What happened to the male Script Producer of 2011?

[Light of the Bay]

Hi all, as I understand it for the first 6 months of 2011 there was a script producer before Lousie Bowes who came up with some very good storylines? Unlike Loopy Louise he actually focused on characters and charcater interaction and had no interest in focusing on drugs, sex and crime. I am very close to just giving up on Home and Away altogether as it is losing its identity. However i must admit that 2012 is certainly an improvement on late 2011, some changes need to be made. I am veru intrigued as to what Lucy Addario and Julie McGuaran have in store for us in the very near future but I think Louise Bowes should be fired immediately. I truly believe that one day the show will go back to its roots and friendships and fostering will be a focus again.

[cadyctslover]

His name is Jason Daniel.

Yes he was only in the position for the first 6 months of 2011 unfortunately, and I agree he really turned the show on its head in a good way. Suddenly some drama returned to the show after a relatively quiet 2010 season, but without overdoing it à la 2009.

Unfortunately since he left, the show has begun to slide a bit with way too much focus on the RB's and some other horrible storylines. 2012 in general is better and I still find the majority of episodes very enjoyable, but the Brax nonsense has got to stop and would it hurt them to put one or two feel-good storylines in there somewhere?!

[cadyctslover]

Apologies for bumping such an old thread, but I prefer to do that than to start a new one .

Just for interest and reference I've spent a few minutes noting the Script Producers and their respective tenures since the beginning of the 2008 season. There are some holes where I couldn't find the relevant episodes (2009+some of 2011), but it is largely complete.


2008
Alan Hardy 4561-4650
Faith McKinnon 4651-4660
Faith McKinnon + Phil Lloyd 4661-4770

2009
Faith McKinnon + Phil Lloyd 4771-4779
James Walker + Phil Lloyd 4853-4861
Faith McKinnon + James Walker 4954-4993
Faith McKinnon + Phil Lloyd 4994

2010
James Walker 5001-5207
Stephen Vagg + Belinda Johns 5210-5215

2011
Stephen Vagg + Belinda Johns 5216-5225
Jason Daniel 5226-5299
Lily Taylor 5300-5365
Louise Bowes (supervising with Lily Taylor) from 5346-5365, alone 5366-5435

2012
Louise Bowes 5436-present


This is interesting because for a long time I had assumed that during the early part of the 2008 season, Bevan Lee was Script Producer. However it was Alan Hardy, who interestingly is now Producer over on Neighbours, which has improved immensely since he and Richard Jasek took over.

This type of analysis is also interesting because it shows how different H&A can be depending on its Script Producer.

• Alan Hardy (presumably with the assistance of Bevan Lee) produced a mostly character-driven and interesting period through the first 6 months of 2008
• Faith McKinnon (individually and sometimes jointly with other producers) introduced more drama, and plot-driven storylines from the latter half of 2008 through to the end of 2009
• James Walker tried to take the show back to its roots, reduce the over-reliance on drama, and increase the humour throughout 2010
• Jason Daniel introduced more drama in 2011 whilst maintaining the humour of 2010
• Since mid-2011 Lily Taylor and subsequently Louise Bowes increased the drama at the expense of feel-good storylines

It seems as though Script Producers don't hang around very often, and this is why the show seems to change direction every 12-18 months. I recall Bevan Lee saying that it's tough work to churn out storyline after storyline for more than about 6 months, and unsurprisingly Script Producers become very tired. So I wonder how long before we get someone new in this role, and what direction will they take the show in? Thoughts?

[alexx]

I was under the impression the producer (exec?) had the final say when it comes to the tone and direction of the show - and then the script producer follows on from that decision, the writers after that?

[Dan F]

This is interesting because for a long time I had assumed that during the early part of the 2008 season, Bevan Lee was Script Producer. However it was Alan Hardy, who interestingly is now Producer over on Neighbours, which has improved immensely since he and Richard Jasek took over.

Yup, Alan was Bevan's 2nd-in-command whilst he juggled his Network Script Executive job with his return to the H&A chair for those 6 months.

[Light of the Bay]

I'm going to add more to this post later on but right now I'll say that for me personally, H&A hasn't 'felt' like a feelgood soap since Jason Daniel's stint in early 2011.

