Renaisssance Man
In this month's Renaissance Man column, Director of Marketing Ali Rasul fills us in on the genesis of a typical Xena: Warrior Princess script.
Official Xena Magazine: Issue 11
Stage 1
A Xena script starts off with an idea, usually put forth during a brainstorming session between Xena’s executive producers and the writing staff. Once an idea is agreed upon, a writer (or writers) is assigned to bringing this idea to life.
Stage 2
The writer assigned to the project submits a ‘beat sheet’ (an 8-10 page synopsis of the episode). The beat sheet will cover the general storyline, breaking it down to its core plot elements: the who, what, where, how and why.
Unlike regular scripts, beat sheets will not have detailed dialogue. Usually the only dialogue it will feature is put there so that we can follow the story (actual dialogue will be worked into the script’s first draft). The beat sheet is read by the producers and production teams, who return it to the writer with notes and comments.
Stage 3
The first draft is written, which will have the dialogue scripted out and broken down by characters and camera directions. Some action sequences will be plotted out, and there will be notes regarding special effect, etc. Again, the writer submits the draft to the producers for their notes and comments.
Stage 4
After taking into consideration the feedback from the notes, a second draft is produced. The second draft usually follows the storyline as the first but with some changes. It is at this point that the writers and producers can fine-tune the script with respect to story arcs, continuity, character development, dialogue refinement, etc, but this time another group is included into the submission mix: the studio network executives.
Stage 5
After comments from the producers and studio people are considered and implemented, we have the ‘shooting draft’. This is the stage when the script is scrutinised for production visibility.
It’s now the turn of the production teams in New Zealand to give us feedback. If the script calls for Xena to fight a 50-foot demon, but the special effects and production teams feel that a 25-foot demon would logistically work better in terms of cost, man power or technological limitations, we’ll change the script accordingly.
Again the script is passed around to all the powers that be for more notes, until we have...
Stage 7
The final shooting draft. This is the copy which the actors and production people work from with little, if any, changes.
This entire process from brainstorming to the final shooting draft can take up to 90 days to complete. In between there’s lots of going back and forth between the various departments. Also, the script can get caught up in all sorts of delays, storyline glitches and censorship issues, but somehow it gets done and a final script is produced, shot and then finally broadcast.