Premise Checklist
- The title—is it catchy? (“Sir Barks Alot Ruffs It Up” works better than “The School
Guard Dog.”) - Is your idea original or at least an original twist on an old idea?
- Did your main story idea develop directly from the personality of your main hero (or
out of the personality of one of the other lead characters)? - If this series contains a theme, did this character learn something from what
happened? - In the first paragraph of your premise did you set up your hero, your villain, your
hero’s problem/goal, and what will happen if the goal isn’t reached? Did you hook
your reader (the story editor and the other executives) right away? - Is there exciting action right away? Conflict all the way through the story?
- If this is a story idea for children, is it kid-relatable?
- Do we care what happens to the hero?
- Are your characters true to what they are—“in character”? Is your story true to the
show that you’re pitching? - Is your basic idea visual?
- Is it funny, with a few gags included in the premise? (Even most action shows contain
a few gags.) - Have you given us enough motivations so that the story seems believable?
- Is the basic structure there: the catalyst, a game plan, major twist/turning point, new
information, another major twist, a major crisis, a critical choice for the hero, the big
battle, a build to a climax, resolution of the problem, and hopefully a surprising twist
at the end? Is it short enough? - Did you make your premise fun to read? Does it have style? Is it clear?
- Did you use strong verbs? Colorful language?
- Is everything spelled correctly? Is language usage correct? Is it typo-free?
What follows is a premise from Sony’s Jackie Chan Adventures.(Premises are normally
double spaced so that editors can add notes.Most companies do not expect entire words to
be capitalized in the premise as Sony does.)
Jackie Chan Adventures © 2003 Sony Pictures Television Inc. Written by David Slack. Story Editor:
Duane Capizzi.
The Premise 121