Do you know anything about TV production companies?
January 3, 2015 1:31 PM Subscribe
Can someone explain to me how a TV production company works? This is for a piece of fiction I'm writing.
Based on some googling, I gather that there are different kinds of production companies of various sizes and flavors. I'm imagining a company that has gotten some TV shows on the air, though probably nothing huge. I'm picturing a smallish independent company. So what would that mean? How many people would be working there? Maybe just two or three partners, and that's it? And then they would hire out for everything? Would they be getting lots of pitches all the time? Would the partners be collaborators, or would they each be working on projects independently?
Here's the scenario as I'm envisioning it: The production company has had some successes (some scripted TV and reality shows). One of the production company execs (who's a main character) is feeling that she's on a downward slide. She worries she's on thin ice with the other execs at the company and that she needs to hit on something big, or they may force her out. What I want to convey is a woman who's in a decision-making role who feels a certain element of desperation.
Does this feel plausible?
Any suggestions for where I might find some info about all this would also be appreciated. Thanks!
Based on some googling, I gather that there are different kinds of production companies of various sizes and flavors. I'm imagining a company that has gotten some TV shows on the air, though probably nothing huge. I'm picturing a smallish independent company. So what would that mean? How many people would be working there? Maybe just two or three partners, and that's it? And then they would hire out for everything? Would they be getting lots of pitches all the time? Would the partners be collaborators, or would they each be working on projects independently?
Here's the scenario as I'm envisioning it: The production company has had some successes (some scripted TV and reality shows). One of the production company execs (who's a main character) is feeling that she's on a downward slide. She worries she's on thin ice with the other execs at the company and that she needs to hit on something big, or they may force her out. What I want to convey is a woman who's in a decision-making role who feels a certain element of desperation.
Does this feel plausible?
Any suggestions for where I might find some info about all this would also be appreciated. Thanks!
Oh my have I seen the desperate development execs. Not so much in competition with other execs because the places I've worked have been pretty small, so it's very much a team effort. But you could scale the size of the organization up a bit so an element of individual desperation works.
Two or three partners sounds right. One of them would probably be head of development. Staff would be hired as necessary - researchers for developing pitches, casting, writers, talent, crew, post-production etc. A producer will be brought on at some point to oversee a project, normally after a network has shown some interest and provided funds to shoot a pilot. The development exec can serve in this role, but more likely they'll keep trying to generate new ideas.
Television is an uncertain business, and development is probably the most uncertain of all. Even immensely popular shows get cancelled eventually, and a company deprived of their bread and butter can go downhill easily if they can't replace it. The company will receive some pitches, but really they'll be the ones pitching. Pitching everything to everyone. You try to read the market and figure out what might work. You pitch ten ideas to a network and they might like one, or they might tell you that shows about pets are hot right now, so come back with something about that.
You can spend months on projects that will never come close to air. Maybe you get some money to shoot a sizzle reel or even a pilot. Still far from a guarantee of a series order, but at least you have something to shop around. But by that point maybe a trend has passed, or someone else is doing the same idea already. One place I worked had a network ask for a show that was already being done and had us make a pilot. It was awesome but identical to a few other shows, pretty much everyone knew there was no way it was going.
And then something does go and you have to do all the hard work of actually making it.
My career as an editor is up and down enough as it is, I would never want to go near development. It seems a constant slog of ideas for shows that would mostly be perfectly fine, but getting someone to pay for you to make them seems like a total crapshoot to me. If you can't get a show, you can't employ lots of people who depend on you, which can be hard for small places with a good culture. You can't keep the technical and creative talent you've fostered. If you can't get a show going for a long time, you can't keep the company.
So yes, stress and desperation and competition in a mid or large sized business is completely realistic.
posted by yellowbinder at 3:09 PM on January 3, 2015
Two or three partners sounds right. One of them would probably be head of development. Staff would be hired as necessary - researchers for developing pitches, casting, writers, talent, crew, post-production etc. A producer will be brought on at some point to oversee a project, normally after a network has shown some interest and provided funds to shoot a pilot. The development exec can serve in this role, but more likely they'll keep trying to generate new ideas.
