TV Development Guide, Page 3

  ternally, which means the network executives generate or come up

  with ideas themselves. Then they pitch the idea (could even be

  just a title) to a writer(s), who comes back with a more detailed

  pitch on the idea. The network then decides which take they like

  the best. This is definitely not how shows are developed for other

  networks, but it is very similar to the way that feature (movie)

  film development works. However, it is still possible and definite-

  ly does occur where producers and/or writers bring in pitches

  and/or completed ‘spec’ scripts for consideration.

  A ‘spec’ script is a pilot script that a writer writes before being

  commissioned, or paid, to write it. Writers write specs in order to

  display their writing skills and their “voice.” It is a sample of

  their writing. ( More on this in Act 2)

  REALITY PROGRAMMING

  When I started working in TV, there were not many reality shows.

  However, in the last twenty years there has been a sea change in

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  the industry. Reality shows are quite prevalent and there are

  probably more of them than any other format in today’s TV mar-

  ketplace. ( More on “Formats” in Act 2)

  They can be game shows ( American Idol, The Voice), docudramas

  (Keeping up with the Kardashians, Housewives of…) and everything

  in between ( Survivor, The Bachelor, etc.). There are even several

  networks that produce only reality shows (HGTV, TLC, The Food

  Network, TruTV).

  Probably the best time in history to sell a reality show is right

  now!

  WHAT IS A REALITY TV SHOW?

  A reality TV show is supposed to be a television show without a

  script, but most of them are actually semi-scripted and manipulat-

  ed. This changes the authenticity of the show because the produc-

  ers are providing made-up scenarios for the cast to engage in.

  This is different than scripted shows where the actors are acting

  and reciting lines from a script.

  On reality shows, the participants are not acting, they are being

  themselves. The viewer watches and follows “real” people who

  purportedly speak their truths. For this reason, I believe the most

  important consideration in making a reality show is the casting.

  Finding the right people is critical. They must be inherently inter-

  esting and watchable.

  The irony is that sometimes, especially if the acting is really good,

  a scripted show can seem more real, or authentic, than a reality

  show. This is due in part to the practice of manipulation on semi-

  scripted reality shows. In the history of television, the lines be-

  tween reality and scripted are more blurred than ever before.

  In the early 1990s, reality shows were becoming more popular be-

  cause it was considered less expensive programming for prime-

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  time. While at BRUCKHEIMER TV, I had the privilege of working

  on ABC’s Profiles from the Front Lines and CBS’s The Amazing Race.

  I experienced first-hand the development and production of these

  very ambitious and unique reality shows.

  The Amazing Race was a very fun experience for me starting with

  the casting, where we met with many couples who were trying

  out for the show. They had to go through meetings, tests and even

  medical evaluations before being chosen. It was an important

  process because we had to make sure they were physically and

  mentally fit to race.

  It was truly a wild ride working as an executive on Race. I was in

  and out of each city literally within three days. I followed contes-

  tants as they ran the race with the camera and sound crews run-

  ning with them. Much of the time the crews were running back-

  wards! There was very little eating, sleeping and showering. No

  time for anything but the racing. Throughout the experience, I got

  to see what people are truly made of, which really came to life in

  the post-production of the show.

  I worked on the first five seasons and it won an Emmy every year

  for “Outstanding Reality Competition Program.” If I could have

  chosen only one reality show to be on, it would have been Race…

  but working on it was the next best thing!

  HOW TO DEVELOP A REALITY SHOW

  If you are interested in developing a reality TV show, one of the

  first things you must figure out is what will be happening in each

  episode? How will every season unfold? If you put your

  thoughts and ideas down on paper, in detail in a ‘treatment’ form,

  you can protect it by registering it with the WGA. (S ee Act 2 for

  details on protecting your work)

  The next step would be to research which production companies

  are already producing similar shows. Then, call or email them.

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  They are always looking for new ideas, so it can’t hurt to start

  with a phone call or email. Another way to present your idea is to

  shoot a sizzle/proof of concept reel. For a reality show, the sizzle

  reel is a shorter version, or part of an actual episode and can/

  should include potential casting ideas. ( See "Sizzle Reels” in Act 2)

  THE “BUSINESS” OF THE TV BUSINESS

  As you can imagine, the business side of television is all about the

  dollars and cents, which of course is extremely important. It is

  always about the bottom line, profits and what makes sense finan-

  cially. However, I will not spend a lot of time covering this topic

  because, it is not my area of expertise. There are many books ded-

  icated to the business side of television as well as people more

  qualified to discuss this, like the entertainment attorneys. But I

  will give you a basic understanding, which I believe is crucial for

  working in TV.

