Pitching Research

Can you do your own recon and due diligence without an agent or manager? Absolutely. Once you come up with an original idea for a series that you’re incredibly passionate and excited about, here are my recommended steps:

1. Determine other current and past series that have a similar tone and feeling of your original series. On which networks do/did they appear? Does that network still have the same programming niche and profile? If yes, do they currently have a series that’s too similar? If not, then that network could be a good fit for your series and a great place to pitch.
2. Determine the programming profile and brand of a particular network. Tune in for their shows and stick around to watch the commercials. If you’re seeing lots of cosmetics and feminine products being advertised, then you know that network is primarily targeting women. If you’re seeing lots of beer and truck commercials, chances are they’re targeting men. Commercials are advertisers “pitching” their clients’ products to you; to the advertiser, the show you’re watching is actually just a delivery mechanism to sell their products to as many consumers as possible. Your job as a TV series creator is to pitch to the network whose advertisers are pitching to their niche audience. It’s a food chain and your show is viewer bait. Sure, you’re an artist who wants to dedicate your craftto the making of art, but if you’re writing for television, it’s all about targeting the eyeballs and delivering the ratings for the buyer. Absent that, no matter how critically lauded your series may be, it’s going to get axed.
3. Do your research. What shows are doing well in the ratings for their particular network, and which shows are struggling to attract viewers? A niche network like SyFy isn’t going to get the same ratings shares as one of the major broadcast networks, but what’s considered a “hit” for that specific network? If you’re planning to pitch an original series that evokes one of their struggling or recently cancelled shows, you’ve already shot yourself in the foot.
4. When you go in to a TV studio or network, be mindful of the credits of the executives to whom you’re pitching. Have they been at this studio/network for a while, or did they come over from another niche cable network? Which shows did they champion? Which shows are they most proud of? What kind of taste do they have? Don’t assume that they love all of the network’s current hit list. They might deplore the current slate of programs and want to shake things up with new concepts and new voices. Conversely, they might want more of the same. Surf the web for interviews and sound bites from these execs. I’m not suggesting that you blatantly pander to them. I am suggesting that you appeal to their proclivities. (“Work smarter, not harder” is another Ann Donahue aphorism.)
5. Know your genre inside and out. If your ambition is to create a new, groundbreaking sci-fi series, do your homework and know about every sci-fi series past, present, and on the horizon. Remember, you’re not just competing with what’s currently on the air, you’re also competing with every series in the same genre from the past decade or more. You don’t want to be blindsided in a pitch meeting when an exec points out that your “original” series is actually a retread of a cancelled series from last season, or maybe it’s too similar to a series that’s currently on another network. Know what’s fresh and unique about your series. How is it different than what’s already out there? How is it the same—but with a twist? You don’t need to reinvent the wheel every time. In fact, if you study the TV landscape, most shows are variations on their precursors. Deadwood was an edgy, much darker version of countless westerns from Gunsmoke to The Magnificent Seven. For example, Lost was a dark, supernatural, serialized version of Gilligan’s Island—with a Twin Peaks spin. House, M.D. turned the heroic doctor show formula on its head with a brilliant physician who has contempt for his patients; House was also a new wrinkle in the crime procedural franchise—but instead of criminals, the doctors were investigating and thwarting diseases.
6. Some recon might involve casting. Is there a particular movie star who’s seeking a role in a TV series with specific parameters? Is there a network actively developing series concepts for a specific actor?
7. Seek out TV production companies that are actively developing series for the new pitching season. The producers to target are ones with deals at studios and networks, and it might be a good idea to suss out a producer who had a hit series recently, but doesn’t currently have any shows on the air; these producers are always aggressively looking for The Next Big Thing and might be more open to hearing pitches and reading spec pilots. The hottest production companies in town, such as J. J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions, are unlikely, if not completely foreclosed, to hearing unsolicited pitches because they’re inundated by top agents pitching projects from their hot clients with proven track records in TV and film. You don’t need to shoot for the top tier; you just need a producer with some solid contacts who can help get you in the door. This business is cyclical, so yesterday’s hot producer might be weathering a cold spell—and that means he/she might be open to making new relationships with new talent.
8. Know who’s reading what and when. For decades, the major broadcast networks have opened their doors to hear new pitches about a month after the up-fronts.¹ The up-fronts are traditionally held in May in New York. New series orders (anywhere from six to thirteen episodes) are placed in mid-to-late May. And then network execs are wont to take vacations before resuming the new development season in June. More recently, the network pitch-buying season has come even later—in July. The networks have budgets of how much they can spend on buying and developing new series pitches, and once they exhaust these budgets, their shopping spree is over—usually by the end of October (although, occasionally, a pitch will sell in November, but that’s rare). Based on this schedule, studios and producers are in the development pitch and planning mode for many months prior to June. The suppliers to the networks (i.e., producers and TV studios) like to get their ducks in a row at the beginning of the new year; they’ll be watching indie films, reading screenplays and spec pilots, watching graduate student shorts, hunting for hot new playwrights all year round, and then zeroing in on the talent (writers, show creators) they’d like to be in business with for the new network pitching season. If you’re trying to get in the door to pitch your original series to a network, producers with a proven track record are the key. The trick is getting them to read your very best work and, hopefully, they’ll become fans, anoint you at the studio and networks, and become your business partner and advocate in the marketplace. Their job is to find and develop talent and new series concepts. Your job is to make noise and get them to notice you with your impressive body of work.

