How Did That Pilot Land?

Last Friday I learned that a friend of mine and his writing partner sold their pilot to a studio.  Yippee!!  Once it's ordered, they will be producers and writers on the series, which I'm certain will be a hit!  The big question, HOW did you do it?  Did your agent pitch it?  Nope, no agent.  Did you have an inside contact already established? Not at all.  Had you sold one before?  Pitched one before?  No, first time.  Did you film a presentation pilot to pitch it?  Oh, no.  WHAT?  Well, then how, dammit?  They joined a book club.  After the meeting, they chatted with a group member who happened to be awfully connected (to say the least), they  mentioned they were writers, and group member suggested they send over some of their work.  And rolling the ball went.

This got me thinking (and yes, it hurt).  What about all those pilot presentations folks film independently?  Do they work?  After giving it a long thought (really hurt) I couldn't think of a single independently produced pilot presentation I knew of, that had ever become a series.  I came up with one that was bought by a studio, but was never ordered as a series.

So wait, then why do people make presentation pilots?  Who gave them the idea?  What gave them the idea that it's a good idea, with so little evidence that it works?  Is presentation pilot-making some kind of epidemic, full of false hope, infecting creative, ambitious writers and producers?

And the verbal pitch-only approach sort of makes sense.  We always think the book was better than the movie... and it usually was.  But why do we think that?  Maybe it's because we have an idea in our minds that is personal to us about who the characters are, what their surroundings look like, etc.  When what we have in our minds clashes with what we see on screen, there's a disconnect.  It's all wrong!  That's not at all the people and story I had in my brain!  I don't like it!!!


Well, when you pitch a project and other people get to just listen to your ideas, and picture it in their own minds, it becomes their own.  Perhaps it's much easier to say yes to something, and to like it more and more when you get to picture it for yourself, rather than try to like someone else's vision served up in a mini episode.


Got a great TV show idea?  Maybe you don't need to get an agent, schmooze your pants off, or spend your time and money shooting a presentation pilot.  Maybe just join a book club.