Writing coordinator
A writing coordinator is first and foremost a relationship-based profession.
It’s a real pivotal role that falls to him, and one that involves acting as a link between the various authors – of a series for example – in order to pool everyone’s contributions.
Role and tasks of the writing coordinator
The writing coordinator is a professional who supports the writing team. His central role enables the various scriptwriters and collaborators to keep track of the many changes and discussions relating to the script. This rigorous professional takes note of everything that happens in the exchanges between the writers, and notes the contributions of each.
On set, he or she liaises between the director and the script teams, and works closely with the actors and camera crews. He ensures the continuity and consistency of the scripts from one episode or scene to the next, pools the contributions of the various writers, and makes sure that all the teams on set are up to date with new material.
The literary editor keeps a very close eye on the scripts: he or she is involved in both approving and correcting them, taking note of comments from the various contributors about any nonsense or grammatical errors.
He also has an administrative role, since he is responsible for managing the legal authorisations linked to the script, and for legal and technical monitoring. Finally, he makes sure that the right authors are credited on the production.
Writing coordinator: qualifications and training
The job of writing coordinator requires writing and grammatical skills that a good training in the humanities should enable you to acquire. For more specific training, it is possible to enrol in an audiovisual training course, which will give aspiring writing coordinators all the keys they need to understand this environment, how it works and the role assigned to them in the production chain.
Skills and qualities required
As well as obvious literary skills – writing coordinators have very good spelling and solid grammatical skills – excellent interpersonal skills and a great deal of diplomacy are major assets in this job at the heart of human relations. Their meticulousness and organisational skills enable them to manage the various assignments entrusted to them admirably, and to ensure that any adjustments to texts are properly communicated to the various parties involved. It’s a real balancing act for this professional who operates in the shadows, but whose importance is considerable. He or she must be independent, a good listener and tactful in order to succeed.
Careers and career opportunities for writing coordinators
The job of writing coordinator – which is most often found on series – is a fantastic way of moving on to more coveted careers, in particular screenwriting.
Salary expectations of a writing coordinator
Writing coordinators are subject to the national collective agreement for audiovisual production, and receive a minimum weekly salary of €878.79 (or €3,515.16/month).