  In the previous section entitled, “The Players: Network Execu-

  tives,” I explained how a network makes money from advertisers

  by charging them for commercials. This is one way networks

  make money. The way studios, either attached to a network

  (sometimes called, ‘sister studio’) or independent, make money is

  by owning and then selling produced and aired shows in syndica-

  tion (re-runs) and internationally.

  Studios can also become partners with another studio. As part-

  ners they deficit finance the show together. By doing so, they split

  in the rights to sell it domestically and internationally, then share

  in the profits. One reason independent studios will partner with

  network-owned (sister) studios is to have them (the network that

  bought the show) more invested, emotionally and financially, in

  the success of the series. That network will usually promote and

  stay with the show longer when their sister studio is attached to it.

  However, most studios would prefer to own the entire show and

  not partner on it because then they would make all of the profit.

  But, of course, that only happens when the show is successful. On

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  the other hand, having a partner would be a good thing if the

  show fails because there is us
ually a significant amount of a finan-

  cial loss. It’s the old adage, “Less risk-less reward, high risk-high

  reward.”

  In 2016:

  ABC owned or co-owned 9 out of 10 new series.

  CBS owned or co-owned all 10 of its new scripted series.

  FOX fully-owned 9 out of 10 new series.

  NBC owned or co-owned all but three new series, 9 out of 12.

  In 2017:

  ABC owned or co-owned pilot 7 out of 12 new series.

  CBS owned or co-owned 6 out of 8 new series.

  FOX fully-owned 11 of their new series.

  NBC fully-owned 11 of their new series.

  One of the reasons this model poses a problem is because in es-

  sence it shuts out independents. In 1970, the FCC dealt with this

  issue.

  WHAT IS THE FCC AND ITS IMPACT ON TV?

  The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an indepen-

  dent agency of the United States government created to regulate

  interstate communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and

  cable. In 1970, it wanted to prevent the “Big Three” networks,

  ABC, CBS, and NBC, from monopolizing all broadcasting so it

  ruled that networks could not own any of the programming

  (shows) that aired in prime time (from 8:00-10:00 p.m.). This was

  a VERY BIG DEAL. It completely altered the relationship between

  the networks and television producers, and created a huge oppor-

  tunity for independent TV companies. Many shows, like The Mary

  Tyler Moore Show and All in the Family, were made possible because

  of this rule.

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  In the 1980s, these rules were relaxed because networks could not

  maximize their profits. In the 1990s, the rules were repealed. All

  this led us to where we are today with the networks owning most

  of what they air. This effectively shuts out independents, but with

  the rise of the streaming networks, the doors have opened yet

  again for new, independently produced shows.

  Nowadays, anyone with a camera and a computer can put a show

  on the air (e.g., YouTube). However, the downside is that no one

  is getting the mass audiences they got when there were only three

  channels… and probably never will again.

  WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DEVELOPING A

  TV SERIES VS. A MOVIE?

  It is important to understand that not every idea can be both. In

  fact, most ideas lend themselves to be either a TV show or a

  movie, usually not both. There are plenty of examples where TV

  shows became movies and vice versa, but in general here’s what

  to look for in TV shows vs. movies:

  TV SHOWS

  TV shows are about relationships. They are intimate and have

  stories viewers can relate to. Whether watching them alone or

  with others, and often at home, these are stories that connect to

  contemporary experiences and issues that matter. Viewers be-

  come invested in the characters and want to watch them either

  week after week or 'binge watch.’ Stories can have either a longer

  arc (‘serialized’), which is told over time/season(s), or they can be

  franchised, which are episodic and told in one hour or less.

  MOVIES

  In general, movies are about a specific incident(s) or event that

  shaped/changed a person’s life significantly. There is a very dis-

  tinct beginning, middle and end that can be told in about two

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  hours. The audience must feel some satisfaction at the end of the

  movie.

  HYBRID

  An example of a hybrid TV series and feature film is a ‘miniseries.’

  Miniseries have the same elements of a movie, but because they

  have more story or content that fits into a two-hour format, they

  fall into the miniseries category. (More on Formats in Act 2)

  *****

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  Questions To Consider

  • Are you more of an “ideas” person or a writer?

  • If you aspire to be a writer, how much have you written?

  • What do you watch? What kinds of shows are they?

  • What are your feelings about the shows that are on TV today?

