ScriptFaze

How to Get Rich Writing TV

The rumors are true:

Television writing is where the MONEY IS.

For writers, television is the land of yogurt of honey. Or if you don’t like yogurt—just the honey. Seriously—no creative folk make more money than top-tier TV writers. What’s that you say? Leonardo DiCaprio got paid $20-million to appear in Shutter Island? Yeah, well, Larry David got paid $250-million for 1/3 of the DVD rights for Seinfeld.

Writing TV is where it’s at if you love writing, play well with others, can produce quickly—and want to get paid.

The problem is—everyone else knows this, too.

As well as the paychecks, the world of television offers writers something more. Unlike movies, where the directors and producers ultimately call the shots and get all the credit, in TV the writers are top bosses. Executive Producer on Lost? JJ Abrams. Deadwood? David Milch. Chuck? Josh Schwartz. So what did all these Exec Producers do? Raise the money? Oversee the creative team? Sleep with the CEO of Sony?

Nope. They’re writers.

In TV-land, writers have more power than directors, and literally steer their show through seasons as the head-writers of a writing STAFF. We call these top-tier writers SHOWRUNNERS, and that’s their job—they RUN the SHOW. Other than network execs, they report to no one but themselves.

So—how do you get there? How does a new writer steer his or her career toward these soaring plateaus?

Five years ago, I’d have given you a different answer. For years, it all started with two steps:

•    STEP 1 – Write two or more SPEC scripts for your favorite, current television
                    shows.
•    STEP 2 – Find someone who WRITES on one of those shows—and give them
                    your script.

After that, the lucky writers would be noticed for their talent, and spend years as a staff writer on one of these shows. When enough man-hours had been spent writing-by-committee, you’d be given written-by credit on your own episode, and eventually build up the credits necessary to make you a legitimate TV writer. THEN you could return to the networks with your own concept for a series, and PITCH it to them in the hopes that YOU will be hired on as the head writer of your very own show.

Many people STILL make their path through this process—and if that’s you, I ain’t knocking it. It’s a good path—a proven path. And if you can hit all those bars, you’re headed down the right road. Some writers also begin as WRITING ASSISTANTS, and work alongside staff writers until they are eventually bumped-up to writers themselves. That works too.

But with the advent of cable television and the MANY CHANNELS that must now fill up programming time, the process has changed. The doors are now open for writers OF ALL BACKGROUNDS to jump right to the finish line, and PITCH their own TV series without ever having worked as a staff writer on a show.

In fact—this process in encouraged. “New blood” is all the rage in TV programming, and studios are more and more likely to give new-ish writers a chance. Now, does that mean that just anyone can walk in off the street and pitch The Wire? No. Of course not. You need to have already proven yourself in film writing or some other area of the entertainment world, and you must have WRITING SAMPLES that prove you’re no hack. These days, the process goes like this:

•    STEP 1 – Write at least (2) original TV pilots OR screenplays OR stage plays
                    that are fresh, brilliant, and totally unique. Gone are the days of
                    writing SPECS—these days, creative execs want to see what’s
                    DIFFERENT about your writing, not how well you mimic someone
                    else’s.
•    STEP 2 – Develop a PITCH for a new TV series. A pitch is an idea with a
                    fresh HOOK that can be delivered VERBALLY in 10-15 minutes. If
                    you’re shaking your head in confusion, go watch the The Player.
                    Your new show idea should be written FOR OUR TIMES, and be
                    SPECIFIC in it’s intended audience.
•    STEP 3 – If you don’t have an agent or a manager, contact anyone you
                    know in television and let them know you have a pitch about X,
                    and ask them if they can connect you with a development exec or
                    production company. If you don’t know anyone working in
                    television, network over the internet, attend group-pitching
                    events, and go to film festivals. Just like SHIT—networking
                    happens.
•    STEP 4 – Once you’ve made a connection with producers, ask them if they’d
                    like to hear your pitch. If they say NO—ask them if they’d be
                    willing to read your writing samples. When approached
                    respectfully, you’ll be surprised by how often production
                    companies are willing to forgo their own solicitation policies, and
                    will agree to read a script.
•    STEP 5 – When someone has said "YES, we’d love to hear your PITCH"—
                    prepare for the meeting. PITCH your idea to anyone who will
                    listen to it. Really—anyone. In preparation for the exec, pitch to
                    your mom, pitch to Uncle Billy—pitch to the guy next to you on the
                    elevator. Each time you practice your pitch, it will improve—and
                    who knows? Maybe Uncle Billy served in the Navy with the
                    President of Universal.
•    STEP 6 – PITCH YOUR SHOW! Make sure your pitch is short and DRAMATIC.
                    Restrict your pitch to discussion of the show, its characters, and
                    its episode arc—your job is NOT to play businessman, and you
                    should NEVER suggest the marketing possibilities or projected
                    earnings for your series. Avoid phrases like:

        •    "This is the best police show you’ve ever heard!"
        •    "This show is a PERFECT FIT for your company."
        •    "Based on the earnings of similar shows, you will make a FORTUNE
                on this idea."
        •    "I promise you, deep down, this show will be a success."

