W-wa Jeziorki: A doctor in the house

Doctor, 1: A physician; a member of the medical profession; one who is trained and licensed to heal the sick or injured.

Doctor, 2: A person who has attained a doctorate, such as a Ph.D, conferred by a college or university.

From the Latin, doctor, the agent-noun from the verb docere, to teach.

Well, for the first time in family history, there is a doctor in the house – daughter Moni successfully defended her doctoral thesis at the Łódź film school today, 14 years after she began her screenwriting studies there. We are all proud.

The process that took almost three hours and involved 12 academic reviewers cross-questioning her on her 300-page thesis, entitled Autorzy, zawodowcy i współtwórcy ('Auteurs, professionals and co-creators'). This is the first detailed analysis of the way Polish screenwriters carry out their work.

Moni's thesis begins with a series of 12 interviews with working screenwriters from different generations, and shows how the profession changed over time, particularly with the transformation from communism to market democracy after 1990. She looked at how the market and the opening up of streaming and serials had shaped the way screenwriters operate.

From this, Moni developed the notion that there are three basic archetypes of screenwriters working in Poland, the visionaries who drive the creative process from beginning to end, the 'hired pens' on whom directors and producers can rely to turn out a competent script, and the collaborative partnerships that depend on a shared vision of the final product.

The third model is trickiest to get right; trading ideas to create higher value than one person could do on their own. These often fail because of a lack of leadership and of a shared vision. With nine out of ten scripts failing to make it onto the screen, this is a common reason. The professional – who is not emotionally tied to the project – can be relied upon to turn out a commercial hit. The auteur, who doggedly pursues their own vision to the end, often creates an art-house or cult, hit but can sometimes cross over into the commercial mainstream.

Collaboration is trickiest. Getting it right means mutual understanding of each other's roles, openness and honesty, feedback and empathy – as well as the importance of the contract. Who should lead? The writer, the director, or the producer? Whose artistic vision is it in the first place – and what should be the role of co-creators or collaborators? Should they be script-doctors, merely there to tweak and improve, or are they there to lift the work to a higher level?

Moni has the green-light to turn her thesis into a book, which will hopefully serve as a valuable asset for aspiring screenwriters.

This time two years ago:
Szczecin dawn

This time three years ago:

Win-win-win-win-win
(in praise of charity shops)

This time four years ago:
Comfort, discomfort and winter cold

This time five years ago:
Frustration as completion of Chynów station draws near

This time six years ago:
London in verticals

This time nine years ago:
Castro's death divides the world