Quick question guys. Writing a half-hour comedy pilot and was wondering about an acceptable page count. More concerned with the max than the minimum.
Screenwriting : Page count by Javiron Thompson
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usually 30-35 pages for single cams, with act 1 being the longest at around 15, Act 2 at around 10, and act 3 being the shortest.
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Network comedy - 22 to 25 (with clear breaks)
Streaming comedy 26-32
You could stretch the latter to 35, but you'll likely be asked to get it down. Better to start lower than higher when soliciting reads.
Robert Beaujean thank you!
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Richard "RB" Botto Thank you. I’m confident in your answer.
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Been at it for some time, my friend. Best wishes with the writing.
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People would aim for 30. But if you went to 38. it may come back to 30 in editing. Fawlty Towers was a 60 minute show. John Cleese said he was write 90 and use film editing to get it down.
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Gotta knock back against this one a bit, Craig. Having been through this war many, many times and recently selling a show to one of the biggest prod co's in town, they'll want that half hour at 30 or below and the drama at 60 or below in the writing stage before they go out to talent. And they certainly want it there before they go to the buyers. Too much competition for reads these days, so they want it lean, mean and on time.
Now all of this can change during production, but for getting the work out there, getting reads and securing a buy or option closer to those page counts is always better.
Also, real quick on Fawlty Towers. That was a half hour comedy and Cleese was the creator and producer and had final cut from the BBC. He could do what he wanted. In this day and age, first time sellers of TV certainly do not and even the biggest creators have to succumb to the buyer's requirements and whims.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fawlty_Towers
"half hour at 30 or below" - That's what I thought but not everyone is aware of this.
Is it single-cam (looks like a drama, but half hour comedy) or multi-cam (sitcom)? Because the two have very different formatting and therefore different acceptable page counts.
Was it 30. Haven’t dusked off the DVDs in a long time. You are correct, he was everything in the show (and his wife at the time Connie).