Once you’ve determined where your new series might be a good fit, the next step is for you to prepare a viable, cohesive, indelible pitch. If you consider yourself a reclusive, reticent, tongue-tied, prone to stage fright writer, then pitching is not the venue for you. Selling a TV series is about showman-ship and the creator’s passion and charisma. A strong pitch is a performance. It needs to be tightly scripted, rehearsed, timed, edited, memorized, and then come off as effortless, spontaneous, and a whole lot of fun to watch. A good pitch is like a great movie trailer: it entices, teases, and succinctly articulates to the audience what the show is going to be about—all in about fifteen minutes or less.

Pitching Guidelines

Here are my guidelines for preparing and delivering a great pitch for an original series. Every pitch needs to be customized, so these guidelines are not rigid and do not have to be in this precise order. In fact, depending on genre and format, some of these rules may not apply.

1. Your pitch presentation should have the same tone as the genre of the series. If it’s a comedy, your pitch had better be laugh-out-loud funny. If it’s an edgy thriller, it needs to offer suspense, thrills, and chills. If it’s a family drama, the pitch needs to evoke empathy and pathos. If it’s a crime, legal, or medical procedural series, the pilot story needs to offer a surprising, emotionally resonant mystery.
2. Set the stage for the pitch before delving into the basic story points (“beats”) in the pilot episode.
   1. What’s the basic format (i.e., half-hour dramedy, one-hour drama)?
   2. What’s the genre and tone?
   3. What’s the principal time period?
   4. What’s the main setting? If you were pitching Once Upon a Time, you would need to establish two realms.
3. Make eye contact with everyone. Don’t just pitch to the most powerful player in the room; you’re going to need other advocates. Not making eye contact with a junior executive can alienate him or her and cause him or her to torpedo your pitch after you’ve left the meeting. Be democratic, respectful, and diplomatic.
4. Once the stage is set, start with a killer teaser to pique their interest. Everyone loves to hear a great story told by a master storyteller, so start offwith a provocative cold opening. Maybe it’s facts and stats. Maybe it’s a provocative question. Maybe it’s a joke that captures the flavor of your comedy.
5. Once you’ve effectively grabbed their attention with the teaser, pitch out the basic A and B stories of the pilot episode. I’ve found it’s best to describe the cast of characters on a need-to-know basis within the context of the story versus as a laundry list. But do not give short shriftto the characters. No matter how delightful and innovative your series’ premise might be, a series is only as compelling as its leading players. Present a thumbnail sketch of who’s who—but don’t snow blind them with too many names and specifics. Do tell them how and when and why we’re being introduced to this group of characters at this particular time. How are they uniquely flawed and engaging? What are their primary strengths and weaknesses?
6. Present the basic structure of the pilot episode. I like to delineate the act breaks so the execs can get a sense of the tone, pacing, style, and mini-cliffhangers at the end of each act—leading up to the big, climactic cliffhanger at the end of the pilot episode. Ideally, the ending of the pilot episode will be surprising, organically earned, and resonant.
7. End your pitch of the pilot episode on a high note that portends future conflicts versus too much resolution and harmony. The primary difference between a TV series and a movie is, by and large, that a movie is intended to be finite; “The End” is intended to be the end of the movie. In contrast, the end of a TV pilot is just the beginning of what is intended to be an ongoing journey for the characters.
8. Make them care. Get them invested in the plight of your characters. Keep them on the edge of their seats with suspense—which is generated by their emotional investment in the characters! You want your series to get under their skin. You want it to haunt them. You want them to talk to their colleagues and bosses and significant others about it. You want them to lose sleep over it. They say yes, and you make the sale when they simply can’t say no.
9. Clarify the week-to-week of your series. In other words, what’s the franchise? As you’ll read in my interview with The Walking Dead show-runner, Glen Mazzara, “Great TV is about cool people doing cool shit.” So it’s not enough for you to introduce and describe your characters, it’s also essential that you specify what they’re going to be doing in each episode.
10. Show them your series is set on fertile ground. Have at least three examples for future episodes. This will probably not be necessary, but be prepared with brief loglines in case they ask. Avoid lots of plot details, but do let them know where the series goes from there. What are the “story engines,” that is, what is the series going to be week to week? Is it going to be serialized with an ongoing plotline for the whole season? Or are the episodes going to be closed ended and resolve by the end of each episode by divulging whodunit or the verdict or cure or truth? In a purely serialized series, such as 24, Dallas, Gossip Girl, Breaking Bad, Mad Men, The Walking Dead, Lost, Friday Night Lights, and Parenthood, the ongoing stories in the lives of the characters are the week-to-week franchise. These ongoing, cumulative character plotlines and subplots are called “character arcs.”
11. What is your intention for your series? Let them know in your pitch so they have a framework for the story you’re trying to tell. In a purely procedural series, such as Law & Order, CSI, Bones, House, the franchise will be the case of the week. And then there are hybrid series that are both serialized and also offer closed-ended A stories, such as The Good Wife, Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, and Once Upon a Time. The series, Touch, featuring Kiefer Sutherland, started out as a character-driven procedural in its first season and evolved into a serialized series in season 2. Know the network’s brand and what’s working within their wheelhouse. Currently at ABC, hybrid shows are working quite well, while purely serialized shows (such as Revenge) are starting to lose steam with viewers.
12. Briefly and succinctly pitch out the basic mythology of the series. Keep it simple! Your series’ mythology will take the form of a central mystery—secrets from the past that are actively hidden or obscured. Mythology is about how the past (aka “backstory”) affects the present and future of your series’ characters. Lost was a serialized show with a deep, rich, ever-expanding mythology that dealt with the mysteries of the island. No need to tell the execs everything you know. Not knowing what’s going to happen invokes the central questions of your series—which is the lifeblood of good television. Even in a sitcom in which nothing fundamental ever really changes and the characters very often stay the same, the fun is knowing not if they’re going to get out of trouble—but how. A good pitch will entice them to ask you questions. If you can end your pitch and then they’re brimming with curiosity about what’s going to happen next to these characters, they’re probably going to buy your pitch just to find out.
13. Let them know if it’s a “premise” pilot or a “non-premise” pilot—although this should be fairly obvious from your pilot episode.

