Q&A for How to Write and Pitch an Idea for a TV Show

Concentrate on making contacts for later while also working on your writing. Try following agents and production companies online, learning about the industry, and gaining an understanding of what the industry wants. Though the writing is important, so is the business. Think about creating entertainment that people want to see, and study things like target audience, genre, genre conventions, and the type of things that sell well versus what does not sell well.

Writing a great script for TV is the same as writing a great script for anything, whether it be a short film or a feature film. Make sure you have a great concept as well as a strong sense of structure and character. All of those need to be amazing in some way, as the competition is too stiff to rely on only one of those.

If your idea is good enough, they won't care what your age is. However, you will have to jump through a few contractual hoops an older person would not.

That's okay! It's a process. Read people's comments or ask people why they didn't like it. Listen to their feedback and make changes to your show where appropriate. Lots of shows aren't great when they start out, but get better over time. Keep at it.

You can at least say that you will be in my show as the main character, and you pursue the people in a meeting to do so too.

You could secure a copyright for your idea, or hire an entertainment lawyer to ensure your intellectual property remains your own.

Submit it to as many film agencies as you can under the TV show category. You might want to start developing a script or a story board; millions of people get ideas every day, and you're not going to stand out unless you think yours is worth something.

You may want to research your topic. However, even if it has been done before, yours might be way better. The worst thing you can do is not try.

A pitch is a short explanation of your show to gather interest and/or reel in potentially interested parties. There are a few variations, but the most popular is an "elevator pitch" - designed to be said in the short duration of about 20 seconds that you may have with someone on an elevator.

Find out their agency of record (ad agency) and write to the Creative Director.

If you mean in person, make sure you have everything prepared. Look physically presentable. The plot for your show must be intact, you have worked on your 15-minute pitch, and you have the entire show, as well as characters, mapped out. If you mean pitch to FOX online, go over and edit your script, make sure you have no spelling mistakes and try to get others to read it - to get opinions on if it was good, boring etc.

American producers -- like any others -- are just looking for good ideas. They don't care where they come from.

Change the names for protection against defamation and such. Also, altering events always helps. For example, when making 8 Mile, Eminem purposely chose not to use his own name so he didn't have to be 100% accurate with the depiction and could alter things slightly.

No. It can come across to the execs as paranoid. However, what you can do is include "WGA (W or E)" and your assigned script number in your contact information.

It doesn't matter where you're from, as long as your idea is good. Just travel to whichever country your preferred network is located in.

As long as it's not plagiarizing the production's content. Your ideas should be original and creative, but that doesn't mean you can't be inspired by another show's creativity.

You -- as the developer -- are not responsible for finding sponsors. After they buy your idea, the production company or network will do that.

The arc is the main story and sub-plots of the episode. Often an episode will introduce and wrap up a sub-plot in one episode.

Getting electronic proof of copy or WGA registration can help prevent someone from stealing your ideas.

First you should reach out to the author and let them know that you would like to pursue a TV show. You can give the author a sample of your work and show them your idea for the show, then ask if they will support it. In general, the ones who own the property should almost always be the first people you reach out to, since networks probably won't even talk to you unless the author is on board.

You do not necessarily need to be an actor to pitch an idea for a show.

It's unlikely Comedy Central would listen to a pitch from someone under 18 (even adults usually can't get in the room to give a pitch without a lot of professional experience). If you're younger and you have a pitch, consider talking to Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network instead.

If you have an agent, for your own protection, they shouldn't care about your age, as long as your idea is amazing.

Most likely not, because age does play a factor in dealing with certain agencies or companies. You may have a great idea, but a company would not accept a pitch from someone younger than 20 years of age. Besides, even if you were successful in getting your pitch to a company, there is no guarantee an agency would view your idea seriously. Match sure to keep notes about all the great TV show ideas you have and then pitch them when you're old enough to be taken seriously.

Yes. If you're going to base your idea on their show, you need permission to use their format; otherwise, you are infringing on their copyright.

In the long run, if the idea of your show is a solid concept and they buy into it and you are sincere about your illustrative limitations, they might just subcontract an artist or agency to produce your cartoon images. You could also seek out an artist on various social media apps or sites like Craigslist; there are usually art students looking for internship opportunities.

Yes - if it's in your contract. If your show gets picked up and produced by a production company, you'll likely have to sign a contract with them. To be a showrunner, the most appropriate credits include having both the "Created By" and "Executive Producer" credits. Make sure you look at the fine print of the contract, including whether you'll have final say.

If you're in the US, there are great tips for this in wikiHow to [[Copyright Material (US)]].

Start by summarizing your idea. Write a short version of what the show is about and read it out loud to yourself and see if it sounds like a good (or creative) idea.

Give them the general idea, as well as a character list. The pitch should include the plot, the time frame, and the main characters.