Television Development

by Bob Levy

  Hey, I know I’m here to try to sell you a product, but let’s remember that we’re all just people, and the product I’m selling you is a story about the emotional journeys of some people I hope you care about, and I care about this product and have a personal connection to this product that makes it more than just a commodity to me and I hope to you too.

  The second reason writers typically begin pitches with a personal way in is that it demonstrates to the buyer that this writer – of the thousands of qualified TV writers in Hollywood – this writer is the exact right one to write this story. Many writers could write this pilot. But most of them will be doing it because it’s their job. But this particular writer has a special, personal connection, has personal up-close experience with the subject matter that all the rest of the other writers don’t have. The implicit argument made by the Personal Way into the Series section is that it offers the buyer an extra degree of assurance that this project – written by this guy who’s pitching me the project – is worthy of the investment of his company’s money.

  The Personal Way into the Series also serves to introduce some of the themes of the show that the writer will discuss more directly and in greater detail later in the pitch. In the personal way into the Breaking Bad pitch I created above, the writer imagines what would have happened if his father had used his expert chemistry knowledge for bad instead of good. That question is at the heart of one of the themes of Breaking Bad: What happens when a good man is forced to do a bad thing for a good reason? Without talking explicitly about “themes” or “the meaning of the show,” the Personal Way into the Series can begin to introduce some of the thematic layers of the series in a gentle and indirect way. Later, when the writer discusses his thematic intentions for the series more explicitly, the listener will unconsciously (or perhaps consciously) connect these themes to the writer’s actual lived experiences and the themes will come alive in a deeper, more human and more personal way.

  Section 2: Concept of Series

  After the writer has set the stage for her pitch with her Personal Way into the Series, the next section of the pitch is the Concept of Series. Now that the writer has broken the ice, warmed up the room, told an interesting personal anecdote that has succeeded in getting everyone’s attention, it’s time to state very clearly exactly what product she’s come to sell. “This is a show about X ….” The writer explains exactly what the concept of her show is in the simplest, clearest and most economical possible terms. If I were pitching Breaking Bad, I might say,

  Breaking Bad is a show about a nerdy high school chemistry teacher who finds out he’s dying of cancer, and, when he realizes that because he’s paid so poorly to teach high school that his family will be impoverished after he dies, he decides to use his expert chemistry knowledge to manufacture the best possible crystal meth and make a lot of money so his family won’t starve after he’s died.2

  That’s the concept! Everything that makes the show unique, everything that makes the show function for what turned out to be seven seasons is in that one long sentence.

  The Concept of Series section of a pitch should ideally be that simple. A writer should be able to state the concept of her show in one or two sentences, and the listeners should be able to understand exactly why the show is distinct from any other TV show they have ever seen and why it sounds intriguing based on this simple, clear statement of concept. If the writer and producer creating the pitch can’t figure out how to come up with a clear and compelling sentence or two that defines the concept of their show, then there’s probably a big problem with the concept they’re working on.

  Let’s look at the Concept of Series more closely. What specific elements are in the Breaking Bad concept statement I pitched?

  The first and most important element in this concept statement is the lead character of the series: the “nerdy high school chemistry teacher.” Every Concept of Series statement in a TV pitch should clearly identify who the lead character or characters is/are.

  The second most important part of the Concept of Series statement is: “… he decides to use his expert knowledge of chemistry to manufacture the best possible crystal meth and make a lot of money so his family won’t starve after he’s died.” This part of the sentence offers the listener two key elements of the concept, the “plan” and the “goal.” Every Concept of Series statement needs to make clear what the goal or goals of the lead character/s are. The lead character’s goal in Breaking Bad is to make money to save his family from poverty after he’s dead. That one goal drove seven seasons of the show, and it’s stated clearly and economically in our Concept of Series statement. The goal answers the buyer’s unspoken questions: “What is the lead character doing in this show and why’s he doing it? Will my audience understand and relate to what the lead character is doing?”

  In addition to explaining the goal, the Breaking Bad Concept of Series statement I’ve offered also spells out the lead character’s plan, the “how” of his goal, the way in which he is going to go about achieving his goal. In this case, the lead character’s plan is to use his expert chemistry knowledge to manufacture high quality drugs that he can charge a lot of money for. That’s a pretty inventive (and dangerous) plan. Stating the lead character’s plan and goal addresses the buyer’s basic, tacit question about any TV series pitch: “What am I looking at in episodes of this show? What’s happening? What action is taking place on the screen?” In the case of the Breaking Bad Concept of Series statement, the buyer understands that what he’s looking at in episodes is manufacturing and selling drugs to make money (and all of the conflicts and complications that arise from those pursuits).

