--- name: fact-sheet-writer description: "Produces a concise, structured fact sheet on any topic for production teams — covering key facts, essential terminology, background context, and common misconceptions — so crew and contributors arrive on set informed." status: stable category: pre-production subcategory: pre-production version: 1.0 eval_score: 4.2 tags: [fact-sheet, research, briefing, pre-production, subject-knowledge] --- # Fact Sheet Writer ## What This Skill Does Produces a concise, structured fact sheet on any topic for production teams — covering key facts, essential terminology, background context, and common misconceptions — so crew and contributors arrive on set informed. ## When To Use This Skill - Your crew is filming on an unfamiliar topic and needs a shared knowledge baseline before the shoot - You are preparing an interviewer or presenter who has limited time to research the subject - A contributor or consultant is joining the production and you want the team to understand their area of expertise - You need a one-page briefing document to share with funders, commissioners, or co-producers who are new to the subject ## What You Need To Provide **Required:** - The topic or subject area the fact sheet should cover - The intended audience for the fact sheet (e.g., non-specialist TV crew, broadcast journalist, documentary director) **Optional:** - The specific angle or focus of the production (e.g., "we are covering the economic impact, not the scientific debate") - Any terminology the team is already familiar with that can be skipped - Key questions the production is trying to answer — helps the assistant prioritise what to include - Geographic or temporal scope (e.g., "focus on the situation in West Africa since 2015") - Contributor names or expert roles whose work should be referenced if relevant - Maximum length or number of sections ## How the Assistant Approaches This 1. Identifies the core concepts a non-specialist would need to understand the topic at a production-ready level — not academic depth, but enough to ask good questions and follow expert answers 2. Organises the material into a logical sequence: overview first, then key facts and figures, then terminology, then context and history, then common misconceptions or areas of public confusion 3. Writes every section in plain, confident language — no jargon without explanation, no hedging, no filler — so the document can be read in ten minutes and retained ## Output Format A single document of 400–700 words, divided into clearly labelled sections with bold headers. Each section uses short paragraphs or bullet points, not dense prose. Tone is informative and neutral — this is a briefing, not an editorial. All facts and figures are presented with enough context to be meaningful to a non-specialist reader. ## Quality Criteria - [ ] A crew member with no prior knowledge of the topic could read this and hold an informed conversation about it - [ ] All key terms are defined in plain language the first time they appear - [ ] The fact sheet is scoped to the production's angle — it does not try to cover everything - [ ] No section is padded; every sentence adds information the reader needs - [ ] Common misconceptions are flagged clearly so the team does not repeat them on camera ## Example ### Input Topic: Deep-sea mining Production angle: A documentary exploring whether deep-sea mining should be permitted in international waters, focusing on the environmental and regulatory debate. Audience: TV documentary crew — director, DOP, production manager. None are scientists. The director has read one newspaper article about it. Key questions the production is trying to answer: What is actually being mined? Who controls international waters? What are the main environmental concerns? Who are the main players for and against? ### Output --- # FACT SHEET: Deep-Sea Mining *Prepared for production team — The [Working Title] Documentary* --- ## What It Is Deep-sea mining refers to the extraction of mineral deposits from the ocean floor, typically at depths of 1,400 to 6,000 metres. Three types of deposits are commercially targeted: **polymetallic nodules** (potato-sized lumps containing nickel, cobalt, copper, and manganese that lie on the seabed), **seafloor massive sulphides** (mineral-rich crusts formed around hydrothermal vents), and **cobalt-rich crusts** (thin layers on the slopes of underwater mountains). The minerals extracted are in high demand for batteries, electric vehicles, and electronics. --- ## Key Facts and Figures - The richest deposits are concentrated in three Pacific Ocean zones: the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (between Hawaii and Mexico), the Central Indian Ocean Basin, and the area around the mid-Atlantic ridge. - The Clarion-Clipperton Zone alone is estimated to contain more nickel, cobalt, and manganese than all known land-based reserves combined. - No commercial deep-sea mining operation has yet been approved or conducted in international waters, as of early 2026. - Over 30 exploration licences have been issued, held by companies from 19 countries. --- ## Who Is In Charge of International Waters The **International Seabed Authority (ISA)** is the UN body that regulates all mining-related activity in international waters (the area beyond any nation's 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone). The ISA issues exploration licences and is currently finalising a Mining Code — the set of rules that would govern commercial extraction. As of 2026, that code has not been adopted, meaning no commercial mining can legally proceed. Member states are divided: some (notably small Pacific island nations and several European countries) want a moratorium until the environmental impact is better understood; others (including some sponsoring nations for mining companies) want the code finalised so extraction can begin. --- ## The Environmental Concerns - Mining machines the size of a car would crawl across the seabed, vacuuming up nodules and releasing sediment plumes that can drift for hundreds of kilometres, smothering filter-feeding organisms. - Deep-sea ecosystems are extraordinarily slow to recover — some nodule fields are estimated to have formed over millions of years; a disturbed habitat may take centuries to recover even partially. - Hydrothermal vent communities host unique species found nowhere else on Earth; vents targeted for sulphide mining could be permanently destroyed. - Scientists argue that less than 0.001% of the deep ocean has been studied — we do not yet know what we would be destroying. --- ## The Industry Argument Proponents argue that deep-sea mining could supply the metals needed for the global transition away from fossil fuels, with less environmental disruption than land-based mining (which often involves deforestation, toxic tailings, and community displacement). The company most advanced in the field, The Metals Company (Canada/Nauru), argues that the nodule fields it targets have lower biodiversity than tropical rainforests cleared for land mining. --- ## Essential Terminology | Term | What It Means | |------|--------------| | Polymetallic nodules | Mineral-rich lumps on the seabed; the main mining target | | ISA | International Seabed Authority — the UN regulator | | The Area | UN term for the seabed beyond national jurisdiction | | Mining Code | The ISA's pending rulebook for commercial extraction | | Sediment plume | Cloud of disturbed seafloor material released by mining equipment | | Hydrothermal vent | Crack in the ocean floor releasing superheated water; host to unique ecosystems | | Sponsoring state | Country that backs a mining company's ISA licence application | --- ## Common Misconceptions to Avoid on Camera - **"It's just like fishing, but on the seabed."** It is not. The machinery is industrial-scale and the ecosystems are irreplaceable on any human timescale. - **"It's already happening."** No commercial mining has been approved. What exists are exploration licences and test operations. - **"It's an either/or with land mining."** Most environmental groups argue both are harmful and that demand reduction and recycling are the real alternatives. --- ## Known Limitations - The assistant generates fact sheets from its training data, which has a knowledge cutoff. For a fast-moving regulatory or scientific topic, have a specialist check figures and update any recent developments before the shoot - The fact sheet covers the scope you define — if the production angle shifts, request a revised version rather than patching the existing one - For topics involving contested science (climate projections, medical research, economic modelling), the assistant will present the mainstream consensus; if your production requires a specific dissenting position to be represented fairly, specify this in your input - Contributor-specific facts (quotes, publication titles, institutional affiliations) should always be verified directly with the contributor before use on camera ## Related Skills - [research-brief-creator](../../magazine-journalism/ideation/research-brief-creator/SKILL.md) - [interview-question-generator](../../tv-documentary/scripting/interview-question-generator/SKILL.md) - [document-analysis-brief](../../magazine-journalism/investigation/document-analysis-summary/SKILL.md)