Chapter 3: The Big Idea: Script and Project Development

TV

________ is an industry driven by advertising or subscription revenue, and must have significant profits to survive.

talent agency

An established ________ acts as the middleman between buyers and sellers.

private investor

A(n) ________ sees the potential of your idea, gives you partial or complete funding, and expects a cut of any profits.

development department

Call an agent, an entertainment lawyer, or an executive in the ________ of a network, a studio, or a production company for which the idea is best suited.

production company

A(n) ________ or a network has put up development money for a writer (s) to develop and flesh out your idea.

Managers

________ are skilled in networking.

independent production companies

The network or cable channel may rely on ________.

Courier New

Scripts are usually typed in ________ or Times New Roman, with a 12- point font.

good spec script

A(n) ________ can be a major factor in a hiring decision.

narrative form

Traditionally is written in a(n) ________ rather than in a script form.

legal estate

If a book, short story, article, or other material is the basis for your story, get the rights from the author or his or her ________.

In most genres of TV programming, the characters and their storylines continue

both are ongoing and familiar to the viewer

Generally a one

to a three-minute broadcast of a TV episode made for mobile phones and portable media players

Each page is double

and triple-checked for spelling, punctuation, and grammar

Your lawyer, agent, or an inside connection -if its positively received

sends it to development executives or other producers who may be looking for writers with talent and innovative ideas

Read Variety or Hollywood Reporter or go to several online resources to see what shows are in production

they list the names and addresses of the production companies involved

Traditionally, network and cable executives followed a programming routine

ideas usually were pitched in the fall, then rewritten, scrutinized, and recast, and the pilots finally shot in time to be presented with grand hoopla to the networks affiliates meetings during the May "up-front" presentations

New formats for content

- VOD
- DVD
- Internet
- Mobile phones
- Video games

Nonbroadcast areas

- Corporate image and training videos
- DVD sales presentations
- Domestic and global video conferencing
- Teaching tools in education, medicine, and science
- Do-it-yourself videos
- Satellite media tours

Producers in television

- Stay in touch with what is currently airing on TV, and what might be aired in the future
- Watch television
- Read the regular publications and industry trade magazines that deal with the TV business

Producers who work in new media are aware of constantly evolving directions by...

- Reading online sites and blogs
- Attending conferences
- Subscribing to magazines and weekly trade papers
- Joining online communities that share information

Ideas for Programming are everywhere...

- Friends, family, colleagues, or fellow students:
- Total strangers
- Newspapers and magazines
- The Internet
- Libraries
- Book expositions and fairs
- History
- Biographies
- Your creative well
- Listen to your “running tapes”

The producers are...

- Taking chances
- Redefining the aesthetic language of new media
- Exploring the financial pros and cons

The Writer/Producer

- They are known as a hyphenate—a creative person with two (or more) specific skills who, as a result, can do twice as much work
- The title and the job can change with each show and its circumstances
- They capitalize on popular formats and topics that can satisfy viewers’ demands
- The producer also needs a script to create a budget, breaking it down into specific departments or accounts

A protagonist

- The traditional hero
- Is somehow unique yet familiar, vulnerable yet courageous, someone about whom the viewer can care

An antagonist

- A bad-guy role, the villain
- Someone who creates conflict and tension
- They challenge the good guy or the overall plot in some major way

In commercial television, the scriptwriter must also factor in commercial breaks...

- Regular commercials
- Promos
- Other material supplied by the national and/ or local station affiliate

Length

- The script is generally about 50 to 55 pages long
- The traditional guideline is that one script page equals one minute of action, although this can vary with the genre

Basic budget categories

- Screenplay and/or story rights
- Talent
- Crew and equipment
- Director
- Producer(s)
- Legal rights and contracts
- Locations and sets
- Wardrobe and makeup
- Special effects
- Postproduction
- Music
- Miscellaneous items like overhead, contingencies, insurance, finance charges, etc.
- Advertising and marketing costs

A plotline has two distinct movements...

- By Complication
- The Denouement

Acts: Beginning

- There is an event or action that sets the plot in motion
- It’s initiated by the hero/protagonist or the villain/antagonist, and it happens early
- There may be a back story — what Aristotle calls the prologue — involving what happened before the story begins and connecting that to the action in the beginning
- This backstory might set a tone, introduce characters, and reveal a location

Acts: Middle

- The event or action in the beginning results in the direct cause-and-effect of that early thing
- In the middle, the hero—or sometimes the villain—must make moral choices; relationships and characters develop; we see increased conflict
- The middle motivates the plot to come to a specific change in the hero’s fortunes or misfortune
- This becomes the turning point that leads to the end

Acts: End

- The pace picks up, vital questions are answered, conflicts get resolved, and the story comes to a climactic and usually viewer-satisfying end

Camera angles

- Few writers add written descriptions for camera angles or directions, except when it accomplishes a specific story-related action
- This use of camera angle description usually lies within the realm of the director, worked out just prior to the actual shoot

Spec script

A script, written on speculation, one with no guarantees of being seen or bought

Outlines

- They’re shorter than full scripts and can provide a clear map for the writer to follow
- It can also help to highlight story problems early on
- It’s usually a one to three page
- Some writers use 3"×5" index cards, pinning them on a cork board, to help them organize their scenes, then translate that to an outline on paper

A treatment

- Traditionally is written in a narrative form rather than in a script form
- It might run from three to 10 pages, sometimes longer
- In most cases, development executives read the treatment only for the nuances of the primary story idea. If they are interested in what they read, they’ll ask for a full script

A script

- Should be easy to read
- Should follow a very specific script format
- Is written with language that is sparse but interesting
- These formats have been agreed upon as industry standards

The script development stage refers to the early phases of a project in which you and/or a writer can polish your rough idea into...

- Treatment
- Proposal
- Script format