No, no, no—and NO.

Each of these phrases make you look like an amateur, primarily because they are telling the producer how to do HIS job. No one knows if your show is a match for their company better than the producers who WORK THERE. Likewise, they know better than you (or like to think they do) how well-matched your show is to the market place.

Your job is to convince them of all these things by focusing on the STORY and CHARACTERS of your show idea. Make them BELIEVE it is a marketable, well-matched, totally profitable, one-of-a-kind idea by how well you describe your concept in the room.

After that, it’s out of your hands. If you get a YES—wonderful news! You move into the development process. If you get a NO—cut your losses, and start squirreling out a new company that you can pitch to.

But WAIT a minute! Are they really gonna let someone who’s never written for TV run their very own show?

Well—no. You may not need to spend years as a staff writer to sell a pitch for an original series, but based on your experience (or lack of experience) it’s likely that a proven SHOWRUNNER will be hired on as Executive Producer and head writer. A new writer who’s created his or her own show may be contractually relegated to a STAFF WRITER or ASSOCIATE PRODUCER position, and receive a fraction of the pay received by the showrunner.

Unfair? Yeah, maybe. But like so many things in the film and TV industry, you need to see your first pilot-sale as a big step forward to greener pastures ahead. If you sell a pilot, you’ve already beaten the odds. If you can sell one AGAIN, studio execs might get the idea that you really know something, and put you in charge of your own series.

So fight on, writers! There’s no one at the top of the food chain who didn’t start by taking classes, reading articles about the ‘biz, and dreaming about their unlikely successes. But they stayed at it, developed their skills, grew their contacts—and now look at them! Putting those movie star paychecks to SHAME...

Get on the HOOK

It’s a term that is used ad nauseam by movie execs, and is discussed so freely by TV producers that you’d think it was the name of their last-born child. “What’s the HOOK?” they’ll ask. “I like your pitch—the characters are great, I can see it on TV—but I still can’t quite grasp the show’s HOOK.”

Ugh. For writers, it’s an obnoxious phrase that gets in the way of any pitch that at first glance seems slightly complex or multi-layered. For producers, it’s a term that connects CONCEPT to MARKETABILITY, and conjures up visuals of SNAGGING would-be audiences at the very mention of the new movie or TV series. But really—what is a HOOK?

Simply put, a HOOK is a concept that seems fresh, daring, sparkly and NEW, and can also be summarized quickly in just a few impactful words. It usually describes a situation—an INCITING INCIDENT—that is so GREAT that it will fuel a multi-season run or a blockbuster movie without veering from this initial setup.

Suburban mom deals weed. Yup—you hooked me.

Social butterfly gets amnesia. Hook, hook, hook.

Normal people develop super powers. Hooked—and hung.

A good hook should be embedded in the LOGLINE for any pitch or spec script, but should be easy to isolate. It’s the TWIST that washes the bored look from your face and makes you say, “oh yes, I’d watch THAT.”

And having a great hook makes sense. If you want to sell your projects and push your career forward, your will NEED to make sure your concepts each have a clear and exciting hook. But it is also a term that seeks to bottle every single movie idea and every single TV show idea into the same Hollywood blockbuster model. Simply put, some great movies and great television shows do not have great hooks!

What’s the hook for Seinfeld? A show about nothing? Four friends hate everything? Yuck. No way. That show would have a very tough time selling in today’s hook-obsessed marketplace, and yet… It’s friggin’ Seinfeld! And what about Annie Hall? Taxi Driver? An effete intellectual nerd discovers his match in a quirky soul-searching musician? A lonely veteran drives a taxi around NY talking to himself? Those movies could NEVER get made in our current hook-y world. And that’s the problem…

Hooks are easy to wrap your head around, and are sold around town like fast-food because no one ever has to STOP and READ anything. You get it all from the hook. And while this works well some of the time, the result has been that shows and movies without those crispy, sparkly hooks are very often just swept under the table.

