Pitch to Pilot: Writing TV Drama

Ready to write your own TV series? What do you need to know? What do you need to deliver? Who do you deliver it to? And how do you go about that?

This course with writer/producer Neil Arksey is aimed at writers in theatre, prose, radio, comedy, advertising, or related fields, who want to learn more about how drama series are created and written and how to develop and pitch them.

On six Saturdays, over four months, six participants will develop their own original drama series. The group will be taken though a step by step introduction to the various techniques and methods employed in breaking a pilot and pitching the show.

The course will focus on three main areas:

• Developing your own original idea for a drama.

• Translating that idea into pilot beats, scene-by-scenes and a screenplay.
• Crafting a compelling pitch document that will sell the show.

In addition to an initial group project designed to enable writers to swiftly absorb techniques and processes they will need for developing their own projects, each writer will also develop a first draft of their pilot episode and a pitch document for that show.

The course will also examine the development of a continuing serial drama and trace each step of how productions are managed in-house, from initial idea to full concept, storylines, block outlines, futures and scripts. As a consequence, participants will leave the course much better equipped to participate in writers’ rooms and to understand what is required to work successfully in the script and story offices of a continuing or serial drama.

Topics covered in the classes include:

• The history and importance of serial story telling in TV drama
• Story Development
• Writers’ Rooms and working collaboratively
• Original Drama Ideas

• Character, Setting and Story
• Plot and Structure
• Beats, Act Structures and Scene by Scenes
• Breaking the Pilot
• Script Editing, Revising and Redrafting

• Crafting the killer outline
• Pitching
• Industry insights

Applicants will be expected to have had some (not necessarily professional) writing experience. They will be required to complete substantial in-class and homework assignments in order to achieve the course objective of completing a draft pilot script and outline document. Email access and sharing email contact are essential.

The course has been designed with lengthy breaks between sessions to maximise writing time and allow participants to complete the scripts of their original drama projects.

By the final week, writers that have completed all their assignments will have developed their own serial drama idea all the way to a first draft pilot script and received one-to-one feedback on their project from Neil.

All sessions take place from 10.30am to 4.30pm. ( IN-PERSON)

SESSION 1  

• Introductions. Course timetable and outline.
• Different kinds of drama. Serial, series, continuing. Production context etc.

• Each participant will be developing their own individual original drama series to pilot.
• Brainstorming ideas for the Group Project.
• The outline/pitch document – what it’s comprised of.
• Group Project: Pitch Group Project ideas. Choose. Discuss setting, core characters, timeline etc.

Homework: Individual Project: prepare to pitch idea / Group Project: brainstorming ideas for story strands

SESSION 2  

• Individual Project: First pitch of series idea.
• Discussion of the in-house team and working methods of a continuing drama production office; and also the relationship of this to freelance writers.
• Group Project: create the beats for pilot story strands.
• Storylining – strands and beats.

• Pitch, choose and allot pilot stories for Group Project.
• Writing story beats for designated story strands
• Homework: Individual Project: revise idea if necessary and complete outline package for next week / Group Project: turning the story strands of beats into a scene-by-scene for the launch episode.

SESSION 3  

• Group Project final: sharing/discussing scene-by-scenes.
• Individual Project: pitching loglines, synopses and other revised elements.
• Individual Project: clarifying potential story strands
• Individual Project: discussing key elements and structure of pilot
• Homework: Individual Project: creating the beats for the pilot. If ready, writing the scene-by-scene.

BREAK 1 

SESSION 4  

• Examining the pilot beats
• Turning beats and/or a scene-by-scene into a script – scene descriptions and dialogue
• Writing an outline: full length and one-pager

Homework: Individual Project: writing first draft of pilot script and pitch document

BREAK 2 

SESSION 5

• Feedback on scene-by-scenes and first draft scripts
• Script editing and revising drafts.

Homework: Individual Project: revise and complete pilot script & pitch document, to deliver by email before individual session.

BREAK 3 

SESSION 6  

Individual Project: One-to-one meetings. Each writer will receive a verbal report on their Pilot Script and Pitch Document, and advice on further development.