Reality TV Requirements?

[SamIam]

Does anyone here have knowledge in selling a Reality TV show?

I know a couple of years ago the cable networks wanted at least 3 episodes in the can. How has that changed? Is a web series, hulu or some other medium the way to go these days?

I have a client who owns a lot of property and businesses in town including a successful Mexican restaurant. There's great chemistry among the staff, interesting back stories, and a lot of funny times they believe will make a great series.

Can anyone point me in the right direction or offer helpful suggestions?

 

[dalethompson]

I can try to help you out SamIam as I'm in pre-production for a reality (I call it factual based though) tv show.

Put together a one or two page proposal (two preferred but no more than that for an initial proposal). This is the equivalent to a teaser... you want to capture someone's attention so much they want to read over your 15, 20, 25 page treatment for the show you just offered a glimpse of.

Make it the best two pages of writing you can do. If you can't create excitement in two pages and get the reader to ask "why should this be on TV?", then get someone else to write it for you. If they can't sum it up in two pages or less, find a professional. If they still can't do it, then maybe the idea really isn't as interesting as you though initially.

You need to include the five W's (who, what, when, where and why) and how this show plans on showing all of this. It's hard to summarize things being really concise and compact but you have to learn how to do it for your proposal. If they are interested, then you can really write things out in much more detail in your treatment (and they will expect you to do that too).

I guess the one thing I can offer (which I got lots of constructive criticism on when I was pitching my ideas) is that you have to somehow make your idea different from everyone else's. Is there a hundred proposals featuring Mexican or other restaurants out there with quirky characters, great stories and a really eclectic staff? Maybe not a hundred, but there could be 10 or 20. You have to make your idea seem original enough that someone will want to see what you see (and, of course, you have to make it exciting and really interesting in your proposal).

Bottom line is, if you can't get someone's attention in 2 pages or less, they won't entertain any though to making it a TV that airs for 22 or 44 mins each week. Most TV execs probably get dozens if not hundreds of proposals per month, you need to make yours so good they will remember the idea and your name when they put it down.

How did I know I had a winner? I knew when I pitched it to friends and others their reactions were pretty much all the same. When I finally finished my proposal and sent it off, one of the first words I heard was "wow, I really think that is a really great idea". Pitch it to friends first, gauge their reaction, then ask for feedback from them. You need unbiased critiques for your idea and most people have no issue in giving you feedback. After all, they are the same people who will watch it or not, right?