For those who are not aware of this excellent resource, 20 years of pilot scripts.
https://sites.google.com/site/tvwriting/us-drama/pilot-scripts
Screenwriting : TV Pilot Screenplay Goldmine by Vic Burns
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Man, this is awesome. Thanks.
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Cool, thank you for sharing!
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Cool. Thanks, Vic.
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Thanks, Vic, Great!! Question: for pitching a pilot screenplay MUST you have written more episodes, maybe even a complete season? Does anybody know how this works?
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This is incredible! Awesome find Vic Burns
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Rutger Oosterhoff. I can only give anecdotal advice on this. The chances of ever getting your pilot made right off the bat are close to zero. Ordinarily, you get staffed, work your way up the ladder and eventually get a shot - if you’re REALLY good, the work is amazing and Lady Luck is smiling upon you. That’s not to say that their aren’t exceptions. Personally, I write a pilot, outline a further nine episodes and have a story arc for a further 4 seasons. It just shows a greater depth and understanding of storytelling.
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Rutger Oosterhoff I agree with Vic Burns to the extent that creating a TV show (pilot and bible) right off the bat and finding somebody to produce it is really, really tough. However, more and more writers are finding ways of writing great stuff and funding the pilot themselves. It helps, cost-wise, to create contained stories, but doing it indie is becoming more and more common.
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Rutger Oosterhoff It looks like no one actually answered your question. Normally, you just write the pilot. That is all that is expected. Sometimes people will ask for a show bible that explains where the show is going at a highlevel, but not always.
With the pilot, even if it doesn't get picked up, you can use that as a writing calling card to get work.
The caveat: when submitting writing samples for work, some showrunners will read your pilot, but they will often want a spec episode of another show (never their own) to show that you can also capture the voices of the characters and understand story flow for a show.
Thanks for the info guys.
tnx