Hollywood is built on the power of "idea", and television is the most rapidly evolving platform for ideas to be produced through storytelling and games. Most people think of Hollywood as a closed door, with opportunities reserved for those who "know people". On the contrary, Hollywood is a machine constantly on the search for new ideas to help reinvent itself and bring a fresh form of entertainment to viewers.
After working for seven years as a Development Executive, creating and pitching concepts with producers, I can tell you it's simply a game of matching the right concept to the right producer at the right time.
The most notable pioneer of television who started his empire from a simple notion is my former boss, Merv Griffin. In 1964 (post quiz show scandals), Merv was flying back from New York with his wife Julann pondering ideas for shows they could pitch, when they began to explore the following idea; "What if we gave the contestant the answer, and they had to figure out what the question was?" That triggered a playful conversation similar to the following;
Julann, "5,280". Merv, "How many feet are in a mile?". Julann, "Correct". Julann, "The Ford Theatre". Merv, "Where was Abraham Lincoln shot?". Julann, "Correct".
That basic idea and game went through many stages of development before even being pitched to the network, but once produced, it became the most successful game show in the history of television we now know as "Jeopardy!" In 1986 Griffin sold the show, along with "Wheel of Fortune" (created shortly after) to The Coca Cola Company for a staggering $250 Million in cash.
Today, the landscape of programming and deal making is vastly different, and creating such simple concepts that haven't already been produced is difficult. To our benefit, the outlets and opportunities for new TV shows is literally a hundred-fold what it was in the 60's. Hollywood producers and development executives work full time to create or find those new concepts to sell to TV networks, and more and more are using the Internet to source new material.
A variety of sources can be found online for writers to research and become directly involved with the industry. TVWritersVault.com is used by producers scouting new projects, and for Writers to pitch their material. You can also fine an extensive cross-referencing manual for industry contacts in the Hollywood Creative Directory at hcdonline.com .
If you think being an outsider from Hollywood makes it impossible, I know first hand that's not true. In my first year as a development executive at Merv Griffin Entertainment, I brought in a concept created by a journalist in Florida. The idea was written up in a two-page outline, and explored the simple idea; "How far will an ordinary person go to help a stranger in need?" The idea could have also been pitched as "Pay It Forward meets Candid Camera". Our producers immediately saw the potential for comedy and entertainment value, and Merv signed the new writer to an option deal. The project was sold on our first pitch to Disney, and eventually packaged for production where it still sits.
Just recently, an aspiring writer from Alabama, Timothy Centner, sold 3 projects (all ideas for reality-based programming) to a producer who uses The Television Writers Vault for finding new projects. Prior to that, Jon Stewart of Illinois sold his idea for a reality-based program built around his own life to a head executive for Fox Television Studios.
You may have the most inspiring story or script any producer could read, but unless you can boil that story or concept into a brief synopsis with a highly marketable "logline", a producer will never invest the time in reading the entire script or treatment, leaving no chance of any deal to be offered.
A "Logline" is a one or two sentence description that tells the basic idea and purpose of a show. Loglines for the sake of pitching a project are similar to a TV Guide description, but more specific in describing the idea of the show. This is the catalyst for increasing the odds of selling any script or idea to Hollywood.
A great logline should provoke interest and inspire the TV producer to see it's potential. The following are examples of could-be loglines for current television shows:
- "Ordinary people face their fears by competing against each other in outrageously devised stunts" - Fear Factor
- "A likeable husband's marriage and tolerance is tested by the constant intrusion of his overbearing parents and dim-witted brother" - Everybody Loves Raymond
- "Twenty women will court and compete to win the affections of one man who will narrow the selection until he must decide on his one true love." - The Bachelor
- "Contestants' general knowledge will be tested when given the answers to questions they must then form." - Jeopardy
Another important facet of marketing your projects to the entertainment industry is the protection and "proof-of-creation" as the Author. An aspiring writer need not be a member of any union to get protection for their writing. The Creators Vault is an online archive where writers may receive electronic proof of creation for their projects. The Writers Guild of America also provides a registry service to writers online.
When finally offered an "option deal" by a producer who wants to buy your project, you'll then want to seek the counsel of an entertainment attorney to help negotiate the specific terms of any agreement. Most often, the writer is paid token monies upfront for the company to have exclusive right to sell and produce the project with any network or third party buyer. Once a project reaches production, the writer receives the negotiated "purchase price" (usually a much larger sum than the option monies), and will receive a small percentage of participation in the fees received by the production company for producing the show.
Keep inspired. Look at your life and the world around you to find fresh and compelling stories and subjects. If you roll up your sleeves and dedicate yourself to the work necessary, you just might sell the next groundbreaking idea for a show to Hollywood.
