Hi everyone, hope you had a productive November. Was wondering, since there's a good chance I'll have to rewrite Finding Elpis as a TV series rather than sticking solely to film (yay lore expansion!), has anyone else done so as well? Written the same story but in more than one version? How easy/difficult was it for you?
Also which is better, fewer episodes with a longer run time for each episode (say 60 minutes), or more episodes with a shorter run time, especially for a series relatively light on sci-fi?
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Hi, Banafsheh Esmailzadeh. I had a productive November. Hope you did too. I haven't rewritten a feature script as a TV series, and I haven't written many TV pilots, but here are two free webinars that might help you write your series.
Netflix + Stage 32 Present: Television Pilot Story Structure www.stage32.com/education/products/netflix-stage-32-present-television-p...
Netflix + Stage 32 Present: How to Write Sci-Fi Scripts for Streaming Television www.stage32.com/webinars/Netflix-%20-Stage-32-Present-Sci-Fi-with-Stage-...
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Thank you so much Maurice Vaughan! I've not written any TV pilots so I definitely still have much to learn. My November was productive in that I had a script read and call with an exec so I learned a lot, she even suggested I turn Finding Elpis into a comic which honestly might be fun. No matter what though this one is gonna keep me busy for a while lol
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You're welcome, Banafsheh Esmailzadeh. Congratulations on the productive month! I've heard of writers turning their scripts into comics. A comic might be the way to go. Writing a comic sounds fun, and a comic is something physical you can show producers, directors, etc. when pitching Finding Elpis.
That is an excellent point for sure, I will do my best on the comic :)
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Or a digital comic, Banafsheh Esmailzadeh. It'd still be something you can show producers, directors, etc. when pitching Finding Elpis.
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Oh lovely, thank you Maurice Vaughan! I do have a table read I can show, and soon also a best scene reading as an excerpt. But a digital comic would be great, maybe I can even make it a voice comic. She did say that even a podcast would be great even as a side story so there's a ton I can do that sounds like fun.
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You're welcome, Banafsheh Esmailzadeh. Those are great options too! Sound of Scripts did a scene reading for one of my scripts (https://youtu.be/YzkrvbGM-54?si=dUGKUsguFDpLnvx6). I met the co-founder of Sound of Scripts, J.B. Storey, on Stage 32 (www.stage32.com/profile/717381/about). They did my scene reading for free back when it was a new service. Scene readings can help writers pitch their scripts.
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In 2014, I created my first no-budget TV-movie. 104 minutes long. First I wrote a 4 hours long play, and then I made some minor changes, to adapt the play to television. I gladly write the same story both as a play and as a screenplay.
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Its good to map out your story in the new format to see what will work best for it, rather than forcing it into a structure that doesn't work. When adapting from film to TV this is a good way to "stress test" the concept to see how it'll best play out.
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If you have a lot more story to tell other than what you've already written in your feature length script, you could consider telling that expanded story that leads up to your movie. That way you can build an audience and have a better chance at getting your feature made without having to break it up.
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Maurice Vaughan good stuff, I’m waiting on the best scene reading so I’ll definitely use it to pitch.
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Göran Johansson that’s awesome!
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Ewan Dunbar that’s great advice, thank you. During the table read the actors said it can easily be worked into a series since there’s so much to work with so I will definitely map it out and see what goes where and figure out what I need to add. Right now the sequel is proving to be much heavier in lore so that one can definitely benefit from the stress test.
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Nathan Smith thank you, yes, I think I will definitely do that for the sequel, Rondo of Pandora. The new characters have a lot of backstory that’s kind of overtaking the initial tone and story so a sort of pre-story for them is definitely in order. I was also planning an overall prequel to the story which I might work into a comic or audio play or something as well. The more I work on the main story, the more it informs the prequel and everything else lol
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Go where your energy leads you. There's no harm with expanding your world, if that's what excites you to write. Try to worry about format later.
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Dear Banafsheh, nice that you liked what I wrote. There is a point with writing several version. First write the version which takes least time (epistolary short story perhaps). When you know that version works, you also know that you can write what will take you longer time. And of course, if a play becomes popular, it becomes easier to sell the screenplay.
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CJ Walley Thank you, I will :) so far though at least I am having fun with it as a feature script series so I might stick to that and do different formats later for sub-stories. Keep it simple lol
Göran Johansson that makes sense, thank you :) a play could be fun as well, I'll definitely consider it for a side story :D