@paula_red
Hallo Gerlinde!
Ich bin ja gerade durch ein intensives Training für internationale Serien gegangen und habe Folgendes gelernt:
Du schreibst ein 3 seitiges Pitch Paper mit folgenden Zutaten:
SERIES TITLE
written by/created by NAME xy
Genre & Tone (funny western, dark comedy etc.)
xy episodes of xy Min.
Logline:
Overview of the Story of your Show (means not the plot) in one sentence or two max.
It should contain: Protagonist, inciting incident, the goal (want) and the stakes
Logline developped over a paragraph or two:
Here you can develop a bit more your set up, protagonist, antagonist, and give a sense of the arena the show takes place in and the main central conflict (what do they care for, what do they want, what do they have to sacrifice to get it). This still does not mean plot description! It’s more about:
theme:
Tell us what the show is REALLY about
Keep in mind that everything else you describe (central conflict, plots, characters, arena) should be related to that theme somehow.
But remember, it’s a show, not a political statement, so it’s better if you DON’T have the answer to that central question that you and your characters will explore from all sides all along the series.
When you’ve answered it, the show is over!
MOTIVATION and target audience:
Tell us why you and nobody else that is telling us this story:
Motivation: Why did you chose to tell this story? What is special? Your special take on the subject.
Inspiration: Is it an original idea? an I.P.?
Pertinance: Why now? How is it relevant for today’s audience?
Target audience: the type of show, for what audience, for what type of broadcaster/streamer
Structure and Tone:
What type of structure (limited, procedural, serialized, anthology…)
Number of episode, series, mini series, returning or not…
Traditional three/five act structure vs story engine, Flashbacks/Flashforwards? Other plot devices?
What ist he tone oft he story? How do you balance that tone in extreme circumstances?
If comedy, try to express it in the style or with situation or mention it upfront
it can help to give examples of shows with similar tone
Characters / arcs:
Only main/major characters (3 to 5)
NAME (Age), Occupation.
one physical or psychological trait: Give us some important (meaningsfull) details about who they are when we meet them and where you want to take them over the course of the season.
Also describe:
1. within the series (what will they ‚deliver‘ every episode)
2. back story elements only if they are crucials to understand the character and
3. IN RELATION to the other characters (potential conflict).
OVERVIEW Season 1:
Short summary of what STORY the 1st season will tell with SOME (the most important, interesting, relevant) plotpoints – not the whole plotline!
If serialized: characters arcs and how they interact, creating what conflicts, to what various results as the series evolves, illustrates with a few typical situations + arena
If procedural : Summary of episode examples (3-5 paragraphs + arena)
Season 2:
Very short outlook on a thinkable next Season.
show potential for a returnable series, but don’t go to much into details at this point, keep very broad strokes
Beyond:
Give a hint at how you see the show playing out and what you want people/your audience to learn/think/talk about.
ich hoffe das hilft Dir writer!
Frohes schreiben!
Paula