Pitch Your TV Series Like a Pro with this Formula
Having a strong pilot script sample will break you into the entertainment industry, but if you want to sell a show, you need to learn how to craft a pitch.
There’s no question about it. Writers hate pitching.
One of the whole reasons you got into screenwriting in the first place was because you don’t want to be in front of the camera. You don’t want to perform.
But TV pitches are one of the surest paths forward to actually creating a TV series.
Why is pitching better than writing a script?
You will hear an answer from buyers without having to spend months or years writing a screenplay they might not even be interested in.
You can get paid to write a pilot script instead of writing it on spec for free.
Pitching gets you into rooms meetings where you have conversations with decisionmakers.
It’s easier to get someone excited about your idea when you’re there to explain it in person.
And it’s not just producers, studios, networks, and streamers that hear pitches.
If you’re outside the industry, sometimes paid pitches, pitch competitions, or pitch fests are the only way to get a professional’s undivided attention and have the opportunity to convince them to read your script.
No matter the scenario, there is a tried and true pitch format that you need to know.
If you follow this structure, your listener will hear everything they need to understand your series in the optimal order.
NOTE: Many pitch opportunities have script time limits. This format can be scaled up or scaled down to fit whatever parameters you need. Just reduce or increase the amount of information you include for each section.
I’m a literary manager. I did not invent this pitch formula.
Studio executives tell me exactly what they’re looking for in a pitch. In turn, I teach my clients to use it, and I help them practice and refine their pitch. My clients have sold TV pitches to production companies, studios, and networks.
Bookmark this page so you can refer to it next time you’re crafting a TV pitch.
Section #1: Start with a personal anecdote.
Why you?
Pull us in by telling a mini story. This can be a personal story that relates to the themes of your pitch. Maybe it’s an experience you had that mirrors something your character goes through. Maybe it’s a riveting episode in your own life that spurred the inspiration for this series.
Whatever it is, the first part of your pitch should get the listener invested in you as a writer and a person.
It should also set the tone for the type of show you’re about to describe, and it should demonstrate your storytelling ability.
Section #2: Logline
Briefly explain what this show is exactly.
What is the format and genre?
I have listened to pitches where a writer gets all the way to the end before I ask, “Wait, is this a movie or a TV show?” If someone is confused, it means you have messed up big time because they weren’t listening to your story in its proper context.
But when I say “logline,” I mean an informal logline.
Don’t switch from your engaging personal story into reading your logline word for word from the page.
Keep it sounding natural and conversational. If it sounds like you’re reading from a script, your listener’s brain will tune out. They can’t help it.
Section #3: Characters
Give a brief overview of 1-3 of the main characters.
If your show is an ensemble, you can describe the rest of the characters in the next section. Don’t include too many people at this stage. If your list is too long, your listener isn’t going to be able to keep track of everyone.
This should be the two people in the core relationship of your series. And maybe an optional third person in the love triangle.
But that’s it.
Section #4: Pilot Story
In broad strokes, walk us through the main story beats that happen in the pilot.
We should get a sense of what a typical episode will look like. This is also the opportunity to introduce us to any other important characters and get a sense of the world of the story. It’s your chance to demonstrate to your audience that you know how to structure an episode of TV with a strong beginning, middle, and end.
Don’t get too bogged down in the details, but do tell us what the Central Dramatic Question of your pilot script is and how your main character solves it.
The resolution of your pilot episode will likely set up your series question. It will also tell everything we need to know about your main character from the way they solve their big problem.
Section #5: Season Arc
If your Pilot Conclusion launches the Central Dramatic Question of your season, this gives you the perfect transition into discussing how that season CDQ plays out.
A mistake many writers make here is simply listing the events that happen after the pilot. This is not a story. A story is structured through an engaging pursuit of an external goal or mystery, with escalations, twists, and turns throughout the journey.
Ultimately culminating in your season 1 finale and conclusion.
At the end of your pilot, your audience should have a reasonable expectation for what they can expect to see answered by the end of season 1.
In your pitch, you beat out exactly how this plays out for your show’s audience.
Section #5: Brief overview of season 2 & beyond.
If your buyer is going to put time, effort, and money into making your idea into a show, they need to see that your series “has legs.”
In a couple sentences, tease out some possibilities for where your story can go after season 1 ends. The best TV shows have a strong story engine that plays out a compelling, complicated thematic question. Season 1 is a specific angle into that question. Future seasons can peel apart those themes and examine them through other angles.
Don’t spend too much time on this, but do get the wheels turning in your listener’s head with all the possibilities for where these characters go from here.
Section #7: Mood, Tone & Visuals.
You should be conveying the tone and mood throughout the delivery of your pitch.
The genre of your show was stated in the Logline section, and the visuals will be apparent in the Pilot Story. But if there is anything you really want to emphasize, articulate, and put a finer point on, it goes here at the end when your audience has a strong understanding of what the show is.
After they hear everything you want to convey on screen, you can describe exactly how your audience is going to be seeing it.
Section #8: Themes
As you start to wrap up, emphasize what thematic questions your show will explore.
This is where you can get into why audiences need to hear this right now and why this story is the best way to examine the themes that you want to dive into. Once you highlight the areas you want to discuss, your listener should be nodding along.
After all, your externalized plot should have made these themes obvious. Now you’re just tying it all up in a neat little bow with a crystal clear emphasis on what that experience will be for your audience.
Don’t spend more than a couple sentences here or you risk starting to wax poetic, get too abstract and then lose your listener as you get into a muddied thesis statement.
Section #9: Why now?
Conclude your pitch by giving your listener a sense of urgency.
What is it about the current state of the world or cultural zeitgeist that makes audiences hungry for this story right now? Get them thinking about the marketing, water cooler conversations, and social media chatter.
Yes, buyers want to make good television. But they’re also terrified of missing out on the opportunity to catch a trend before it’s too late.
If you finish with a sense of relevancy, they will already be thinking about how they can pitch it to their boss.
Thanks for sharing, This is great, I am adding this to my must have documents. To be honest,
I LOVE PITCHING, I embrace the opportunity and this is the number ONE reason: "Pitching gets you into rooms, meetings where you have conversations with decision makers."
Essentially if I am not given the opportunity to pitch, then who am I writing for? Grandma? And more so, the only way to get better is to be in the race, I have little to no interest in being just a spectator, probably why I don't watch sports. A dozen No's are better that No Opportunity. I can go on, but I won't.