Selling Your Ideas To Hollywood Article

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Selling Your Ideas To Hollywood

Professional insight for creating and selling ideas and scripts to the entertainment industry.

Author: Scott Manville

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Hollywood is built on the power of “idea”, and television is the most rapidly evolving platform for ideas to be produced through story-telling and games. Most people think of Hollywood as a closed door, with opportunities reserved for those who “know people”. On the contrary, Hollywood is a machine constantly on the search for new ideas to help reinvent itself and bring a fresh form of entertainment to viewers. More importantly, it’s who knows your work, not who you are.

The most notable pioneer of television who started his empire from a simple notion is my former boss, Merv Griffin. In 1964 (post quiz show scandals), Merv was flying back from New York with his wife Julann pondering ideas for shows they could pitch, when they began to explore the following idea, “What if we gave the contestants the answers, and they had to figure out what the question was?” That triggered a playful conversation similar to the following;

Julann, “5,280”.
Merv, “How many feet are in a mile?”.
Julann, “Correct”.
Julann, “The Ford Theatre”.
Merv, “Where was Abraham Lincoln shot?”.
Julann, “Correct”.

… and on into the night the game continued covering all subjects imagined.

That basic idea and game went through many stages of development before even being pitched to the network, but once produced became the most successful gameshow in the history of television we now know as “Jeopardy!” In 1986 Griffin sold the show, along with “Wheel of Fortune” (created shortly after) to The Coca Cola Company for a staggering $250 Million in cash.

Today, the landscape of programming and deal making is vastly different, and creating such simple concepts that haven’t already been produced is difficult. To our benefit today, the outlets and opportunities for new TV shows is literally a hundred-fold what it was in the 60’s. Hollywood producers and development executives work full time to create or find those new concepts and scripts to sell to TV networks, and more and more are finding new avenues for sourcing original material to produce.

The Television Writers Vault is a unique and valuable tool used by producers scouting new projects, and for writers (aspiring or professional) to market their concepts and scripts direct to some of the top producers in the business. Writers can find professional advice on formulating concepts for today's thriving and competitive television programming world, as well as understand the inner-workings of the television industry to streamline projects in the most positive direction.

An important factor in learning how and why companies will buy and produce certain ideas as television shows is experience. Pitching your concepts to executives in the industry will also build relationships regardless of whether or not your idea for a TV show is purchased. It is creating and building those direct relations that enables the creator of concepts to better understand how to pitch a TV show, as well as what the buyers are looking for.

Most importantly, a writer will learn to refine an idea into a language that the executive can sell to a network, because they better understand it's potential.

Having a completed TV or Movie script can help a project along in development and enable a producer to better see the projects potential, but unless you are able to concentrate your story or program format into a brief synopsis with a highly marketable "logline", a producer will never invest the time in reading the entire script or treatment, and there is no chance of the project being produced.

A "Logline" is a one or two sentence description that tells the basic idea and purpose of a TV show idea. Loglines for the sake of pitching a project are similar to a TV Guide description of a show, but more specific in describing the concept of the program. This is the catalyst for increasing the odds of selling a script or idea to Hollywood.

Developing a good logline can help you in developing a better show, and gives the executive the ammunition and confidence to market your project. It forces you to boil down all of the elements of your TV show and communicate what the viewers will be watching and the specific purpose of the show.
Odds are, if you can't boil your story or idea down to a solid 1 or 2 sentences that tells what the show is about, producers will never be attracted to it for development. Developing your logline is also an opportunity to express a very original hook that your show has to separate it from others within the same genre or theme.

A great logline should provoke interest and inspire the TV producer to see the potential of the show. To an executive scouting projects, the TV show logline is perhaps the most important element of the development process. It is the core concept of the show, and is very close to the short pitch a Network markets to the public when promoting a new show. This holds the "idea power" of your project.

The following are examples of could-be loglines for current television shows:

· "Ordinary people face their fears by competing against each other in outrageously devised stunts" - Fear Factor
· "A likeable husband's marriage and tolerance is tested by the constant intrusion of his overbearing parents and dim-witted brother" - Everybody Loves Raymond
· "Twenty women will court and compete to win the affections of one man who will narrow the selection until he must decide on his one true love." - The Bachelor
· "Contestants' general knowledge will be tested when given the answers to questions they must then form." - Jeopardy
· "Aspiring singers will compete in a nationwide talent search before performing on live television where they will face the often unfair scrutiny and sarcasm of a panel of judges. Viewers will vote for their favorite, branding that person the “American Idol”, and receiving a recording contract." - American Idol

The foundation of any project's success is built on the ability of the producers to communicate the project efficiently throughout the development process, not to mention the fact that if a busy executive isn't interested in the basic concept or premise of your show they will never invest the time in reading a full script.

Another important facet of marketing your projects to the entertainment industry is the protection and “proof-of-creation” as the Author. An aspiring writer need not be a member of any union to get protection for their writing. www.CreatorsVault.com is an online archive where writers may submit original concepts and scripts to receive certification and electronic proof of creation. The Writers Guild of America also provides a registry service to writers at www.wga.org .

When finally offered an “option deal” by a producer who wants to buy your project, you’ll then want to seek the counsel of an entertainment attorney to help negotiating the specific terms of any agreement. Most often, the writer is paid token monies upfront for the company to have exclusive right to sell and produce the project with any network or third party buyer. Once a project reaches production, the writer receives the negotiated “purchase price” (usually a much larger sum than the option monies), and will receive a small percentage of participation in the fees received by the production company for producing the show.

Keep inspired, and look at your life and the world around you to find fresh and compelling stories and subjects. If you roll up your sleeves and dedicate yourself to the work necessary, you just might sell the next groundbreaking idea for a show to Hollywood.

About Author

7 years experience in creation and development for leading production companies. Former lead development executive for Merv Griffin Entertainment. Founder and President of Tell A Vision Ventures, Inc.

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