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.

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.

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.

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.

@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?