So what does this mean for you, the writer?

It means that if you want to play ball, you need a hook. It’s unavoidable. Particularly for TV writers, your pitch will not get sold without a contemporary-sounding, kicking-ass-and-taking-names HOOK. But you should also be aware that you MAY have good ideas or have written a good script that simply can’t be summarized in five words. And that’s okay. Your path will be harder. Those projects might sit on the shelf a bit longer. Butit doesn’t mean you’re a bad writer, or will never sell in the future. Concepts with great hooks will move quicker and open more doors, but once your career has generated some momentum, there WILL be opportunity to push forward some projects with greater complexity.

What’s the hook for Mad Men for instance? An ad exec in 1960 lives a double-life? Hmmm. Not the strongest. And what about for The Wire? A street-smart police unit taps the phones of drug dealers? Pretty damn generic. And yet, Matt Weiner and David Simon were able to get these shows made because they—the writers—were already proven entities.

So it can happen! But not overnight. If you are a new writer and want your career to develop faster, you need to make sure your ideas have great hooks. Unfortunately, the term “hook” and the concept “hook” are here to stay. As writers, the best we can do is to be savvy about the business. Get on the hook now, and some day in the future you might be in a position to break free. (Right, Julia Roberts?)

How to Craft a VERBAL TV PITCH

EVERY TV SHOW THAT YOU'VE EVER SEEN started in the same place: With one or more nervous writers pretending to act cool and collected while simultaneously putting on a song and dance routine for a one or more TV executives trying equally hard to act personable and important. We call this ritual the VERBAL PITCH.

The verbal pitch is the process by which you, the writer, will present and attempt to SELL your cool new TV show idea to a network, TV channel, or media conglomerate. And it’s the ONLY game in town. Yes—occasionally some TV shows have sold based on a spec script, but even in those circumstances, the writers still had to drag themselves into someone’s office and TALK THROUGH their ideas further before they got the ultimate greenlight.

And that’s what a verbal pitch is—a talking through of a new TV show concept. When the time comes, TV writers must take their place on the couch of some exec (it’s ALWAYS a couch) and spend 15-20 minutes EXPLAINING how their new show concept would translate to the screen. The goal is a YES, and the best-case scenario is a YES IN THE ROOM. If you do get a YES, the TV company will give you a SCRIPT ORDER and contract you to start developing the show. Most often, however, a pitch will be PASSED on. But if you’ve done your job well and convinced the suits of your competency, that door will be open just a little bit wider in the future—even if they turned you down this time around.

So, how should approach your verbal pitch? What are the most effective methods for communicating your ideas, and how should you best prepare?

Here’s what I suggest:

PREPARING YOUR PITCH

a. Preparation is everything. When you’re “in the room” you want to SEEM natural and at ease, but in reality, you should have PRACTICED your pitch many, many times beforehand. Fifteen minutes may sound like plenty of time to lay out your new show idea, but trust me—those minutes will be FLYING BY, and you don’t want to find yourself at minute fourteen having just started into your pilot synopsis. Write your pitch out beforehand, and read it out-loud at a natural pace and cadence. Time yourself, and make sure you’re bringing it home in the right number of minutes. Pitching is serious business—so give it the preparation and thought beforehand that it deserves.

b. If possible, MEMORIZE your pitch so that you are not reading it off a sheet of paper. There’s no harm in keeping a written version of your pitch nearby just in case you choke mid-way through, but     do your best to INTERNALIZE the pitch beforehand so that it comes off ALMOST like conversation once you’re up and running. Yes, you are a writer—but for fifteen minutes you will need to become an ACTOR as well.

SHAPING YOUR PITCH

a. Generally speaking, once you re in the room with the TV execs, you should start your pitch by GETTING COMFORTABLE. Make nice with the execs and spend several minutes connecting as people. Talk about sports. Talk about fashion. Talk about ANYTHING but your purpose for being in that room. Then, when the moment strikes, transition out of friend mode and into business mode with an off-hand comment like, “So, let me tell you about my show,” or “Well. I guess I better tell you why I’m here.” Generally, THEY will initiate the transition into pitch-time, so be ready to switch gears.

b. Start your pitch by clearly stating your SHOW’S TITLE, GENRE, and LOGLINE. After this, move into your SHOW OVERVIEW. (For a refresher on these terms, read the post HOW TO CREATE A TV PITCH PACKAGE.) Maintain a conversational tone—as though you were pulling this stuff off the topof your head—but keep your sentences brisk and interesting. If you’re expecting a LAUGH at a certain line, but the execs sit there quietly—move on. Assume they heard you the first time, and don’t repeat     yourself.

c. After the show overview, make a choice if you want to pitch the CHARACTERS first, or the PILOT SYNOPSIS. If your show is very character driven, such as Dexter or Weeds, you may want to start by describing your central characters. If it is more plot driven, such as The Wire or 24, you’ll probably want to start with the pilot. Definitely DO BOTH, but the order is up to you.

