Make TV Networks and Studios Happy - Dealing With Network Notes

Announcer: Welcome to Producing Unscripted with Joke and Biagio.

Angry Man: Is this some kind of joke?

Confused Woman: Biagio-WHO???

Announcer: This episode…

Biagio: It’s episode 39 and we’re talking about the notes process. How do you address notes without making your show worse? When does the notes process truly start?

What happens when you get conflicting notes? And why, when you’re dealing with the notes process, you should always remember, it’s never a lupus.

Announcer: Music courtesy of Dave Pelman Music, davepelman.com

Biagio: Hey, everybody. She is Joke.

Joke: He’s Biagio.

Biagio: We’re married, we make unscripted film and television and want to help you do the same, hopefully by teaming up with us. Well welcome to episode 39. Can you believe it, Joke?

Joke: Do you ask me that every time?

Biagio: No, not every time, just sometimes.

Joke: I can believe it.

Biagio: I have 39 episodes in to potentially 999, I think is what we said somewhere on episode three. So still plenty episodes to come. And today we want to talk about something that I think is extremely important, can often be frustrating, but doesn’t have to. And that is network notes or just notes in general.

When you deliver a project whether to a TV network, to a studio, to a client who’s hired you, you’re going to get notes. How you deal with those notes can literally make or break your career. Am I right, Joke?

Joke: It can, and I think that it’s not just notes with necessarily a client but it’s with partners. It’s writing notes which I’ve done obviously within our company and receiving notes. There’s a lot of things that go into and some people are better note-writers and some people are better note-takers. And so, there’s just a few things we’ve learned along the way that make that notes process just more bearable.

Biagio: Very early on in our marriage, I learned how to take notes from Joke, which is a good thing because she really whipped me into shape. Right, honey?

Joke: I’m still working on that one.

Biagio: Oh. Well let’s start with what I think is probably where most producers go wrong in the notes process, and that’s where do you begin. And it’s really before you even send out that first cut, the notes process begins early on.

Joke: Before you shoot.

Biagio: Before you shoot. Right, Joke? Because what so many people do, and I’ve seen this again and again, is they decide that they suddenly want to become an artist, which is nothing wrong with art, but they sort of take their vision and run with it and completely forget every single thing they talk to the network or the studio about in the first place. And you would be amazed how often this happens.

Joke: It’s kind of very much part of our modus operandi I guess, that before we even start shooting, you need to have clear conversations. And we do with networks, about what everyone’s expectation is of the project. Whether it’s a presentation, a pilot, or a series it’s like what are you expecting the stories to be. How you’re expecting it to look, what kind of buys are you expecting to hear, what kind of views do you expect to be expressed.

And so that you clearly understand what your client’s expectations are so that you can best deliver it. By the way, if they expect something that is not doable or not possible, you can at that point nip it in the bud and start having the conversations before you even start spending money and before you start cutting. Because there’s nothing more frustrating than having spent five days shooting a pilot and coming back and it’s not at all what the network was expecting.

And so, it’s really important to have these conversations before you get too far even into developing and shooting the process, so that you can avoid those confrontations later.

Biagio: So, okay. So you’ve had the early conversations, you’ve gotten everybody on the same page, and make sure you do this. Honest to goodness, whether you’re doing a project with us and you’re bringing some footage that we’ve asked for or we’re doing a project with somebody else, have those early conversations. What’s next, Joke?

Joke: Well, the next part is actually listening to what they want and putting those expectations into play. It’s executing the game plan, right? So let’s say, you built someone a kitchen, you have to have the conversation with them about what kind of cabinets do they want and where do they want the stove to go, then you have to go away and actually execute that. So that when they’re walking to the kitchen they go, “Okay, the stove is exactly where we wanted it to be.”

So, what happens a lot in our industry is people have the early conversation but more as I don’t want to say front, I can’t think of the word. But more as just like a matter of course like, “Oh, yeah, what do you want?” And then they completely throw those expectations out and say, “Well, I’m going to do what I want to do instead of listen to what my client wants.”

So, it’s important that you have the conversation, but then you also execute on a shared game plan that everyone’s on board with. We very much believe in getting everyone on the same page before you start shooting. So that then, when you’re shooting that plan, you feel confident that you’re going to have what you need.

Biagio: This might sound simple but I’m telling you, it’s not. Because one of the funniest notes that we get over and over again, as a matter of fact, we got this note this morning in a pilot that we’re working on, is what, Joke?

Joke: You listen to us and we so appreciate it!

Biagio: Listen, the fact that we get that note should tell you how many producers don’t listen to their network executives. It’s not to say that network executives are perfect or always right or you can’t have conversations, but it’s about communicating so that when you do deliver they’re not like, “What the heck am I looking at?”