Television is an uncertain business, and development is probably the most uncertain of all. Even immensely popular shows get cancelled eventually, and a company deprived of their bread and butter can go downhill easily if they can't replace it. The company will receive some pitches, but really they'll be the ones pitching. Pitching everything to everyone. You try to read the market and figure out what might work. You pitch ten ideas to a network and they might like one, or they might tell you that shows about pets are hot right now, so come back with something about that.
You can spend months on projects that will never come close to air. Maybe you get some money to shoot a sizzle reel or even a pilot. Still far from a guarantee of a series order, but at least you have something to shop around. But by that point maybe a trend has passed, or someone else is doing the same idea already. One place I worked had a network ask for a show that was already being done and had us make a pilot. It was awesome but identical to a few other shows, pretty much everyone knew there was no way it was going.
And then something does go and you have to do all the hard work of actually making it.
My career as an editor is up and down enough as it is, I would never want to go near development. It seems a constant slog of ideas for shows that would mostly be perfectly fine, but getting someone to pay for you to make them seems like a total crapshoot to me. If you can't get a show, you can't employ lots of people who depend on you, which can be hard for small places with a good culture. You can't keep the technical and creative talent you've fostered. If you can't get a show going for a long time, you can't keep the company.
So yes, stress and desperation and competition in a mid or large sized business is completely realistic.
posted by yellowbinder at 3:09 PM on January 3, 2015
Oh, I forgot to stress how much stuff happened in-house just out of desperation. One particular instance of that was:
Our regular show had a narration which the host would record at a soundstage in Florida, and we'd get the script from the president-turned-writer in our office first to check it over before faxing it to the soundstage for the host on recording day. But our writer was a notorious procrastinator, and sometimes we'd be waiting until as much as a half hour after the recording session in Florida was set to start for the writer to fax us the script (bear in mind, we had to pay for the studio time). So a lot of times, if the writer had been late with the script and the host was waiting and the clock was ticking, and then we finally got the script and there was something small wrong with it - a weird phrasing or word choice they didn't like or something - rather than sending it back to the writer and potentially delaying it further, they'd turn to me and say, "here, EC, can YOU fix this?" And I'd give that one bit a rewrite and we'd send THAT to the host.
And that is how I ended up being the script doctor for an ESPN show.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:12 PM on January 3, 2015
Our regular show had a narration which the host would record at a soundstage in Florida, and we'd get the script from the president-turned-writer in our office first to check it over before faxing it to the soundstage for the host on recording day. But our writer was a notorious procrastinator, and sometimes we'd be waiting until as much as a half hour after the recording session in Florida was set to start for the writer to fax us the script (bear in mind, we had to pay for the studio time). So a lot of times, if the writer had been late with the script and the host was waiting and the clock was ticking, and then we finally got the script and there was something small wrong with it - a weird phrasing or word choice they didn't like or something - rather than sending it back to the writer and potentially delaying it further, they'd turn to me and say, "here, EC, can YOU fix this?" And I'd give that one bit a rewrite and we'd send THAT to the host.
And that is how I ended up being the script doctor for an ESPN show.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:12 PM on January 3, 2015
OK, some first things to know:
- There aren't a ton of production companies that do both scripted and reality. Most production companies in the traditional sense are producer-driven, and they will make the kind of stuff that producer/group of producers tend to do. Reality TV and scripted TV are very different worlds, for the most part. The only production companies I can think of that would do both is maybe a company based around a specific TV personality who goes so mainstream that they make it to the realm of scripted, for instance someone like Anthony Bourdain. And even in that case, scripted ultimately was not a successful thing for him/his team.
- Because production companies tend to be producer driven, there usually isn't a shortage of ideas for new projects. As a producer, you kind of know what your voice is and the kind of stuff you want to do. You might put feelers out for source material to adapt, or do some research on new voices, new trends, new properties, etc. (And a HUGE part of development is knowing the market and the players and being able to "package" things.) But in most cases it's less throwing spaghetti at the wall and more figuring out what you're going to cook for dinner tonight.
