Screenwriter for Police Series
I wrote the scripts for the series about private detectives. When I got this job, the producers looked for fresh blood and gathered all the candidates in the cinema. The room was crowded, but most of those who wanted it were housewives who considered themselves ready-made scriptwriters. Someone suggested a story about how a young man gave his girlfriend a pig's heart - of course, it was weeded out. But in general, the scripts of television series are not always written by professionals. My series had many authors, and one of them even worked as a croupier in a casino.
Producers need a strictly defined product. By the time I was selected for the project, the series went on for several years, and it had clearly defined frameworks. They gave me the "bible" of the series - it showed the characteristics of the heroes, what they can and cannot do. The main characters turned out to be two former police investigators. If one investigator is Zheglov, then the second is Sharapov. Each episode is a new story.
About restrictions
In the series on law enforcement, in no case should you blame the police. You can’t touch the public agenda, we shouldn’t talk about politics and corruption. I once suggested the story of a corrupt official, but it was rejected. The main focus of such series is simple everyday stories. Love, hate, envy. A corpse is optional, and several corpses are quite rare. The main thing is that there should be a theft, robbery, violence, and a swirling story is built around this.
The series should be written so that it can be removed as cheaply as possible. At school, we were told that the scene needs to be changed, otherwise in many films everything happens either in the kitchen or in the yard. But why go somewhere for filming if people already watch these shows? Once I was allowed to insert a motorcycle chase into the series, but in the end I didn’t take anything off: we decided to save the budget and did without the chase.
What producers want
The main idea of the producers of the series is to show a character who leads a normal life during the day, and at night turns into Superman and fights evil. I was asked to write scripts about people of heroic professions - for example, about firefighters. When I told the producer that I didn’t know anything about them, he replied that no one knew anything about the police either, but everyone was writing.
I was also offered to make a series about the cop-robot, which colleagues in the police department considered a native of the Baltic states. At first it shocked me, but then I thought - why not? I decided to make a comedy about a robot that at first does not understand how to take bribes from drivers on the road, but then does it, like everyone else. But the idea was not approved: individual killers and rapists may appear in the series, but all police officers must be honest.
Why is it watching
Bad television shows are shot because they are watched. And viewers watch bad TV shows because they are shown on TV channels - a vicious circle. The producers do not want to take risks, and therefore the shooting of the series about police continues by inertia. Why is it still popular? People are malevolent and love to watch how they punish for the greed of their unpleasant neighbors: "You are bad, but I am not like that."
In our society, there is a classic double-mindedness: on the street you encounter police officers, officials, bureaucrats and you feel discomfort from this at best. And on TV, everyone is honest. I am sure: if you write a true script and call a spade a spade, the series will get a good rating.
I wrote the scripts for the series about private detectives. When I got this job, the producers looked for fresh blood and gathered all the candidates in the cinema. The room was crowded, but most of those who wanted it were housewives who considered themselves ready-made scriptwriters. Someone suggested a story about how a young man gave his girlfriend a pig's heart - of course, it was weeded out. But in general, the scripts of television series are not always written by professionals. My series had many authors, and one of them even worked as a croupier in a casino.
Producers need a strictly defined product. By the time I was selected for the project, the series went on for several years, and it had clearly defined frameworks. They gave me the "bible" of the series - it showed the characteristics of the heroes, what they can and cannot do. The main characters turned out to be two former police investigators. If one investigator is Zheglov, then the second is Sharapov. Each episode is a new story.
About restrictions
In the series on law enforcement, in no case should you blame the police. You can’t touch the public agenda, we shouldn’t talk about politics and corruption. I once suggested the story of a corrupt official, but it was rejected. The main focus of such series is simple everyday stories. Love, hate, envy. A corpse is optional, and several corpses are quite rare. The main thing is that there should be a theft, robbery, violence, and a swirling story is built around this.
The series should be written so that it can be removed as cheaply as possible. At school, we were told that the scene needs to be changed, otherwise in many films everything happens either in the kitchen or in the yard. But why go somewhere for filming if people already watch these shows? Once I was allowed to insert a motorcycle chase into the series, but in the end I didn’t take anything off: we decided to save the budget and did without the chase.
What producers want
The main idea of the producers of the series is to show a character who leads a normal life during the day, and at night turns into Superman and fights evil. I was asked to write scripts about people of heroic professions - for example, about firefighters. When I told the producer that I didn’t know anything about them, he replied that no one knew anything about the police either, but everyone was writing.
I was also offered to make a series about the cop-robot, which colleagues in the police department considered a native of the Baltic states. At first it shocked me, but then I thought - why not? I decided to make a comedy about a robot that at first does not understand how to take bribes from drivers on the road, but then does it, like everyone else. But the idea was not approved: individual killers and rapists may appear in the series, but all police officers must be honest.
Why is it watching
Bad television shows are shot because they are watched. And viewers watch bad TV shows because they are shown on TV channels - a vicious circle. The producers do not want to take risks, and therefore the shooting of the series about police continues by inertia. Why is it still popular? People are malevolent and love to watch how they punish for the greed of their unpleasant neighbors: "You are bad, but I am not like that."
In our society, there is a classic double-mindedness: on the street you encounter police officers, officials, bureaucrats and you feel discomfort from this at best. And on TV, everyone is honest. I am sure: if you write a true script and call a spade a spade, the series will get a good rating.
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