Joke: Well we even got this note on Beauty and the Geek, from the casting special to our recap episode where we were very clear early in the beginning like, “Listen, this is what we have in mind. This is the vision we have. This is how we see it happening,” and everybody above us signed off on it. And then we executed and brought it back. And literally the note was was, “Oh my God. It’s exactly the way you said it was going to be.”

Biagio: We’re like, “Yeah, isn’t that the point of making a plan?” I don’t know, I guess that listen. Honestly, I’m being very honest here, you’ll find, the more you work in this business, more often than not, what gets delivered was not what was promised. And that’s why I think the first two stages that we talked about really communicating and really working hard to deliver what you’ve communicated will already start you on the right path to getting notes you can deal with.

Okay, now let’s move on because, Joke, notes shouldn’t always be taken exactly verbatim, right?

Joke: Well it’s a relationship, right? Just like Biagio was saying earlier, how in our marriage we’ve learned to communicate and we learned to give and take notes.

Biagio: I’ve learned to do what she tells me.

Joke: Oh, please. It’s the same thing with whoever is giving you notes and let’s just say it’s a network executive, that you have to learn to communicate. And so like I said, some people are better note-givers than others and some people are very straight to the point, no sugar-coating. Hey, I want you to do this, I want you to do this or, this doesn’t work for me, figure it out.

And other people will write for paragraphs on end about what they think the solution is, even though they don’t have access to the raw footage. And other people will bring their own personal experience into this and be like, “Well, the way I see this is this way.”

And so, it’s very important to understand where your note-giver is coming from and what their communication style is. Number one: Never take the notes personal, no matter how personally they are written. Sometimes notes are very personally written and that just reflects on the note-giver and you should note take that personally because that doesn’t help the process.

So it’s important that you try and figure out what we call the note behind the note. If the note isn’t very clear or the note is sending you in the wrong direction. So sometimes there’ll be a note saying this isn’t said, I remember one time there was some footage, some executive who said, “Oh, I didn’t see this.” And it’s like, “Well, it was in there but maybe it didn’t land.” Or, “I didn’t hear this.” It’s like, “Well, actually it is in there.”

So instead of fighting back, be like, “Well, I guess you need to clean your ears because it’s said in there.” It’s realizing that while it may be in the cut, it just didn’t land for the executive. And that may be a mixed issue, that may be a timing issue, that may be an audio issue, that may just be an editing. We have to smooth things out or just maybe the storytelling issue where you need to mention it more than once for the point to really land.

And so, you have to look at the notes and go, “Is this an editing, is this a technical thing? Is this a storytelling thing?” And address kind of the bigger picture, the note behind the note.

Biagio: Yeah and listen, sometimes something that’s being noted, the place to fix isn’t at even at the spot it’s at. Sometimes, adding a simple explanation two or three minutes earlier in the cutter, a tiny little bit of exposition, will suddenly fix some moment that happens three or four minutes later.

So again it’s like, “Oh, your problem’s with this part of the cut?” Well we know it inside and out and when we really think about what the problem is, we realize it’s stepping back two or three minutes and fixing something here will actually fix the problem here as well.

Joke: Yeah, and listen from someone who has given notes as well, as I’m writing it I’ll sometimes go, “Oh, here. This is the fix.” And it’s just a natural thing for someone who’s giving a note to want to suggest a fix. But you should feel comfortable that that fix isn’t always the right fix. So you as a producer, have to address the note but not necessarily literally.

Biagio: Yeah and again, communication is everything. You need to say to your executive, “Okay, I hear where you’re coming from. I see what the problem is. I think we might need to fix it in another way.” Because a lot of times, taking their note directly would impact so many other areas of the cut that would create more problems than it would solve.

So most of the time, communicating that and working together with them to find the problem is going to get you where you need to be at a difficult note.

Joke: And if you get some big picture notes or a note that may all of a sudden kind of derail the storytelling or send it a different direction and will have many, many consequences, it’s all about picking up the phone and having a conservation before you put that note into action.

Saying as simple as like, “Listen, I hear you. I see where this note’s coming from. If I put that in that into play, this and this and this and this and this also has to change.” Because sometimes the person hasn’t thought about it and then it’s like, “Oh well, shoot. No, we don’t want that to happen. Maybe there’s another way of addressing my concern rather than just doing my note.”

Another way to look at the whole idea of the note behind a note is, imagine you’re the doctor and the note-giver is your patient. And their notes are literally just symptoms. They’re symptoms of a problem and it’s your job to figure out the puzzle together, what’s actually the cause. And then your job is to fix the cause, it’s not to fix the symptoms.

Biagio: Yeah, you’re like House.

Joke: Yeah, you’re like House.