    A premise pilot means that episode 1 is essential to start the series; a premise pilot establishes the premise from day one. Lost was a premise pilot because it started with the plane crash. The Killing was a premise pilot because it’s the first day that Sarah Linden (Mireille Enos) starts investigating the murder of Rosie Larsen and partners up with Stephen Holder (Joel Kinnaman). Grey’s Anatomy was a premise pilot because it started with the first day of internship for the new residents. The X-Files was a premise pilot because it began with Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) being introduced to Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and the inception of their partnership. Homeland was a premise pilot because it started with POW Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis) returning home and Carrie Mathison’s (Claire Danes) accompanying suspicion of him.

    In contrast, a non-premise pilot simply drops us into the world of the series that’s already in progress. It’s the first episode for the audience, but it’s not day one for the characters. It’s just now. Mad Men, Game of Thrones, Downton Abbey, Parenthood, Modern Family, E.R., and The West Wing were non-premise pilots. The Mentalist, Rizzoli & Isles, Law & Order, and most of the plot-driven procedural dramas are non-premise pilots. There are also hybrid franchises that begin with a climactic moment and then either flash-forward (such as in the pilot for The Good Wife and Royal Pains) or flashback (such as in the pilots for Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, and Damages). To me, Friday Night Lights was a premise pilot because it ends on the debilitating injury of star quarterback Jason Street (Scott Porter) and its effects on not only Coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler) and his family, but also on the whole town of Dillon, Texas. The Sopranos was a hybrid pilot because it’s Tony Soprano’s (James Gandolfini) first day of therapy with Dr. Melfi(Lorraine Bracco).

