TV Development Guide, Page 9

  • The Blair Witch Project - Their online marketing campaign

  marks the first use of web storytelling.

  •

  Avatar

  •

  Lost

  Much of Disney’s programming for the youth market incorporates

  a transmedia campaign.

  Many comic books have been adapted into video games, feature

  films, TV shows and animated shorts, e.g., Superman and Spider-

  man. This includes prequels, origin stories, sequels and spin-offs.

  Having this strategy prior to selling your show can prove to be

  helpful. Oftentimes, when you achieve success in one medium, it

  seeds success in others.

  WHAT IS A ‘COMPETITIVE DEVELOPMENT REPORT’?

  This is a list of projects the networks are actively buying for de-

  velopment. It’s a good idea to start putting together this list be-

  cause it will give you a sense of what each network is actually

  buying.

  You can do this by reading the entertainment trade publications,

  e.g., Hollywood Reporter, Variety, and Deadline. When a net-

  work buys a pitch, there is usually an article about the people in-

  volved and the premise.

  Each year, this is one of the jobs that a younger, lower-level execu-

  tive would be responsible for putting together.

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  ACT 3

  The Report consists of:

  •

  The buyers

  •

  Names of the projects they have in development

  •

  Auspices (the people and affiliations attached)

  •

  Logline or summary of the idea

  Agents, managers, executives and producers feel it is imperative

  to have this list because, when selling shows, knowing what the

  networks have bought will inform them for both active and future

  development.

  Side note: Each year, I find it interesting to try and guess which

  shows in the competitive development report will get picked up

  and have a pilot shot based solely on the logline and auspices.

  (This is only possible with broadcast networks as the cable net-

  works don’t usually just shoot pilots.) I read the scripts and

  watch the shot pilots. Then, I like to guess which pilots will be

  picked up to series.

  INDIE TV

  Truly independent television (Indie TV) is when you get indepen-

  dent financing for a pilot and/or a season of a show to produce

  and sell it to the broadcasters. While independent financing does

  occur in the movie industry, in TV this is not the norm.

  A good example in the feature (movie) business is Blumhouse

  Productions. The model is to have a really low-budget idea for a

  movie with no big stars attached. The goal is to make A LOT

  more money that it costs to produce. Great model! Sometimes a

  big star/talent will be a part of these low-budget movies, often-

  times taking a reduced acting rate while participating on the back-

  end. That means after the film is released, if it is successful, they

  get a piece of the profits.

  For TV it is different. Indie TV is far more expensive to produce

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  than Indie movies. Currently, low-budget shows have not yet per-

  formed well or competed with the very expensive shows on TV.

  Typical budgets for shows are upwards of $4,000,000 an episode!

  Also, the networks rarely buy fully-produced seasons of TV

  shows. In my career, I only know of a handful of successful shows

  that were independently produced and sold. A couple of exam-

  ples are, Always Sunny in Philadelphia on Comedy Central and

  High Maintenance on HBO. One reason this is rare could be be-

  cause the networks like to put their “stamp" on the show, meaning

  they like to have a say about the development of the show. By

  giving them a completed series, it takes them out of the creative

  process.

  As previously stated, one way to make an Indie TV show on a

  very low budget that’s available to everyone, is to air it on You-

  Tube. This is where viewers can watch episodes of shows that

  were produced with money from investors and/or advertisers of

  that channel. These shows have yet to become mainstream and

  don’t have the success model of the movie business, but that

  doesn’t mean it won’t happen. It just hasn’t happened yet.

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  ACT 3

  Assignments

  Put together a Competitive Development Report by tracking

  projects in the trade publications. Then, take a guess as to which

  projects from the Report will become a pilot and/or series. (Of

  course, only for the ones that don’t have series commitments.)

  In six months or so, you can find out if you were correct. It’s a

  good way to see if your instincts are right about which ideas will

  make a good series or not.

  Another version of this assignment depends on whether or not

  you can get your hands on the scripts. If you are working as an

  assistant for someone in an agency, network or studio, or you

  know someone who is, perhaps you can get a copy of the scripts.

  Then you can read them and make an educated guess as to which

  ones will become great shows.

  Yet another version of this assignment is being able to see the pro-

  duced pilots before they air and then making your choices. If you

  are working as an assistant in the business, this is not difficult to

  get. If you don’t, maybe you know someone who is. Ask around,

  sometimes they are even online.