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Deadly Coincidence is a 121,000-word crime thriller that provides a literary feast of suspense, mystery and drama. The story also has also has a twist of humor and the characters with concise and witty remarks draw the reader into the underworld of a contemporary mafia. The core characters in the sequel, which is already in the works, will draw the reader into a different kind of underworld, the bizarre world of a sadistic cult.
After the modernized Chicago mob infiltrated the health care industry to hide illegal activities, one business owner’s life turned into a nightmare. Squeezed by the mob and implicated in a dangerous predicament by his friend who’s having an affair with a gangster’s woman, he faces double jeopardy and must run for his life. When a private investigation agency owned by his brother and an ex FBI agent get involved, they race against time to gather evidence the FBI needs to start making arrests.
Deadly Coincidence Synopsis
To fly under law enforcement’s radar, the Chicago mob infiltrated the dental industry and began using it to launder money and hide other illegal activities. When a dental lab owner captured the media’s attention to grow his business, to avoid being exposed, the mob decided to silence him. After Chip Zaunis received death threats and was strong-armed by two mob enforcers, he turned to his brother, a former Chicago police detective for help. Butch Zaunis and his partner, a retired FBI agent, were the owners of a private investigation agency called Dynamic Investigations.
While out with his brother for beers, Chip ran into the two mob enforcers he had the encounter with. Butch broke into their van and found it loaded with cigarettes. Coincidentally, Dynamic Investigations was hired to investigate a million-dollar cigarette heist and suspecting a connection, they followed the van to a warehouse. After Butch broke into the warehouse, he located stolen Rolex watches and jewelry his agency was hired to recover by a different client.
While explaining the coincidence to a colleague, Chip was stunned to learn that he was having an affair with the ex wife of a mafia captain, Tony Rossi. The night Doug Gibson told him about her, three mob enforcers had been following him and they both had to flee for their lives. Unwilling to stop seeing her, Doug decided to bring the fight to them and after shooting three of the enforcers who were after him, he flew down to Saint Petersburg Florida and went into hiding.
Unable to keep his mind off Julie Rossi, Doug persuaded her to fly down to Saint Petersburg Florida to see him. When she left, a dentist tied to the mob followed her to locate Doug. After the mob whacked Doug, Julie found out about the dentist, showed up at his office with a gun and after persuasive questioning, killed him.
After Tony disobeyed the mob boss’s orders, he commissioned a hit on him and sent enforcers to find Chip. Tony learned about the contract on him and placed a cell phone activated bomb underneath one of the cars the boss sent to find Chip. When the enforcers found him, with Butch’s help, they drew them into a trap, and caused one of the cars to crash. When the second car caught up with them and they were involved in a high-speed chase, Tony blew up the bomb that was underneath the car.
When his plan to whack Tony failed, in fear he’d retaliate, the mob boss called for a secret meeting to put together another team of assassins. In fear of being listened in on or ambushed, he decided to hold the heavily guarded meeting on a farm. After Tony found out about the meeting, he placed explosives inside the barn and while the meeting was taking place, he called the mob boss, told him that he’s watching and blew up the barn.
Since the mob boss did not groom a successor and no one knew that Tony blew up the barn or that Doug and Julie were responsible for the shootings, everyone wanted the next boss to be tough enough to stand up to the crime group responsible for all the killings. Believing Tony was the man for the job, they unanimously elected him to be the new boss.
Wanting Julie back, Tony talked her into going on a date, and Julie talked him into playing a game he’d never played before. She covered his eyes with a blindfold, tied his wrists to the bedposts and got on top of him. While they were having sex, Julie removed the blindfold, pointed a gun to the roof of her mouth and pulled the trigger. Tony broke loose from the binders, wrapped both arms around her and let out a loud yell, “Nooooooo.”
I submitted an excerpt from my book to a short story contest and this was the response:
Dear Arvid Saunaitis,
Thank you so much for your submission of "A Savored Moment." Our panel truly enjoyed the writing. You are very talented and the images are lovely. Unfortunately, one of the criteria for publication on our site is that there be a "happy ever after" for the couple involved. We are a romance site and, for romance, a HEA if necessary. If there was a HEA for Julie and Doug, this would definitely be a story we would want to publish.
I realize this may not be the vision you have for your story, but if you would like to rework this, we would be more than glad to take another look at it.
Thank you so much for allowing us to read this and good luck in placing it. Again, if you choose to rework it, please resubmit it.
Happy Writing,
Judy
I changed the ending and resubmitted the story.
A Savored Moment
An hour before sunset, Julie and Doug arrived at the dock and sat down on the bench. A minute later, Julie stood up, walked over to the dock’s railing and with her head raised high and eyes closed, stood there enjoying the ocean breeze. Doug remained on the bench and admired the way the wind made her dress press up against her nicely shaped figure.