14. Think about casting—networks are all about getting the widest audience possible for their brand, so it’s always a good idea to have diversity in your cast. A big exec at a major TV studio recently told me that, given the size of the Hispanic audience, it’s now impossible to pitch a series without at least one major Latin role. This isn’t about pandering. TV viewers like to see their lives reflected in some way on their favorite series, so think about a multi-ethnic, multigenerational cast. Are their exceptions to this rule? Of course, Seinfeld, The Sopranos, and Friends immediately come to mind, but times are changing. P.S.: Sometimes it can be useful to offer a casting suggestion even if it’s a movie star who’s not going to be doing a TV series any time soon or ever—just to create a picture in their minds, “she’s Jennifer Aniston with a briefcase.” This strategy can also be risky because you might end up choosing someone the exec hates.
15. If you have a huge canvas of characters for an ensemble series, it can be helpful to prepare a visual aid—such as a chart—to refer to each character. I’ve cut out pictures from magazines and prepared such a chart so they don’t get confused about who’s who. However, I dissuade you from giving them a printout of a Cast of Characters because then they’ll spend the whole pitch looking down at the handout instead of up at you.
16. A short (three minutes or less) “sizzle reel” can be effective if it’s really provocative and well executed. Beware of anything that looks amateurish and have a contingency for technical snafus.
17. Props can be a useful selling tool, but don’t use them as a crutch. A gimmick like a bar of FIGHT CLUB soap to sell Fight Club: The Series and coming into the meeting with a black eye and bruises might make for a memorable pitch, but their decision to buy the show will be based on the story and characters, not the marketing gimmick.
18. Finish the pitch, and don’t buy it back. What this means is, when you’re done with your rehearsed pitch, shut up. This is crucial to (potentially) closing the sale. After you’re done pitching, there’s always that excruciating silence in the room that every fiber in your (insecure, neurotic) being will want to fill with embellishment. Do not give in to this temptation. When you’re done pitching, try to embrace the silence with confidence. Think about having a winning hand in poker. Don’t act all arrogant or jittery. Just sit there and let them make the next move. Anything you say beyond your proposed pitch that’s not elicited by them can and will be used against you, so don’t equivocate. If they have any questions, they’ll ask you. If they’re ready for you to depart, they’ll say thank you. Don’t act desperate and ask them when they’re going to make their decision. Don’t ask them for feedback on the pitch or how you can improve it. Insecurity does not invoke confidence in a buyer.
19. Hollywood is built on relationships. Obviously, talent plays a significant part, too, but good relationships close the sale. Any time you sell a pitch, the executive who advocates for it is placing a bet on you. If the executive is unsure that you can deliver the product—a kickass pilot script—then he/she is going to hedge their bets and spend their limited discretionary funds on a more confident, tried and true series creator. If you’re a total neophyte, they can always pair you up with an established showrunner should the series go into production. However, for this initial step of ordering the pilot script from you, they need to feel comfortable in their relationship with you and/or place their confidence in your producer to shepherd you through the script development process. Every pitch meeting is a learning opportunity for you, and not the be all, end all of your career—unless you get angry and rude for their not immediately embracing your brilliance and storm out. Be a team player, not a diva. Be magnanimous and flexible even when they take a phone call or answer an email right in the middle of your pitch. Keep your ego and T.V.C. (thinly veiled contempt) in check. It will only hurt you, not them.
20. Be a professional. Show up on time and be prepared. Never begin a pitch with a disclaimer! If you’re having a terrible day and got a speeding ticket on the way to the meeting, pull yourself together and leave your troubles outside the door.
21. Don’t discuss finances or price quotes in the pitch meeting. Be the artist and tell them to discuss that stuff with your rep. You’re a storyteller, not a lawyer or a haggler.
22. I generally recommend that you have three pitches prepared when you’re meeting with a producer. If you strike out with one, move on to the next one. However, when you’re going in to pitch at a TV studio or network, only pitch one project. You need to project an air of being fully committed, passionate, even obsessed with getting this one project on the air, as opposed to a shoe salesman.

NL: We are talking about selling, pitching, and packaging, as well as, what makes a viable series and franchise. I’d also like to hear where you think the TV business is heading—and maybe a little on new media. It might be helpful initially to talk about how Ghost Whisperer came about since it has been so successful. How did you position that and sell it?

IS: We’ve been in the network and cable television business. Let’s talk first about network which, here in the United States, is CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, and CW. My father once asked me, “How does your business work?” I thought about it and said, “In drama alone, and you could say the same thing for comedy, every network and/or studio exec, between the months of July and September, is going to hear anywhere from three hundred to five hundred pitches. Of those three hundred to five hundred pitches—and they’re from real people, from Kim and I, David Kelley, John Wells, J. J. Abrams, lawyers, agents, they’re likely to commission anywhere from fifty to seventy-five scripts. Of those fifty to seventy-five scripts, they’re likely to commission ten to twelve pilots. Of those ten to twelve pilots, they will probably pick up three to four. Of those three to four, one, maybe two will be on a second season. When I said that to my father who was at the time eighty-five, he said, “What the hell kind of business is that?” Those are real odds, not to scare, but to challenge. When you go in to pitch, you must find a way to liftyour material above those other three hundred to five hundred pitches because they’re only going to order fifty of them. And, that’s the art of selling for television.

