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How to Pitch and Sell a Reality Show
It isn’t impossible to pitch and sell a reality show (I’ve done it). Whether you are an entertainment industry insider, a newcomer to the biz, or a performer or expert in a field seeking your own show, just follow the four smart and simple steps below.
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| Feedback from First-Time Show Sellers | |
| “[DMA] gave us some great advice when pitching our show, which is just wrapping up its first season… It received ‘Pick of the Summer’ in TV Guide!” -Jocelyn M. |
“I enjoyed your book and used the information to pitch [network name]… I successfully pitched the new series over the phone.” -Tony R. |
What You Will Learn from Our Blog, Our Books and Our Software
- What format does my pitch need to be in?
- Who do I need to pitch to, and how do I get a meeting?
- How do I stay attached to my project?
- What do I need to do to prepare my pitch?
- What kinds of expenses are involved in pitching a show?
- And much more!
The Show Starter Reality TV Made Simple System (Vol. 1)My name is DMA, and I wrote, produced and ran top-rated reality shows for a decade before ultimately selling and successfully delivering my first series. Now I’ve detailed the process of creating a sellable reality show, step-by-step, in The Show Starter Reality TV Made Simple System: Ten Steps to Creating and Pitching a Sellable Reality Show, including:
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I wrote this book because Hollywood is hard to crack. You absolutely have to know somebody - and when you meet them, you’d better know someTHING. But compared to the rest of Hollywood, non-fiction TV is considerably more open to outsiders. With this book, everyone from newcomers to professionals finally has a simple blueprint for how the top of our business works and the precise steps you have to take to get there.
Entertainment Industry Professionals - It’s important to learn how different the reality TV business model is from other areas of our industry, like music, sitcoms and film. You’re usually not going to get paid up front, or reap a fortune in residuals, or own a piece of your product. There IS money to be made, but in a different way. (Reality staffers, you will make more money at first working on someone else’s show than selling your own!) Everyone, please skip the quick money for now so we can get “big picture” professionally. We break this down in the blog and the book.
Newcomers to Entertainment - If selling a show has been presented to you as a way to make a check and walk away, then you were, unfortunately, misled. That does work for selling a screenplay (as tough as that is to do), but in reality TV, it is rare to be paid for getting a series order. We have a different business model that DOES lead to money, though, which we explain in detail in the blog and the book.
Talent - If you are a performer or an established professional in another industry, you may be considering a reality show as a way to extend your brand and make more money. That’s absolutely possible; it just requires a lot of work and a clear strategy to profit. We address this extensively in the blog and the book, and it is our top consulting request.
To get started selling your reality show, please immediately read and subscribe to our “Faster, Simpler, Smarter Blog.” It’s FREE, detailed advice from experienced professionals in our industry and me. If you already have a show idea, get the book. Within months of its release, it was declared the “bible” of the biz. It has sold to successful show creators around the world and is taught in college media programs across the U.S. Read it, take notes all over it and follow the system. And if you need or want more help from there, our reality experts are here for you.
All the best, DMA |
Faster, Simpler, Smarter Tips for Pitching your Reality Show
The Planet DMA Blog began nearly three years ago as the “Break into the Biz Blog,” with tips for industry newcomers. Since then, we have come to serve industry professionals quite extensively, and it was time to reflect that in the title and ongoing “faster, simpler, smarter” tone of the blog.
I am proud of our detailed tips because they respond to tough questions that people trust me to answer thoroughly and honestly. They also offer solutions I wish I’d had when I was working my way up the entertainment ladder. Decades since I walked down my first runway, wrote my first songs, was paid for my first screenplay then produced my first show, I now am a proud member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the Producers Guild of America, BMI, Showbiz Mensans and Stanford in Entertainment. I have a quite a bit to say about careers in entertainment, and I hope any or all of it helps you get where you are going with as much excitement as I have had.
Have a question you’d like added to the list? I get dozens a week, so I can’t answer them all, unfortunately. But please feel free to submit yours via the “Contact Us” link, and we’ll see what we can do! And if you need private assistance with a project, don’t hesitate to let us know.
(Recent Posts)
- #38: What should my reality show creator agreement include?
- #36: How do I get a job in reality TV?
- #35: Can I "cash out" in reality if I pre-attach sponsors to my pitch?
- #34: How do I pitch my own reality show?
- #33: How are TV ratings measured to keep shows on the air?
- #31: How do I make money in reality TV?
- #27: How do I retain the rights to my project?
- #26: How much ownership can I offer talent or partners on a reality show pitch?
- #25: When should I just shoot a project myself?
- #23: How do I make new media work for me?
- #22: How do I translate the entertainment trades into project sales?
- #21: How do I write for TV if I live in NYC?
- #20: What materials do I need to market myself in the entertainment industry?
- #18: How do I get cast on a reality show?
- #16: Should I read the trades?
