HELP! I have completed a TV Pilot, which includes four episodes and I am about to send it out to get it copyrighted. I want to pitch it to some networks but I do not know exactly what to say. I do not want to sell my script or to give up any creative control. My daughter is an aspiring actress and I have created one of the main characters for her to play. I do not know any colleagues in the industry to show it to for feedback…any advice?
Help Pitching to Networks
- Thread starter STravis
- Start date
Uh, what? Good luck with that.
Without a track record, plus, no industry "colleagues," you aren't going to get anywhere with that approach.
You want to cast your daughter? Produce it and shoot it yourself.
Everyone asks me why all of my workflows are so complex, and advanced. I set up a FCP7 titling workflow and editing system for the Washoe County School District. Really great. A month later, "You're being let go, you're too expensive." Then about a week later they rehired me because no one could figure it out. When I checked out the local CBS affiliate, the engineers do a similar thing, the cabling is a mess, to people other than them. The network might purchase the series from you, so make it clear that you want to be an active part of it. Now about your daughter playing a part, I don't know. You can't really complain if they say no. It's like getting angry at a cop, they have infinite power. I've seen guys drop from the top of the world to working at Starbucks, because they pissed someone off. Now with my experience with NBC Universal, they suck as an employer. I hate it. They burned me out in six months and then moved and replaced me. So take into account what networks like to do to gain power. Think of it as a poker game. It's about money.
Pretty much. I'd consider the daughter thing to be a fantastic potential luxury at best. Should you get into a position to actually sell this thing, I'm not I would even dare to put that on the table, but that's just me. I might be a coward, for all I know.
Good luck, at any rate.
If you have cash you can just buy your way onto tv. Look up the story of "Everybody Loves Raymond". You see, it turns out that really it's only Raymond that loves Raymond. No one wanted to air the show, but a lot of money from Ramono fixed that. By the time Ramono and his friends ran out of money, TV audiences felt "comfortable" with the show, and it became a profitable "if it's not broke don't fix it" fixture to the extent of going into syndication.
Forget about keeping any control and forget about your daughter in this;you go to any of the networks with those demands and the meeting will be over quicker than Linsday Lohans sobriety. Best thing to do is just get it copywrited like you plan on then sending it to agents who work in the TV field. If you think you're better than all that don't bother with Hollywood at all, your ego is too big for someone who's done nothing.
hunteq: haven't forgotten.
You have set yourself a very difficult task in what is a very
difficult industry - TV.
So you want to be the Show Runner with no experience and
you want total control over content, scripts and actors. AND
you want to hire an actor with no previous TV experience. How
"aspiring" is your daughter? Lot's of theater and low budget
films to her credit? Or just getting started?
I suggest you learn a little about the industry. Not the rare
exceptions (and there are a few) but the way the TV business
works. I'd be glad to guide you. However, if you are the rare
exception, this is exactly what you say to the networks: "I have
written the pilot and four episodes of a TV series called"_____"
about "_______". I want to be the Show Runner and I want
full creative control including casting. I will not consider any offers
to buy the series."
Two threads were started on this topic at the same time. Here's what I responded in the other one:
Nate North, I'm curious about this story on "Everybody Loves Raymond". What did you hear and where did you hear it?
gelder
Nate North, I'm curious about this story on "Everybody Loves Raymond". What did you hear and where did you hear it?
gelder
I will love for you to guide me. I was an aspiring actress when I was my daughters age and was pursuing becoming an actress when I met my husband. However, when my husband and I married and had kids, I had given up my dreams of becoming an actress and screenwriter to be a homemaker and I worked from home to raise my kids. Now that my kids are 18 and 19, I am able to pursue my dreams. I started to write again about 6 years ago and I pray that I can find people out their who are willing to help coach, mentor and guide me.
Thank you so much for your response!
Stallone wrote a script for a film. That's very different than a TV series.
And he did have several credits as an actor. Not exactly "no experience".
Perry had an amazing track record as a playwright and a huge audience.
When he got his TV series he was a huge success in movies. Again, not
exactly someone with no experience.
Sometimes a comparison like this isn't accurate.