I've had contact with a few different production companies, and they have ranged from socially conscious documentaries to action/adventure features based on comic books to scripted TV crime procedurals. I can think of one production company I've worked with in the past that had a wider brand than that, but still pretty narrow as compared to your current thinking (their range is scripted basic-cable dramas).
Your exec is much more likely to be flailing around trying to package a particular property (e.g. marry a script to a director to stars, in a cost-effective manner, with the right studio, and ideally from the right agency), rather than coming up with a new idea out of the clear blue sky. Or maybe finding a new property that matches the pre-existing brand ("We need our next documentary to be about [issue]!" "This comic franchise cries out for a feature film adaptation!" etc).
Also, keep in mind that the TV development process is weird, because it involves pilots and is ongoing (as opposed to a feature where you develop the feature and make the feature and release the feature and that's it), and there are a lot of different kinds of deals that can be made with different types of arrangements. It might be worth reading up in detail about the specifics before you dive into writing a novel about it, because shit I've worked in TV for going on 10 years and honestly I still have no idea what a "put-pilot deal" is.
posted by Sara C. at 4:09 PM on January 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
- There aren't a ton of production companies that do both scripted and reality. Most production companies in the traditional sense are producer-driven, and they will make the kind of stuff that producer/group of producers tend to do. Reality TV and scripted TV are very different worlds, for the most part. The only production companies I can think of that would do both is maybe a company based around a specific TV personality who goes so mainstream that they make it to the realm of scripted, for instance someone like Anthony Bourdain. And even in that case, scripted ultimately was not a successful thing for him/his team.
- Because production companies tend to be producer driven, there usually isn't a shortage of ideas for new projects. As a producer, you kind of know what your voice is and the kind of stuff you want to do. You might put feelers out for source material to adapt, or do some research on new voices, new trends, new properties, etc. (And a HUGE part of development is knowing the market and the players and being able to "package" things.) But in most cases it's less throwing spaghetti at the wall and more figuring out what you're going to cook for dinner tonight.
I've had contact with a few different production companies, and they have ranged from socially conscious documentaries to action/adventure features based on comic books to scripted TV crime procedurals. I can think of one production company I've worked with in the past that had a wider brand than that, but still pretty narrow as compared to your current thinking (their range is scripted basic-cable dramas).
Your exec is much more likely to be flailing around trying to package a particular property (e.g. marry a script to a director to stars, in a cost-effective manner, with the right studio, and ideally from the right agency), rather than coming up with a new idea out of the clear blue sky. Or maybe finding a new property that matches the pre-existing brand ("We need our next documentary to be about [issue]!" "This comic franchise cries out for a feature film adaptation!" etc).
Also, keep in mind that the TV development process is weird, because it involves pilots and is ongoing (as opposed to a feature where you develop the feature and make the feature and release the feature and that's it), and there are a lot of different kinds of deals that can be made with different types of arrangements. It might be worth reading up in detail about the specifics before you dive into writing a novel about it, because shit I've worked in TV for going on 10 years and honestly I still have no idea what a "put-pilot deal" is.
posted by Sara C. at 4:09 PM on January 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
When I started working there, the main corporate structure was: one president, one VP of finance, one VP of post-production ("post production" is the guy who did all the editing), and me for the main "corporate" staff, and the host, a camera guy, and a sound guy who were based in Florida for the fishing show.
Keep in mind that in most cases, talent doesn't work directly for the production company unless it's said talent's own company. (For example my upthread mention of Anthony Bourdain.) This is even more likely for scripted TV. Camera and sound people also generally aren't permanently employed by production companies, at least not the same way someone like the VP of Development or Executive In Charge Of Business Development would be. All the technical crew members are "hired out", as you put it.