Show Starter Scheduling & Budgeting Plus
Quick tip - if you are raising money right now to shoot your own pilot, or you are prepping storyboards, or writing a business plan, STOP. That is not how the reality pitch process works! You will need that money and time for the contract reviews, talent reel and other expected elements of our sales process, as we outline in the Show Starter book. You also might need that cash to hire an experienced reality line producer to prepare a budget estimate for the show. That’s because when you make it into a pitch meeting, at some point, someone is going to ask, “So what’s a show like this going to cost?” Yes, they DO know the answer already. But they want to see if YOU know.
One of the very real “gatekeeping” barriers of shopping a project is being asked to submit the budget and schedule for a proposed show. That stumps - and STOPS - a lot of interesting pitches. Even reality professionals may never see a full series budget or schedule before running a show; they are proprietary documents that are not to be shared.
Fortunately for me, before I ever pitched my own project, I had produced a lot of shows independently and understood how creative crunched out into costs. I knew to set up a production schedule first, then figure out who and what I needed each week for cash flow, then tally it all up for a master budget. And I knew who to call for quick quotes.
As straightforward as that process sounds, it took at least three software programs to execute it! Last year, I set out to find faster, simpler, smarter application to do all of it at once. And when I couldn’t find it, I created it. Show Starter Scheduling & Budgeting Plus finally lets you create a production calendar and generate a fully synched budget and cash flow at the SAME TIME. We even built in industry contacts so users can access speedy, professional quotes. By the time we were done, our industry testers were finishing up their pre-production documents in just a few hours instead of days or weeks. And updates took minutes, since all of the docs talk to each other!
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Buy the Software Now (includes a free trial!)
“This is a game-changer.”
“This will do for production what Final Draft did for screenwriters.”
“One of the Top 40 Indie Film Friendly Businesses”
To get started prepping your production documents, sign up for a free trial of our software. And be sure to join us for the FREE Show Starter Plus Budgeting & Scheduling Seminar - sign up link is on the right!
All the best, DMA |
Show Starter Professional Services
If you believe your reality project could go much further with professional assistance, Planet DMA offers our Show Starter services to get the job done. To schedule a session, please click the Contact Us button on the right, and we will send our term sheet over (including schedule and payment options).
• Seminars & Webinars
My team and I host and participate in year-round reality production presentations, panels, workshops and seminars. Click on “Upcoming Events” to the right to join us online or in your area.
“My partner and I have an option on the table and this seminar really put our minds at ease and answered a ton of questions.” -ZG, producer
• Private Intensives
The reality professionals on our team and I frequently consult one-on-one with producers as they develop their pitches and set up shows. We consult on an hourly basis and also offer three Show Starter packages for flat fees:
Show Starter Pitch Analysis
A detailed breakdown of your creative documents with feedback and tips.
$295.00 (10% Guild/Academy discount)
Pitch Analysis and Development Notes. We provide detailed feedback on your pitch, one-sheet and show treatment, including your elements, originality, focus, talent usage, sample episodes and more.
Show Starter Pitch Intensive
Step-by-step guidance through finalizing your reality pitch.
$595.00/four hours (10% Guild/Academy discount)
- Pitch Analysis and Development Notes. We provide extensive feedback on your pitch, one-sheet and show treatment, including tips on how to customize it across multiple formats.
- Identifying Attachable Elements. Your show often is only as sellable as the talent and other properties you can attach.
- Targeting Your Buyers. Which potential distributors and partners might be matches for your show.
- Pitching Practice. You get guidance and feedback on how to effectively sell your show in “the room.”
- Networking Resources. You can’t pitch without an audience. You get membership to the Show Starter online community, with a database of non-fiction reps, networks, production companies, line producers, attorneys and many more professional resources.
“You gave us some great advice when pitching our show, which is just wrapping up its first season.” - Jocelyn M., show creator
Show Runner Starter Sessions
A thorough overview of how to effectively set up a non-fiction show.
$995.00/eight hours (10% Guild/Academy discount)
- Finalizing Your Format. Setting up a show begins with a comprehensive show treatment. We guide you through developing the key components of a full show format.
- Developing your Budget and Schedule. We train you on how to translate central show docs into a streamlined and easy-to-update budget and schedule for your show.
- Breaking Down your Network Specs. We guide you through the assumptions and requirements of a network spec guide, with guidance on streamlining communication between your production departments and their counterparts at the net.
- Building your Show Binder. You learn the basic elements of a simple and effective show manual and build a sample book.
- Structuring and Scheduling your Staff. Staffing a show is a matter of respecting budget, facilitating process and understanding timing. You learn two different approaches to staffing and why each can work.
- Streamlining your Work Flow. Pre-conceiving work flow is the single most important element of a successful, on-schedule, on-budget show, and we present an in-depth overview of how to analzye and plan for each step of your production process.
- Nailing your Delivery. The way you start a show determines how you end up! You learn ways to meet detailed delivery requirements beginning on day one of pre-production.
• Pre-Production
For first-time producers or busy production companies, we offer a groundbreaking service to set up your show out-of-house using our experienced production company and staff. Our “P3″ Pre-Pro Pros service includes the following advanced assistance:
The P3 (”Pre-Pro Pros”) Service
An independent team of industry professionals to prep your non-fiction show for production.
