By Warren Bell
The only place busier than a shopping mall in the final weeks before Christmas is the comedy development department of any major studio or network. The cycle of the development calendar seems to naturally create a gigantic rush in the weeks before the winter break, leading to a frenzy of outline and script submissions, notes calls, and rewrites just as the stockings are getting by hung with care. (Unfortunately sometimes the rewrites and notes are done with a little less care.)
The development calendar [Note: I'm only talking about comedy development here. I have no experience with drama development, though my understanding is that it's always a month or two ahead of comedy] breaks down more or less like this:
Summer through late September -- meetings and pitches. Writers and non-writing producers (frequently known as "pods") meet, discuss concepts, and develop a pitch. My current project (that I'm writing with my partner; not
this one) was born in a meeting in early August. We pitched to network the last week of September, which was just as the window was closing. At the same time, networks and studios may be signing stars to talent deals or acquiring properties (magazine articles and books) to develop.
October -- story breaking. A succession of submissions and notes, with the goal of getting the network to approve the "story area" of your pilot script.
November -- outline. Notes from producer and studio, then rewrite, then network. I usually think of Thanksgiving as my deadline. Networks give notes before approving the project to go to script. Sometimes they want to see a rewritten outline, or at least get a verbal pitch of what changes the writer intends.
December -- first draft. The weekend before Christmas is the general deadline, though I have spent many a winter break writing. To understand why it's so busy right now, remember that each project has several levels of notes and approval to get through. First the script goes to the producing pod (if there is one) for notes and hopefully a quick rewrite. After that, the studio development executives get their say. Addressing their notes means getting it back to them for their approval once more, and only then does the script go off to network. Blessedly, the pod I am working with has combined the pod and studio process, so we will get notes from them simultaneously. But some years ago, my producer was actually far more demanding than studio or network, which led to several rewrites of my first draft over Christmas. We didn't get the script into the network until after the New Year, which probably didn't factor in the project's eventual demise. Depending on how slammed they are, networks may turn around their notes on first drafts quickly and get writers to do their second draft over the holidays.
January -- second draft. Networks give notes on first drafts if they haven't already. The whole notes process at the pod and studio level happens again, and the "finished" script goes to network for pickup consideration. Then, we wait.
February -- pickups start to trickle in, sometimes at the end of January, but more likely in February. A "pickup" means you are one of the lucky 12 to 15 scripts that will get made into an actual pilot. The other 45 scripts that get passed on are quickly sent by agents to the other networks in the ultimate "Hail Mary," hoping that, for instance, CBS loves something ABC hated.
March -- casting and pre-production. Hiring directors, designing sets, etc. The casting process is its own unique hell, deserving of a separate post.
April -- pilots shoot. Post-production, and the even more unique hell of audience testing.
May -- schedules announced. You made it or, more likely, you didn't.
From my perspective, this week and next is the most crucial time of the whole year in comedy development. Every studio has many many projects, every network has dozens. The notes calls are packed together in bunches, the turnaround times are fast in order to keep the whole process moving. The writers frequently get three sets of notes in a week, they call their friends to set up impromptu punch-up sessions, they pull late nights. So if your friend in the TV comedy business doesn't exactly nail your present this year, try to be kind -- that Best Buy gift card may have been all they had time to get.
Despite his schedule, my perfect husband purchased very thoughtful gifts for me AND wrote a blog post for my site; take note, boys.
