Directing a teaser for a reality show pilot

I

iservin

Member
I do multimedia production for a digital marketing company. My background is in documentary style television programming and before that news photo/video journalism. Today, one of our clients stopped in the shop and when introduced to myself asked about shooting a teaser for a possible reality show pilot. I occasionally do freelance production work on the side, so I said I'd consider it and told her to contact me with more info.

I've managed small scale productions before, and I often work as a one man band so I'm familiar with coming up with a concept and turning it into a deliverable, but I've usually stayed on the journalistic side of things and haven't ventured into creating entertainment programming.

Besides the somewhat obvious steps of nailing a compelling concept, what are other elements of reality tv I should make sure I think about and include? What is the production process like? Are scripts used, or outlines? Is there a standard format for pilot teasers that I should follow? How 'real' does it have to be and what can I fake? Are cheesy sound effects often used to heighten drama? :)

Beyond my limited exposure to watching reality tv, I'm new to this, so I'm looking for introductory resources. I haven't said yes to the gig, but I'd like to do my due diligence and see if it's practical for me to take this on.
 
The #1 thing to consider when someone says "reality show" is the chance you'll never get paid, never get reimbursed, and end up in the hole. Everyone and their brother thinks they have a great reality idea - it's replaced "children's book author" as the new housewife side career.

Plenty of reality shows are fake as hell. Tell me "lizard lick" isn't 100% created out of whole cloth. I remember a Kardashian article where the writer mentioned the producers planning out the scenes and doing multiple takes. I imagine there are some that are more honest, but man, "South beach tow" has gotten beyond implausible and the actors they're hiring are ridiculous.

There are folks here that work reality, especially in the audio threads. You'll need multiple cameramen, a boom op, multiple wireless mics, and a sound guy to manage all of that.

Good luck, someone has to come up with this stuff, there's certainly a market!
 
Thanks for your thoughts. I'm not planning on actually directing a show, or even a pilot, merely a single cam teaser to accompany a written pitch. I have a cushy marketing gig that I'm in no hurry to leave.

If you know anyone on here specifically that I should seek out for some practical advice on what makes a good teaser, let me know.
 
Andrius Simutis said:
Charismatic characters in conflict.
Click to expand...

Yup, I decided to offer up my time as a consultant rather than actually direct something.

I feel it takes a lot to stand out in a saturated field like reality TV and I didn't have faith it'd be able to do that. The potential client is also not very hip on what it takes to really shoot a reality show or even a pilot (or even a teaser) so I decided to bow out gracefully rather than do the best I can for a nonexistent budget and disappoint. I still would like to experiment with the reality show style, so I'm hopeful I can try and apply some of those principles (ironically hopefully) for a client or at the very least for some internal video at my agency.
 
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