TV Pilot question

popmuze

Last of a Dying Breed
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 31, 2005
Messages
2,597
Reaction score
181
Location
Nowhere, man
I've written a pilot and five more episodes of a sitcom about which I am uniquely qualified to write. The problem is, I don't have enough one liners in it (or practically any). Would a production company ever buy the concept, make me a consultant, and get their own writers to punch up the jokes?
 

nickj47

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 10, 2018
Messages
261
Reaction score
47
Location
Novato, CA
You could try submitting a treatment. If you don't know what that is, it's basically a long synopsis with notes about the characters and such, and it can run for a dozen pages or more. For a TV series, it could be the beginning of the show's 'bible'. Being 'uniquely qualified' is a good draw. The treatment should be clever in its own right, highlighting the funniest aspects of your story.

If anyone buys into the concept, they may ask for your scripts as a writing sample. If they really love the thing, there's any number of things they might do. Making you the show runner (i.e. 'creator') and hiring a bunch of their own writers is probably the least likely scenario. But it could happen. They could also have you jump through hoops with notes and rewrites and changes and then drop the thing altogether with no warning. It's a tough business. You got to try, though.