In fact, unless it's a very small company, really everything aside from the permanent corporate structure of the production company is "hired out". I work on a TV show right now, as one of the "hired out" staff. I work on this particular project. I'm only at work when our show is filming. When this show eventually ends, I will no longer work for this company. I have no job duties that don't pertain the show I currently work on. I don't even have an ID badge to get into the production company's offices, and nor do production company staff have access to our facilities without specific prior permission.
In all but the tiniest companies, the people who run the company and the people who actually make the sausage are two entirely separate groups.
posted by Sara C. at 4:22 PM on January 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
Keep in mind that in most cases, talent doesn't work directly for the production company unless it's said talent's own company. (For example my upthread mention of Anthony Bourdain.) This is even more likely for scripted TV. Camera and sound people also generally aren't permanently employed by production companies, at least not the same way someone like the VP of Development or Executive In Charge Of Business Development would be. All the technical crew members are "hired out", as you put it.
In fact, unless it's a very small company, really everything aside from the permanent corporate structure of the production company is "hired out". I work on a TV show right now, as one of the "hired out" staff. I work on this particular project. I'm only at work when our show is filming. When this show eventually ends, I will no longer work for this company. I have no job duties that don't pertain the show I currently work on. I don't even have an ID badge to get into the production company's offices, and nor do production company staff have access to our facilities without specific prior permission.
In all but the tiniest companies, the people who run the company and the people who actually make the sausage are two entirely separate groups.
posted by Sara C. at 4:22 PM on January 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
Ditto to Sara C's comments and to add: many non-fiction show ideas actually come from the network (like say, Discovery) and then the network development execs sort of feel around to see which production company (with whom they already have a working relationship) would do the best, and cheapest job. For non-fiction tv, a production company has to be able to deficit finance the actual production work (the network sends checks as certain milestones are hit--rough cut, fine cut, and delivery), so keeping the lights on and paying the crew means that the VP of production has to be pretty savvy about cash flow. Money woes are the biggest hassle for producers.
I work in documentary, and just finished an 8 hour series for HBO directed by a guy who could just underwrite the whole production by himself, if he'd wanted to do so. This never happens in most TV. Most production outfits are borrowing from Peter to pay Paul, and hope that Mark and Luke will be prompt in their payments as well.
There's quite a few blogs around about TV production.
posted by Ideefixe at 4:53 PM on January 3, 2015
I work in documentary, and just finished an 8 hour series for HBO directed by a guy who could just underwrite the whole production by himself, if he'd wanted to do so. This never happens in most TV. Most production outfits are borrowing from Peter to pay Paul, and hope that Mark and Luke will be prompt in their payments as well.
There's quite a few blogs around about TV production.
posted by Ideefixe at 4:53 PM on January 3, 2015
I should back up what Sara C. and ideefixe said about the funding by explaining further why my own company was kind of funky -
When I say that guy was a gabillionaire, I mean a SERIOUS gabillionaire. He owned an entire archipelago in the Bahamas, and at some point he started a sport fishing resort as another side business. Then at some point he had the idea that a fishing show based AT the resort (in name, at least) could double as promotion for the resort, and started the production company as yet another side business for precisely that reason. He was able to get it on the air as quickly as he did only because a very popular ABC Sports show was just cancelled, and he was able to grab most of the staff right away, so it was attractive to ESPN despite the whole thing basically being a tax dodge for the guy who invented spray can nozzles.
The day-to-day operations were much as any other company, but it strikes me that that origin kind of affected the company's overall "mission statement" or whatever.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:12 PM on January 3, 2015
When I say that guy was a gabillionaire, I mean a SERIOUS gabillionaire. He owned an entire archipelago in the Bahamas, and at some point he started a sport fishing resort as another side business. Then at some point he had the idea that a fishing show based AT the resort (in name, at least) could double as promotion for the resort, and started the production company as yet another side business for precisely that reason. He was able to get it on the air as quickly as he did only because a very popular ABC Sports show was just cancelled, and he was able to grab most of the staff right away, so it was attractive to ESPN despite the whole thing basically being a tax dodge for the guy who invented spray can nozzles.