Biagio: Just remember, it’s never lupus. Okay, if you didn’t watch the show, you won’t get that joke but that’s alright. Good analogy, Joke.

Joke: Thanks.

Biagio: So now, this brings me to the final situation I want to discuss. One of the most dastardly situations you can find yourself in, and you will, and good luck getting out of it, and that’s when you get conflicting notes from your clients. Whether it’s network executives, whether it’s a studio, whether it’s a studio versus a network, or a studio versus the network versus the production company or several production companies, you suddenly find-

Joke: Or an executive who changes their mind.

Biagio: Or an executive who changes their mind. You’re going to find yourself in this situation where you have to address notes that are at complete odds with each other.

Joke: And again, whether that’s an executive who gives you note A, this round of notes and-

Biagio: I hate pink. I never want to see pink in the show again.

Joke: And then the next cut is like, “Where’s all the pink? I need more pink.” Sometimes you can solve that issue with a conversation and sometimes you just can’t. Again, it depends on your note-giver. Sometimes they have to see it to get it and they can’t kind of visualize it in their head before putting it into play.

So those are kind of things that you just have to roll with. If you’re in the unfortunate yet fortunate position that we were in on one of our projects where there were two networks, two production companies and a studio all giving notes, and they all come from different points of view. One wants more drama, one wants more comedy that kind of stuff.

Then, you end up trying to make everybody happy, which you can’t, so you just kind of stay the course and take the best of all the sets of notes. It’s a very tricky political situation and I hope that doesn’t happen to you on your first show.

Biagio: Yeah, as it did for us. But I will say that if you do find yourself in that situation where you’re just overwhelmed with so many conflicting notes, if you’re the chief creative on the show, we were the show runners in this particular one that we’re talking about it, it was a while ago. But if you’re the chief creative voice in the show, you can’t lose your compass.

Someone has to make sure the show is good. And when seven different entities are throwing notes at you, there’s no way you can do them all and make sure the show is still entertaining.

Joke: However, you should figure out which of those seven entities ultimately are the most important.

Biagio: Yeah.

Joke: Because even though these seven entities each think they’re the most important, they really aren’t. So there’s a certain hierarchy in it and so if there’s two conflicting notes and they both are just as equally good but just different, then you go with the person who ultimately holds the purse strings.

Biagio: Yeah. That’s true, that’s true. Yeah.

Joke: And that’s another thing, though. They perfectly afflict. Sometimes notes don’t make it better and don’t make it worse, it just makes it different. And so, it can feel very tedious and annoying that you’re doing notes that aren’t really improving. I mean, they’re not making it worse so you don’t feel like fighting them, but it’s just like, “Okay, well it’s just different.”

It’s just part of the process. Maybe don’t do all of them and you fight some of them or you have conversations about some of them. Sometimes it’s just a bit of taste but sometimes you feel like, “Why am I doing this? And this is going to make the show worse.” It’s like, be honest, does it really make the show worse, it just makes the show different. And different isn’t necessarily bad, it’s just different.

Biagio: Yeah, so to sum up: First of all, remember the notes process really begins before you even shoot a frame of footage. Make sure to communicate with your partners, your network, your studio, whoever it is you’re working with, so that everybody knows and that was on the same page about what you’re actually going out to get.

Then, make sure you actually go get that. Don’t suddenly change your mind halfway through and be surprised when you get really crazy notes. Remember that the exact note you get from executive, is not always the exact note that you should take. We use the term note behind the note.

It’s very important, you need to diagnose what the problem is if the fix they’re offering doesn’t make sense and let them know that you have some alternate ways to fix that problem.

Or if you find yourself in the awful situation of having conflicting notes, try to choose the note that makes the show better or makes the show different or ultimately go with the note that came from the person who’s truly holding the purse strings.

Joke: And I think that the kind of visual to remember here is that, imagine you’re a surfer and the waves are just these different sets of notes that come your way. It’s like at a certain point, you just got to go with the flow. Just stay on that board, follow the course, and get home.

Biagio: So there you have it. This has been episode 39 of Producing Unscripted. Remember, if you would like to pitch to us or team up with us on a show, we have an entire submission portal where you can reach out to us. We’ve teamed up with several of you, you could be next. If you want the stripped-down, easy guide to pitching to us check out episode 30, ProducingUnscripted.com/030. And you could find our first eight episodes with a clickable table of contents over at YouTube, YouTube.com/JokeAndBiagio.

So that’s it. Until next time everybody.

Joke: Take them notes.

Biagio: Take them notes, take them notes.

Joke: Or don’t.

Biagio: Or don’t. Alright, Joke, I will always take the notes you give to me.

Joke: Aw, thank you honey.

Announcer: Producing Unscripted with Joke and Biagio.