Anyone sold a pilot?

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  • Anyone sold a pilot?

    Have one going out soon. Curious what to expect. Only TV guy I really know sold his, then had it shelved and never made while they put him on other shows to get experience. Never wound up getting made even when the network came back and said, "Hey, we'd like to do a show with you." They wanted something NEW not the old idea.

    Any experiences would be great...

  • #2
    Re: Anyone sold a pilot?

    It's rare for spec pilots to sell. Especially this time of year. If it's going out now from a representative to the networks, it's more likely that it will be seen as a sample for potential staffing. July/August would be the time of year when producers/studios read to make purchases. I'm not saying no one will be interested in buying it, but they will likely be reading first as a sample, second as a potential property.

    GARY UNMARRIED was actually bought that way. Of course, it was right after the strike and the writer had been working on shows since ROSEANNE, but the writer used it as a staffing sample and it worked out for him.

    Unlike in features, rarely do project last more than a year in television due to the nature of the season and desire for newness. Pilots are pitched in September and series are ordered in May. From pitch to script, script to pilot and pilot to series, maybe 20% will survive from round to round. Ultimately, out of hundreds of pitches there will be low tens of new series come fall. Some writers support their living by writing pilot scripts which never get shot. But the networks know their talent and want them to try again with a new idea. In television, the idea is not king as much as the execution.

    ETA: My experience is as an assistant in drama and comedy development at a TV studio with a sister broadcast network.

    Good luck! If you're going to networks, expect to talk about staffing. If it's cable, they may have more of an interest in the show as a property.

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    • #3
      Re: Anyone sold a pilot?

      Stumbled across this on John August's website. An incredible and insightful read!!!

      http://johnaugust.com/2011/the-4-hour-staffing-season

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      • #4
        Re: Anyone sold a pilot?

        "If it's cable, they may have more of an interest in the show as a property."

        Would you be so kind as to define this, please? I.E., a "property" vs. a "pilot."

        Thanks!

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        • #5
          Re: Anyone sold a pilot?

          Originally posted by YakMan View Post
          "If it's cable, they may have more of an interest in the show as a property."

          Would you be so kind as to define this, please? I.E., a "property" vs. a "pilot."

          Thanks!
          Basically meant as a pilot which they'd eye for a series. Cable limits its development slate much more than broadcast that if they shoot a pilot, 9/10 it's going to series whereas the reverse is true for networks. Networks could see it as a pilot where as cable would see it, if as a pilot, as something more. I don't think AMC read MAD MEN as a pilot so much as a potential original property.

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          • #6
            Re: Anyone sold a pilot?

            I've never sold a spec pilot, but I've gone out three times with them, all in the last year. One got little traction, the second has a showrunner attached (waiting to be shopped to buyers), and the third is currently out to production companies and showrunners. It doesn't work like features, at least for me it doesn't. It takes about a month for everyone on the list to read. And I don't ever expect a sale, I hope for showrunner and development meetings. It's all groundwork for a staff job, which in television, is the ultimate goal.

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            • #7
              Re: Anyone sold a pilot?

              Originally posted by artisone View Post
              I've never sold a spec pilot, but I've gone out three times with them, all in the last year. One got little traction, the second has a showrunner attached (waiting to be shopped to buyers), and the third is currently out to production companies and showrunners. It doesn't work like features, at least for me it doesn't. It takes about a month for everyone on the list to read. And I don't ever expect a sale, I hope for showrunner and development meetings. It's all groundwork for a staff job, which in television, is the ultimate goal.
              This is what I'm dealing with. My managers have showrunners they have a good relationship with looking for a new project. So even with a showrunner attached you're not expecting it to get set up somewhere? Thanks for the information by the way.

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              • #8
                Re: Anyone sold a pilot?

                Originally posted by dirtbottle View Post
                This is what I'm dealing with. My managers have showrunners they have a good relationship with looking for a new project. So even with a showrunner attached you're not expecting it to get set up somewhere? Thanks for the information by the way.
                I guess one of them might sell with a showrunner attached. It's not impossible, but I certainly don't expect it to. I expect to get read and I hope to get meetings and fans.

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                • #9
                  Re: Anyone sold a pilot?

                  Artisone - we're in the same boat. Meetings and fans.. networking networking networking. I am my own "chief marketing officer" I guess... that was the hardest part of going out of my "Mr. Writer" mode.

                  I am on my 3rd pilot going out - it's actually a pitch since the other two pilots had EPs/Showrunners attached and one larger showrunner is now attached and their reps feel that since we've made the rounds together to the nets in the past, we can pitch instead of write it (a big gamble nonetheless even w/ some heat and an experienced Showrunner attached). Been doing this for two years and I either miss or barely make the staffing season rounds.

                  My advice Dirtbottle: Keep writing and networking. Use this as a chip to get better reps or attention on the show you want to be staffed on per Artisone's advice.

                  I have a friend who's been trying to sell and get staffed for 3 seasons and he (wildly enough) may get a book deal out of one pitch that was passed on by a network earlier this year. Crazy things can happen...

                  WND

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                  • #10
                    Re: Anyone sold a pilot?

                    Originally posted by writenowdude View Post
                    My advice Dirtbottle: Keep writing and networking. Use this as a chip to get better reps or attention on the show you want to be staffed on per Artisone's advice.

                    WND
                    Oddly enough this is the first television ANYTHING I've written (well an entourage spec just to see what it was like) but I pitched the concept to my management and they loved it so I wrote the pilot because they have a deal with the newly formed TV production arm of a massive international distribution / financing outfit that is looking to acquire and produce TV stuff now.

                    I guess they're taking it to the production guys first. I don't really have a show I even watch besides Dexter so I don't know if it will really help me. I'll see what shakes out though.

                    Thanks again and good luck to you as well.

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                    • #11
                      Re: Anyone sold a pilot?

                      So just out of curiousity, how much do you get if they shoot your pilot and it doesn't ultimately make it to the network? Anybody have any numbers for what a creator makes if a show makes at least a first season? Curious to know as the script got positive reads/development notes back from production execs and we're supposed to get on a call soon.

                      Thanks in advance...

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