TV- Characters Are Everything

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  • TV- Characters Are Everything

    We recently interviewed an exec from The Gersh Agency and I found this advice very helpful to our TV writers. I wanted to share with you all!

    The 3 most important elements in any TV pilot are characterization, the world and the relationships. These 3 elements are MORE important than the actual plot. The story will change. Once the pilot is picked up, other writers, executives, etc, will come in and the story you have laid out will most likely be quite different than the one that is produced. That's why it's so important to have such strong, distinct characters in the pilot because THOSE will be the constant anchors. Especially when you are pitching TV, focus primarily on the characters, the world, relationships and stakes as any exec will know that the actual story will go through several revisions.

    Best,
    Joey Tuccio
    President of Stage 32 Happy Writers

  • #2
    Re: TV- Characters Are Everything

    It's almost crazy that this has to be formally said, but there are so many examples of it not implemented. Shows that are so heavy on premise/plot with virtually no character. They never last more than a season.

    With a movie, you're getting it all in one sitting, so it's understandable that you might be satisfied with a plot or spectacle centered story. But with television, you're creating a series, and the main thing that brings back audiences are characters and their relationships. Cliff-hangers get exhausting after a while, and action only really matters when you care about the people in the center of it.

    Though the one exception to this might be Law and Order. It wasn't really the characters that brought you back week after week (though there were some great ones).

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