Small thought on getting notes: when I have multiple parties involved, my ideal version is to have them all discuss their notes and thoughts together first, come to a consensus, and only then have them convey the notes to me.

In both features and in TV development, this has been the norm for me. Thankfully, it's how all of my current projects are presently operating. So, whether I agree with each little note or not, I at least know that there's a shared vision that I'm aiming to realize.

But not all places or producers operate this way. Sometimes you hear from different parties separately, or perhaps even worse, you get a document that's basically a cut-and-paste from various emails from the different parties.

In these situations, I think the next best thing is to push for a group call or zoom, ostensibly to ask for clarification on notes. Which always helps. But to also force the various note-giving parties to hear each others' notes and to hopefully come to a consensus.

Ideally in TV, I find it best to get the studio and network to give notes at the same time. For this reason. Likewise to request that all the producer types to give notes at the same time, ideally over a phone call or zoom, to avoid the cut-and-paste incoherence.

I've also found it useful to take personal responsibility for the quality of notes that I get. I mean, I can't control the notes I get. But especially in TV, I find that I *can* continually inform the note-givers exactly what my vision is, & encourage them to help me execute it.

Earlier in my career, I fell too easily into an adolescent eye-rolling "can you believe this shitty note" stance. Whether it's self-deceit or not, my writing improved & the process became more enjoyable when I started seeing part of my job as helping cultivate more helpful notes.

If there's a note that I think will plainly not work, I've often found that asking genuine questions about the consequences of that note, or the intentions of that note, can eventually be more helpful than simply trying to argue against it. There's usually a third way.

As much as I can, I also try to gather what they *dig* about a draft. 1) It feels good, 2) That way in my next pass I can find more moments like that & increase their enthusiasm. "Ah, this exec digs dark humor..." "This producer responds to quiet unexpected character moments..."

I also tell myself before a notes call some variant on: "I'm looking forward to this. This should actually be fun."

It's sometimes even true. But it helps remind me to be active in how I hear and respond to notes, instead of passively resenting the process.

Anyway, I think this approach works for me. But maybe I've mostly just been incredibly lucky in terms of the quality of note-givers I've had in my career...