Y&R Fires Entire Breakdown Writing Staff

[kalbir]

We are really in budget mode now.

[Soapsuds]

The show has looked like sh!t for a long time from the sets to the cheap opening.

[Paul Raven]

I think Josh's EP title is pretty much a vanity one. He makes extra $$$ and gets some say but I'm sure the other producers are handling the day to day stuff.

I think the COVID measures must have made a huge impact on budget. 

I wonder how Mal Young was on handling the budget? He got rid of Chelsea,Chloe and Kevin and put Neil and Paul on recurring. I don't recall the show looking any worse onscreen .

[j swift]

A day later, after the shock has worn off, I can't help but wonder how this reflects on the management structure at CBS.

Back when CBS daytime had a dedicated VP, with a PR department, do you really think they would have let Griffith give a statement that implied he fired people in order to do the job himself?  Because it is hard to read that headline and not respond negatively.  As much as people dragged former daytime executives, I think they would have spun this to be more palatable, or at least drafted a statement to counteract the unnamed source in The Wrap.

My opinion has mellowed given the knowledge shared by those on this board that other soaps have tried and failed to eliminate this role.  But, it really made me reflect on the idea that (nepo-baby - her father was close with Les Moonves) Amy Reisenbach and Eric Kim who are in charge of all programing at CBS, don't prioritize daytime or the way that it is covered in the media.

Edited February 24, 2023 by j swift

[titan1978]

it’s better than the one on GH!  But that is not saying much.

[Paul Raven]

I would love to know how the whole writing process actually works as this would give us some proper insight into the process.

I would imagine as a headwriter that in addition to long term story, you would map out the week day by day/ scene by scene with details on what the scene was about and key points to be made through dialogue.

Then the dialogue writers would fill that in and as headwriter you would go over that and make any revisions.

So that would pretty much eliminate the need for breakdown writers.

So I can see why they might not be necessary in that scenario. But they have been there for years , so I am unclear how the process works.

[titan1978]

If anything, there were times it looked better than it had under JFP, who truly gutted the look of the show.  It was the first time she arrived on a show and I thought a it started to look worse under her as EP.  She brought in the bland.

[Liberty City]

Who knows... we had sets at that point, too. We got Dark Horse and Nick's home set. So, clearly, there was some kind of set budget (and set crew).

[BetterForgotten]

Y&R’s issue also seems to be that they don’t know how to manage their budget. A more skilled EP could extract a lot more value out of the existing budget - but they simply don’t have anyone with any skill to make this work.

[Contessa Donatella]

Respectfully, I thought she ruined the look of AW. I won't go into detail because it's off topic but I'll just make that nod. 

[Broderick]

Miss Alden gave us a "modern look" at the process circa 2005.  It was very convoluted, and Miss Alden made the description far worse by saying "uh, um, uh, um," while she attempted to provide details.  

Basically there's a "story conference" on Monday morning, in which the "head writing team" (who were Miss Latham, Miss Alden, and Jack Smith, at the time) meet with CBS and SONY and present Latham's story projections to the executives.  CBS and SONY either approve or disapprove.  If they approve, go to the next step.  If they disapprove, rework the projections.  

Then Monday afternoon, you meet with the breakdown writers and give them a "broad idea" of the day's script.  The breakdown writers are then assigned a specific script to breakdown further into individual scenes.  

The breakdown writers then submit their completed breakdowns into the "story editor", who at that time was Jack Smith, I believe.  He makes sure the breakdowns line-up with what the "headwriting team" had asked the breakdown writers to do.  Jack Smith would make any necessary edits/changes to the breakdowns, subject to the approval of Miss Latham.  Then the breakdowns would move to the next step -- being approved by CBS and SONY.

Once the breakdowns were approved, they would be assigned to a script writer.  The scriptwriter then completes the script from the breakdown. 

The completed script then came back to Jack Smith, Kay Alden, and Lynn Marie Latham for them to edit/correct/change. 

Once the edits/corrections were made, the script then went to the executive producer, who had the authority to make additional edits/corrections, if for example the script was too LONG or too SHORT or had something in it that the director wouldn't be able to accomplish on screen. 

I'm the ONLY person on the board who feels this way, but I found the entire "breakdown process" to be a ridiculous waste of everyone's time and money; plus Y&R's breakdown writers are obviously not using much creativity to make Josh Griffith's drab stories interesting.  I'm sorry they're losing their jobs, but they were being paid to complete a task that the headwriter and/or the assistant headwriter should theoretically be doing already.      

[janea4old]

- Edited February 24, 2023 by janea4old

[Paul Raven]

Not so, which is why I'm trying to get aclearer picture of how the process works and why all those levels are necessary.

I think streamlining seems a good idea in theory but Griffith has shown he is incapable of writing interesting, well plotted stories so the whole thing will continue to be a disaster.

My other thought concerns the network execs. Over and over they are accused of micro managing but I would love to know some actual objections.

I would imagine the limited airtime given to the lesbian story is one and in the Sally story the fact that termination isn't even presented as an option.

As for Josh's other stories one can only imagine what might be rejected if they approve of what airs. Maybe it's a blessing in disguise that they interfere.

Also, it would be great if an actor spoke out about the shoddy way the show is written and produced.

[janea4old]

EDIT --
DISREGARD this post.
Ryan tweeted later on that he erred and that this is NOT a breakdown, it's just a summary.
 

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Edited February 25, 2023 by janea4old

[Paul Raven]

Thanks for posting that. From reading it , it seems to me the headwriter could/should  provide that .