Hi, everyone. I thought I’d stick my head in here for a little question. I’m closing in on finishing an hour-long dramedy pilot that I imagine pitching to a streaming network like Apple or Hulu. I’ve been writing it as if I were writing a pilot for a network show and thus including a teaser and act breaks. This has been of help to me for structural purposes. But I saw in an online workshop here at Stage 32 that act breaks aren’t really necessary in a streaming show because they lack commercial breaks. Do you think it’s okay to remove the act breaks (and thus free up my page count for a little more material) and go with just a teaser and an otherwise uninterrupted script? Opinions, please; I’d love to hear ‘em.
Screenwriting : Act breaks in a streaming pilot by J.a. Fludd
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3 people like this
Breaks are not necessary. I use standard screenplay format.
It's the story. Any specific formatting can be applied later.
1 person likes this
I use TV act breaks in my teleplays, J.a. Fludd. I would keep them, then if needed you can remove them. Or you could make two separate files (one with breaks, one without breaks), then show whichever one you want to streamers and networks.
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Not a bad idea, MV.
Another factor to consider is where the writer projects the story will land. A script for broadcast or basic cable needs breaks. Streamers or premium cable will not as there are no ad insertions.
Thanks, E Langley. Yeah, I agree with you about considering where the writer projects the story will land.
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I recently had a call with an exec about my pilot script, which does not include act breaks, and we talked about this very thing! You should totally remove the act breaks (or at least have two versions of the script with and without depending on the network/platform you’re sending it to). You just want to make sure that the reader can still feel your act breaks, so theyre still big emotional turning points/reversals/etc.
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I do teasers but not act breaks in pilots.
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Dont think act breaks/no act breaks matter for reads.
WGF posts actual scripts of tv shows on networks & streamers. Everyone employed formats pages differently.
https://www.wgfoundation.org/blog/2020/4/1/formatting-your-spec-script-w...
If you feel your story is ready let it tell itself that's it you'll do great.