Yesterday, we talked about three reasons it’s a bad idea to produce your own reality television pilot.
However, if you are trying to break into the business with no showbiz credits, investing in your own television pilot may be the best move you ever make. This is especially true if you’ve taken our advice to become a Hands-On-Producer.
In fact, the two of us produced two 22 minute pilots, soup to nuts, self-funded, when we were starting out. That move was instrumental in launching our career. That’s why I’d like to share:
Three reasons you SHOULD produce your own pilot:
1. The Experience.
Until you produce, write, shoot, direct, edit, create the graphics, sound mix, output, and view your own pilot it will be hard to truly understand what goes into every aspect of production.
Be as involved as possible in every step, and the experience you’ll gain will be priceless.
Now, you may not want to take on all (or any) of these tasks. Many producers don’t do most of what’s listed above. If being a Hands-On-Producer is not appealing to you, there is still immense value in overseeing your own project from beginning to end. Be as involved as possible in every step, and the experience you’ll gain will be priceless.
2. The Asset You’ll Create.
Knowing that no one will ever watch your full pilot, you’re going to be smart and implement a two-part plan:
- A. You’ll finish your pilot, and then…
- B. You’ll finish a pitch tape for your show.
What’s a pitch tape? It’s a 3 to 5 minute promo featuring your best footage, and it’s your greatest asset when trying to get people excited about your show idea.
While agents and execs will most likely never watch your full pilot, they will find 5 minutes to look at great tape. Get them excited with this snack-sized version of your show, and great things can happen.
(BTW, lots of tips and tutorials on making great pitch tapes are coming your way…be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss the new posts at Joke and Biagio.)
3. Proof that You are a Producer.
Why should anyone take a chance on you if you’re not willing to take a chance on yourself? Want to prove you’re serious? Put your money where your mouth is, and make an excellent show.
Why should anyone take a chance on you if you’re not willing to take a chance on yourself?
The first time we ever met with an agent (a story for another day) we showed him one of our best pitch tapes. He was impressed, but pointed out that a short tape wasn’t proof we could make a TV show.
So we pulled out our 22 minute pilot. 3 minutes in he turned it off and said, “This is great. I’ll set some meetings.”
Our Advice on Producing Your Own Pilot:
Do it…for the right reasons.
Do not shoot a full pilot purely for the purpose of selling a show.
Produce a full pilot because you’ve never done it, you need the experience, hope to learn a lot by doing it, and want to prove you’ve got the chops to execute.
Whether the final product is great or not, you will be a better producer, and miles ahead of wannabes who’ve never produced a thing.
Be Careful
If you DO decide to produce your own reality TV pilot, it’s CRUCIAL not to jeopardize your finances. Doing every job yourself (or as many jobs as you can) not only makes you a better producer, it saves you money! As a rule, we never spent more than $500 out of pocket on any of our pitch tapes. The rest was sweat equity.
Finally, make sure the experience of producing a pilot is truly useful. The process should benefit you even if you don’t sell your show, get an agent, or impress anyone. That’s why you need to read the next post in this series:
Suggestions about where to get money for a pitch tape if you cannot do the actual production and posting yourself…don’t include family and friends.
Thanks,
John
John,
You don’t want investors for pitch tapes. The truth is pitch tapes are not a good investment. You have to make so many pitch tapes in the hopes that just one will sell…or lead to other opportunities…that gathering investors for just one pitch tape is a waste of time (and money.)
If you do not possess the desire to produce or post the initial pitch tape, then this is not the way for you to break into the business. Remember, rule 1 in getting your project off the ground–if you want to have a meaningful role and credit on that project–is to make yourself valuable. This means more than an idea or a write up.
For instance, a great tape is one sure-fire way to make yourself valuable (a great tape helps sell the show, and you made the tape, so they need you.)
Another is to attach a great piece of talent (for instance, getting a known celebrity to commit to making a show with you.) Yet another is to gain access to a unique world (for instance, permission to shoot a show at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas.)
Unfortunately, it’s usually hard to gain talent or access without a great body of work.
For this reason, if you’re a hands-on-producer (or aspire to be) pitch tapes are a great way to go. You’re honing your skills as you produce, write, shoot, edit, and do the graphics for each tape. Even if you don’t sell the show, you’ve invested in yourself.
The only people who will give you money to make a pitch tape will either want to take so much away from you in terms of ownership that you’ll feel taken advantage of, or else they’ll be a well-meaning person with money who knows nothing about the business, and will be upset when you don’t sell your show after a few weeks of pitches.
Sorry, as of yet, I don’t know of reputable people putting money solely into pitch tapes, and would have to advise would-be investors against it.