I want to be a paid science advisor for tv/film.

January 2, 2018 6:01 PM

How to get part time/consulting work as a science advisor in the tv/film industry, or convince a show/film that their writers could benefit from one?

Job postings? Networking? They really don't exist except in rare circumstances?

Sometimes it bugs me when entertainment gets stuff wrong or just weird on science stuff, especially in spheres of which I have experience. Based on my FanFare post history, I apparently derive some pleasure in taking stuff apart or explaining something.

The paid part is ancillary; its that people tend to value "free" stuff less. Also, I'd probably get a kick out of being credited.

posted by porpoise to Media & Arts (10 answers total)

I remember that jscalzi's done this, but I suspect that since he's a Famous Name, that might have had something to do with him getting the job.
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:18 PM on January 2, 2018

Response by poster: Not to threadsit, but just wanted to add that I'm not looking for something at the level of what jscalzi did with the writers of SG:U.

He was essentially in a QA role with the script/writers and relied a lot on his (praiseworthy!) skill as a writer.

I was thinking more along the lines of, if the writers/set designers have a "science" thing in the script, have that run through the science-advisor. If there isn't an ok or a quick fix or a small suggestion, the writers try to convey what they actually intend and the advisor presents options.
posted by porpoise at 6:46 PM on January 2, 2018

Best answer: It is unlikely that you will ever find a job-job doing this. Showrunners and producers and writers have networks of friends in interesting jobs, because they get to go to interesting parties, and on the rare occasions that they actually need their science vetted (most fiction shows get by with a google and a shrug, or they ping asavage or scalzi or NDT or Mohawk Guy on Twitter or at their next game night) they'll call a contact at Caltech or the morgue or whatever and say hey, can someone answer this question? People love TV, so doors open easily.

There are docushows on the cable channels that do science and have science advisors, but those people are usually part of the production team in the first place. Get you a squad and pitch a show and you can be a Science Guy on Twitter too.

But the horrible secret is that mostly they don't care if it's wrong. Grey's Anatomy certainly has at least one pet doctor but they still make up diseases and treatments. When you've got eight days to get a script turned around and another eight to produce it (this is luxury big-budget hour-long timing) you just got to do your Star Trek Three Word Science Thingy and move on.
posted by Lyn Never at 7:02 PM on January 2, 2018 [9 favorites]

In my (very limited) experience, you either get this kind of unpaid job if you're friends with a tv writer (eg, my screenwriting friends call me up every once in a blue moon to ask me one or two questions in my areas of expertise) or maybe you get paid if you're super famous and charge consulting fees, which then will probably make the writer just call a professor at the nearest uni who will answer their questions for free.
posted by TwoStride at 7:07 PM on January 2, 2018

Best answer: Lyn Never has it. The job you're describing doesn't exist. In the development phase, the science "consultants" are going to be the screenwriter and other random people (execs, assistants, whoever notices something and says, "Hey") in the offices of the production entities that are involved with the project. For the most part, nobody cares. Nobody checks the science because nobody cares. Producers or execs supervising a project in development might buy the writer(s) a copy of a relevant nonfiction book, but in my experience it's just because they want the writers to really get the mood of the setting. Or because the writer might run into some cool underreported detail about life [in a submarine, in space, in the Victorian era, etc.] that could be thrown in or used as a plot point. It's not because the people in charge are trying to encourage factual accuracy in the writing.

Sometimes, productions actually do need or want very detailed scientific information. In that case they are just going to reach out to someone in the relevant department of a (usually local) university. The job will be a one-time thing just for that movie, if it's paid at all. Sometimes the consultant will just be asked a couple questions, in which case money is probably not going to be exchanged. But more in depth work might pay actual money.

In my office, I am the person who cares about science and history and who notices relevant mistakes. Usually I am completely ignored. I don't expect to be listened to, but I am glad when someone agrees with me that a plot point or detail is egregiously wrong. So I keep doing it. I just can't let incorrect information go without comment.

It especially needles me because my philosophy is that you almost always can and should make the truth work for you. You'll ultimately end up with a more meaningful and complex story. Deciding to ignore the reality of the science/history, I believe, breeds a "culture" of narrative shortcuts within your story. So, y'know, I GET why it drives you crazy. But there is not much you can personally do about it.
posted by desert outpost at 7:24 PM on January 2, 2018 [4 favorites]

You'd probably be better off making YouTube videos about why X media is wrong/right on science, but from a cursory search I think you already have lots of competition.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 7:50 PM on January 2, 2018

When House was running, there was a blog written by a doctor that evaluated every episode from a medical standpoint. Maybe something like that?

Or maybe it’s YouTube videos now, as RobotVoodooPower says. I’d be more likely to read a blog, but I’m old.
posted by FencingGal at 8:20 PM on January 2, 2018

Yeah they'll call up whoever they know in whatever random field. I guess if you were at UCLA or Caltech you'd have more chance because that's who they usually call. Or text.

Protip: they don't listen to you anyway.
posted by fshgrl at 8:47 PM on January 2, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Yes, this is a thing, and it's centralized.

The National Academy of Sciences runs a program called the Science & Entertainment Exchange that does exactly what you're talking about.

Here's a Reddit AMA from NAS' Ann Merchant, who oversees S&EE.
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 5:20 AM on January 3, 2018 [7 favorites]

Best answer: Yes the Science & Entertainment Exchange is a real thing - and it is a wonderful thing. However your consults will not be paid ones, that is - unless the writer/filmmaker/showrunner decides you are invaluable to their series or movie and decides to bring you on in a paid capacity. But that only happens after you have already donated your time - because frankly, many of the projects being worked on don't get picked up to series, or don't get sold, or the writer gets fired and someone new is brought on who doesn't have any interest in using your expertise.

But the Exchange IS a great foot in the door into consulting, and if you are helpful and charismatic there is a good chance it will lead to a profitable side-hustle. Good tip: don't just be a naysayer ("that device could never exist!") be someone who offers new possibilities ("That device wouldn't exist, but there are some new studies which suggest this other kind of device might exist, at some point in the future.") Solve problems for storytellers - don't create new ones. That's how you get hired.
posted by egeanin at 8:41 PM on January 3, 2018 [3 favorites]