Screenwriting : Pitching Season for new TV projects unofficially ends on Wednesday! by W. Keith Sewell

Hi Keith, I know your question was specifically addressed to your fellow writers. Pardon me for jumping into a writer convo. My 2 cents: You never know when your pitch will click with someone. If you pitch in January, they could be distracted by pilot season. If you pitch in early summer, they could be distracted by staffing season and Upfronts. If you pitch in mid-summer, they could be distracted by selling season. If you pitch in the fall, they could be distracted by the writing of the pilots they've just sold during selling season. Etc. None of us can control what else "they" have going on and what might be distracting them; we can only control our own projects and whether or not we're putting our best foot forward. So yeah, pitch. And keep your fingers crossed.

Is the season also coming to an end for sending out query letters for a screenplay? I am working on a screenplay that should be done over the next week. Is there a general rule when it comes to sending out query letters in December? Any dos or dont's? Please fill me in if you know. Thanks

Regina, do you also think with the explosion of new media that the "seasons" to do this or that are ending or already no longer apply? Seems to me there's an element of the Wild West to content creation and sale these days. =)

Hi Terri, you're right - there is the "year-round" season and there is the broadcast-driven non-year-round season. While one might be focused on cable or year-round for her own development/sales/staffing, the broadcast season will still greatly affect your landscape. Here's the perfect analogy: You might not celebrate Christmas, but the Christmas season still has a great impact on your life because so many individuals and businesses around you participate deeply in the Christmas season... and even though we all have more awareness of Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, etc., Christmas isn't going away for many years come, if at all.

In terms of "new media," if you're talking about YouTube, traditional rules don't apply. YouTube has its own best practices. Get YouTube Certified. If you're talking about Netflix (and other streaming platforms), a lot of the traditional rules still apply, and Netflix has its own preferences/needs on top of the traditional ones. These days, most Hollywood execs don't call Netflix "new media." It's talked about in the same breath as traditional premium networks HBO or Showtime.

Hi Nina, agencies and management companies close for at least 2 weeks for the holidays. So this year, very little agency business will be done after Dec 18. Studios/networks still release movies/TV over the holidays, so those execs can't totally check out the way that agents can go away. But you never know - some agents will want to catch up on reading over break, and some people will be feeling charitable and open-minded about new clients, while others will be planning to totally check out and relax. All that said, I wouldn't suggest sending out query letters after first week in December.

How do you submit TV pilots, I'd hate to miss out I have a really awesome concept.

I recommend the traditional "get a manager, then get an agent" route, but as you know, you can also pitch on S32, Virtual Pitchfest, and various in-person pitch fests.

Regina, your views are always welcome... I was always under the impression, speaking of 'broadcast media' that pitches are still acceptable, from unsigned writers up until the 1st week in December like you stated. But lately, I've been getting a lot of, "try to have it submitted or pitched by the end of November", in order not to go straight into the slush pile, although your chances of going into the 'slush pile are still not in your favor... I've always held the belief that this might be a good time to catch them, during the holidays, on the lookout for something new, or a promising writer, when an exec or agent may take the time to catch up on some of his backlog of material, emails personally.

Daniel, you should have a completed pilot script at the least, a series bible, series arc, seasonal arc, character arcs during the 1st season... I don't have the link handy at this time, but their are several wonderful sites that will spell this out for you... google, "How to create a TV series bible or pitch."

Hi Keith, if you are pitching a broadcast show to an agent/manager/producer, they would be developing it (and developing you) in this interim period in prep for the next broadcast selling season. That's a good thing. Here's a dream scenario: You pitch a manager now. He loves it. He brings you up in next week's staff meeting, and he shares your pilot script with his colleagues; the whole team reads the pilot script over Xmas break. In January, they come back and officially sign you. In Jan-Feb, they work on the script with you. In March, they attach a non-writing producer and/or showrunner. These producers work on the script with you from April-July. They get you an agent in June. They take the package (your script, you, and the producers) to networks right after July 4th. It sells. A wonderful, wonderful timeline.

Just an example of a timeline for broadcast.

Thanks for the answers to my question Regina! Much appreciated.

Hello W.Keith, I have all those documents, I wanted to get a director to make it but none seemed to want to work on it but this has abcFamily written all over it so if they see it they will love it even if I have to get me an agent

Daniel, if it has ABC Family written all over it, then you MUST find the right path and door to get it to them! I can't wait to get started on my ABC Family project! I finally have a legit idea for a 8-12 yr old family show!! Congrats Jim! I had a pretty good week of making contact with a major PM, buyers, two pitch request, cold calls went fairly well. I want to emphasize this point to all those prepping pitches - Cold Call FIRST! Don't be afraid, they won't bite, at least not the gatekeepers. You'll be surprised at how receptive they are if you come off as professional, business like and a pleasure to talk with. If you get the opportunity to strike up a 60sec conversation with the assistant, be memorable.

Hi Keith, I might be misinterpreting your post. But fyi, ABC Family's new pilot pick-ups all feature lead characters in theirs 20s as far as I know. http://deadline.com/2015-abc-family-pilots/

that's good to know Regina, I should have just said, 'teen' and 'pre-teen" concepts - are always in demand, as being told to me by numerous agents and producers. I apologize for generalizing it all under "ABC Family" type of programming - in referencing my own shows concept.

Dear Keith If you write to abcFamily they send you an email from Corp.Legal.U.I@disney.com so not sure how to get it to the TV executives like you people tell us to do, going to the email address of their executives just gets an unsolicited submission response from the legal department and not sure how to get round that, if I call they might give me the email to send to or hang up, these are busy people and not sure where on abcFamily I should call in order to be as successful as you people.

Sorry, Daniel, you can't start at the end. We're not in a position to take a show directly to the networks. Start on the producer level, managers and agents of talent you think might be a good fit for your project. Then they have to take it to their people, put together a package, and then pitch it to the networks. Sorry, if I confused you into thinking, as unknowns, we can take a project directly to the networks. It's a process..

I wasn't starting at the end, I've trying for 8 years to start this business, if you don't make a penny within a decade you never get your own house and have to live with your parents forever. I can't get talent interested unless a studio is interested so have written to the agents, legal representatives of show creators and got them to send the pitches, I know phone numbers of the guy who did lost's production company and I will fight until I have written to anyone I feel is suitable for making this abc Family style show.

Hi Daniel, for what it's worth, query letters will probably get more notice if you've stacked the deck in your favor. What I mean is, build up your credentials as much as possible, and show that you're the needle in the haystack. You're at the top of the amateur bunch, not the dozens/hundreds/thousands of others trying to get to them. You're the one they should spend an hour this weekend reading, not the other people. (We pros face a similar situation. We have to prove that we have developed the pitch they should buy when we pitch to the network/studio, not all the others. The lucky, deserving ones get bought, and then they have to climb another rung and prove that they have the pilot script that should get picked up, not all the others. Then they have to prove that they have the produced pilot that should go to series, not all the others. I am not telling Daniel to do anything that pros don't have to do. We all have to do it.)

That's the process, no one is contradicting it... but depending on you credentials, connections or lack there of, will define your starting point.