The 6 Most Vital Rules of Pitching TV in 2012 |
You’re busy as ever, you’re stressed, it’s gorgeous outside, and yes folks, it’s that time of year again: TV pitch season is in full swing. So to give you every advantage, we’re offering our TV pitch look-books at a heavily-discounted flat rate for a limited time. And keep reading, because we’re throwing in a bunch of pointers for free.
If you haven’t done anything to sell your projects, don’t kid yourself–you can’t ignore the kind of opportunity that exists right now. Not even Jerry Bruckheimer can do that.
We have it on good authority from agents and managers around town that looking like you didn’t try isn’t cool anymore. The stakes are high and the competition… well, we won’t remind you. So here’s a list of..
TV Pilot Season Do’s and Don’ts, 2012:
- DO Commit: You can’t sell something that’s only halfway there. Invest the needed time and money to let them know you take your work seriously and you’re not messing around. Go big or go home!
- DON’T Wait: TV Pilot season is peaking a little later this year, but that doesn’t mean you have any time to lose. It can take a few weeks to rewrite scripts and create sales materials. Start!
- DO Get Visual: Old-school writer wisdom says all you need is a script. Really? Increasingly in the industry, projects vision is shared via the use of imagery. It’s just the way of the future. Get used to it, old-schoolers.
- DON’T Have to Be There: You might not get a pitch meeting right away, but that doesn’t mean they won’t look at your stuff. So send them something that pitches your story right, whether you’re there or not.
- DO Rewrite That Treatment: The treatment is short, but it’s as important a sales tool as your script, and it might be read by more people. Don’t be ashamed to have it professionally rewritten by one of our treatment pros. After all, it’s still yours!
- DO Consider a Lookbook: Just having your reader flip a few pages can help them see your big idea and your project’s appeal to audiences-whether you’re in the room explaining it to them or not. Lookbooks have helped companies like Jerry Bruckheimer Television and Universal Music Group, and showrunners like Chris Levinson and the Hughes Brothers sell shows to networks and cable providers from ABC to HBO.