  The final point worth making about the Concept of Series is not really an element of the statement, but a quality of the statement: The statement should demonstrate ingenuity. The phrase I like to use is “entertainment delight.” We should hear the words of the Concept of Series and sense that the show sounds entertaining. The words themselves should offer an entertaining sensation. In the case of this Breaking Bad Concept of Series the entertainment delight emerges from the transformation of a “nerdy” teacher into a drug dealer. There’s an irony to that transformation. Most nerdy high school teachers spend their lives being nerdy high school teachers. We don’t expect them to become drug dealers. When the Concept of Series tells us that this particular nerdy high school teacher becomes a criminal mastermind we experience a moment of entertainment delight because we’re surprised by the irony of the character’s transformation, which emerges from the unexpected plan the character devises to achieve his goal.

  What’s so brilliant about the Breaking Bad concept (the actual concept that the show’s creator Vince Gilligan created, not the statement I’ve offered here) is that the lead character’s plan is bold, dangerous and surprising, but it also sounds completely credible and comprehensible. His plan sounds surprising and not a plan most of us would ever choose to make, but the plan to leverage his chemistry expertise sounds very clever, and devising the plan to benefit his family sounds perfectly laudable. We understand he is a good man doing a bad thing for a good reason. That’s a great concept for a TV show and the Concept of Series statement here makes it sound both clear and entertaining.

  After stating the Concept of Series, the writer describes the themes of the series. “The show is about X, but what it’s really about is Y.” In other words, the writer implicitly says, “I’ve told you what the concept of the series is, now let me tell you what the major themes of the series are.” The writer explains the deeper, subtextual meaning and significance of the show.

  When the creator of Pretty Little Liars, Marlene King, pitched the show to networks she stated the concept simply and clearly, then she described the key theme of the show: “We’ll explore the theme what appears to be isn’t.” “Like the film American Beauty,” she told them, “our characters live in this seemingly typical white picket fence world. But behind closed doors … We discover that what appears to be isn�
��t.”

  Most network TV development executives who hear pitches are looking for ideas that sound entertaining. They want to buy shows that function not only as entertainment, though, but that also have something to say. Network development executives want to develop shows that make their network money by attracting large audiences, but they also aspire to develop shows that work on a higher level and elevate their audience’s lives. They want to use the power of the medium of TV to say something important, to make a contribution to society. Even in Hollywood, where the goal is to reach the largest possible audiences and make the most money, executives want to believe they’re contributing to society in some way, and speaking to the development execs’ hopes to say something meaningful about our world is one way that writers pitching shows can flatter development executives’ loftier ambitions.

  It’s not just that development executives want their shows to have deeper meaning, the audience does too. Yes, we all want to feel like we’re enjoying a nice, sweet dessert when we’re watching a fun TV show, but we also want to feel like we’re getting some meat with our meal as well. Consciously or unconsciously, audiences want to believe what they’re watching is about something relevant, that it has some kind of meaningfulness to them along with the entertainment.

  Another reason it’s important for the pitch to state the themes of the show is that it’s an opportunity for the writer to explain to the buyer why the show is especially relevant at this moment in time. Most buyers want to put shows into development that feel timely, that feel fresh and new, and not like something the networks might have programmed ten or fifteen (or even five) years ago. Networks want shows that feel like they’re saying something about our world right now.

  Hollywood entertainment professionals refer to shows and ideas like that being “zeitgeisty,” turning the noun Zeitgeist into an adjective. Most network development executives who hear pitches are looking for zeitgeisty shows. Describing the themes of the show allows the pitch to discuss explicitly how and why the show is tapping into the Zeitgeist, how it is “of the moment,” how it is especially relevant today, right now.

  Section 3: World of Series

  The third major section of the TV pitch is the World of Series. The World of Series refers to the setting of the series, but in a good pitch the description of the world of the series can sound more significant than merely naming a town or a district of a town. It should paint a picture of a world.

  The key elements of the World of Series are place, time and “vibe.” Where does the series take place? A specific city, town or village? A specific district of a city or town? An unnamed, unspecified but nevertheless familiar kind of place? A made up place? The Simpsons is set in Springfield, but we have no idea what state or region of the US Springfield is in. In reality Springfield is one of the most common town names in America. There are 38 different cities or towns in America named Springfield. The creators of The Simpsons wanted audiences to feel like the Springfield of the show could be the Springfield near them. Not specifying exactly which Springfield the show is set in makes the world of The Simpsons feel more familiar to viewers, closer to their own lives.

  The second element writers pitch to define the World of Series is time. Is the show set now, today? (Writers use the phrase “set in the present day” to refer to shows set now.) Or is it set in some historic period? Or the future? Sometimes writers pitch time very specifically. The action of the show Mad Men began in March 1960. The creator of Mad Men had a very specific time in mind for the beginning of his show. Television shows set in the Old West, on the other hand, don’t usually pinpoint an exact time, but rather are more generally set in the period after the American Civil War and before the automobile became ubiquitous on American roads in the early 1900s. Most Western TV series are set some time in the 1870s or 1880s.