KM: I think the odds that you’ve given are more for network. But the other thing that has become very difficult, and it feels like there’s an insatiable appetite for it, is what they call “loud” as opposed to excellent. The best is that you get both. But “loud” right now is very important because the network model is basically in a different place. It’s not as empowered as it was—particularly because there’s so much competition. First, there were three networks, then there were four, now there are five … plus the DVR. And the DVR is quickly becoming the number one network, believe it or not, because people want to watch their shows when they want to watch them—not when the networks are programming them. And now there’s cable. Cable has become the place where a lot of talent wants to work. There’s the platform of cable, the platform of video games, the platform of online, and all the digital media competition which is giving the networks a run for their money. But because there’s so much money to be made, these platforms are pushing up against the networks and the studios. What is giving the networks a run for their money are networks like Univision which are often beating networks like NBC. And that’s a new phenomenon which is not going to change because the Latino demographic is very young and very fluid. It is a growing culture which is influencing music, fashion, design— pop culture—with an insatiable appetite for content. The other thing that’s happened is that the cable networks have started branding themselves, like Bravo and the History Channel, and are beating out the broadcast networks with brave content swings like the Hatfields & McCoys.

IS: If I’m not mistaken, more people saw the History Channel those three nights than watched anything scripted last year on NBC. I think maybe Sunday Night Football and maybe The Voice or a couple other unscripted shows might have higher ratings, but the reality is that no scripted show beat the History Channel which until that night, most people you talk to didn’t know existed.

KM: What’s interesting is the Hatfields & McCoys’ success has empowered Bravo and the History Channel and smaller networks like Ion and other cable outlets. All these cable channels which were solely doing reality programs are now shifting to developing, selling, and programming scripted. That’s more competition for the broadcast networks which is an enormous challenge for them—but more opportunity for content creators.

IS: And, now with digital, you have even more people entering, although there’s some question as to whether they’re successful to begin with. Whether it be YouTube or Hulu—who’s going to be doing original programming? We all know that Netflix is already into original programming—and DirecTV. It’s obviously growing and you have to think that people aren’t jumping into this because it’s a loser. These are businesses, these are big corporations that are looking at the business model and saying, “Maybe there’s an audience we can reach. Maybe there’s a business model there that we could make money on and if there isn’t, let’s see if we can create a new one.” And, therefore, they want to jump in. It’s great. In terms of where television is going from a practical sense, that’s where it’s going.

KM: It’s a really exciting time to be in the TV industry because of all of the evolution. It’s also a challenging time if you’re just being tactical and not strategic—and tactical means creating a great show and just putting it out there. For us as a company, we spend a lot of time talking to futurists and cultural specialists and decoders, networks and studios and chief participant officers of fan groups. But we also go outside of the industry to get lots of points of view. What we’ve learned is that you have to be tactical and strategic. Tactical is creating and developing, selling, and launching a great show, and then making sure that you’re continuing to grow that show, not just the show itself, but also the universe of digital platforms which we’ll talk about in a little bit. You can’t just put a great TV show out there anymore. You also have to be strategic which is having to go out and find that audience, engage with that audience, and create a trust. You do all this before you even launch the show; after the launch, you continue to nurture and grow the relationship with the audience. The biggest mistake I think that Hollywood makes—and it’s all of us—is saying, “Well, I don’t like this. I wouldn’t watch that,” because it’s not about us. The fan world is all about what have you done for me lately. It’s about the people across the country and around the world—the fan bases and the potential viewers. So, when we go into a pitch, that’s what we’re always thinking about: how to focus the content for that fan base.

We have to make sure that we have a process in place that drives the creative, so at the beginning of every development season, we create what we call a “point of view” document, which is about two hundred pages. It’s an analysis of the world for the year: the economy, the culture, how people relate to each other, the interconnectedness … We start very broad and narrow the focus more and more, drilling down into the entertainment industry and what’s going on with features, books, and television. Then, we go to the networks, studios, cable, and digital media. It’s a snapshot of the world at this point in time. We do it through a lot of research, analysis, and relationships with all kinds of experts within and outside of the Entertainment Industry— it’s our “discovery” phase and we love it! We meet with the heads of the networks and discuss their programming needs, then we meet with their programmers, research people and creative execs. Once we put the information together, we use this POV as the lense through which to look at all the material we consider developing that season. We see two different things: there’s the marketplace in the entertainment industry and there’s the global marketplace which is becoming more and more important because of how technology has stitched the world together. Once we have the POV doc in place, we start working with concepts, arenas, pieces of material and writers to match them up—like intricate jigsaw puzzles. Once we feel like we have one plus one equals one thousand, that’s when we start working with the writer to craftthe pitch. We don’t want our material to be residual because that’s the “been there, done that” category equals old new. We don’t want to be dominant because by the time the networks get ready to order pilots, if your material is dominant, it will appear dated. And if it’s emergent, then it may be too early to take the material out and people won’t get it. So the halfway mark between dominant and emergent is where we aim to be in development—that’s our sweet spot. The thing that gives pitching structure is having a process and a strategy—this will protect the creative.

