Notes! Can’t Live With Them. Can’t Work in Hollywood Without them.

Notes are an unavoidable part of every writer, director, producer, and Showrunner’s life. If you have (or aspire to have) any of these jobs in Hollywood, you need to know how to give and receive notes. 

Great notes can help elevate a writer’s work with fresh eyes and keen insights. But bad notes can be a disaster for the creative vision of a project – not to mention a disheartening gut punch.

When I started out as a network comedy development executive, I’m embarrassed to say I didn’t know how to give notes and I gave some bad ones (I cringe when I think about them). That is until a wonderful, patient writer let me in on the secret of giving productive notes. 

I’ll get to that in a minute…

Let’s start with bad notes. Everyone’s gotten them. Sadly, it can often be part of the process. You think your notes were bad?  Here are some actual examples of laughably terrible notes. I promise you, these were really given: 

1. A writer started his pitch by saying: “There’s a spy and his wife.” The executive said, “There is no wife. Continue.”

2. “Can you make the Rabbi less Jewish?”

3. “It’s too complicated. Can you take out the nuances?”

4. “We don’t want boring Jesus Christ, what we really need to do is make him rock n’ roll Jesus Christ and pick up the pace a bit.”

5. A woman pitching a Syfy Thriller, was really excited that the two female leads were into espionage. Note: “It’s great! Can you change it to 2 men or that it’s incest?”

I know, right? Unbelievable… and unproductive.  

Here are some other general, unproductive notes:

• Make it better

• Make it funnier  (A comedy writer I worked with once got note: “ Make it funnier”   She said, “Oh, sorry I didn’t realize you wanted it funnier, I thought you just wanted it to be this funny.  I’ll change it.”).

Here’s a really bad one:

• Be More Creative (if they could have, they would have).  

Now here are the 7 rules for giving good notes that my writer friend so kindly shared with me all those years ago:

1. Be Specific and Start Positive.

When you’re giving notes, start off with what you really like and be as specific as you can. “You’ve got some great stuff here” isn’t enough, find something specifically good or interesting to comment on first. It makes the writer feel like their work is valued and will help them remain open to receive your other ‘not so positive’ notes. An example of someone who did this extremely well is a comedy development executive I knew who would start his notes session with a writer by going page by page and reading the positive notes he made aloud. Things like:  “So funny!” Laughed out loud!” “Loved this”. Only after that would he then go into the notes that weren’t positive (but were constructive). Writers loved him! 

On the other hand, the worst notes session I ever heard of was from a drama writer who went into meet with the network executive on his pilot script. The executive threw the script into the trash in front of the writer saying, “This is garbage”. (For the record, when that exec left the network he couldn’t get another job because no one in the business liked him. Karma’s a bitch.)

2. Put notes in the form of a Question.

Putting your notes in the form of a question lets the writer still feel like they have ownership over what they created (it helps them feel like they are still in the ‘driver’s seat’ of their story rather than feeling like you are grabbing the wheel from them and trying to drive). So rather than making commands like, “That’s wrong! Change it!”  Be thoughtful and ask the question behind the note: i.e. why did you decide to reveal the character’s relationship with her boyfriend so early in the pilot?

3. Focus on the Big Picture.

Make sure your notes address the big things that make a difference (like the lead character’s reaction to an event, or questions related to emotional arcs, story and logic) rather than the small minutia (like, “I didn’t like the red dress”). If you get caught up in the minutia rather than the big picture, chances are the writer will also get caught up in the minutia when they’re applying the notes which can equal a script that never gets fundamentally better.

4. Respond like an Audience Member. 

Try to respond to a script like a reader/audience member would. Tell them how the script made you react and impress upon them if you reacted that way, the audience probably will too. For example, if you were confused by their Cold Open, the audience will probably be confused to. Presenting notes this way can help the writer keep their defenses down and see the note from the audience’s perspective.

5. Don’t try and Solve the Problem.

You might be tempted to tell a writer how to fix their script: “It’s boring, can you have them have sex?” Don’t do it. Let the writer figure out how they’re going to address your note themselves. Your job is to just bring up the problem. If you’re ever unsure how to do this borrow a phrase that a lot of Hollywood execs use: When execs have a problem with a character or beat they often say they “bumped” on that particular thing… so you can say you bumped on something, rather than telling the writer how to change it.  

6. Remember it’s their Vision.

Remember, at the end of the day the script you’re giving notes on is ultimately the writer’s vision. Support their vision by offering appropriate feedback, but do not try to make their show.

7.  Sometimes the best note is no note at all.

What is the best (or worst) note you’ve ever gotten? Let me know @CaroleKirsch!