The day-to-day operations were much as any other company, but it strikes me that that origin kind of affected the company's overall "mission statement" or whatever.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:12 PM on January 3, 2015
What EmpressCallipygos says about the TV show doubling as promotion for the resort is another spot-on point, especially in reality TV.
For a teensy second I was pitching a reality show to a cable network. (Before I came to jesus about the fact that I hate reality TV, know nothing about it, have no experience with it, and don't even watch it ever, and thus do not want to make a reality TV show ever at all.) The cornerstone to my whole idea -- which was a good one the network was potentially interested in -- was the fact that it was all set around this one particular comedy club, which would hopefully allow unfettered access in return for free publicity for the club.
This is the kind of thing producers of TV shows are thinking about. Not so much needle in a haystack slush pile stuff. I'm familiar with the docu-series Ideefixe is talking about in her answer, and if you know who made it, yeah, that project is an obvious choice for the type of thing they would do. Maybe there was a period of time where they had a few alternate ideas for if that project didn't go, or where they were answering the question "If I made a TV show, what would it be like?" But by and large the haystack is very small, at the level of the production company.
And yes yes yes to the fact that a lot of the time, it's the network that approaches a company or a producer and tells them what kind of show they want. I know a screenwriter who was told point blank by a premium cable network that they WILL be producing a show about X, so write a pilot about X, and pitch that series, and they're between him and Y other people they gave the same basic assignment to in terms of whose series will happen. It's not like my screenwriter friend was casting about for that spaghetti-on-the-wall moment of what to write a pilot about.
posted by Sara C. at 5:22 PM on January 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
For a teensy second I was pitching a reality show to a cable network. (Before I came to jesus about the fact that I hate reality TV, know nothing about it, have no experience with it, and don't even watch it ever, and thus do not want to make a reality TV show ever at all.) The cornerstone to my whole idea -- which was a good one the network was potentially interested in -- was the fact that it was all set around this one particular comedy club, which would hopefully allow unfettered access in return for free publicity for the club.
This is the kind of thing producers of TV shows are thinking about. Not so much needle in a haystack slush pile stuff. I'm familiar with the docu-series Ideefixe is talking about in her answer, and if you know who made it, yeah, that project is an obvious choice for the type of thing they would do. Maybe there was a period of time where they had a few alternate ideas for if that project didn't go, or where they were answering the question "If I made a TV show, what would it be like?" But by and large the haystack is very small, at the level of the production company.
And yes yes yes to the fact that a lot of the time, it's the network that approaches a company or a producer and tells them what kind of show they want. I know a screenwriter who was told point blank by a premium cable network that they WILL be producing a show about X, so write a pilot about X, and pitch that series, and they're between him and Y other people they gave the same basic assignment to in terms of whose series will happen. It's not like my screenwriter friend was casting about for that spaghetti-on-the-wall moment of what to write a pilot about.
posted by Sara C. at 5:22 PM on January 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
Check out the book Conversations with My Agent by Rob Long
posted by BadgerDoctor at 9:26 PM on January 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by BadgerDoctor at 9:26 PM on January 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Thanks, everyone. Based on your comments, and rainydayfilm's suggestion, maybe I am in fact thinking more of someone who works at a studio. I have a sense of what I want the character to be, but my knowledge of the industry is nearly nonexistent. I'll have a look at Conversations with My Agent. I've also gotten a copy of Small Screen, Big Picture, which looks informative.
posted by swheatie at 10:00 AM on January 4, 2015
posted by swheatie at 10:00 AM on January 4, 2015
Start reading Deadline Hollywood and either Variety or The Hollywood Reporter religiously, too.
posted by Sara C. at 10:05 AM on January 4, 2015
posted by Sara C. at 10:05 AM on January 4, 2015
This thread is closed to new comments.
As for some of your questions:
How many people would be working there? Maybe just two or three partners, and that's it? And then they would hire out for everything?
