maisel is largely relegated to a writers' room.

The Writers Room,founded in 1978, is aworkspacein New York City where writers work on their projects and have access to reference materials and fellow writers.

Shows without a writers' room

Not every show uses a writers' room - some shows, especially in the UK, where writers' rooms are rarely used, either use a single writer or hire freelancers on a per-episode basis.

Criticisms

Criticisms include lack of diversity, including age, gender, socio-economic and racial/ethnic backgrounds;hierarchical structure which leads to a toxic culture where junior writers are overlooked, abused and exploited; stress from long hours and high pressure to meet tight schedules; lack of credit for junior writers;lack of job security and need for a living wage;and, sexism.