  These assignments are good exercises as they will help you when

  you are listening to, and pitching, ideas. You will know what

  works and doesn’t work. The more knowledge you have of the

  current TV landscape, the more persuasive you can be when you

  are selling your show.

  It is true that sometimes a great show does not become a hit, but

  some of them do become cult classics. This is due to timing as

  most are/were ahead of their time.

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  ACT FOUR

  Q & A with Industry Professionals

  • Network Executives

  • Studio Executives

  • Production Company Executives

  • Managers

  • Agents

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  Act 4

  INTERVIEW WITH TED GOLD

  Executive Vice President, Paramount Network (fka Spike)

  Executive Producer, Parkes/MacDonald

  Senior Vice President, FOX Network

  Vice President, Spelling Entertainment

  I met TED GOLD when we were both working at Spelling Entertain-

  ment. He is an accomplished, thoughtful, smart professional with a great

  sense of humor. He has always been very passionate about developing

  TV shows and I learned a lot from him. Ted went on to become a buyer

  at two different networks, and here’s what he had to say about develop-

  ment. We met at the Viacom Hollywood offices in January, 2018.

  Stephanie (SV): How did you get your start in TV Development?

  Ted (TG): I sent out 70 resumes blind, around town. Eventually I

  got a call from STEPHEN J. CANNELL Productions. They were />
  one of the last independent television suppliers and I got a job

  there as a messenger. Then, I was the receptionist and I soon

  learned about this area called, “Development.” I volunteered to

  read scripts for them for free and give my comments. Then even-

  tually I got a job as an assistant in the development department.

  SV: Why did you choose development as opposed to a different job

  within the industry?

  TG: I was an English major and I knew I wanted to work with

  writers. I realized quickly that this was the creative side of the

  business to making stories, making projects happen, and knew

  this is where I wanted to be. Thought it would suit my tastes, my

  skills.

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  SV: For people wanting to pursue a career in TV Development,

  what would you suggest they do?

  TG: Read and watch as much material as you can! I would rec-

  ommend writing coverage and develop your point of view on

  things. The most important thing is to understand what you like

  and why you like it. It’s a lifetime endeavor. It changes over your

  life. But the more that you can analyze and express yourself, the

  better you get at it and, at the end of the day, that’s what someone

  is going to hire you for. They are going to hire you for your tastes

  and your knowledge of writers and material.

  SV: Regarding development, what would you do if you heard two

  very similar ideas, but the one you liked better came from a lesser

  known entity?

  TG: That’s a very good question. First of all, if there’s a lot of

  overlap between the projects in terms of characters, I’d probably

  excuse myself from hearing one of them and let them know up

  front that I just heard this from another person. But forgetting the

  legality of it, I would go with the project I liked the best if I can. I

  would probably try to package it up. I mean, so much is about

  who is going to execute 50 episodes. So the lesser one might start

  off good, but it’s harder to get on the air because nobody knows

  who that entity is. But I would probably lean towards the lesser

  one and see how I could bolster it and make it a sexier, stronger

  project by adding elements. Maybe you can combine the two.

  SV: What is the most memorable pitch you’ve heard?

  TG: ( laughing) There are too many for me to answer, but one that

  comes to the top of my mind is when I was at Spelling (Enter-

  tainment), with you actually. It was a pitch that I developed

  which was the precursor pitch to Lost, which was developed with

  JEFFREY LIEBER, (creator/EP). It was a really well-thought-out,

  deep pitch because, at the time, it was almost considered a stupid

  idea to develop a show about people stuck on an island. Like,

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  how could that last? And Jeffrey had a lot of specific ideas on how

  to keep that show going. That’s one that comes to mind. I’ve

  heard, I think, over 1,000 pitches probably in my career. ( laughing)

  I’ve got some funny ones, people falling asleep, people screaming,

  some pretty crazy ones.

  SV: What is the most challenging aspect to developing a script?

  TG: It’s always different, but what I would have to say is figuring

  out what the story is. What is the core story and character point of

  view from which you are going to tell the story? I would always

  come back to that. What is the story or stories that you want to

  tell with your show? We can talk about the process. Sometimes

  it’s working with writers and figuring out the best way to bring

  out the best in them. How do they respond to notes? Not just cri-

  tique, but what’s the best way to get them inspired and bring out

  their vision.

  SV: What are your thoughts on spec scripts?

  TG: Love ‘em. I love spec scripts. I always try to read a spec

  script with an open mind. Still to this day I know how much

  work has gone into it and I think a good show can come from

  anywhere. Again, if it’s a spec script without any track record,

  you have a giant hurdle of how do you get it on, and that would

  be a lot of producing.

