Jed Mercurio on the line of duty at BBC Maestro’s course
Jed Mercurio, creator of the BBC series Line of Duty and Bodyguard, has revealed some aspects of his craft to screenwriters.
The Mercurio course for BBC Maestro’s educational series Writing Drama for Television has begun in North America. It is a comprehensive analysis of the art and craft of writing, divided into 28 chapters, beginning with the genesis of the process and ending with career development options. Each class is accompanied by a video lecture from Mercurio and course notes, which include assignments and homework.
The initiative started at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It was really perfect timing, because a lot of writers weren’t in touch with the industry the way they normally would, and so I felt like it was a really useful way to reach people and get them to think about their writing,” Mercurio said. diverse.
Like all seasoned writers, Mercurio says writers should look within themselves for their own experience, look at what is happening in the world around them and they should make use of that. He is a supporter of the pilot, who does the job of selling the series to channels or banners in advance.
“One of the advantages of someone like me on the BBC Maestro course is that I am currently active in this field – there are a lot of people who have very good advice to give about structure and about approaching screenwriting, but many of them are those who are sitting in the academic space, not Two factor screenwriters,” Mercurio says.
“As someone who works in television, I am very aware of the fact that decisions about whether television shows go into production depend almost entirely on the quality of the pilot,” Mercurio adds. “So the reason I am giving this advice is that many of the executives within the networks who will be asked to give their opinion on whether or not the show should move to the series will only read the beta version. So the pilot should be the best pitch to your idea for the show. “.
However, the show should continue beyond the pilot, Mercurio says. “The reality is, in practice only, that more time and resources are allocated in experimental work, from script to filming, than in creating individual episodes of the show,” Mercurio says. “But in general, I think all of us who work in television understand that you have to play the long game, because there’s no point in having a great pilot, if the rest of the show is disappointing, because the audience is going to get swept away and the show will be cancelled.”
Throughout the course, Mercurio also addresses the mid-season dip, where plot development is sometimes less important in the middle episodes than it is at the beginning and end. Mercurio recommends a mid-point of the season that is as dramatic and exciting as what the writer aims to do with the ending.
Mercurio, who had a huge taste in television broadcasting, also appreciates the advantages of broadcasting. He says there were some networks that felt the plots couldn’t be too complex, because the audience wouldn’t remember what happened in the previous episode and any recalls to previous episodes or even previous seasons would be lost, because the audience wouldn’t realize they were trying to make it happen.
Mercurio feels the mindset has changed and is now transformed by a push-button catch-up culture propelled by the broadcast revolution.
“Writers like me, who have always enjoyed having intricate plots and having intertwined stories, characters coming back to the show, reconnects, and so on — this new mindset has been a real boon to us,” Mercurio says.
Next up for Mercurio as producer is season two of BBC’s ‘Bloodlands’ via HTM Productions. There is currently no update for the second season of “Bodyguard” or the seventh season of “Line of Duty”.
BBC Maestro courses, including Mercurio, are available for $90 each, with the option to upgrade to a Comprehensive Annual Pass for an additional $30.
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