If you want to sell your TV drama pitch here’s some questions you might as well know the answer to cause the buyer will wanna know you know—and if you don’t tell them, I promise you’ll almost definitely be asked.
Who is it about and why do we care about them? (Read that second part again)
Where and when is it set? Is that immediately cinematic to the imagination and does it have to be there and then? (Make a good case)
What happens? And why is that compelling?
Who does your hero care about? Or, (this is important and often left out): who are their primary relationships? What’s the inherent tension there that makes us root for them? But why can’t they have what they want?
Why is this story relevant or exciting to tell now? Is there a point of view from you as the creator?
What is the tone and genre? Film titles that are loved and evoke the spirit of what you’re hoping to create and a mash up of genres is often more sale-able than not.
Is there a twist or surprise to it? What is the world of the story? Is it different than where it began? Is there an element of wish fulfillment or cautionary tale that is compelling in the twist or journey?
Can you immediately picture a star as the lead/s? Can they?
How will you tell the story structurally? (This is POV again- you can never have too much POV IMHO). This POV is about episodes, characters and arc structures.
Last but probably first- why is it your ‘destiny’ (I’m kind of serious) as a writer to tell this story, this way, right now?
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Since the boat is unstuck here’s some ways to become unstuck while writing. For me, most of it is planning • ask yourself a question you haven’t answered about the scene or storyline then answer it (helps w overwhelm) • solve the scene structure (beg,mid,end & pivots to each)
•Ask how can this reveal character psychology or objective, stakes or progress story/plot? • Ask: what would REALLY happen? (Not what’s convenient for me to get to my next plot point) • Cut it and see if it has any consequences • Reduce the characters in the scene to vitals
• Read and research stuff you’re interested in, related or unrelated. • Take a walk, drive, wash dishes, nap• Set shorter goals • Find music that evokes images or feelings • Quickly toss out ideas without judging them or yourself • Change the POV of a scene to someone else
A few weeks ago @edithdrod asked me how she might rewrite her scripts so the protagonist is more active as early as possible. A note she was getting. I think an answer to this is present a choice they need to make, show their choice and how it reveals their character
I learned this thing about choices and revealing character from an episode of @writealongpod where Cargill breaks it down so simply it’s endlessly useful.
For example a recent one I wrote was a protagonist getting good news and showing they could not hold on to it before vetting it was okay to share that news. It allowed me to play some backstory (good news) and reveal their character flaw is being compulsive and over confident.
Basically there's two ways to be a star on a TV staff. Write outlines and scripts the showrunner barely has to rewrite. Pitch storylines, scenes, images, emotional payoffs, solve story issues etc, that keep landing in the show.
When I was first working, I was quickly very good at the second. I would regularly pitch stories that landed in episodes, scenes, emotional moments, funny lines, etc. I was much stronger in the room than on the page. Somehow I could improv the show outloud better than I wrote.
One day, we were told we were behind and had to turn in an outline by the end of the day we hadn't started. That put the fire in me and I learned to write on cue. I got better and better at outlines over a few shows.
One of my BFF lost her Valentine to a sudden tragedy a few weeks ago after letting herself believe in ❤️ again. I know many people are struggling now. If you’re someone who has something to spare, it would mean a lot to fund the Penn scholarship friends/fam hope to create.
Greg helped Philly public high school students launch their business ideas and provided early exposure to financial literacy. Additionally, he was one of the producers & hosts of the first-ever Bridges To Wealth podcast & blog series.
Here's how I do a TV series pitch document (format):
TITLE
THE SERIES (what the show is, tone, why it's cool/relevant)
LEADS (character descrips w actor reading it in mind)
CREATOR'S NOTE (why I can write it)
PILOT SUMMARY
PILOT OUTLINE
SUMMARIES OF NEXT EPS (stories, arcs)
Sometimes to sell a pilot, I've just done a pre-format pitch -- basically everything but the last 3 things. Then added those 3 items for the format. This was short, like 2-5 pp, other times, longer. The format, more like 20pp or more.
PS: For future episodes, I find it useful for execs if you summarize the summary first. Like a good description you might see when you select a streaming episode (the basic storylines) then go into the details. For the series, it helps to bring up structure.