  SV: Which project that you produced are you most proud of?

  TG: Well, I haven’t produced a lot of projects. but I would say if I

  can count the one that is about to air right now, it’s Waco.

  SV: What about projects you developed?

  TG: I really liked this project that was ahead of it’s time that I de-

  veloped at Spelling (Entertainment) called, Kingpin, which you

  probably remember. That was always one of my favorites. At

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  FOX, it was Prison Break. And people don’t think it was a sexy

  show, but Bones was a very successful series.

  SV: What is your favorite part of the TV Development process?

  TG: I like research a lot. I like reading articles and books on a cer-

  tain character or certain world. I can sometimes go down a rabbit

  hole doing research. I really enjoy doing that. I love figuring out

  who the characters are and breaking the story. That’s probably

  number one. When it goes right, it really comes together and sell-

  ing a project is fun. That’s a pretty good feeling. Validation. All

  your hard-earned efforts… somebody thinks there is some merit.

  SV: What do you feel is the biggest misconception about TV De-

  velopment?

  TG: The prolonged nature of it. That a project doesn’t stop with

  development. That a project is not just about developing a script,

  it’s about developing a team of people that can keep it going and

  keep developing it.

  SV: What advice do you have for a young writers/creator who is

  looking to pitch a TV show?

  TG: My advice would be to not spend too much time on a pitch

  when you are starting out. My advice would be to write your

  script. The reason is that there are too many people out there sell-

  ing shows. You’re competing against a lot of big name people.

  SV: What do you feel will be different about the process of TV De-

  velopment, specifically in five years or ten years?

  TG: Things are much more package-dependent now. If you want

  to compete, there is so much out there. How do you get people to

  notice? One of the ways is having great people on your project,

  working on your project and in your project. That seems like a

  trend that is going to continue. Also, I don’t know if this will

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  happen in five years, but this format of half-hour vs. hour vs. two-

  hour movies… it all goes out the window. Maybe we can make a

  43-minute project? Maybe we can make a 12-minute project? I

  think the formats of the projects should be more driven by the

  projects themselves vs. trying to fit a round peg into a square hole.

  I think some of that is changing now.

  SV: What about Indie Television?

  TG: The bottom line is, if you’re talking about traditional scripted

  television with actors, it’s a lot of money to figure out how to fi-

  nance it. I do think there will be people who will figure it ou
t. It

  seems that to me with the old model, with advertising content,

  seems to be diminished. Ratings are all down. Nobody knows

  how they are going to make money. Still, the advertisers need to

  find ways to get their product out there. So where are they going

  to go? Maybe there will be people who will pull in a few adver-

  tisers to sponsor their own projects independently.

  SV: In today’s market, what is the measure of a successful show?

  TG: Depends who you are, depends what your job is ( laughing).

  SV: As a network executive?

  TG: I am mostly concerned of how my project is viewed creative-

  ly, as a project of quality and as a project that would fit the brand,

  both internally and externally. So I would say reviews. Internally

  if a lot of people are really excited about our project and then, if

  that gets reaffirmed on the outside that people like our projects.

  At the end of the day, even though I can’t control it, if you don’t

  get ratings, you’re out. So ratings are super important. You’re still

  judged by the thing that is much harder to measure - ratings. But

  ratings themselves are changing. It used to be live plus same day,

  now it’s live plus three.

  Side note: ‘Live plus three’ refers to the ratings during a live

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  show plus the next three airings of the show.

  SV: Do you think everyone is going to be streaming, and that tra-

  ditional broadcast and cable TV will go away in some way?

  TG: Yes, I think it will go away in some way. But I’ve been saying

  that for ten years. So it’s slow. It’s always slower than I think it’s

  going to be. I mean, who wants to watch a program live any-

  more? Who wants to rush home at 8 o’clock on a Thursday night

  to watch something? Very few people, unless it’s news or sports.

  People don’t really care. So it’s all going to be on-demand and

  streaming, if you ask me. I don’t know if all the channels will dis-

  appear or the linear channels will disappear. It might become

  some kind of hybrid, which is kind of what you’re seeing now

  where if you miss something that is live, you can find it some-

  where streaming, although it takes forever to figure out where.

  And then what is TV? Most kids don’t even watch a lot of TV,

  which is a whole bigger question.

  *****

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  Act 4

  INTERVIEW WITH ANDREW PLOTKIN

  Senior Vice President, Drama Development, Sony