What To Consider When Writing A TV Pilot

What does a pilot script need to accomplish?
As a literary manager, I am sent pilot samples all the time.
Here are the 6 key elements I’m looking for:

#1: Establish the concept. – What is the show about? What about it is so different and compelling that an audience would tune in each week to watch?

#2: Show us the world. – Give us a comprehensive view of where the show will take place.

Common pitfall: writers set the pilot in a location, and then at the end of the pilot the character leaves to go somewhere completely different. The pilot should give us a taste of the world we will be experiencing throughout the series.

#3: Introduce the characters. – By the end of your pilot script, your audience should have a solid understanding of who will be the main participants in this series and why they will be so fun to watch interact with one another.

For at least the 1-2 main characters, we should understand what they care most about and why.

#4: Launch the Central Dramatic Question of the series and/or season.

#5: Tell a self-contained story. – aka launch and ultimately answer a Central Dramatic Question for your pilot.

#6: Fulfull the promise. – As a writer, you make promises to the reader at the beginning of your script.

Types of promises:
– genre based (if it’s a comedy, it should be funny. If it’s a horror, it should be scary).
– story based (don’t leave us hanging. Don’t leave major plot holes unanswered).
– consistent tone (if you establish a tone at the beginning, don’t switch things up suddenly halfway through).

And of course, do all this in 30 pages for a comedy pilot and 60 pages for a drama pilot.

If you are writing a pilot because the shorter length made it seem easier than writing a feature script, you have made a terrible mistake.
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by Staff Writer

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