IS: With Ghost Whisperer, Kim and I and John Gray were working on developing another project. We’ve known John for twenty years. I produced his first television movie in 1989 and I met Kim on the same movie. John and we had the same agent. At that point, we had already been in the series business: Profiler, I Fly Away, Equal Justice, New York News, The Beast, and more. We convinced John that we should try to come up with a series which had a paranormal aspect to it. At which point, John Gray gets a call from an executive at CBS, Bela Bajaria who at the time was the Movie of the Week and long form executive. John had recently directed a movie there called, Helter Skelter, which did quite well. Bela said she had done a movie with a guy named James Van Praagh called, Talking to the Dead, which also did well. It was a four-hour, mini-series (Ted Danson played James). She said, “There’s this woman that James introduced me to named Mary Ann Winkowski. She’s a real life ghostbuster. She’ll come to your house and get rid of the ghosts haunting it. She’s amazing! Do you think there’s a series in that?” He said, “To tell you the truth, I don’t know anything about series, but I’m working on something with Kim Moses and Ian Sander, would you mind if I talked to them?” “Well, if they want to do it, that would be great,” she said. And, when John came to us to say, “Do you think this is a series?” We said yes.

KM: We discovered through a Gallup Poll that 70 percent of people between the ages of five and sixty-five believe in ghosts (It starts at age five because of Casper.) And then, we googled Talking to the Dead and got 60 million hits, so we said, “That’s a show with a built-in audience and it has legs.”

IS: So the three of us came up with a pitch for doing a show about a ghost whisperer. Kim and I had a deal at ABC, so we had to pitch it to them first, but sure enough, they passed and we went to CBS. Van Praagh came with us. We had Mary Ann Winkowski on the phone from Ohio while we were in the room, and we said, “Mary Ann’s going to talk about what she does.” In the middle of her talk on speakerphone, she says, “Am I wrong or is there a file cabinet in there with a plant that’s dead on top of it?” We all looked up at the file cabinet and there’s a dead plant on it. I looked at Kim and I whispered, “It’s sold.” And, sure enough, CBS bought the show. It was lots of fun to develop and then John wrote a wonderful script. The pilot then got ordered into production, but it was cast contingent, meaning because it’s a single female lead show we have to find the star that the network will approve before we go forward. The thing is that even if a show is not cast contingent, it’s cast contingent. If you’re doing a single lead show and you don’t find the right actor, they’re not putting you on. Jennifer Love Hewitt happened to also have a development deal at that time down the hall from us at the studio. We had gotten to know her over the past six months and had talked about doing a show together, but she had just shot a sitcom pilot and was waiting to hear if it was being ordered into series. So, in the meantime, we went out and offered the Ghost Whisperer lead to a couple of different actresses—fortunately they passed—and then Love’s show did not get picked up.

KM: We knew she was the girl—we knew all along.

IS: We gave her name to CBS, and they said maybe because she had never carried her own series. So we put her in a room with Les Moonves and we believed they would charm each other—and they did. Finally, we offer her the show, and she reads it and loves it. So we went into production on the pilot, John directed it and did a beautiful job. CBS said, “We love the pilot, but we have a lot of great pilots,” which I took to be French for “if CBS owned half of it,” we’re in. So we (the Endeavor Agency and I) brokered a deal between ABC Studios and CBS Studios. The show got on the air, but CBS hated the title. We had title contests to try to come up with a new one, but in the end, we got to go back to Ghost Whisperer which we’re so glad we did. The show got picked up for Friday nights at 8:00 p.m. on CBS. We did research and found out that 18 percent of the shows from the previous ten years that had premiered since X-Files on a Friday night went to season 2. Eighty-two percent did not. And we were on CBS which had CSI, CSI: Miami, Without a Trace, Cold Case—all procedurals. And our lead character was a twenty-five-year-old girl who sees ghosts. Now, ever since we did Profiler, which was 1996, we have been creating online assets at the intersection of TV and digital media and we learned that’s where the real magic is. So to launch Ghost Whisperer, we started producing interactive games, newsletters, videos, and lots of other assets which we distributed to Talking to the Dead sites, paranormal sites and Jennifer Love Hewitt fan sites. By the time the show came on the air, we were the most buzzed about show of any show coming on that year according to Trendums. The season before it was Lost. Over the next five years, we continued to do more and more of this for our show. Every week for every episode, we would create new assets and distribute them to our audience, including bloggers, websites, fansites, etc. Through this process (there’s that word again), we built a database which drove the ratings up. Eventually it developed into what we call the “total engagement experience” (TEE). Basically, it’s taking a television show and making it the most important component of a more comprehensive entertainment experience. Including multi-platforms which will ultimately drive viewers from one platform to the other in what we call an “infinity loop” that does a number of things: (1) builds ratings, (2) gets press buzz, and (3) creates revenue sources.