  • What kinds of TV shows/genres/do you feel are missing on

  the today’s TV landscape today?

  • If you were a network president, which network would you

  want to run and why? What would your mandate/‘brand’ be

  and why?

  *****

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  ACT TWO

  The Development Process

  THE IDEA

  If you want to develop a TV show, you have to start with a “great”

  idea or concept. “Great” being the operative word because what

  you or I think is a great may indeed be great, but there are other

  considerations that also have to be met.

  Good timing is imperative. Your idea has to be what a network

  executive is looking for at that moment in time. For an idea to de-

  velop into a show, a group of people (writers, producers, and net-

  work executives) at a specific moment in time have what they be-

  lieve is a great idea for a show. Together, and with you, they work

  on it, develop it, and then work on it some more. In the end, they

  do everything they possibly can for it to become a TV series.

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  Here’s what some of the top TV executives have to say about

  ideas/concepts for TV shows:

  “There's no room for mediocrity” says,

  PATRICK MORAN, head of ABC. “It's the end

  of ‘Who gives a shit?’ television. It all has to be

  great.” ( Vulture, “The Business of Too Much TV,”

  2016, by Josef Adalian and Maria Elena Fernandez)

  Veteran showrunner CARLTON CUSE ( Lost,

  Bates Motel) said, “…so many networks and

  producers scramble again and again to make

  television that’s great, finding standout ideas

  and then turning them into actual shows has

  perhaps never been more difficult.” ( Vulture,

  “The Business of Too Much TV,” 2016, by Josef Adalian

  and Maria Elena Fernandez)

  Writer/Producer TREY CALLAWAY ( Revolu-

  tion) said, “One not entirely healthy change the

  TV business is borrowing from the feature

  business is that their source materials have be-

  come extremely important, in some cases too

  important. It’s not enough to have a great orig-

  inal idea for a series. It’s often as important to

  have source materials behind it - a book, comic

  book, previous television series, 'based on a…'

  It gives networks and studios a comfort level,

  feeling like they’re plugging into an existing

  track record.” (“The Future of Television” by, Pamela

  Douglas p.56)

  WHERE DO IDEAS COME FROM?

  Ideas can and do come from anywhere, however…

  When I started out as a young development executive, it was said

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  that coming up with a new idea was nearly impossible. At that

  time, 50 years of television shows had already been produced, so

  how could anyone possibly come up with a new idea? I have

  learned that there are several way
s to come up with new ideas.

  Here are some, as follows:

  1. ORIGINAL IDEAS

  There will always will be original ideas. Meaning someone creat-

  ed the concept on their own and there is nothing else like it. It is

  totally unique. An idea can come from you, your friend, a family

  member, or anyone. It can be something that happened, or is

  happening, to you, or someone you know, or not, and it can be

  based in a totally fictitious place. It’s an idea that is different than

  anything that has been produced or published. Some examples of

  this are Orphan Black, Black Mirror, Six Feet Under, and X-Files.

  • A NEW VERSION OF AN OLD IDEA

  Another way, which is not very novel, happens to work particu-

  larly well. It is how a lot of new shows get created today, and that

  is to come up with a new version of an old idea. This new version

  would be a reimagining of an old idea, meaning that none of the

  characters, title, or anything is used from the old idea. It’s still

  considered original but a big advantage in developing this type of

  show is that you don’t need to buy the rights to the old idea be-

  cause it is a totally different new version. This should not be con-

  fused with a ‘reboot,’ which is an updated version of an old TV

  show. In this instance, you would need to buy the rights in order

  to develop it. ( See #2 below)

  When I was working at Spelling Entertainment, AARON SPELL-

  ING told us about a show he produced in the 1969, called, The

  New People. It ran on ABC for one season (17 episodes). He had

  the beta-tapes (pre-video cassette tapes) in storage, which I

  watched. The show was about a group of survivors of a plane

  crash on a mysterious island. Sound familiar? It should because

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  there have been several TV shows made that are similar to this

  idea. We had a show on UPN that we developed based on this

  idea called, Mysterious Island. Then years later, Lost was produced

  on ABC. Now if you take out the element of the plane crash and

  replace it with a boat, you have Gilligan’s Island! Similarly, CSI is

  just another way to do an old show called, Quincy. How I met your

  Mother is another way to do Friends. Goonies becomes Stranger

  Things and the list goes on and on.

  2. ‘INTELLECTUAL PROPERTIES’ (IPs)

  Ideas can come from intellectual properties. These are ideas based

  on articles, books, comic books, graphic novels, someone’s life