These days, it’s become increasingly common for writers to bring a CHARACTER BOARD to a pitch with them. You don’t need to do this, but a POSTER full of photographs that suggest the looks of your major characters can certainly be a useful tool in showing execs the type of cast you’re imagining for you program. Some writers will even use brief VIDEO TRAILERS to suggest the look, feel and tone of their new show.

d. Next, briefly describe the SEASON-ONE ARC of your show, and offer some examples of FUTURE EPISODES that may be included in this season. All of this should be kept brief—less is definitely more, but you also want to tell the execs enough about your series that they are confident YOU have done all the work necessary in preparing your show for a long run on television.

e. Finally, SUMMARIZE. Restate the THEME and HOOK of your show, and end on a HIGH NOTE. If you don’t have confidence in your idea, no one else will either, so you should finish your pitch absolutely BEAMING. If you are excited about your show, there’s a better chance THEY will be excited, too. Ending with a JOKE, QUIP, or THEMATIC STATEMENT is often the best way to wrap up your pitch.

GETTING OUT OF THERE

a. When your pitch is concluded, your instinct may be to run out of that office as fast you possibly can. Fight it. ‘Cause if the pitch went well, they will most likely have a questions. If you DON’T get questions after your pitch, it doesn’t mean that all is lost—the execs may have another meeting to get to, or have already had all of their questions answered within your pitch. But getting questions is always a good thing. It means they’re curious. They’re thinking about your show, and trying to decide whether it’s a fit for their company. SO KNOW YOUR SHOW BACKWARDS AND FORWARDS. If they ask you what happens in season three, or want to know more about a character’s motivation, be ready with an answer—whether it’s made up in the moment, or pulled from some section of your pitch package that just didn’t make it into the verbal pitch.

b. When the time is right, leave. Don’t linger. Once the thing is over, it’s over. If you haven’t received a YES in the room (a very rare occurrence), you WILL get a call within the week with a YES or a PASS. In some instances, a TV company may also give you a MAYBE, but this is rare as well. A ‘maybe’ will come accompanied with notes and an invite to pitch again once you have implemented these notes into your show concept. A MAYBE is much better than a PASS, and you will want to take it seriously. There was something about your pitch that they REALLY LIKED, or else they wouldn’t have made themselves available to hear the thing all over again in the future.

FINAL THOUGHTS

a. NEVER DISCUSS BUSINESS. During your pitch, never say things like “this show would be a great match for your company,” or “based on the success of a similar show, you should make a lot of money on my show,” or “the merchandizing possibilities are enormous!” When you do these types of things, you are telling the execs how to do THEIR jobs, and they won’t like it. It will also make you look like an amateur. Your pitch should be SO GOOD that it intrinsically suggests its profit potential, how well it matches their company profile, etc… It is NOT your job to state the obvious. You are a writer—they are the producers.

b. DON’T CUT YOURSELF SHORT. Don’t use expressions like, “I know it’s a little generic, but…” or  “We know we still have work do on this next section, but bear with me.” If you don’t TELL THEM your show’s flaws, they will be less likely to notice them! These sorts of statements also undercut you as a writer. Once again—if YOU have no confidence in your skills, then why the hell should anyone else? There is no pitch ever delivered that had ZERO FLAWS—so focus on the positive, and worry about how to fix the minor holes in your pitch AFTER you’ve been contracted and paid to do so!

c. THERE IS NO ONE WAY TO PITCH. I’ve outlined a strategy used by this writer and many writer’s I know, but it is in no regard the ONLY way to pitch. There are several other successful strategies writers have used to get their ideas across the finish-line and into the script phase, and I would encourage ALL OF YOU to write down any tips, strategies or methods you have used to pitch TV in the COMMENTS section below.             


That’s the reason we started ScriptFaze—to give writers an opportunity to help others out with tips, advice, and practical knowledge. So jump in!

