How to get investors

[rmaxmaicon]

Hi, I'm completely new to the whole business side of making a production so bare with me.
Me and a buddy co-wrote a PILOT for TV. It is a comedy and we have several other episodes lined up that are still being written. We have completed the first Episode which introduces the characters essentially and engaging enough we hope to gain an audience with its first viewing. It is a 30minute episode.

My question is: What can we do to get investors to help make the project??
And also, in regards to copyright issues....what should we do to protect ourselves from having our material stolen? Do we need people to sign a Non Disclosure agreement before reading it?

Thank You,

-Ruben

 

[MichaelP]

Television is a different beast than features when it comes to selling. I would suggest reading "This Business of Television"
http://tinyurl.com/auvhjn9

You don't want people signing non-disclosures. You want to register your script(s) with the Writer's Guild for starters.
http://www.wgawregistry.org/webrss/

If you're using Final Draft for example, you can register directly from within the application (File -> Register Script).

You will want to shoot the pilot and shop that around with the "bible" or one page descriptions for the rest of the first season's episodes (10-12 at least) to show story and character arcs. Also, are the actors in the pilot the same ones for the entire series? You may want to consider a web series and look to Kickstarter or IndiGogo as a means of funding. What is your proposed budget per episode? Also, look to similar style 30 minute productions currently on television and research those production companies. You can't really submit unsolicited work to a company as it causes potential headaches downstream and is usually done via an agent or lawyer. Self distribution of television type episodic is usually harder to do than a one-off feature, but it can be done online with a marketing plan on how to reach viewers. Usually done as ad revenue or sponsored if possible, so it's a different game. There's a another thread on here about someone's webisode and budget breakdown you may want to look at as a potential model. But models are broke every day with Netflix now a television producer with House of Cards - but the production value rivals that of something you might see on Showtime or HBO -

Michael