Hey Dana. I was wondering if you have any plans to develop and pitch a show of your own. If you do, what advice do you have for people who want to create their own show?
I did have plans to pitch a show. And I pitched it! And Disney bought it! And now Iâm developing that show! Itâs difficult and exciting ESPECIALLY because Iâm doing all this for the first time. I hope I can show some images someday!
If I were to give one piece of advice to past me, itâd be to get comfortable writing entertaining scripts. As a showrunner the most important thing will be The Show, and 90% of The Show comes from The Writing. Itâs difficult to find writers who will 100% understand your vision but if thatâs an area youâre comfortable in youâll never be an dire straits. I had never professionally written a script before my pilot. If I did maybe that part wouldnât have been as stressful at the time haha.Â
But letâs say youâre already good there. Youâre good everywhere!Â
How to pitch a thing! I used to love making âpitch booksâ as a kid, though I had no idea thatâs what I was doing. It was just fun to develop worlds and characters! So even if youâre in HS or younger, making âpitch booksâ is a great way to spend your time and practice for the future. So get to it! Hereâs just one format you can try:Â
1. Cover page with short description of show and a fun image of your main character!
2. ½-1 full page describing your main character/s! (Donât start with exhaustive explanations about the world, or any legends, or w/e, weâre here bc we want to connect with a character).
3. A couple pages with any other important characters you may have!
4. A page describing the most important relationships between your main character/s and others!
5. Simple 1 page description on how your world works! If itâs too complicated to get on one page, SIMPLIFY! Even the most complicated ideas can be pitched in 1-2 sentences.Â
6. Important places! The main characters house? The bad guyâs castle? Stuff like that.Â
7. Give em a couple episode examples! Thatâs where your show comes together, after all.Â
Fill your pitch book with fun images that show off your characters and your world! You donât have to follow this format exactly, itâs your show, your pitch, do whatever you think will show off your ideas best. If youâre making an epic you might want to dedicate a page to where you want the show to go, and how the characters will evolve. Everything depends on what you want to make. But above all: Make it interesting to read!!! Make it fun to look at!!! Boredom is your enemy, fight against it!!!!
Are my exclamation points making this easier to understand? GREAT!!!!!
Now get out there and pitch some things cause I want new shows to watch.
yousharknotpass
tangentwithtanner
areudirty
stormborns
germansingergirl
