I am getting prepped for the fall launch. That means watching as many pilots as I can get my hands on (thank you to my new best friends at CanWest Global who have supplied me with screeners) and figuring out which ones I'm prepared to watch 4 or 5 more times, so I can post about them.
While I'm doing that, Matthew Weiner of Mad Men thinks you should be writing your pilot. Okay, that's a bit of a stretch but Michael Patrick Sullivan at Red Right Hand met him at Sublime Prime Time and reports as follows:
- Weiner's advice on pitching pilots (if you're not some established showrunner or big name writer): Don't pitch it. Write it. "Ideas are a dime a dozen...don't just be a guy with an idea, sit in a chair and write it...that makes you a guy with a..(miming the holding of a script)...a property. Sheryl Zohn said it a bit better. "It makes you a writer."
If you don't feel like writing, Geek Tonic has a post with links to pilots available for free viewing from Amazon Unbox. His links include Bionic Woman, Life and Journeyman. Also Chuck which I discuss after it airs September 24th. I haven't tried this yet but I suspect it won't work outside the US. Let me know.
If you don't feel like writing or watching, you can always friend me on Facebook.
3 comments:
Why is writing a spec pilot "a bit of a stretch"? I read over at Jane Espenson's blog that showrunners are increasingly asking to read spec pilots, particularly because the new serial dramas are so hard to spec. And I've read it and heard it elsewhere, too.
BTW, nice to see you at the partay!
The stretch isn't writing the spec pilot. I believe in that otherwise I wouldn't be here like a crazy woman writing this blog. The stretch is that Matthew Weiner wants you to do it. I want you to do it, I'm just putting it on him.
And it was a great party, thanks for hosting. As I said to Denis, writers give the best party.
hmmm - unbox won't run on Macs in Canada...looks like just USA PCs.
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