50/50 Splits

[DavidK]

Originally Posted by jaredm

... a production company ... wanted to produce the sizzle reel and ... told me ... I would need to come up with 50% to produce the sizzle reel.

Walk. A real prodco would not ask this of you. They might ask for some services in kind but nothing beyond that. A network will often finance a pilot at 50-60 percent of the projected series episode budget with the prodco making up the difference needed to complete the pilot, but that's a very different situation from the one you've described and different from the usual practise of legitimate producers.

[jaredm]

Originally Posted by thrill14

The value of a production company that focuses in unscripted lies in their relationships with the networks and the trust a network has in their ability to deliver a quality series on budget.

Even if they are legitimate, a network will only deal with an EP/showrunner. Creators are marginalized. Is the prodco taking a fee or producing in house? What are they offering 50% of?

They were offering to fund 50% of the production for the sizzle reel and development of any other "selling tool" that would be needed to pitch to a network. Told me they would get paid just as I would. By the show being sold to a network.

[jaredm]

Originally Posted by DavidK

Walk. A real prodco would not ask this of you. They might ask for some services in kind but nothing beyond that. A network will often finance a pilot at 50-60 percent of the projected series episode budget with the prodco making up the difference needed to complete the pilot, but that's a very different situation from the one you've described and different from the usual practise of legitimate producers.

Thank you David as well as everyone else for the feed back.

[BurOak]

Originally Posted by jaredm

They were offering to fund 50% of the production for the sizzle reel and development of any other "selling tool" that would be needed to pitch to a network. Told me they would get paid just as I would. By the show being sold to a network.

Scam.

[thrill14]

Reality shows aren't typically "sold" to networks like spec scripts to studios. A network will field a pitch and evaluate the whole package (concept, talent, producers etc) If they give it a greenlight, it will likely go to pilot or presentation pilot, which simply a more complete sizzle. If the executives and focus groups like what they see, then it will go to series with the Executive Producers/Showrunners staying on to produce and deliver. On a rare occasion where a non-EP secured a pitch meeting, and an even rarer occasion where the network liked it, they would likely pair that producer/creator with an established EP that the network has experience with and trusts. But either way, it's not typical for ideas to be bought outright. However, I have seen scenarios where smaller producers have had great talent attached via a shopping agreement and they were paid lump sums to basically go away.

[jaredm]

So should I be trying to find a prod co to go through, contact a network or just try to find a manager/agent to get to the networks?

[Levenger]

Reality TV ideas are a a dime a dozen. What separates the alt producers from those who "just have an idea" is the producers go out, secure the talent and shoot the proof of concept. So if you want to be a producer, do that. If you just have an idea you think you're going to sell, thats not gonna happen.

[realitygen]

I was just offered something like that for my series idea, and it did not sound right to me.

[BurOak]

Originally Posted by realitygen

I was just offered something like that for my series idea, and it did not sound right to me.

You were correct.