THE PITT Free Script Breakdown
Summary
Learn from Amazon Studios’ Story Analyst, who covers every development submission and brokered the deal for GROUNDHOG DAY
Get a page-by-page breakdown of THE PITT pilot through a studio reader’s eyes, free, with lessons you can apply to your own pilot
You can read every screenwriting book on the shelf, but nothing sharpens your pilot like studying one that’s winning at the highest level — and right now, no drama on television is winning like THE PITT. Created by R. Scott Gemmill and starring Noah Wyle, the HBO Max series has taken home Outstanding Drama Series at back-to-back Emmys, and it all started with the pilot you’ll break down in this free webinar. Following our breakdown of Emmy Comedy winner WIDOW’S BAY, this is your chance to get inside the Drama winner’s script, page by page, alongside someone who reads pilots for a living at the studio level.
If you’re writing a pilot, you already know the pressure points. Maybe you lean on time jumps to move the story forward, only to find your momentum stalls every time the clock resets. Maybe your ensemble blurs together on the page, and readers can’t tell who’s who by page 15. Or maybe you’ve convinced yourself you need a wildly original premise to stand out, when what’s really holding you back is execution. THE PITT faced every one of these challenges — a real-time format with no time jumps to hide behind, a full hospital’s worth of characters introduced inside a single hour, and the most familiar genre on TV — and turned them into the most-awarded drama run on television.
Leading this breakdown is Michael Schulman, Story Analyst for Amazon Studios, where he covers all submissions for development. In other words, he isn’t breaking this script down as a fan — he’s reading it the way the buyer does. Before Amazon, he was a story analyst and script consultant for Netflix’s Original Independent Film division, head of development for Michael Mann’s company on THE AVIATOR and ALI, and worked at Barry Mendel Productions on THE SIXTH SENSE and MUNICH. He also served as VP of Development for Alec Baldwin’s company at Orion and Dennis Quaid’s company at TriStar, and as an ICM literary agent, he brokered the deal for GROUNDHOG DAY. If his record-breaking Ask Me Anything in the Screenwriting Lounge is any indication, you won’t want to miss this one.
In this free webinar, you’ll learn how a studio story analyst evaluates a pilot from the first 10 pages on, how the “one episode, one hour, one shift” engine creates structure, stakes, and momentum, and how the pilot makes a dozen-plus characters distinct and playable in a single hour. You’ll also see how a familiar genre became Emmy history through execution alone — and what earns a REQUEST from the person whose coverage decides it. You’ll walk away knowing exactly how to apply these lessons to your own pilot, whatever the genre, so your pages are ready for the reader who matters most.
Who Should Attend
- TV writers developing an original pilot, in any genre
- Screenwriters who want to see their pages the way a studio story analyst reads them
- Writers working on ensemble shows who struggle to make every character distinct on the page
- Anyone writing in a familiar genre who wants to stand out through execution, not gimmicks
- Writers interested in high-concept structural formats like real-time storytelling
- Writers preparing to submit to studios, producers, or executives and want to know what earns a REQUEST
- Fans of THE PITT who want to understand what made it the back-to-back Outstanding Drama Series winner
Executive
Michael is currently the Story Analyst for Amazon Studios where he covers all submissions for development that come through to Amazon. Prior to Amazon, Michael Schulman was the story analyst/script consultant for Netflix in the Original Independent Film (OIF) division.
Prior to his work with Netflix and Amazon, Michael worked at Barry Mendel Productions on the Disney lot where he was involved with the acquisition, development and production of Wes Anderson's RUSHMORE, Oscar Nominated THE SIXTH SENSE, and Spielberg's Oscar Nominated MUNICH. Michael spent two years as head of development for 4 time Oscar Nominated Michael Mann’s company where he worked on Oscar-nominated ALI starring Will Smith, 5 time Academy Award-winning THE AVIATOR, and TEXAS KILLING FIELDS starring Jessica Chastain.
Michael also spent years on the buyer side of film as VP of Development for Alec Baldwin’s company at Orion Pictures and subsequently for Dennis Quaid’s company at TriStar.
Michael’s consultations are designed for advanced screenwriters who are ready to take their career to the next level and start seeking professional representation. He also wants to work with writers who have their first draft, and need help brainstorming what the key elements are to keep and edit to quickly get your project market ready. You will receive an in-depth analysis of your project’s strengths and weaknesses and an accurate preview of how agents, managers, and studios would respond to the submission. Michael has presented several well-received webinars on the screenplay development and acquisition process, and he has been interviewed and frequently quoted in the industry media.
More importantly, you will get the experience of being in a producer’s meeting where the goal is to dissect the draft and get the project ready to submit to the studio. This is a deep creative scrub of your project that will provide a specific game plan for a rewrite that will help position your project in the sweet-spot of what the studios and streamers are looking for. Michael is happy to discuss strategies to effectively find the right professional representation, and—when it’s appropriate—facilitate introductions to agents, managers, and producers to help get the right eyes on your material.
Michael began his career at the William Morris Agency as an agent trainee and assistant to the worldwide head-of-talent where he worked with top actors including Richard Gere, Mel Gibson, Nicolas Cage, Denzel Washington, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Nicole Kidman. After a move to ICM, and upon promotion to agent in the motion picture literary department, Michael began representing emerging screenwriters, directors, and producers, brokering the deal for Danny Rubin’s screenplay GROUNDHOG DAY to director Harold Ramis.