![]() There’s only one reason to take a risk on a new writer: because they can give you something that nobody else can give you. ![]() If a producer wants a safe script that plays by the rules, there are hundreds of professional writers, with proven track records, and much better credits, much better connections, and (most likely) much better craft than yours, from whom they can get one. ![]() It’s just going to blend right in with all the noise. But it’s not going to make any impression at all on someone who’s reading hundreds of pilots. These are the pilots that play by the rules, beginning with an original idea, and then developing it in the least original way possible, rehashing some predictable formula from a screenwriting book or from an existing series, revealing nothing new about what makes this writer, or this pilot, special.Ī script like that may impress your friends, or someone who doesn’t have a lot of experience in the industry. It includes the many, many scripts that seem to be doing everything right, but actually, have even less chance of succeeding than the ones that are riddled with technical flaws. The second category is much more dangerous. Not just a source of great ideas, but someone who has the craft and the dedication to execute that those ideas in a way that can sustain many seasons. You’re going to ask someone to invest a ton of money and many years of their lives into your project, so if you want them to even pay attention, you have to show them that you’re a writer worth investing in. Keep working on your pilot until you know that it’s at a professional level. Or take a good TV Writing class (and do your research on your teacher - because if they don’t have real TV writers room experience, there’s a good chance they don’t know any more than you do).ĭon’t just depend on the brilliance of your idea. Seek out a mentor who has succeeded in this industry. Read pilots that have sold recently and break down how they are constructed. Study the shows that are currently on television. ![]() If you fear your pilot is falling into that category, then you’ve got to spend some time educating yourself. The idea might be great, but the formatting is wrong, the structure isn’t working, the engine isn’t clear, the characters aren’t castable, etc. ![]() These are pilots, often by newer writers, that simply haven’t been developed to a professional level - that aren’t doing what a pilot needs to do. And most of these pilots are going to fall into one of two categories. It has to capture your unique voice as a writer.Ĭontest judges, coverage readers, agents, managers, producers and actors are inundated with thousands of pilots. With all the emphasis on the things your pilot is supposed to do it’s easy to lose track of the one thing that it truly has to do in order to give you any chance to succeed. Your pilot needs to not only demand the attention of your audience, pull them viscerally into your story, and take them on a journey that creates an emotional response, but also function as a blueprint that allows anyone who reads it to immediately see the engine, the unique structural formula, that’s going to allow this show to run for many many years. You not only have to tell a great story in very few pages, but also do so in a way that plays within a very specific genre, and very different needs that vary from network to network. ![]()
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