Hi,
I'm preparing to send my script off to various producers and production companies soon, but I am now beginning work on my series plan beyond the episode I've written.
Has anyone had any experience of sending something like this??
I was thinking of giving a brief description of each episode, plus a breakdown of character arc's throughout the series and also a brief character breakdown. Is this this correct or do they just want episode descriptions and nothing else???
Thanks in advance.
Quote: Lord Meldrum @ November 7 2011, 1:37 PM GMTHi,
I'm preparing to send my script off to various producers and production companies soon, but I am now beginning work on my series plan beyond the episode I've written.
Has anyone had any experience of sending something like this??
I was thinking of giving a brief description of each episode, plus a breakdown of character arc's throughout the series and also a brief character breakdown. Is this this correct or do they just want episode descriptions and nothing else???
Thanks in advance.
You only need to provide your pilot script up front. Further down the line episode breakdowns are sometimes asked for but usually all a prod co wants is a couple of paragraphs describing what each episode might look like. I've never been asked for character breakdowns.
If it's a sitcom, general opinion seems to be that there are no character arcs across the series. The protagonists are trapped by their inability to learn from their mistakes and move on.
I'd give at most a couple of paragraphs for possible episode ideas to demonstrate that your premise has the ability to work beyond your current script and is therefore worth investing in.
I wouldn't get too bogged down with individual character breakdowns. There should be enough information on character imparted within the script to keep people happy. If there isn't, then the script probably needs more work.
If you're extremely lucky and the script has interest shown in it then there is a strong likelyhood that it will be pulled in directions other than those you intended originally, to sharpen it and target it towards a particular channel/timeslot/audience etc so don't get too bogged down with future episodes.
I have ideas for each episode but as you must know, things do change quite a lot as you write the script, so how much detail do you go into for each episode??
Quote: Lord Meldrum @ November 7 2011, 2:18 PM GMTI have ideas for each episode but as you must know, things do change quite a lot as you write the script, so how much detail do you go into for each episode??
A couple of brief paragraphs at the most but you really don't need to worry about it at this stage. Just get the script right.
Cheers. Yeah the script is almost there. Just waiting on some final notes back from someone today.
Rather than go into exactly what each character does in the episode, I'd rather just note down the main story of the episode and any other relevant info.
Think I'll keep it relatively brief.
Just hand in the script, you don't need anything else, the only thing that's going to interest them at this point is the script itself. If someone likes it and asks you in, that's when they might want to ask about further episode ideas. For now, get the script right, send it off.
Just imagine in how many words you could describe the bare essentials of, say, a classic OFAH episode.
Thats about how long each one should be.
forget the character stuff.
I agree with Matty. Less is more. Chances are the prod-co won't even read the script, let alone all the bell-and-whistle extras.
Now, a bell-end whistle - that would grab their attention...