An example of a new revenue source happened during the first season when we got a lot of e-mails saying, “We know what it’s like to be a ghost whisperer, but what is it like to be a ghost?” So, Kim and I, but really Kim, came up with the idea of doing a web series from the point of view of a ghost. We pitched it to CBS, and they said, “Can you put a car in it?” So we said sure. One thing we’ve learned is if the network asks you a question, yes is usually the right answer. We went to Detroit and pitched it to General Motors (GM), and they agreed to pay for it and we put a car in it—and the web series ended up winning “Best Web Series” of the year from TVGuide. com. It was called, Ghost Whisperer: The Other Side. Not only did GM pay for the web series, but they also became a sponsor of the show’s second season. That was a big deal for CBS and us because GM had not been a sponsor the first season. We also did product integration by switching all of our regulars’ cars to GM cars for which GM paid the studios for the product integration. It was the first time that a blue chip company got to test drive a prime time network series through an original web series, and eventually, Wired and Forbes did stories on it. Whether it was mobile apps, graphic novels, our companion book Ghost Whisperer: Spirit Guide, or the four years of web series, all of these platforms ended up giving the show a branding presence that ultimately helped keep it on the air for 107 episodes, drive it into syndication on three networks and cable outlets, and be broadcast in 169 territories around the globe.

NL: Do other producers, studios, or networks come to you now to create this “total engagement” for their series?

IS: Yes, we now do it for other TV shows including Desperate Housewives, Ugly Betty, and Ghost Whisperer in syndication on the Syfy Network and WE. Often it’s “one-offs” instead of the whole multiplatform approach. What is important, which is much harder though, is to have this holistic approach to marketing—it takes a lot of creative energy but it’s worth it. And the other component that’s really valuable is our “AOP: Audience Outreach Program.” So now, when we go in to pitch a pilot, we will not only bring material for the pilot, like the agenda, the show description, visual aids, and an expert, but we also bake into the pitch the TEE. As twenty-first-century producers, we feel it’s our job to develop the show, pitch and sell it, produce it, and then deliver the eyeballs through our TEE.

KM: The first time we did the TEE, we did it as a matter of survival to keep our show on the air and build an audience. But then it was so successful that we started doing it for other shows and then we started doing it for feature films—we just worked on Hotel Transylvania and Happy Feet II. Delightful! We’ve done it for Warner Bros. and Sony, as well as some of the other major studios. People have asked us, “Isn’t it hard to run a show and do all these other things?” Interestingly, it is not because it’s all a creative process and it’s all going the same way like spokes in a wheel moving at high speed but in perfect sync.

For us as a company, we have a stake in the ground for Smart TV. We’ve been talking about second and third screens forever, and finally the entertainment industry is starting to value it. Because viewers are in the habit of using second or third screens, we want to give you an experience on those complimentary platforms which doesn’t draw your attention away from the TV show or feature film, but rather enhances the experience.

IS: Kim gave a lecture at MIT about two or three years ago, and one of the things that the people said was, “We’ve heard this before—why bother doing it? It only helps the studio and the network.” And she said, “No, I’m here to tell you that I have a kid in private school thanks to the TEE.” Ghost Whisperer ran for five years and Profiler for four. Both shows got to syndication. Obviously, you have to have a good show. The actors, the writers, the directors are the most important part, but sometimes it’s not enough. So I’m not saying that Ghost Whisperer was only a hit because of the TEE and all our transmedia storytelling, but I don’t know if it would have been as big a hit without all of this either.

KM: Launching shows seven or eight years ago, when all those shows were monster hits, is different than launching a show now. Today, you can’t just launch a show.

NL: When you hear a concept initially, because you two must hear a lot of pitches, and you say, “That sounds interesting to me.” The very next question is, “Where can I sell it?”

KM: Ian brought in several books the other day, and when I heard the second one I thought, “That’s a series!” because I knew through the POV lens that we had created—we knew we could sell it to CBS who wants to hold on to the mother lode of what they’re doing, but they also want to appeal to a younger audience, so they’re looking for cop shows with a twist.

IS: Last fall they came out with 2 Broke Girls and now they have a younger female audience. So now the question for them is, “What’s the drama version that can platform off of that which will give us a female hit that keeps the 2 Broke Girls’ audience?” It will be a subtle change. Just like how Survivor led to Amazing Race and CSI beget the other two CSI s. Wherever they’ve had a hit, they knew how to build from it.

NL: The Good Wife has been a big hit for them.

IS: They like that they have a show which is getting buzz and is up for awards because there aren’t that many network shows that are competing with those cable companies for awards. The Good Wife is one of the ones that is. It’s a very highly respected show. To be able to hit the quality mark twenty-two times a year as opposed to twelve or thirteen with a year offlike some of the cable shows have—that’s impressive.

