Blind Pilot
In the strange language of the land called Hollywood the term "blind pilot" does not, as you might assume, describe somebody quintessentially unsuited for their job. It describes a deal in which a studio agrees to pay a writer X dollars to write a television pilot (first episode of a series) whether or not the studio and writer actually sell an idea to a network. I have such a deal and it sounds like an amazing thing except for two little catches:
1. Nobody ever actually makes the studio pay the money if an idea isn't sold to a network. Well, not nobody, but it's not smiled upon and, to me, it doesn't even really feel right. Or maybe I've just never had the guts. If no idea is sold the deal usually gets "rolled over" to the next development season.
2. I have NOT A SINGLE IDEA IN MY HEAD for a series right now. I've written eight pilots, three of which have gotten on the air, which is an extremely high ratio--and the source of getting the deal in the first place. But my head is blank. No, worse than that. It's full of REALLY BAD HACKNEYED IDEAS. Yesterday I pitched one of them to the studio over the phone and felt that sick creeping embarrassment you feel when you realize that something stupid is coming out of your mouth and real actual human beings are hearing it and losing their faith in you as you speak.
The simplest explanation for this is that my head is, appropriately, filled with the movie I'm in the process of editing. But it's worse than that. I've never been a flood-of-ideas guy. Good ones come to me rarely, though when they do come they roar into my head like a Category 5. But let me tell you, south Florida wishes it had my hurricane frequency. Ai ai ai. The whole thing feels EXACTLY like the dream where you are standing in your fifth grade classroom with no clothes on.
I am tempted to end this post with FIVE THOUSAND DOLLAR REWARD TO ANYBODY WHO SENDS ME AN ORIGINAL SERIES IDEA LEADING TO A NETWORK PILOT DEAL FOR THE 2006-2007 DEVELOPMENT SEASON but I'm at least clear headed at 5:25 on this warm August morning to know what a legal tangle that would be.
So unfortunately you'll have to keep your no doubt way-better-than-mine ideas to yourselves, leaving me to beg God for inspiration.
Let me tell you, given that I am seen as something of a TV series idea machine by some people (people who don't realize that two of my three series were based on ideas given to me by the networks that hired me) what I feel like right now is a blind pilot.
1. Nobody ever actually makes the studio pay the money if an idea isn't sold to a network. Well, not nobody, but it's not smiled upon and, to me, it doesn't even really feel right. Or maybe I've just never had the guts. If no idea is sold the deal usually gets "rolled over" to the next development season.
2. I have NOT A SINGLE IDEA IN MY HEAD for a series right now. I've written eight pilots, three of which have gotten on the air, which is an extremely high ratio--and the source of getting the deal in the first place. But my head is blank. No, worse than that. It's full of REALLY BAD HACKNEYED IDEAS. Yesterday I pitched one of them to the studio over the phone and felt that sick creeping embarrassment you feel when you realize that something stupid is coming out of your mouth and real actual human beings are hearing it and losing their faith in you as you speak.
The simplest explanation for this is that my head is, appropriately, filled with the movie I'm in the process of editing. But it's worse than that. I've never been a flood-of-ideas guy. Good ones come to me rarely, though when they do come they roar into my head like a Category 5. But let me tell you, south Florida wishes it had my hurricane frequency. Ai ai ai. The whole thing feels EXACTLY like the dream where you are standing in your fifth grade classroom with no clothes on.
I am tempted to end this post with FIVE THOUSAND DOLLAR REWARD TO ANYBODY WHO SENDS ME AN ORIGINAL SERIES IDEA LEADING TO A NETWORK PILOT DEAL FOR THE 2006-2007 DEVELOPMENT SEASON but I'm at least clear headed at 5:25 on this warm August morning to know what a legal tangle that would be.
So unfortunately you'll have to keep your no doubt way-better-than-mine ideas to yourselves, leaving me to beg God for inspiration.
Let me tell you, given that I am seen as something of a TV series idea machine by some people (people who don't realize that two of my three series were based on ideas given to me by the networks that hired me) what I feel like right now is a blind pilot.
posted by Tom at 5:21 AM
7 Comments:
My deal is for a one hour drama. Sit-com is a very special kind of talent/brain structure that I revere but don't have. I like writing about families. Off-center families. Families of choice. Some action possible. I love a good soap, a genre which ranges from Nip/Tuck to, in a way, NYPD Blue.
Write one about my life. Just give me a happy ending.
To tell you the truth, Alabama nurse who is a liberal in a conservative town, loves football, has a kid with a disability, a hideous ex, a crazy mother, a sassy wit and a great figure would make an AWESOME show. And I mean that truly. But the networks aren't buying pure character/drama stuff nowadays. Though, hmm.... maybe the nurse part would make it work?
You could always try a drama about a guy who is constantly needing to come up with ideas for his work, only he doesn't get many ideas. So he has to rip them off from a family member. That could be a writer, a lawyer, a PI, almost anything that could lead a person to generate / come in contact with new / quirky ideas. Of course, they wouldn't like it, so there's your drama...
No charge for the idea; it was obvious anyway.
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Write a pilot about a girl who decides that she is finished with a living a life of bordom in the suburbs and so she decides to travel. The show could focus on the many issue taking place around the world, she could get kidnapped by hezbullah in israel. Or she could adopt an aids child while living in Somalia. Atleast it would be something much different from anything that is on now and you could film on location. Which would be so fun because you would be able to travel everywhere!!
wandering author stole my obvious idea. except i was going to go so far as to say that the show is called blind pilot, and the ideas come from folks who, at least at first, are faceless (or at least whose faces the audience does not see) and appear randomly out of no-where.
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