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Film vs TV Drama Screenplay Differences

As the title says, is there a big difference in writing a Screenplay for a Feature Film, and writing a Screenplay for a TV Series (say a 3 parter)....Is the approach different, and structure etc???
 
As the title says, is there a big difference in writing a Screenplay for a Feature Film, and writing a Screenplay for a TV Series (say a 3 parter)....Is the approach different, and structure etc???


I am no expert, but in a three part series you have the equivalent of 3 acts to play with, devoting more time to each one than in a typical feature. You would need to make sure each episode has its own internal structure too (a beginning, middle and end that satisfies a viewer in isolation and not just as part of the ongoing narrative).

In many ways, a 2x60min or 3x45min drama could easily be a feature anyway (and I think there have been some such shows that transferred to feature format just by removing the end credits between the episodes, and vice versa - can't recall them just now though).
 
Regarding structure; yes, there are differences. The approach isn't
any different.

And the structure of a three parter TV show is different than the
structure of a 22 episode season which is different than (say) three
12 episode seasons. And that structure will be different from an
episodic series.
 
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