Then he laid back on the bench and started remembering the first time he laid his eyes on her. He remembered the first time they made love and how quickly the intense delight was ripped away by the awful banging on the door and her horrifying words, “It’s my ex. You must put on your clothes and get out as fast as you can.”
“Call the cops!” he remembered whispering.
“My ex is a hit man for the mob.”
“We’re on the 22nd floor. How am I supposed to get out?”
“My friend’s condo is right below. I have long extension cords you can use to climb down.”
When the loud knocking on the front door changed to an attempt to break it down, Doug remembered tying the extension cords to the railing and descending down the building.
“Doug, are you alright?” Julie asked and kissed the nape of his neck. Then, she gently started stroking his arm and he got up from the bench. He put his arms around her and held her tight in his arms. After the moment ended, she looked him in the eyes and said, “Doug, this makes it really hard on both of us. We should have said our good buys over the phone.”
“I think they’re starting to board now, why don’t we go,” Doug said.
The two-hour cruise brought them within a few feet of dolphins that were cresting in the wake near the bow of the boat and since there was no sound from the motor, they could hear their high-pitched sounds. As they watched the spectacular sunset, every worry they previously had became trivial. Then Julie looked into Doug’s eyes and said, “Can we go sit on the deck in front of the boat? We need to talk.”
After they made themselves comfortable, she looked into his eyes and said, “Remember the conversation we had following the ugly incident at my condo? I told you that I care too much about you to let anything happen to you. I realized that we can’t see each other any more, but I didn’t want to end our relationship with such an ugly image of what happened that night. The reason we came here, is to engrave a new and more pleasant memory and then as we both had agreed, we must say farewell and never see each other again. I wish there was someplace we could go to start new lives, but the truth of the matter is, they’ll find us no matter were we go. After we say goodbye, you can never see me again.”
Doug sat quietly for a moment and than with a sad look spoke, “There has to be something we can do to change things.”
“I don’t think so Doug. You see, I sold my soul to the devil a long time ago and now there is no way out.” Doug stared at the fading light glowing in her hair for a moment, put his arms around her and after kissing her bare shoulder and neck said, “The harsh reality can wait until we’re ready to face it. Lets just saver this precious moment for as long as it lasts. Sunsets are so precious and beautiful, aren’t they? No two are exactly the same. We need to saver this one because it’s so perfect. We really only have a few moments to enjoy its beauty before it slips away forever, you know?”
Julie gave him a long hug and with tears in her eyes said, “I wish we could die together just to come back to meet again under different circumstances.”
“Do you believe in happy endings Julie?”
“Endings are never happy. It’s only the happy moments along the way that we can truly enjoy. After we get off this boat, we must walk away in opposite directions.”
“I know, but there’s no reason we can’t stay optimistic. As all good things come to an end, so do the bad things.” Doug responded and gazed into the distance.
By the time they got back to shore, the sun had already disappeared into the ocean and the moon had taken over the night. When they stepped off the boat and started going their separate ways, Doug’s eyes caught a glimpse of a front page of a paper that was lying on the same bench they were sitting on earlier. He quickly picked the paper up and started reading:
“Armed with a search warrant, Federal agents swarmed a warehouse belonging to an organized crime group and using blowtorches took down metal doors. Inside the warehouse facility, a shoot out between law enforcement officials and suspected mob figures took place resulting in the deaths of several gunmen. One of the mob figures killed in the shootout was the notorious hit man, Tony Rossi, who’s believed to be responsible for at least nine contract killings.”
After Doug finished reading the article, he started looking for Julie and when she was no where in sight, with the paper in his hand he started running in the direction she walked away in. When he got to the street, he spotted her getting inside a cab and quickly jumped in front of it and raised his arms.
As soon as Julie saw him, butterflies filled her stomach and tears filled her eyes. Doug walked over to her door and after opening it said, “Like I said before, as all good things come to an end, so do the bad things.” Then he handed her the paper.
I think my book would make an excellent movie. It has drama, action/adventure and realistic humor, which now days is rarely seen in movies.
My name is-Arvid Saunaitis
Email address- tometalk@hotmail.com
My blog title is Erudite, http://tometalk-erudite.blogspot.com
Cell # is 312-403-1555 I did not include my address because I’ll be moving soon.
Arvid Saunaitis is the inventor of what the media called the snap on teeth appliance that was widely publicized by the media in the US and abroad. He also had many articles published in various dental journals in the US, the UK and Canada and his letters to the editor were published in two Chicago’s top newspapers. He recently completed a 121,000 word crime fiction book entitled Deadly Coincidence and is looking to have it published.
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