  Some futuristic shows are set in a specific year in the distant future. The original Star Trek was set in the year 2265. A current trend in American TV is to set shows “five minutes in the future.” Shows set five minutes in the future occur in a world that resembles our familiar everyday world today but it is a world in which technology is capable of things not quite possible today. Westworld on HBO and the British anthology series Black Mirror are both set “five minutes in the future.”

  Good writers pitching the place and time of their series try to use language that also conveys a “vibe,” a feeling of the world they imagine. Writers ask themselves if the World of the Series they’re imagining is scary or happy? Would the viewer want to live in that world or would they be afraid to live in that world? Is it a cruel world or a generous and forgiving world?

  In her Pretty Little Liars pitch Marlene King described the World of her Series, the fictional town of Rosewood, Pennsylvania, as, “A quaint, small town outside of Philadelphia. These are middle and upper-middle class people living in what appears to be a safe, sane world. But what appears to be isn’t.”

  The listeners learn that the World of the Series is a “quaint” and “small” town outside of the big city of Philadelphia. The word “quaint” implies old, traditional, well-kept and attractive. (“Pretty” doesn’t only describe the lead characters of the show. It describes the town the liars live in as well.) We also learn that the town is small and apparently safe. From the way King describes the world of Pretty Little Liars, it sounds like a very attractive, traditional, historic, and somewhat idyllic American suburb. Even though she uses very few words to describe her setting, the listener is able to create a specific and rich mental image in her mind. That’s the goal of describing the World of the Series.

  While we’re discussing King’s description of the world of Pretty Little Liars, let’s take note of two other interesting things. First, observe the brevity of her description. Most writers who pitch TV shows are tempted to say too much. They want to go to great lengths to make sure that the listener sees and understands everything they see. This frequently leads writers to create pitches that are too long. Writers, producers and creative execs developing pitches should resist this temptation. Network television development executives (at least in Hollywood) are famous for having short attention spans. They hear lots and lots of pitches and are bored easily. There was a network development executive in Hollywood who was well known for her occasional cruel honesty. When she got bored with a section of a pitch she would say to the writer pitching, “I get it, move on.”

  The goal of every section of every TV pitch should be economy. Writers pitching TV shows should choose words and sentence constructions that say as much as possible in as few words as possible. In just a couple of short, simple sentences Marlene King says as much about Rosewood, Pennsylvania, as the network development executive needs to hear, and she manages to paint a very clear picture. Writers pitching pilots should figure out the descriptions and images that allow the listeners to use their imaginations to see the whole world the writer wants to create. When pitching a TV show writers should say too little rather than too much. The goal is to intrigue the listeners, to make them want to learn more about the show, to whet their appetite rather than overload them with too many details that overwhelm them, bore them or make their minds begin to think of other things. Less is more.

  In addition to speaking economically, another thing King’s pitch does is to speak simply. Hollywood writers typically write a script for their pitches. It’s easy for a writer to forget that he’s not writing something to be read, but that, with a pitch, he’s writing a script to deliver orally to someone who will hear it spoken. Even though most network development executives are educated and smart, pitches that are crafted in a way that is easy to hear and easy to understand tend to be more effective.

  There’s a great expression, “Keep it simple, stupid.” (“Stupid” being one’s self, the person to whom the statement is addressed.) We’re all tempted to expound at length, to show off our brilliance and to write in highly complex ways. But when creating pitches for people who listen to pitches all day
long, it’s worth remembering that 1) less is more and 2) keep it simple, stupid.

  One last thing King did in her brief but effective World of Series section that’s worth noting is that she used it to reinforce her main theme, “what appears to be isn’t.” She implemented an age-old tool of salesmanship (remember, pitching is a form of selling), namely repetition. Pitchers don’t want to bore their listeners by repeating factual information, but important things like themes can be made more impactful in the pitch through the use of repetition.

  The World of Series should describe what it would be like for the listeners (and ultimately the viewers of the show) to walk through that world.

  Section 4: Characters

  The next two sections of the TV pitch are the most important sections and the hardest to craft and pitch. The first of these two is the Character section of the pitch. This section lists and describes the most important characters of the show, one by one.

  Writing great characters is hard. In script form, writers have all the tools of dialogue, action, story and shot description to bring the characters to life. In a pitch, the writer has an even more limited toolbox. Pitching great characters is hard.

  The reason the Character section is one of the most important sections of the pitch is because what hooks a viewer into a TV series more than anything else, and correspondingly what hooks a TV development executive into wanting to buy a pitch more than anything else, is falling in love with the characters. When the viewer of a show or the listener to a pitch falls in love with the characters, they begin to care about what happens to those characters. They want to know what happens to them in future episodes. They want to find out if they achieve their goal and turn out ok in the end. If the pitcher can make the listeners care about the characters and want to know what happens to them, she has travelled a great distance toward successfully selling the pitch.