LeeNov 24, 2022
Jeffrey Lieber

Since pilots, specifically original pilots, have become the standard "audition" for wannabe TV writers, I'm going to try and do a set of rules for them that mimics the one I've done for showrunning (can be found here --> https://mastodon.social/@JeffLieber/109315346829400049).

Please know these rules exist a) for me to work them out for myself b) as a jumping off point for discussion and c) as a set of precepts to abandon and improve upon once you've got it figured out.

So, without further ado...

Nov 19, 2022 at 9:40pmWeb
Show threadJeffrey LieberNov 19, 2022

Pilot Rule #1: With the exception of a pilot based on a huge piece of intellectual property, getting yours from your head to production is a game of telephone.

The idea must be passed from person to person. You to producer...then that producer to an executive...then an executive to their boss and then to their boss’ boss.

Simplicity is the key. So, your pilot should be utterly understandable and pitchable in 3 sentences or less.

If it's not…simplify.

Then simplify again.

Show threadJeffrey LieberNov 19, 2022

Pilot Rule #2: There are two important drafts of a pilot : the ONE THAT GETS THE THING MADE and the ONE YOU ACTUALLY SHOOT.

The former is all about zazz; about getting people's attention; about being interesting and emotional and iconic. Ignore budget. Ignore logistics. You're only job now is to be CLEAR and UNFORGETTABLE.

The ONE YOU ACTUALLY MAKE will have 6 less characters and 5 less locations and no exploding llama, but that's only for after you've gotten the big yes.

Show threadJeffrey LieberNov 20, 2022

Pilot Rule #3: The first third of your pilot is about establishing the world, which is the franchise, your character(s), what makes this a unique place to visit.

The second third is the story (and how that story impacts what you set up in the first third).

The last third is the potential, which is essentially why people want to come back over and over again.

The order does not have to be this rigid, but these three elements are the key to making it sing and dance.

Show threadJeffrey LieberNov 20, 2022

Pilot Rule #4: You're going to need a format (act outs or no?/swearing or nudity?/hour or half?), which means you're going to need a target network.

So, go out and look at the landscape of television, find the show that is the closest to the thing you imagine, go get the script to that pilot...and use that structure.

The script for an HBO one hour pilot and the one for a ABC half-hour are as different as a giraffe and a naked mole rat.

Show threadJeffrey LieberNov 21, 2022
Pilot Rule #5: What your pilot does (and therefore your series ) is called the FRANCHISE. In procedurals the franchise is often obvious -- "We solve crimes by getting into the minds of the criminals". And while soaps/comedies can be a less intuitive, ultimately the clearer you are the easier it will be to determine if a scene or a plot line is the BEST choice. If it speaks to the franchise, it's in. Write down your franchise in a sentence. Out it on a post card. Keep it handy.
Show threadJeffrey LieberNov 23, 2022

Pilot Rule #6: The WHY NOW is essential. What's the importance of this singular moment that it becomes your launch point.

Is it a crossroads for your lead character? Or the moment something gets added or taken away that means that going forward...the world of the show will be different.

Walt's cancer in Breaking Bad. Tony's panic attacks in The Sopranos. The case in a procedural that reveals that our leads nemesis..thought dead...is still out there somewhere.

Chose wisely.

Show threadJeffrey LieberNov 24, 2022

Pilot Rule #7: Less is more.

A quick 55 pages is 95.45% better than 58 pages and 126% better than something that starts with a 6...because every extra word is a potential trap door to boredom or confusion.

"There's a gun. It's loaded" is clear and simple.

"There's a an A AMT Hardballer with a crack on the handle and a initials carved into the barrel" is rife with details that need...deciphering.

Before you hit send...cut any words you can.

Show threadJeffrey LieberNov 24, 2022

Pilot Rule #8: The first twenty pages are everything and therefore I spend half my time writing and rewriting... and rewriting them.

Are the characters properly set up? Is the world totally clear? Do I have stakes and a "why now"? Have I cut anything and everything that might send a reader down the wrong road?

If the reader trusts you after twenty, they'll likely forgive you some falderal after that. If you've lost them...you've lost hem and they aren't coming back.

Show threadJeffrey LieberNov 25, 2022

Pilot Rule #9: Your character(s) is (are) everything. So…

Pick your lead. Define them in the sentence. Pick your second lead. Define them in a sentence. Put those sentences next to each other and figure out how they conflict, complicate and catalyze each other.