How To Create A TV Pitch Package

Television PITCHES are still done the old-fashioned way—verbally, in the room with television executives and/or producers. However, there are many situations in which you will need a document that outlines your pitch in written form. Whether it’s to curry the interest of production companies, copyright your idea, or efficiently develop your show with an interested party, you will need your pitch typed up and ready to be sent out at a moment’s notice.

There is no correct way to structure a pitch package. However—some ways are better than others, and I’ve outlined a format below that MANY television companies are using today. The bottom line is to KEEP IT BRIEF. You want to provide readers a thorough understanding of your show and let them know why it totally rocks, but you do NOT need to answer every question. Questions are a good thing. If execs read your pitch package and care enough to ASK YOU SOMETHING about it, you’ve just hit it out of the ballpark. Spend time getting MORE SUBSTANCE packed into LESS SENTENCES, and you’ll be headed down the path to a winning pitch package.

Pitch packages should run NO LONGER than 3-5 pages. They should be single-spaced and typed in a common font, such as Time New Roman, Helvetica or Arial, and should always include PAGE NUMBERS.

Okay—let’s jump into it. Your pitch package should include the following elements:


1.    HEADING: 2 or 3 lines

Don’t use a separate title page. Your heading should be centered or justified left on the top of your first page, and should not take up too much space. Your heading should include your show’s TITLE, the show’s LENGTH and GENRE, and the AUTHOR’S NAME(S). For example:

CUT ABOVE
an hour-long drama
by Johnny Newman

Or:

“Pink Slip” -- half-hour sitcom
by Mary Goody & Jill Westerhouse

Formatting and punctuation idiosyncrasies don’t matter. Just keep it simple.


2.    LOGLINE: 1-2 sentences

The logline is the most important part of any pitch package, and you want to make you completely NAIL IT. If your logline comes off as dull or meandering, no one will care about the rest of the pitch. This is your opportunity to present your show’s HOOK and to inspire producers to flip eagerly through the next four pages of detail.

So, what is a LOGLINE?
 
A logline is a summary of your ENTIRE SHOW CONCEPT captured in just one or two well-formed sentences that tells your readers WHO the main character is, WHAT the show is about, and HOW the main conflict of the show might be resolved. It is written in beginning-middle-end format, and shorter is better. Here are some examples for shows you might recognize:

When people around the world begin to develop superhero powers, an ill-equipped twenty year-old must race against time to save mankind from an apocalyptic end.

Or:

After losing his winning lottery ticket, 30 year-old Earl decides he is the victim of bad karma, and dedicates himself to righting every wrong he’s ever committed.

Or:

Following her husband’s unexpected death, suburban mom and upright citizen Nancy Botwin embraces a new profession: neighborhood pot dealer.


3.    ONE-PARAGRAPH OVERVIEW: one-paragraph

After your logline, your pitch package should include a ONE PARAGRAPH overview of your entire show. Think of this as your PRIMARY PITCH. You paragraph should be no longer than fifteen lines, and should expand upon your logline by providing enticing details about the WORLD of your show, the SEASON-ONE ARC, and key SUPPORTING CHARACTERS. This is also your opportunity to establish your show’s TONE. Is it a dark, ominous, scary kind of drama? Or a light-hearted wink-wink type of show? Is your half-hour sitcom goofy or endearing? Again—you do NOT need to answer every question. In fact, you should not. But you do want to SUGGEST how your show will work, and what will make it unique.

For example:

Pink Slip is the story of MATTIE BAKER (30) a perpetually chipper mother of three whose world is thrown upside down after she is fired from her high-paying job at an advertising firm. Determined to turn her bad fortune into good, Mattie partners up with three of her closest lady friends to start “Pink Slip,” a job-placement firm for recently laid off women. Determined not to let a single client slip through the cracks, Mattie and her friends will pull strings, knock down doors, and do whatever is necessary to knock out the competition in this upbeat sitcom about women taking charge of their own futures.


4.    PILOT SYNOPSIS: one page or less

Your pilot synopsis should be no longer than one-page, and if possible, closer to one-half. It should include an overview of your pilot episode, with particular focus on the section of the script that best captures your show’s CONCEPT. In the “Pink Slip” example above, the pilot synopsis would emphasize Mattie’s firing and the formation of the job-placement firm, but avoid scene-by-scene specifics. It would also include a brief, one-paragraph write-up of the pilot episode’s A-plot, which would most likely involve Mattie and her friends finding their very first client a new job—hopefully through an unexpected and surprising process.