In 2010 there was the element of humour and lightheartedness along with compelling drama ( and early 2011) but since Louise Bowes took over its been boring, predictable and downright depressing. I haven't truthfully enjoyed any aspect of the show since late 2011. I just don't think Louise Bowes understands how to write for Home and Away. I also think 2012 was the worst year in the show's history - it was completely centred around the Braxtons. However I think Lucy Addario is responsible for the direction the show has taken too. Together they've completely ignored the older members of the cast and haven't developed their characters at all. There have also been minimal moments of comedy and light-heartedness and no focus on how to make the audience be able to relate to characters. In the past the characters used to seem so real and I found myself empathising with some of their stories but not anymore.

[alexx]

In 2010 there was the element of humour and lightheartedness along with compelling drama

I don't think there was really that much drama in 2010, the compelling moments were few and far between for me because every dramatic storyline just fizzled out.

[cadyctslover]

I was under the impression the producer (exec?) had the final say when it comes to the tone and direction of the show - and then the script producer follows on from that decision, the writers after that?

You're right they do, the Series Producer has final say, but it seems that the real changes only occur with the input of a new Script Producer.

For example, Cameron Welsh was Series Producer from 2007-2012, during which time the Script Producer (and tone of the show) changed several times.

You could also say (in my opinion) that during Cameron's time the show was at times brilliant (Alan Hardy/Jason Daniel's stint's), and at other times lousy (2007/latter half of 2011).

[Light of the Bay]

I thought 2010 was the best year we had since 2008. The first half was anyway. The storylines were genuinely interesting! We had Miles seeing Rabbit which IMO is one of the best stories of all time and there was also Marilyn's return and the mystery of Mr Oddly. However, as alexx says, some of the stories sadly fell flat which has been a problem for a long time. When the Diner was burnt down in 2010 and we saw Alf picking up the Aussie flag, it had the potential to be an excellent story that saw Alf questioning the town yet it was forgotten about within a couple of episodes. Since Bevan Lee left in 2004 the show has never really been the same.

[jodlebirger]

I thought 2010 was the best year we had since 2008. The first half was anyway. The storylines were genuinely interesting! We had Miles seeing Rabbit which IMO is one of the best stories of all time and there was also Marilyn's return and the mystery of Mr Oddly. However, as alexx says, some of the stories sadly fell flat which has been a problem for a long time. When the Diner was burnt down in 2010 and we saw Alf picking up the Aussie flag, it had the potential to be an excellent story that saw Alf questioning the town yet it was forgotten about within a couple of episodes. Since Bevan Lee left in 2004 the show has never really been the same.

I have checked several times a site with ratings over the years. And in Australia the show did have a dip in 2010. (It also dipped here) The problem wasn't only that the storylines didn't move along, but a lot of popular characters left in second half of 2009 and first half of 2010 and they didn't got any good replacement as characters usually do when they leave, and also how they left made people leave the show. The new characters did not get explored carefully and they became stiff and tiring quickly. The strength of h&a comparing to other soaps used to be the characters and how we learned to know them, secrets were told over time, family members were explored earlier and deeper. We felt that we knew the character. Also in the stalker years the (05-10) the characters were far better explored. Earlier on, who became friends and lovers were a result of a natural development. And that is the reason why the characters seemed much connected, even in the years between 2005-2010.

I don't think that humour is what the show is missing, there have been several attempts in the last years without making the Summerbay community feeling closer to each other. I really disliked the storylines about Miles/Rabbit and Mitzy/Marilyn, and found them insensitive and far too over-the-top.

I think they have to be more carefully in how the are exploring and writing the characters. Don't wait too long before we are introduced to their backstory, and don't focus on only one thing. For example the river boys, it is not only their unpunished crimes which makes them horrible characters to watch for a lot of us (1 year behind), but how they were introduced. We were just introduced to their gangs and crimes and the storylines went quickly into circles without developing the characters. We should have seen less of the crimes and more of Danny, Sheryl in the beginning.

The other characters aren't better developed either. With better character developement where we learn to know the characters better, the emotional storylines would have been more gripping, also the happy ones. It would have been easier to give the characters some funny comments here and there, and that's all you need (In my opinion) to make the show feeling lighter.