Ideas are a dime a dozen. Seriously. And you can't copyright an idea - only the expression of it. So - you need to 'express' your idea as a well thought out script. OR a treatment - explaining in great detail - exactly how your great idea works. Then register it. THEN shop it to companies who might be interested in the concept.
Good luck.
WhiteKnight is right.
I once walked into a local TV station, during an open house, and met the Executive Director who was looking for new shows. Having some experience pitching screenplays to Hollywood execs and books to NYC literary agents, I knew that I could at least come up with something on the spot and pitch it like actually knew what I was doing (which is questionable at best! LOL!). Anyway, part of the pitch involved getting the exec. dir. an actual script—that I hadn't written yet.
Two weeks later I wrote her up a script for a quirky faux-reality sci-fi news, comedy, and talk show.
A few days later she called me in to her studio and said to me, "You are one ambitious guy!"
She then bought the script and gave me a budget to actually produce it!
It lasted for about two years on the station that had a
San Diego Comic-Con episode as well!
But I don't think I could have really sold the show without a solid script to prove it could be done.
I remember an agent in Hollywood giving me some advice when pitching to other agents. It went like this:
Agent: "You've got a great idea for a story. Pitch it."
Me: "What if they want to see a script? What do I tell them?
Agent: "Tell them you're in the middle of a re-write and you'll get it to them in a couple of weeks."
Sure enough, that's exactly what happened. I pitched a screenplay idea to an agent that I basically made up earlier that day. Then when he asked for a script, I told him that I was in the middle of a re-write and that I'll get it to him in a couple of weeks. He said to me, "Great, send it when it's ready."
Three weeks later he got it and really liked it. Unfortunately, he left the agency he worked for sometime shortly after that.
It took me a year to track him down. When I did, he remembered the screenplay I sent him. Then he asked me the ubiquitous question all Hollywood agents ask,
"What else have you got?"
I sent him a bunch of ideas but nothing stuck.
But I took that experience and used it to sell the TV show idea to a local station.
Bottom line:
always have a script ready or be ready to bang one out to back up your pitch.