The key thing to remember in drafting a compelling pilot synopsis is not to get lost in the minutiae. You must present a storyline that feels like a full episode in-and-of itself, but also establishes the world of your show for future episode. Use lots of adjectives, and include words that suggest the look and tone of your show. Beyond all else, your pilot synopsis must never drag or feel boring—if you’re unsure about whether or not to include something, chances are it should be cut.


5.    CHARACTER BREAKDOWNS: one short paragraph per character

Each of your central characters should be summarized in just 2-4 sentences that focus on their essential traits, flaws, and problems. These summaries should sound snappy, and SUGGEST a full-fledged character rather than outline out every single detail of who they are. It’s often useful to describe a SITUATION, and how they’d REACT in this situation, such as:

Marty is the kind of guy who’d steal candy from a baby—then steal the baby.

Or:

Mary will give her last dollar to a homeless person on the street, even if it means walking home from school rather than catching a bus.


It’s also okay to compare your characters to known celebrities and personalities, such as:

John looks like a young Brad Pitt, but has the confidence level of Fat Albert.

Or:

Jane is hotter than Jessica Alba, and she knows it.

It’s also alright to provide basic details about a character’s relationships with other key characters, especially if these relationships help to establish the dynamic of the show.

FINALLY—whenever possible, each character should be coupled with a PHOTOGRAPH. Use celebrity shots if possible, and combine each character description with an image that captures both their LOOK and ATTITUDE. 

So, a finished character synopsis might read like so:

CARLY (35) – It’s not easy balancing the cutthroat world of professional wrestling with the challenges of being a single mother, but Carly has never backed away from a challenge. When a surprise pregnancy threatened to derail her decade-long rise to the top of woman’s wrestling, Carly butted heads with MANNY, the CEO of the federation, but ultimately got her way. These days, Carly is a fiercely-devoted and strict mother to Gracie, her 6-year-old daughter, but beneath her tough exterior is a soft and sensual woman who just needs a good back rub.

Or:

ELLIOTT (22) – A natural athlete, Elliott was the star football player during his senior year and has always had an easy time with the ladies. Despite appearances, however, Elliot also has a huge insecurity complex born of his overbearing father, who is the MAYOR of Spring Bluffs. A big-hearted, loveable guy who would do absolutely anything for his closest friends, Elliott is currently home from college recovering from a sports injury. Over the course of the show, Elliott will not reach his full potential until he win’s his dad’s respect—or realizes he doesn’t need it.


6.    SEASON-ONE ARC: one paragraph

Next comes a tight-worded but thorough overview of the plot-arcs and key-character arcs that will unfold over the FIRST SEASON of your show. Your season arc may be fairly simple if you’re pitching a free-standing sitcom, but episodic shows will have more complex arcs, and this should be reflected in your season arc write-up. You do NOT need to say every detail of your show’s season-one storyline, but you DO need to suggest where you show is headed, and what some of the obstacles will be along the way.


7.    FUTURE EPISODES: one short paragraph per episode, (3) episodes total

Near the end of your pitch package, it is important to include brief, 3-6 sentence summaries of three future episodes. These episodes should be TITLED, and should read something like expanded loglines. Each episode summary should include mention of the A-plot ad B-plot for that episode, but does not necessary need to state how that episode ENDS. It is enough to describe the emotional arc of the key characters, and the setup of the episode’s MAIN STORYLINE.

For example:

“Smoke Gets In Your Eyes” – When a blue mist starts killing workers at a Spring Bluffs Electrical company, Mark and his friends suspect Xi CORP, but are shocked to learn that Elliott’s father (the Mayor of Spring Bluffs) is the main player behind a corporate cover-up. When Elliott discovers a blossoming relationship between Mark and Carly, he double-crosses the team to take sides with his father, and risks exposing the identities of his friends to Xi CORP.

Or:

“Queen of Hearts” – When Donna is fired from her job at Diaper Fresh, she returns home early to find Dan throwing a “house-hubby party” for local dads. His dirty little secret now exposed, Dan tries to make it right by taking Donna out for a romantic evening. All goes wrong, however, when Donna’s boss shows up at the restaurant and Dan tries to blackmail him into giving Donna back her job!


8.    BRIEF CONCLUSION: 2-6 sentences

At the very end of your pitch package, you should conclude with a brief paragraph that restates the THEME of your show, and reminds the reader of your show’s central HOOK. It is okay to be repeat a phrase or sentence you may have already included earlier if it helps to underscore why your show is COOL and UNIQUE.