Do this with all your leads. The more characters challenge each other the more dynamic the pilot becomes.

And characters who love each other desperately don’t have to be easy on each other…mostly it’s the opposite.

Show threadJeffrey LieberNov 28, 2022

Pilot Rule #10 (1of2): The OTHER "why now"?

So, the first "why now" is rule #6. Why are we starting the series where we do.

The OTHER why now is to answer why are we putting this show on the air; why is it relevant. My theory is that 95.34% of the time that answer is emotional and not political. Politics is easy. We're in what feels like end-times and there are all these stories that explore end-times and so the instinct is to make that the Other Why Now...

Show threadJeffrey LieberNov 28, 2022
Pilot Rule #10 (2of2): ...but truth be told there's only so much space and audience for politics talking about politics. There is a TON of space for generational divide and loss and sisters at war with each other. It's not historical if its personal and its personal if its emotional and so my answer to the "Other Why Now" is almost always a combo between "HERE'S A MOMENT OF HIGH DRAMA" and this moment of high drama drives a wedge into this relatable relationship.
Show threadJeffrey LieberJan 2, 2023
Pilot Rule #11:Beware "HANDSOME" in introductory character descriptions. First because the "me too" moment goes all ways..second because it's mostly a filler world from an era when we were trying to woo actors by indicating "we like this role for you because we see you as SO good looking"...but MOSTLY because unless handsome is REALLY important to the character, there's a 100 other descriptors that might give us more useful, defining, interesting information.
Show threadLynda Nov 28, 2022

@JeffLieber
# 10 I really don’t want to watch politics for fun right now, because it just isn’t.

My husband and I did like #Showtime #thecircus but it fell flat to me this season. Was it because Alex left? IDK
Personally, I think they leaned further right.

As for family, that is more relevant. Many of us have lost family members.
My sister is on the cult side. We don’t talk. My mom is 70/30 cult, so we don’t talk about it.

Show threadYusuf GadNov 25, 2022
@JeffLieber Michael Jordan level advice with this.
Show threadDavid ReynoldsNov 25, 2022
@ygadinthesix @JeffLieber It really is.
Show threadYusuf GadNov 25, 2022
@scriptemesis @JeffLieber Nike needs to make me a Lieber sneaker immediately.
Show threadDavid ReynoldsNov 25, 2022
@ygadinthesix @JeffLieber "Nice Liebers, bro"
Show threadJohn BrownlowNov 24, 2022
@JeffLieber a thousand times this, and almost the same again for the first five to ten pages IMO.
Show threadAlicia McClendonNov 24, 2022
@JeffLieber hmmm. So keep a tv pilot under 59 pages? I never thought about this! Kind of thought the longer the script, even better.
Show threadJeffrey LieberNov 24, 2022
@Qtarantino TThink about it like a recipe. If you throw EVERY ingredient in...it's a mess of flavors. Part of your kill is knowing THIS, not THAT. More of the other thing, less of something else.
Show threadDavid ReynoldsNov 21, 2022
@JeffLieber You know your 'Buy, Come, Stay' showrunner rule? Is the franchise the 'come' part? Or separate?
Show threadJeffrey LieberNov 21, 2022
@scriptemesis It's be the STAY. It's why we return each week.
Show threadDavid ReynoldsNov 21, 2022
@JeffLieber okay thanks. These are gold keep them coming!! I'm busy on rule 141 - getting the one-pager out quickly.
Show threadKathi CareyNov 20, 2022
@JeffLieber Excellent advice. I already do this intuitively, but it’s nice to have my intuition confirmed as being on the right track.
Show threadCamNov 28, 2022

@JeffLieber apologies if this is already answered. I can’t see the other replies.

How can something so out of your control (the network that buys the pilot) be so critical?

