Welcome to the ultimate hub for expert advice to help you get your big break (+ move up the ladder).
After 14 profiles and an inspiring four months packed with career tips, insider secrets and words of wisdom, Series 1 of The Bottom Rung is now coming to a close… (Don’t worry, it won’t be forever! If you’d like to be involved in Series 2, or would like to nominate someone, then please drop me a line here.)
It’s only fitting, that I round out this series with a writer who is a true inspiration in her field (and on a personal note, someone who I am lucky enough to call a dear friend). This week, I am inspired on The Bottom Rung by…
Niki Aken, screenwriter and drama development executive
Climbing the ladder
Then: Niki studied a psychology/arts degree at the University of Canberra. But after realising she wanted to pursue scriptwriting, she scored a job as a receptionist/production assistant at a Canberra production company, and tacked on an extra year of uni – the now defunct Honours in Creative Communication, where she wrote a pilot and second episode of an original TV series. After that, she moved to Sydney and put in the call to her one contact in Sydney – a producer – and was lucky (and talented) enough to nab a role as a script assistant.
Now: From researching and writing episodes on Underbelly, to writing and directing her own short film Poppy, Niki is quickly becoming a name in the industry. Her latest projects include writing for ABC drama ANZAC Girls and working as a development executive for Screentime Drama.
Tell us about your early career days…
The best things were writing: character breakdowns, synopses, and my favourite – tests (audition scenes), which was my first experience of seeing my words ‘come to life’ on screen. Because I’d written the scenes the producers often let me watch the audition tapes as well, and sometimes they’d ask what I thought. Pretty empowering stuff for a noob. The downsides to the job are pretty predictable – printing and distributing scripts to the entire production. It isn’t mentally or creatively stimulating work. But the job was fairly well weighted in terms of writing exercises, research and the menial stuff.
The best advice you’ve received…
Before I got offered my first script I wasn’t sure it would ever happen, TV is a very fickle and competitive industry. I had lots of people telling me not to give up, to keep agitating and writing until an opportunity came along. Knowing that established scriptwriters had been in similar situations to mine –they’d been in TV for a few years before landing a script – helped me stay positive and persevere. Another good piece of advice came when I got offered my first script; a very experienced writer told me to make sure I didn’t write every single day, to at least take one full day off. I know from not following this advice that it’s worth heeding. You need to allow your imagination to replenish and it’s hugely important to get perspective from your writing.
The secret to standing out as an intern…
Taking initiative and being a general keen bean. The TV industry has its fair share of cynics, a lot of people sick of their third or fourth job in a row working 14-hour days, so make sure you’re nice to be around! Positive energy is contagious. Get to work on time. Be efficient. Don’t distract people and don’t expect to be looked after. You mightn’t have a lot to do one day, so think about how you can make things run more smoothly, how you can make your bosses’ jobs easier. If things are running better than they were before you got there than you’ve got a much better shot at being rehired.
Describe a typical early-career day…
If you’ve been hired as a note taker for the day then your job is to record what’s been said in the plot (a script meeting where you plot out the episode or series) as accurately as possible. Writers will take their own notes, but you’re expected to get total coverage to help them later when they start writing. If you’ve snagged yourself a job as script assistant or story researcher then your job is to support the script coordinator, producers and writers. You’ll do research for the writers, photocopy and bind 50 scripts, read every available draft to help with continuity, compile a cast/episode breakdown for the producers, distribute scripts to the various departments, etc. Days when the writers are heads down, bums up can be slow, but if four of them deliver drafts on the same day you’ll be having a very late dinner.
Describe times when it’s been hard going…
I’ve never felt like quitting television, though every industry has its particular perks and drawbacks. When you’re starting out, you’ll have your days when you feel under-stimulated or under appreciated no matter what industry you choose. Adjusting your perspective helps. Reframing your attitude. Instead of moaning about a long day, focus on a positive aspect of it. Did you become more adept at something you’ve been doing for a while? Did you sharpen your story brain just a little bit? Did you suggest a solution to a script problem that the writer is now running with? Focus on the little victories.
One of your favourite early-career memories…
I never interned or did work experience, but in terms of my first job on the bottom rung, I remember a slow day where I helped the script coordinator deliver amendments to the various departments. We finished with art department, and one of the props guys gave us a tour of the props store for our trouble. That was my first job in the industry, so it was pretty fun having a gander at all the random props. We found wigs and put them on and overdosed on selfies. Another time I was taking scripts to the costume department, and I walked in on a fairly fit actor who was getting measured (in my defence, the costume designer told me it was all clear after I knocked). He was topless and to my utter surprise I had that clichéd moment of stumbling over my words as I tried to find somewhere to put the scripts whilst rather unsuccessfully averting my eyes – don’t look at the six-pack! Look anywhere but the six-pack!
What’s the secret to getting your foot in the door…
People use the term ‘breaking in’ a lot which implies that once you’re in, everything is smooth sailing, that you’ll coast from job to job. But you could just as easily get your foot in the door and then the show you’re working on isn’t renewed. Suddenly you’re back to needing to get your foot back in the door (albeit armed with a professional TV credit). There are many different paths to becoming a working screenwriter. Getting a job as a script assistant is what I lucked out with. Lots of writers start as storyliners or observers on Home and Away and Neighbours. Some writers get attachments at a network or a production company. Others get noticed after winning awards. The Australian Writers’ Guild awards (AWGIES) have an emerging category called the Monte Miller awards which are for unproduced screenplays by writers who haven’t got professional credits yet. Winning one of those gets you noticed. Getting a job in any department in film/TV will help, even if you’re not writing. You could start as a production runner or a casting assistant; either bottom rung role will get you eyes in to the production world and a step closer to writers and the people who hire them. Finally, check out Screen Australia/Screen NSW/Film Victoria etc for funded attachment opportunities.
Your take on unpaid internships…
No, they shouldn’t be allowed. The bottom rung roles can be learnt so easily – you don’t need to test potential candidates by seeing how they go with coffee runs and photocopying to hire them for a production secretary role or production runner. If you have a drivers’ licence, are personable and efficient then you can be a runner with no experience other than your uni degree. If no one is hiring then make your own stuff. Write a web series, a short, a play – the important thing is to get them produced so you can improve as a writer and prove to others that you’re serious about what you want.
Have you ever faced any rejection…
My story of how I started in television is simplified for the sake of brevity, which makes it out like I wanted something, asked for it and got it. But the truth is that I’ve been rejected many times. I submitted stories to my university’s annual creative writing anthology and each year I didn’t make the cut. That was pretty demoralising at the time. I applied for the Neighbours Training initiative and didn’t get it. I interviewed for a position on another show and somebody else got it. But if you are passionate and believe in yourself, then these setbacks aren’t really setbacks. They’re just things that are happening on your road to success. So my advice is, be persistent!
Any final words of wisdom…
Help others out along the way, even if they’re your competition. It’s a small industry and life is too short to spend so much of your time in a dog-eat-dog environment. It doesn’t have to be this way, so don’t perpetuate it. If someone is unkind to you, don’t take it out on someone else. Don’t multiply the hate. Rise above it. It’s better for everyone, including yourself, if you spread the love instead.
Thanks again to Niki for sharing her advice! If you’d love to find out more about Niki, say hello on Twitter.
<The Bottom Rung Series 1 was inspired by the release of my debut novel THE INTERN (HarperCollins, out now) and my desire to ‘pay it forward’ with career advice and tips on climbing the ladder. Click here to read more about THE INTERN. Come say hello at Facebook and Twitter– distractions welcome.>
