idea from a neophite

[Spike]

I am in my later years of manufacturing industry with no broadcast experience. I have had a persistant idea for the last 10 years for a TV series and wish to pursue it. Yes, I understand the odds are against me but that "reality" just adds to the credibility of the idea and gives it strength.
Can someone give me pointers ?
As with most newcomers I may appear to be "just another". If you percieve me as such do not bother to reply, my time and yours is too valuable.
As I do in hiring for my industry and in advising newcomers, and as many of you in similar positions say, "only serious inquiries please".
Where do I begin ?

[Greg Strangis]

Spike: This is a town full of ideas, so the way to push yours to the front of the line is to write it in the form of a script. This accomplishes a number of things. It allows you to protect your idea since scripts can be copyrighted, but ideas cannot be. It demonstrates to the reader(s) that the project has the potential to work creatively and commercially. A script helps folks with limited imaginations visualize what you're trying to accomplish.

A script is also a tool that can work for you. It can open to the door to literary agencies for representation and production companies that might be looking for new/fresh projects.

Marketing your idea is always a challenge. Too many folks in Hollywood do not like to read. One way around this is shoot a short version of your project -- a teaser/trailer -- and try to go viral on the Internet. I don't know what your project is, but some creators have found success staging readings, or mounting their TV projects first as theatre presentations, putting the project on its feet so potential buyers can get a look at what the finished product might look like.

Sorry, got to go and take a call.

Good luck.

[Spike]

Greg,

Thanks for the quick reply.
Agreed a script would help and a sample is in process.
Need a quick clarification to your rpely;
[I]scripts can be copyrighted, but ideas cannot be

My idea is not for a simple once and done show but for a series. Thus a script while indicative of a single episode may not explain well the concept as a whole. Suggestion ?

Next, how does one copywrite a concept since it is an evolving idea ?

Thanks again,

Spike

PS; One thing I need to get over is the reason I chose to live in M and not NY or CA, there is a real world outside of those circles, but that is a different conversation... :)

[Greg Strangis]

Greg,

Thanks for the quick reply.
Agreed a script would help and a sample is in process.
Need a quick clarification to your rpely;[I]scripts can be copyrighted, but ideas cannot be
Copyright is available to the unique expression in fixed form. Scripts meet this criteria whereas "ideas" do not. Stories also meet this criteria, as do series bibles, character arcs and the like.

By way of example, if you pitch me an idea about "a medical show featuring a cranky doctor with a messed up personal life, but possessed of absolutely flawless genius in his professional life," that's something that cannot be protected by copyright. On the other hand, if you were to hand me the pilot script to HOUSE, I think we can both agree that that is uniquely expressed in fixed form.


My idea is not for a simple once and done show but for a series. Thus a script while indicative of a single episode may not explain well the concept as a whole. Suggestion ?
Traditionally, series start out as pilot scripts which become pilot programs that ultimately become series. The purpose of a pilot epsiode is to suggest what the series will be. Sure, pilots can be supported by story projections, series bibles and other things, but ultimately it comes down to that single initial episode. If the test audience doesn't get it, the series doesn't get ordered.

LOST is a great example of a pilot-turned-series where the pilot didn't begin to explain the true concept of what the series was to be. Oh, yeah, the pilot had a plane crash, a group of survivors and an island with strange beasts, etc. But the pilot did not even come close to telling the audience what was in store for them as the series matured. What the pilot did sell was the idea that the audience was being introduced to a world of magic and mystery and metaphysics.


Next, how does one copywrite a concept since it is an evolving idea ?
One cannot copyright a concept, evolving or not.

PS; One thing I need to get over is the reason I chose to live in M and not NY or CA, there is a real world outside of those circles, but that is a different conversation... :)It should come as no surprise that living outside Hollywood makes breaking into Hollywood exponentially more difficult.

[Greg Strangis]

Spike: Go here (http://artfulwriter.com/?cat=4) for some more detail on copyright, what does and does not qualify, what is and is not protected, and why.

[TDeVolld]

Spike:

Greg's on the money when it comes to getting the idea in a fixed form. There is a protocol for presenting work that exists to protect both creators and buyers, and the more familiar you can make yourself with how things really work, the better prepared you'll be to take meaningful next steps.

As I often inform writing students at the university level, there are some wonderful downloadable materials at www.johnaugust.com that include John's pilot script and treatments for the series "DC" that illustrate just how work should be presented. Larry Brody also has some useful books on writing for television available through his www.tvwriter.com.

Even if you are presenting a reality series, you'll need to have your format down on paper and well thought out with a number of games, challenges, projected actions and arcs, even though once you are picked up, any of those elements may be altered.

Ideas are free as the air. Tangible manifestations of those ideas are the commodity.

Good luck to you!

[Greg Strangis]

Ted Elliott's & Terry Rossio's Wordplayer (http://www.wordplayer.com/) is another terrific resource for writers. It's nothing less than a Masters Class in screenwriting put on by two of the most successful writers in Hollywood.