Show threadJeffrey LieberNov 28, 2022
@cam What I'm saying is, when you sit down to write a pilot there are some decisions that need to get made. Are you writing and idea that feels network or cable or streaming? Is it an hour or a half hour? Are there act outs or not? So, you try and imagine where the pilot best fits and choose a structure that works at that sort of network? Make sense?
Show threadCamNov 28, 2022
@JeffLieber aha I see what you mean. Thanks! Working my first pilot now (well first of many many rewrites) this helps
Show threadBuckleystuffNov 20, 2022
@JeffLieber, thank you. This is invaluable. It's very comforting to know my structure seems to be on the right track.
Show threadBigEarl ☕Nov 19, 2022
@JeffLieber
But, but, the exploding llama is a critical plot point!!!!
Show threadAlicia McClendonNov 19, 2022
@JeffLieber how much change does a “yes” script get? Would it be the same story?
Show threadJeffrey LieberNov 19, 2022
@Qtarantino Likely, but you're now moving from theoretical to actual. So...everything gets reexamined. Locations, cast, night/day. You're moving from what you might imagine to what you will actually do.
Show threadJohn ShirleyNov 19, 2022
@JeffLieber that sounds right. I had several pilots as scripts bought. None quite got to production. Except in two cases certain producers took the idea and did it differently somewhere else--they stole it.
Show threadJeffrey LieberNov 19, 2022
@JohnShirley2023 Define stolen. I'm curious what happened.
Show threadJohn ShirleyNov 19, 2022

@JeffLieber

I wouldn't say here. I'll send you a private whatsit

Show threadKathi CareyNov 19, 2022
@JeffLieber Brilliant!
Show threadCoridan MillerNov 20, 2022
@JeffLieber If the pilot is meant as an audition of your skills, would doing one for a big established IP be a good idea? After all you're going to be presumably hired to work in a writer's room on someone else's IP not your own
Show threadJeffrey LieberNov 20, 2022
@coridanmiller There are two kinds of pilots, SPEC and ORIGINALS. Spec pilots are scripts written of existing series. It used to be that 90% of pilots were specs, because "See, I can mimic a voice." But now with 300 milliony shows, it's hard to know if the person reading your spec will know the series you're writing and so...now it's flipped and 90% of pilots are originals. Do with this what you like...
Show threadCoridan MillerNov 20, 2022
@JeffLieber Well, I have an original I'm currently using but been thinking of writing a Batman one for fun and in memory of Kevin Conroy
Show threadJeffrey LieberNov 20, 2022
@coridanmiller Great. Super. Sounds amazing. Do what compels you to the keyboard.
Show threadJohn BrownlowNov 20, 2022
@coridanmiller @JeffLieber I can kinda sorta answer this as I'm reading scripts to staff a show at the moment. Just for me, I would FAR FAR rather read an original because I'm not looking for writers who can ventriloquize, but who can help originate. I'm looking for people who can do things I can't and know things I don't. That's not meant to be a rule but a data point. The pilot (to me) is a chance to show how you think, what obsesses you, and what unique skills and/or knowledge you may bring.
Show threadJeffrey LieberNov 20, 2022
@thejohnbrownlow @coridanmiller The only possible caveat, is that there are skills that com with setting up a world that you've already done....and you don't need those. I've had some GREAT writers on staff who can do what they need to do with an existing world that they probably wouldn't do as well without the world pre-established.
Show threadJohn BrownlowNov 20, 2022
@JeffLieber @coridanmiller That's a great point.
Show threadJohn BrownlowNov 20, 2022
@JeffLieber I would add that one sentence is even better. A studio guy described the ideal pitch as 'sticky', ie an idea he couldn't get out of his mind and kept thinking about even when he didn't want to. (Obvs they're not all like that but omigod it's so helpful when they are)
Show threadstevekimuraNov 19, 2022
@JeffLieber this is the content I’m here for!
Show threadKathi CareyNov 19, 2022
@JeffLieber YESSSS!!! So excited for this!
Show threadJohn ShirleyNov 19, 2022
@JeffLieber I worked for Paramount and Fox..wrote episodes...but I still am a 'wannabe' when it comes to getting a pilot produced...
Show threadEricNov 20, 2022
@JeffLieber Thanks for the great thread. Informative and actually pretty heartening as it makes me feel like I’m doing lots of stuff right on the pilot I’m working on. Just need to maybe go a little bit bigger and be a little bit less pragmatic.
Show threadBuckleystuffNov 22, 2022
@JeffLieber @jonenge - TV Writers: PURE GOLD!! Thank you, @JeffLieber for sharing your talent and experience.
Show threadGlenn SandersNov 22, 2022
@JeffLieber
hugely helpful advice thanks