Twitter Rant: @RachaelPriorMBE on How a Development Team Works

Yesterday @RachaelPriorMBE went on an informative Twitter ‘rant’ about how a development team works. Reprinted by permission:

https://twitter.com/MysteryBritExec/status/552943497586954240

Specifically, my relationship with my right hand person, who I often refer to as my Robin.

You also asked abt process of hiring good dev ppl, so this is going to be a series abt how imp. creating the right team is & how it works.

I’ll talk about how responsibilities are divided & how shared taste & robust confidence in one’s own creative opinion are vital ingredients.

I have worked for big teams and small. I’ve been the most junior member of a dev department, and am now the most senior.

So I know all the rungs, & as I’ve said before, there really are no shortcuts in a dev career. You start at the bottom, you work your way up.

Finding great team members is, frankly, a struggle. There isn’t some huge pool of experienced/tuned in individuals to pick and choose from.

This is because it’s a profession people know little about, even as they are in their final years of education.

It’s also because we simply do not make enough movies at an international level to give the kind of on the job training that is required.

You’ll want to find the kind of person who reflects the overall taste and vision of your company.

You’ll also want to, if possible, find skillsets that may be missing from the current team.

In my experience, you can’t teach someone how to be a great script editor if they don’t have an innate affinity for story.

Someone with this ability will, most likely, have been an avid reader all their life. Someone who consumed stories. Can’t live without them.

They don’t actually need to be obsessed with/wildly knowledgeable about film. I’ve seen those types of editors and execs…

Some can tell you opening weekend box office for every Marvel movie in history…

But they may have no instinct for why no one feels anything when the kids dies at the end of act two. This is the important stuff.

It’s also the case that years on the job do not necessarily make a person better or more uniquely qualified…

…If they don’t have the necessary strong editorial instincts & good taste.

https://twitter.com/MysteryBritExec/status/552944820696911872

That’s not to say I’ve always had amazing experiences…

…but right now I feel I’m working in one of the strongest dev teams I’ve had the good fortune to be part of.

I know this because I feel the benefit of the contribution Robin makes. I also see it and hear it via the talent we are working with.

So how do things work between my Robin and I? We’re a pretty tight team…

I am way old and cynical but have the benefit of having been all the times around the block.

Robin is way young, more optimistic (a good thing) but is incredibly smart, instinctive and eager to learn.

Robin has a pure passion for filmmaking and story telling, as do I. Our tastes overlap significantly…

Though we disagreed strongly about FRANK, for example (Robin is wrong) but agree wholeheartedly about most things.

Respect is important in any creative relationship.

Experience taught me that this only occurs when the more experienced team members are secure in their own ability and jobs…

And new members actually consider them worth learning from.

Younger members must work fucking hard, otherwise respect will not come.

Primarily this is because anyone who is at the top of a dev ladder has bled one million hours into their career.

They have missed parties, they have worked evenings and weekends since they left college/uni/school.

Unless they see that same commitment in their juniors, resentment will set in.

Practically speaking, I run the projects. That means that ultimately, final creative decision making re direction notes will take lies w/me.

However, every time a new draft comes in, both Robin & I will read, read again, then sit & go thru the script & share our thoughts & notes.

We’ll get into some good debate. I try and keep and open mind. I try & let myself be challenged, & tho it’s not always easy, it’s important.

If your pov is robust and convincing, you ought to be able to bring your team member around.

If not, how are you going to convince the writer who chose to write it that way?

Robin and I enjoy this part of the process a whole fucking lot. It’s the meat of the job. It’s where you get to make a difference.

And whilst you never get to say “I wrote that” you DO absolutely get to look up on the screen eventually and go:

https://twitter.com/MysteryBritExec/status/552946777536880640

It’s very rewarding in that sense. It’s also painful as fuck when you see how things didn’t quite work out…

“I should have pushed harder. I should have been more of a cunt to that writer. Why did I care so much about being the nice guy” etc.

Typically the more senior person has talent relationships w/more experienced writers & directors, so are more likely to bring in the projs.

The more junior member’s responsibilities lie in analysing material, getting out & about, watching all the short films, theatre, comedy etc.

They sifting the talent pool and pushing upwards through the ranks anything or anyone that is standout.

This is why shared taste and trust is so important. It’s also super rare.

I am extraordinarily lucky to be working with someone that is so dedicated, hard working, clever, funny, brilliant and just basically, nice.

You may wonder why I am going on about this so much. It’s because it’s all these qualities that make Robin excellent development person…

Fantastic interpersonal skills, humour, emotionally intuitive and incredibly imaginative. Also, I’ll say it again: taste, taste, taste.

https://twitter.com/MysteryBritExec/status/552947574358151168

I was taught all this by an amazing female mentor. Always do the work. Always work hard. Put the think time in. Always be honest.

Only times I’ve ever come unstuck was when people senior to me have insisted I hide or bend truths.

IT WILL ALWAYS COME BITE YOU & YOUR RELATIONSHIPS ON THE ARSE.

So, always level with talent. It can sting, but they will thank you for it long term.

Have excellent manners. No matter how long it takes you to read that script, if you apologise and acknowledge it, it will go a long way.

Don’t hire someone just because they’ve worked 6 years at OOOH, AREN’T THEY AMAZING company…

Unless you know for sure they were the integral part of OOH, AREN’T THEY AMAZING.

Too many execs aren’t worth their large salaries. You’d be better off buy 5 books each year than throwing it at a so-so executive.

Finding out if a potential team member has the chops is pretty easy.

Give them some analysis to do, have them talk about a movie they’ve seen and what worked for them and what didn’t.

Of course, you have to know yourself what a good set of notes looks like to be able to recognise them.

Finally, it’s so imp. to cherish your projs like there r ur babies. A vital part of healthy dev team relationships involve being supportive.

NEVER shit on each other’s projects or progress. I’ve seen this happen and it’s awful. Competitive undermining.

There is an unwritten code between dev people that really needs to be observed…

Only you guys really know what it took to get that writer from OH MY GOD IT’S FUCKING TERRIBLE! To NOW IT IS AT LEAST NOT AN EMBARASSMENT.

If you don’t acknowledge this amongst your colleagues, you are truly a NOT VERY NICE PERSON.

My Robin and I have each other’s backs. We know the hours that go in.

We know the stress of waiting and praying the draft comes in good and we all get to bask in its reflective glory.

We know the feeling of waking up facing another 5 hour meeting with a writer who is struggling.

So yes, being part of a solid team is everything. So, cheers to Robin…

And cheers to all the women in my career who made me their Robin. I was very lucky to have you.

If you’d like to work in film or TV development, there is some gold in Rachel’s rant. And if you’re a writer, hopefully the projects you work on will have execs like @RachaelPriorMBE and her wonderful ‘Robin’ because you want to work with people who are as passionate about Story as you are. When you find them? You do everything you can to work with them again and again.

If you are on Twitter, follow @RachaelPriorMBE. BTW she’s also incredible at baking, regularly providing a visual feast of her culinary exploits.