Before I pitch a TV series, I know I'll have to have a series bible put together, but how many episodes should I have written? And is there anything else I need? I know there are experienced heads out there who know.
Screenwriting : How Many Episodes Should I Have In My Back Pocket Before I Pitch a TV Series? by Mark Souza
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Good to know... thank you Kathy...
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I think it also depends on who you are pitching to as producers often have different requirements to networks. You don't need to have every episode written, but you should have a document that sets out the characters and their arcs for the first season - and what the show looks like on a week to week basis.
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Mark - It's a common misconception that you need a bible. A bible is usually created by the creator/showrunner as a reference document for the writers on the show. You will need: A killer pilot. A series pitch - Think of it as a business plan that outlines the world, characters, arcs, tone and include additional 5/6 episode outlines, about a paragraph long. These episodes may never see the light of day, but they will demonstrate to the reader that the show has legs, past the pilot. @Kathy - You wouldn't need to share a treatment, only the pilot. But you might want to include an act by act paragraph synopsis of the pilot in the series pitch also.
Kathryn - It's a common mistake. Even if you sell aTV pilot, it's unlikely that you will be the Show runner. They literally, run the show.
Marvin, and the rest of you - deepest thanks. Kathryn, that's why I asked. I was going to write five or six.
Good on you Kathryn... you DONE it ! Good luck...
Chris has reiterated was has already been said. While I agree that the logline is the only thing, thats ONLY if you are already established in TV. If your not established, EXECUTION is everything.
@kathryn - Did you actually script whole episodes?
Ah! Do you know Brannon Braga then?
I've tried that route myself and found the hard part is getting a quality artist to commit. If they're good, they get paid for their work and are leery of doing work on spec for a percentage. If you know someone willing to do that, I'd love to push some work their way on a fifty/fifty percentage basis.
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I'd start with the first two episodes and have a clear direction of the first season. That's what I'm doing.
From my own experience, it is very hard to get a TV series off the ground unless you have been a showrunner or writer for an existing series. If that's the case then I'd say a good pilot is all you need, if you're completely new to TV and still unproduced then I'd get writing spec episodes of similar shows and then sending those to shows you want to work on (but if you want to write for True Blood then don't write a spec for that show, write an episode of Vampire Diaries). Then you might be able to get on their staff, get a few episodes of writing credits and progress enough to have a network be willing to hear pitches and commission your series. A lot of the financiers for TV also want A-list TV writers involved so it's a very tough sell - from what I hear (and real life has reflected this) you have a better chance of getting a spec screenplay made first than a series pitch ordered from spec but stranger things have happened! Hope my 2 cents helps
Chaz - There's a real shift away from specs of existing shows to original spec pilots. The thought process seems to be, can this writer create from scratch, rather than copy an existing format.