Business of Television Quiz 6

Development

the process of process of originating and improving scripted material to serve as a blueprint for a TV pilot, series, or feature film.

Phase 1 of development

formulate concept or premise, develop the idea/characters/how the series will operate. Try to have answers ready for any questions, prepare the “pitch”, set up the pitches at production companies, studios, networks, or streaming services

Phase 2 development

Deliver pilot outline (after notes), approval of the outline by the buyer, write the script and get notes again, submit final script

Phase 3 development

Evaluation by entire team of development executives, if approved goes to upper management, decision to continue or stop series, if upper management does not go forward the possibility of getting the script back and moving the project to another 

Developing with or for talent

has a holding deal with the platform/indie studio, attaching them before going out to pitch with or without a script

How much are studios spending on pilots?

less than before

Developing with streaming platform

bigger ideas, more expressive ideas, characters will attract A level talent, written bibles to articulate the arc of the story and characters across all seasons, more reliant on IP, focus is on serialized shows

Serialized shows

takes knowledge of previous episodes to understand the next

Procedural shows

do not need prior knowledge to understand episodes

Single cam examples

the office

Multi cam example

big bang theory

Single lead/talent driven example

Seinfeld

Anthology

every single week the characters and stories are different (Twilight Zone)

Franchise

Medical, Law, Detective; what is the show that drives the story

Mythology

based on legends and worlds

A, B, and C story

the different stories within and episode to fit all the actors in

Voice or point of view

refers to the writer

Legs

means the show will run for a long time

Regulars

actors in a TV series that get paid for every episode even if they are not written in the episode; needs permission to work at other studios

Recurring

shows up in episodes, but not every episode. Gets paid 7 out of 13 episodes even if they are not in all of them; needs permission to work with other studios

What was a big challenge in their career starting out and how did they overcome it?

Realizing while they had a good job it was not their passion; working during hard times, but it will pay off (2008 writers strike)

How do you communicate feedback or take notes as a writer?

give a compliment sandwich, explain the network/studio’s audience, do not make it personal, understand that at some point you should be stepping back (if you are not that means something is wrong)

This is Us and Orange is the New Black

Early on Netflix was creative friendly, execs worried the multiple timelines would be hard to follow, these types of shows led to execs feeling every show needs to have something original and special

Difference between development on streaming vs broadcast

people can pitch to either, episodic and procedural tend to go to broadcast while streaming takes serialized, show falls to where its needed

Tips for pitching as a writer

be willing to revise your idea a thousand times, writers/producers always having to pitch to continue the show, be open to the idea that the thing you are pitching is bad and you need to move on