When I started working there, the main corporate structure was: one president, one VP of finance, one VP of post-production ("post production" is the guy who did all the editing), and me for the main "corporate" staff, and the host, a camera guy, and a sound guy who were based in Florida for the fishing show. Then there were about 3 other people who worked on the educational show in sort of "whatever you need" capacities - paperwork, camerawork, editing, what have you; both shows shared the same editing equipment and corporate staff. Then after a year the educational show ended, and the company dwindled to just the production guys in Florida, the former president (who stayed on as the writer and worked from home), the new president, the VP of finance, the VP of post-production, and me and one other jack-of-all-trades office monkey.
You ask if we "hired out" for things - that depends. We had the guys in Florida who were freelance, but had a regular contract with us. Maybe once we hired an extra guy for post-production when we were working on an especially big project. But other than that, all the other random stuff - sales, research, production assistant stuff, even script doctor - was me. I was doing everything from writing episode summaries for the show's web page to nagging ESPN to send us the rating each week so I could fax them to our main sponsor, to calling hotels and rental car companies at each of the different filming locations and negotiating with them to give us a discount on the hotel rooms in exchange for product placement; I called the travel agency to get plane tickets for the guys in Florida; I called the different consulates in countries where they were filming to work out the customs paperwork they'd need to bring cameras and crap into and out of the country; I even did all the stocking, packing, and shipping when people ordered videotape copies of the show. And that was on top of the regular filing-of-expense-reports and bookkeeping a regular secretary would have to do.
As for whether we were getting pitches - maybe once in a blue moon someone would send a pitch to us, but most of the show pitches were coming from in-house (mainly from the president). That's what most of the "research" I did actually was - the president would come up with a basic idea and ask me to do some research to flesh it out, and then write up the first draft of a program proposal based on what I found. What we did with these pitches was maybe a little dysfunctional, because the president was coming up with so many and we were all kind of overwhelmed because he was insisting on trying to develop all of them; and while some were good (I'm still really surprised that the one-hour special about times when a relief pitcher or second-string player got a chance to come off the bench and made it big never got made), some really, REALLY should have been abandoned early on (like the "5-hour documentary on the history of perfume"). What typically happened with these pitches, though, was:
1. The boss (or whoever) came up with the idea, and I'd do the research and legwork to see if there was any "there" there in the idea, and then write up a draft of a pamphlet that pitched the show.
2. Sometimes we'd just stick to the pamphlet being our only promotional material for the show, in which case we'd just polish it and have it ready to hand out. Sometimes we'd also do a short video that would give an impression or taste of what we had in mind - sometimes we would assemble those from our own raw footage that may fit plus some stock footage (the way we did with a sort of kids' show that was kind of like "Charlie's Angels" meets "SeaQuest"), sometimes we'd film something fresh (like the idea we had for a college-based series of basketball competitions, where the school's women's basketball team would take on the school's mens' intramural basketball team). We'd have these videos on hand as well.
3. Sometimes we'd send copies of these pamphlets (and the videos if we had them) to different networks or different other marketing reps, trying to get them interested. Once the president and VP of finance went to this big convention-type thing in Vegas where a whole lot of small production companies made pitches of things in development, and they had a booth and a TV with one of the tapes on a continuous loop and stacks of all the pamphlets and it was like a Comic-Con kind of thing where the network reps would wander around and our staff would be all, "hey, check us out, you interested?"
We sold only one idea out of all of the pitches we ever tried developing - a special that was on Discovery's Shark Week that one year, once. That's when we brought in that extra editor, to work on that one project; we used the same cameraman and sound guy from the regular show.
An important extra note - we were a television company, but we were founded by a gabillionaire inventor who created the show as a sideline "pet project". The gabillionaire had little to do with the day-to-day operations, but he did finance the company rather a bit; we had to keep him in the loop in terms of how the finances were going, as a result, and we also were able to keep afloat for a bit longer than the company would have probably done if it was on its own.
Bearing in mind that this was about 15+ years ago for me, let me know if you have any other questions about the particulars of this.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:02 PM on January 3, 2015 [1 favorite]