NL: What are the essentials of a pitch? I would imagine that you need a very strong logline.

KM: Yes, and you need a great title. Last year started the year of you’ve got to have a great title.

NL: What’s the difference between a logline and a hook?

KM: A logline is a marketing tool for the network and the studio. They need it to sell up (to their bosses and sponsors) and to sell out (to the press and viewership). Now everyone knows you can’t summarize a great show in one sentence. There are supposed to be so many different levels and nuances, but the logline needs to tell you what world you’re in and what the characters represent in that world—and it has to communicate the tone too.

IS: Keep in mind that usually when you’re pitching a show, you’re not pitching it to the person who’s ultimately going to put it on the air. It will have to be re-pitched. So you have to give them something they can use. Sometimes it’s a logline, sometimes it might be material like a book, or it may be a poster or an expert. You want to give them as many tools as you can, so they can pitch up.

NL: What about a hook?

IS: A hook is almost like a copy line: “Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water.”

NL: Now, franchise is tied to the question of, what’s the element each week? With Ghost Whisperer, it was a new spirit each week.

IS: For the most part, the best network television shows are shows where the audience can be satisfied by the end of the show with some closed-ended element. There are exceptions. Lost being one of them. Underneath that, we have what we call a mythology which gets people to come back every week. Often that’s an ongoing quest or a mystery that’s unfolding. So, you want something that is satisfying, self-contained, but has an underlying mythology. With Profiler, for example, you had the case of the week, but you also had the fact that our lead character, Sam [Ally Walker], was being stalked by someone who killed her husband, and he was manipulating her life in strange and fascinating ways. She wanted to catch her stalker and he wanted to catch her—a great cat and mouse game on both parts. If you have both of those things going, that’s a home run.

NL: When you pitch in the network room, are you going to pitch all of these out: the arena, the tone, the world, the characters, the tease, and maybe the basic elements? How much will they present? A basic, bare-boned pilot episode?

KM: The best pitches are when we set the project up with why its culturally relevant, why here/why now and why this writer specifically. Then the writer does the world, the characters, the triangles between the characters, the themes and then launches into the teaser and first act of the pilot, ending with some juicy cliffhanger. From there on, the writer does not pitch from beat to beat to beat. It’s more of a broad pitch of the A, B, C stories and why we’re supposed to care about those stories and the characters and why they’re relevant to the series. During the pitch, there’s a little bit of dialogue and maybe a scene or two which dimensionalizes the characters. Then, the pitch ends with the pilot finale. Finally, we go into a couple of episode ideas to demonstrate the “legs” of the show, and an arc for a couple of the main characters to demonstrate how this fits into the mythology. I always feel it’s important to get two things across with writers: (1) setting up the world before you go into the characters and (2) why this writer is passionately connected to this material. We sold a show to NBC last year, and they told us that the reason they bought it was because both ourselves and the writer were so passionate about the material. When we go into the pitch in the first place, Ian and I always clearly set up the room because you never know when they’re running from room to room if they remember what all the loglines are. We set it up with the title and the logline and why we’re there. I think it’s unfair for us to assume that the executives are going to be able to embrace the material without you setting the table.

NL: Can an unknown first-time writer without staff experience or movie cred sell a pitch?

IS: It’s hard. You have to make your pitch and your show unignorable. If there’s any way to ignore it, they will—how can they not with hundreds of pitches swirling around them? Maybe you do this by attaching a book that went through the roof or the writer of a book or feature film that went through the roof. Or an expert or director they can’t ignore. Or even if you can attach a star, but that’s harder to do.

KM: I don’t think it’s fair to say that you can’t roll the dice in this business or look for your entrée. It’s only because over these last two years (and I think it’s going to change again because everything is cyclical) it’s been all about: Who are the eight-hundred-pound guerillas and how do we get into business with them? The Internet has made our business a much more democratic process. We have a friend, Kevin Tancharoen, who was a dancer and a choreographer, and then he directed Fame. But instead of doing another movie right away, he took Mortal Combat the game and shot a web series, which was about six or eight minutes long, that he paid for out of his own pocket. He was so smart because he picked this material where there was a huge following—every kid in America was playing Mortal Combat at the time. The reason we know about it is because he is a friend of our son, Aaron, and he shot some of it at our house. One morning, a few months later, our youngest son comes running into the house and says, “Kevin’s video is on the front page of YouTube!” By the time Declan told us that, it had already had 1.2 million hits on the first day’s posting. In the next two days, it had 6 million hits and was building. Then, Kevin got a call from Warner Bros., who owns the property, and was scared to death that he was going to get sued. But they had called to ask him if he would direct the Mortal Combat feature. It’s hard—the odds are against you, but there are still opportunities, if you’re clever and industrious. You don’t have to get in line like we had to get in line when we started in the business.