I am an author--"Silence Her"--a novel about a courageous female journalist who takes on corruption, including the FDA and Big Pharma, in D.C. I have since written a one-hour TV pilot. Via my agent in Hollywood, it made it past the first gatekeeper (with numerous suggestions of course). The second gatekeeper was not as thrilled, but that's no reason to give up. I'm looking for suggestions on how best to proceed. Aloha and mahalo (I live in Hawai'i--formerly from N. California).
Screenwriting : Getting a TV Pilot noticed by Doug Fetterly
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Get a new agent? For real, two passes ain't much. What other assets can you bring to the table, like attached Talent in front and behind camera? How are book sales$$$?
Tv is hard and a long process.
A writer-peer finally crossed the finished line; her original tv series will air this year and she said she had the idea/wrote the pilot 5-years ago, sold pilot to a network, 3+ years of development, Execs in charge came and were fired/quit, fired two showrunners, reshot pilot and all the episodes, 2-years working on-location away from family, Covid pandemic. Basically, 5-6 years from idea to tv air date.
Hi Doug Fetterly, thanks for being a part of the Stage 32 community. First of all, congratulations on your book, completing a book is no small accomplishment, and to have written a tv pilot as well is also a huge win, so kudos!
Secondly, congrats on making it past the first gatekeeper - that alone is a big accomplishment. Sorry to hear that the next level passed. Getting passes is never easy. I just went out with a pilot I produced that we got to the second level at about 10 companies before the 11th one we finally got our "yes" and sold it. So, what you are experiencing is common.
What I'd recommend is taking some time this weekend and really digging into the trades - Deadline, Variety, The Wrap and see what TV shows are being picked up that are in the vein of your pilot. Hope on IMDB Pro and make a list of their production companies, and do some research on the filmmakers (producers, dev execs, etc.) that have worked on those projects. Give that list to your agent and see if he or she can start making some calls and sending out some pitches on your behalf. It helps to collaborate with your agent - you know your project better than anyone so you will be able to see who on IMDBPro might take to your material.
I wish you good luck!