What translation software did the last sentence come from?
All entertainment industry markets are saturated. That’s the nature of the beast. There will always be more sellers than buyers.
You can make animated short films (lots of animation students in this town, find somebody you like and pay them for their time), put them on youtube, enter them in festivals, and network as much as you can at industry events. If your scripts and your films are really good, they will attract interest from friends and associates, and they can recommend you to an agent. Your best shot at success, as stated by Exapno Mapcase, is to get an entry level job in the industry.
If you’re absolutely sure that your scripts and films are top quality, ready for broadcast, you can get the Hollywood Creative Directory from the LAPL and start cold calling agents, managers, and prodcos.
Your phone pitch has to be carefully planned and well executed. Networking with other young people in the business will give you a better idea on exactly how you want to approach this, because the preferred strategies change all the time. You might get 49 nos and one request to send your material, so when someone does aks for it, it better be good.
http://twoadverbs.blogspot.com/
http://www.donedealpro.com/default.aspx
http://www.tvwriter.com/
A couple of posters here seem pretty knowledgable about TV shows. Can any of you explain the importance of the credits, such as “Created by”? There seems to be a formal hierarchy to it, with compensation tied to that jierarchy. Thanks.
Also, in reading some of the links, I’m unclear on something: if a lawyer or agent gets a percentage, say 5% and 10 percent respectively, are those percentages tied to the project? Or to what you get out of the project. For instance, if I come up with a show and retain 10% “ownership” in it (wrong word, I know), do these people working on my behalf get a percent of the overall show, or of the percent that I get. The latter seems to make unfinitely more sense, but some things I’ve read make it unclear. Thanks again.
Another recommendation for YouTube/podcasting here. I have absolutely zero experience with Hollywood stuff and even less of an interest in “breaking in” to Hollywood, but my buddy and I produce a video podcast a couple of times per month and put them up on YouTube and on a website. Our videos are just 2 guys sitting on a couch, drinking beer, and making funny comments about independent and cheesy horror movies, with scenes from the movies playing over our voiceovers.
We’ve done a whopping 7 episodes, and we’ve already got people sending us their movies for free for us to review, offering us interviews with people only horror fans would know, like Kane Hodder, and even offering us bit parts in their movies (which, granted, are NOT the Hollywood type horror movies, but instead the type shot with camcorders and a $1000 budget).
It all happened very fast, but considering how insanely amateur and haphazard our production is, I can’t help but believe if you put up QUALITY videos, it would attract the right kind of attention.
I do believe this is the “new” entertainment and will be the future. People who produce shows and movies because they love the medium.
Creator credit is important because the creator owns the characters. The background setting, too, which is sometimes important. Creator credit goes into contracts and almost always carries a piece of the action.
The sitcom Cheers was created by the team of James Burrows, Glen Charles, and Les Charles. But the spinoff Frasier was created by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee. Even so, the original team got a created by tag at the end of each episode and undoubtedly a hefty check each time it was run.
Or Gene Roddenberry. He created the Star Trek universe. He gets a created by not only when the original series characters make an appearance, but also when any other show or movie is set in the Star Trek universe.
That’s why so many people laughed when the OP thought that creative control was “nothing ridiculous.” There is a technical difference between creative control and created by, to be sure. The former controls what goes out on the air. The latter remains in force even if you stop working on the series. They can take away the former but never the latter (unless they buy you out). Either way, however, it’s what people scheme for their entire lives. Few unknowns ever get anything close to it for a network show.
For something like Adult Swim, the situation is different. The creator’s/artist’s vision is usually crucial to such a show. I wish posters would stop being so secretive when they come to talk about their projects. The advice for Adult Swim is nothing like the advice for a sitcom. If you don’t tell us your reality you’ll get lousy and false advice. Why do you want that? But everybody does it. Weird.
Lawyers and agents get a percentage of the money that flows to their clients, not of ownership itself.
Thanks so much, Exapno Mapcase, great info. If I may impose a little further. Is it safe to say that the info you supplied applies to reality shows and games shows, as well? And, once you have an idea and it is registered with the WGA, is it customary to ask prospective agents, producers, etc, to sign an NDA?
Reality and game shows are usually packaged by a supplier. Again, some of the shows on the cable channels may be individual efforts. If so, the creator would keep control unless forced to sell off to get the show produced.
The WGA FAQ says:
They don’t look to be the proper place for registering reality or game show ideas, but I could be wrong. I’d talk to an entertainment lawyer about what’s expected about legal details. But remember, once you pitch your idea to a producer it’s out there and no NDA can bring it back.
I wasn’t trying to be secretive, I didn’t realize that it would be different for different genres. I figured that it would be similar for any nobody that was trying to get a show to be seen by the “right” people. I didn’t even plan on creating a TV show (I’m in L.A. by birth) but I got an idea for a goof on a friend and the whole thing kind of snowballed into people saying, “You should make that into a show.” I suspect that it may be a big hit on YouTube, but I can’t think of any TV shows that started on YouTube (I may be wrong).
Everything is different for every genre, every type, every variety in every possible field in entertainment and in everything else. You have to be specific. Always. I don’t care what the question is or what the topic is.
Sorry, but I’ve been burned by this a million times here, as have others. People put in lots of time and effort to try to answer a vague question and then find out it’s for nothing because the OP was thinking of something entirely different but didn’t want to reveal it or just didn’t bother mentioning it.
Just as a general rule to one and all: if you want advice, give us all the facts. Otherwise it comes across as: Doctor, I have a pain. What should I do?
You may be interested in Ken Levine’s blog. He’s a veteran TV writer with credits on MASH, Cheers, Frazier and many others. This post on selling Unsolicited Material seems particularly apt in this context.
If you’re gonna pitch a TV show, stick with the heater. They’re all over the breaking stuff.
As a semi-lurker here, let me just say that I consider your responses so far to be anything but “for nothing”. They’ve provided me a fascinating insight into the industry I never would have gotten otherwise!
South Park started as a viral video that got passed around the Internets. That was before YouTube though. Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow also got its start as a hobby video by a Hollywood unknown.
I’m not in TV, I’m in the videogame business, but a lot of the same principles apply. I post on a developers message board and we often get asked a similar question “I’ve got a great idea for a game. How do I get it made?”
Here’s one bit of advice that we often give would-be game designers: The question isn’t “How do I get this particular game made?” … the question is “How do I break into the industry and get myself in a position to make a game I want to make?”
If you’re going to do this you should think it as starting a career, not as bringing a particular project to fruition. Do you want to work in TV full time? Do you want to be a professional writer, director, animator, whatever? Do you have the necessary skills to pull it off?
If the answer is “hell, yes” then by all means go for it. Pursue this project, but pursue it as the first step in what will hopefully be a long and productive career.
But if you’re not in for the long haul, there’s no point. Because all of these creative fields are very, very competative and you’re going up against people who are doing it full time, with years of experience and tons of passion. You need to have the same level of commitment if you’re going to compete.
And remember, success in a creative field isn’t about having one brilliant idea. It’s about having dozens of decent ideas on a daily basis, often under deadline pressure.