Nate - I have never heard that story about Romano. His partner (Philip
Rosenthal) was a producer/writer on "Coach" before "Everybody Loves
Raymond" and the pilot was financed by Worldwide Pants. Did Worldwide
drop out at some point leaving Rosenthal and Romano to put up their
own money?
And he did have several credits as an actor. Not exactly "no experience".
Perry had an amazing track record as a playwright and a huge audience.
When he got his TV series he was a huge success in movies. Again, not
exactly someone with no experience.
Sometimes a comparison like this isn't accurate.
Nate - I have never heard that story about Romano. His partner (Philip
Rosenthal) was a producer/writer on "Coach" before "Everybody Loves
Raymond" and the pilot was financed by Worldwide Pants. Did Worldwide
drop out at some point leaving Rosenthal and Romano to put up their
own money?
Hello gelder, thank you so much for your response.
There have been many people who have said the same thing as you have that I should be prepared to sell my script, or give up creative control. However, Sylvester Stallone and Tyler Perry did not have any experience in the industry and both did not give up creative control of their scripts and they both played the main character in their movies. As naïve as I may sound, I am having faith that I will not have to sell my scripts. I have also written two screenplays and a stage play but I do not know what to do next. I was going to do like Tyler Perry did, and go on tour with the stage play but that takes a lot of funding. I want to focus on the TV Pilot right now.
I have written about four episodes that are ready to be copyrighted and I have about three other episodes that have to be rewritten, so that is a total of 7 episodes. Do you recommend that I have 13 episodes completed before I get the four episodes copyrighted? I was sending the script to the Library of Congress to be copyrighted. Should I register my script with the Writers Guild of America as well?
I was thinking about contacting an entertainment attorney. Should I wait until my scripts are copyrighted before
I contact the entertainment attorney?
Again, thank you so much and for all your advice.
Good luck to you as well!
Stacey
Glad to help.
Lesson One: do not use the very rare exceptions as examples of
what you can accomplish. But if you do want to play the
“exception” game you need to understand what those people did and
how they did it. Yes, there are exceptions and you may be that
very rare exception.
Stallone was not trying to have full creative control over a TV
series and hire is aspiring actress daughter as a main character.
He was an actor with a few minor credits who wrote a part for
himself. He did not have any creative control over “Rocky”. And
the total budget was under a million.
By the time Perry got a TV series with full creative control he
was a very successful writer and director and actor with a hit
movie (he did not direct) under his belt. His company financed the
first 10 episodes along with Turner Broadcasting. When it did well
in limited distribution TBS and Debmar-Mercury put up the money
and it went to series and national distribution.
Not what you are hoping to do. You want to jump right in an have
full creative control of a multimillion dollar project with no
previous track record. There is no previous precedent for that and
is going to be extremely difficult.
So what can you do? You need to look at this long term. You are
going to need to write a lot of TV scripts that you are willing to
sell and build a reputation as a good writer. You are going to
have to play the TV writers game.
Think you’re up to it?
I was going to say something similar in response. These guys weren't completely outside the industry. Not saying that you are, but they weren't coming at it with just finished script.
And a movie and a TV series are worlds apart. I register my scripts with the writers guild, but if you're getting a copyright, that would cover you from a rights standpoint, I believe. I'd wait for the copyright, then contact an entertainment attorney, one who has a track record of helping get shows to networks.
Stacey, you will probably give up some creative control at some point. Like I said, it could be as simple as notes, but if it comes down to it, someone will want to provide you with some creative input, and at some point, whether or not your show gets on the air may depend on how well you can take notes and whether or not you seem receptive to input. Save your battles for the things that really matter.
You don't have to have all 13 episodes written, but you will need to know the plot ideas, the stories for the entire first season. You should also be able to talk about the character arcs taking place, and where the series would go, overall. Producers want to know that you have a plan for more than the pilot episode, so that, if you're successful with your first season, your second season doesn't break down like, say, Heroes.
I believe there are markets for stage plays - Samuel French, being among them. You may want to submit a copy for review to see what kind of response your writing gets, before setting up a Tyler Perry-esque scenario for yourself.
And, as a note: all of the advice you are being given is with the unspoken caveat of "you may not have actually written a good or original script". I hope you have.
Best of luck.
gelder
This caveat is so essential, we should all simply have it as our signature.
Good luck, Travis. Not an easy thing to create a TV show as an outsider.