TV pilot vs. TV spec
I just finished a draft of a tv pilot. Cable. Half hour. It made me think about the art of TV writing, and how efficient you have to be at creating the gem of a scene. 'Enter late and leave early' is the old writers adage about scene writing to remind us not to waste space. It's even truer on the small screen where time is clocked so precisely. Your script needs to be a string of gems, essentially. You don't have time to waste.
This made me think on the value of writing a pilot as part of the writers arsenal. Not just a selling tool for the series, the pilot is a great reading sample to prove yet another skill set.
And when you're trying to get a staff job on a tv show, what's the best writing sample? Is it better to write a spec episode of a popular show or a spec pilot?
Hands down it's the pilot. If you're trying to figure out a new episode of Breaking Bad, or Awake or dare I say, House, don't. I know one of the writers on House. And they're very clear when they're looking at new writers that the spec episodes of popular shows are no longer the way in. "It feels stale...we want to hear new voices," is the best paraphrasing of our discussion. "Write something new."
So if you're going to the trouble of creating a spec script to begin with, make sure you're writing the right kind.
Want to write for One Tree Hill? Walking Dead? Desparate Housewives? Look at the format, hour or half hour? Look to the genre, teen drama, thriller, dark comedy? And think of a new world in that drama.
There's multiple upsides - you're not just creating a writing sample, but a potential shot of your own.
This made me think on the value of writing a pilot as part of the writers arsenal. Not just a selling tool for the series, the pilot is a great reading sample to prove yet another skill set.
And when you're trying to get a staff job on a tv show, what's the best writing sample? Is it better to write a spec episode of a popular show or a spec pilot?
Hands down it's the pilot. If you're trying to figure out a new episode of Breaking Bad, or Awake or dare I say, House, don't. I know one of the writers on House. And they're very clear when they're looking at new writers that the spec episodes of popular shows are no longer the way in. "It feels stale...we want to hear new voices," is the best paraphrasing of our discussion. "Write something new."So if you're going to the trouble of creating a spec script to begin with, make sure you're writing the right kind.
Want to write for One Tree Hill? Walking Dead? Desparate Housewives? Look at the format, hour or half hour? Look to the genre, teen drama, thriller, dark comedy? And think of a new world in that drama.
There's multiple upsides - you're not just creating a writing sample, but a potential shot of your own.
posted by Phil | 9:37 PM
2 Comments:
Great advice Phil. I've wrestled with this one for years. It appears that the scales have tipped in favor of television in recent years when it comes to the more compelling, interesting, and, dare I say, ENTERTAINING works in American visual offerings.
Got two pilots in the works right now, one a half hour comedy and the other an hourlong s/f drama. (plus the obligatory spec script... I'm a glutton for punishment.)
By the way, I'm so overjoyed to see you back that I could plotz!
Thanks Jeffrey! Yes, there's no question that television has had a rennaisance in the last decade, I think starting with the Sopranos, and then reinforced by Mad Men, Cold Case, Breaking Bad, Modern Family, etc - that the small screen attracts, holds an audience and wins awards bringing more audience. It's very exciting in fact. The fact that the studios have tightened up and are developing less leaves a tremendous amount of talent available and eager. It used to be said that TV is where film actors, directors and writers go to die - but that was decades ago, now TV is looked at as the place where you can have real creative expression and make a living!
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