Production fee-based
- Net Specs Breakdown. We break down the network production specs for your show and map the requirements by department, deadline and more.
- Show Manual. We produce your initial comprehensive show manual for staff training and distribution to outline departmental responsibilities, processes, deadlines and tech specs.
- Staffing Structure & Schedule. We break down your treatment or bible to determine the most efficient staffing structure and when you will need to have them on board to keep production on schedule.
- Work Flow System. We analzye the casting, creative, field, clearance, post and delivery demands to structure an effective flow of information and resources across departments.
- Computer Template. We build out the folders and files needed for smooth work flow and to prevent confusion or redundancy.
- Staff Orientation Meeting. We present the system to your management and to your staff, with time for hands-on practice and Q&A.
Show Starter can bundle in these additional services to build a custom package for your needs:
- Schedule preparation.
- Budget preparation.
- Custom show database (Access or Final Cut Pro).
- Custom show forms (can be fully automated to work with your custom database!).
- Custom initial online presence for pre-pro through production (Web page, e-mails, online submission forms, etc.)
- Ongoing consulting services throughout production.
For all our Show Starter services, it is important to note that Show Starter is NOT a creative partner or contributor to your show! We guide you structurally through your own process so your pitch and production will be on-target for the non-fiction and reality marketplace.
Show Starter Success Stories
Feedback from our readers - The Show Starter Reality TV Made Simple System, Vol. 1
| “I enjoyed your book and used the information to pitch… I successfully pitched the new series over the phone.” -Tony R. |
| “[We] shoot the pilot for my new show up here in Canada in May. I wanted to thank DMA for her book and let her know how much help it was.” -Jocelyn M., producer |
| “I’ve bought many books and DVD’s somewhat related to reality TV. Your book is far the best.” -Cheryl W. |
| “Your book is GREAT. Thank you.” -James S., producer |
| “The book is terrific. Well-written, and comprehensive. I will use it as my bible.” -Peter M., development exec |
| “I have had your book for less than five minutes and already I have had incredible value. This is the glaze and the cherry on the icing on the cake. A big THANK YOU.” -Mark S., show creator |
| “We bought your book (and are working through it at the speed of light) because we’ve got pitches next week at [network names]… Although we think we are smart and clever (don’t we all?), we like to rely on experts!” -Richard P. |
| “I teach at a university and have assigned this book to my class. There are very few practical books in this area, and I was thrilled to find something so comprehensive and helpful.” -”TVProf” |
| “I am a healthcare executive and have always had a desire to pitch a reality show based on some of events that have occurred in healthcare. I found this book to be realistic, helpful, and filled with excellent advice.” -”Healthcare VP” |
| “I received the book. It has been great to read and has given me a lot of ideas. Well done.” -Tom L. |
| “I need the NEXT book!!” -Brian H., producer |
| “I would also like to have your calendar information for seminars for non-fiction shows. I have a producer friend that is very interested in attending too. She has your book too and is getting so much from it!” -LeeAnne M., producer |
Feedback from our attendees - Show Starter Seminars
| » Please visit DMA’s Appearance Calendar for information on upcoming seminars! |
| “Thank you so much for your participation in our workshop this year. The group was blown away by your information and passion. I’ve been getting great emails about all of it since you left the room. It’s people like you that inspire young people to continue to pursue their passion for producing. You were amazing !!” -Charles H., Producers Guild of America |
| “My partner and I have an option on the table and this seminar really put our minds at ease and answered a ton of questions.” -ZG, producer |
| “I found it extremely motivating and yet grounded in a realism about the process and challenges of selling a reality product.” -Walt O., producer |
| “The seminar was especially helpful for the differences between reality and scripted TV.” -Carole B., producer |
| “You Rock! I appreciate you putting together a no-nonsense panel that told us what it’s really like and not someone giving us false hope. This is the way seminars are supposed to be put on.” -Ron P., producer |
| “Skeptically, I came in to answer my biggest questions. They were answered. Awesome!” -Bill P., producer |
| “Would attend any seminars developed by DMA. She’s great!” -Jeanna S., producer |
| “Can’t thank you enough for the amazing information you imparted to us at the seminar. I’ve recounted the quality of the panel to others as well because of how many different ends of the spectrum were represented.” -Shoshanna E., producer |
| “Thank you so much for the amazing lecture, it was so informative.” -Mary P., producer |
| “This was great. DMA was fabulous.” -Victoria F., producer |
| “I am still coasting on the natural high from your seminar. Thank you.” -Susanne L., Producer |
| “So much great info!” -Heather K. |
| “I definitely learned a heap… Very cool that you all took time out from your very busy schedules to help newbies.” -Alison H., producer |
| “Keep them coming, great seminars.” -Al G., producer |
| “Keep them coming!” -Allan S., producer |
| “Obama/DMA 2012 - I’ll write campaign speeches!” -Peter D., producer |