I’ve recently been given the opportunity to write a pilot for a Portia Adams Adventure TV Series, and I’ve decided to add this process to my website as well, in the hopes that fans find the development of interest.
The journey begins at the Toronto Screenwriting Conference, where I attended several fascinating sessions.
Stephen Falk gave a great demonstration of how to break down a season into acts that I’m excited to put into action. I got a chance to speak to him after his talk about pilots, and he had some specific tips and tricks for me.The session with Nicole Clemens of F/X was a little less useful to me specifically, but interesting.
Glen Mazzara’s breakdown of Damien was fascinating. He played the first episode for us but paused every few beats to explain how each scene developed.
The session that really made it hard to sleep that night, though, was Corey Mandell’s TV Series Engine. His By Association concept is one I’d like to try, in conjunction with the 3-act process Falk demonstrated.
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Oh my God Angela, this is such amazing news! Congratulations, and good luck writing out the pilot.
RIGHT!?!?!? Freaking out a bit my friend, I’m not ashamed to admit that.
Well, if you need any help, let me know. I don’t know much about screenwriting, but I’d be more than happy to support you in any way possible in this.
A good pilot is tough, especially when you’ve got so much background to fill in. You’re going to have to give the viewers the historical context and let them get to know the characters, and you’re going to have to do while still providing a mystery story that will keep them interested. That’s not to discourage you, just pointing out that you’ve got your work cut out for you. Portia is a great character for a series, though, and I think if you let her take center stage the audience will follow her and pick up the rest along the way. Good luck!
Tell me about it Misha, it’s a lot of time to fill (44 min) and yet, not enough time to get into all the details. Any other advice would be welcomed through this process.
I’d advise you to watch a lot of Joss Weadon. Check out the first episode of “Firefly” “Dollhouse” and “Buffy”. He is really good at introducing a whole world painlessly.
Well that’s no hardship! I adore those shows (though Firefly’s first episode on TV wasn’t actually the pilot).