To pitch an idea for an episode of an existing television series, keep it simple. A para-
graph or even a sentence may be enough. Check with your story editor. The lesson comes
out of the character’s personalities and out of the story.
It might be hard to break into the preschool market as a new writer with no credits. The
networks often require a list of credits from their writers. Get books on child development
and read them. Jean Piaget has written a great book. PBS has a website at http://www.pbskids.org
with links to each of the websites for their preschool shows. At these show links you can
find information about the curriculum and the goals of the shows. Study these. Watch pre-
school shows over and over. Better yet, watch with preschoolers and learn what they like
and why.
Opportunities for preschool projects may be greater in home video or DVD than in
series. The home video market is thriving. Video on demand is expected to be a big market.
Check out video rental stores, discount stores, the local supermarket. Who are the buyers in
this area? Be persistent!
Prime-Time Animation
Prime-time animation is broadcast in the evening, and it’s normally targeted mainly at adults.
These TV shows are hybrids between situation comedies and feature scripts, leaning more
toward the sitcoms. The writers are likely to be sitcom writers rather than the usual anima-
tion writers. Budgets are much bigger, pay is much better, and there is more time to write a
script. The results are more polished. The writers are normally kept on staff all year around.
Often on a prime-time series a showrunner oversees the writers. Showrunners are
normally staff writers that have been promoted. They may hire the current writers and be
involved in many aspects of production, including recording sessions, storyboard, and design.
Scripts for a prime-time animated show are written differently. These scripts are less
visual and usually lend themselves less to classic animation techniques. The comedy is
centered on the characters, who may be more realistic. Sitcoms stand out for their clever
dialogue and multitude of jokes (one or more on each page).
Prime-time animation scripts are often written by committee. At some point a whole
group of staff writers (seven to eighteen) sit around a table and work together. Initially,
the staff may get together and brainstorm ideas for scripts. Then a writer or a team of writers
might write an initial outline and/or script. On some series the staff roughs out the story
and figures out the act breaks before giving it to the writer. Usually, the script comes back
to the group to punch up the jokes and polish the script. The polishing process is extensive
and may be 50 percent of the work. Often there is much detail and sometimes the inclusion
of “in” jokes in the finished script. Scripts might run about forty to fifty-five pages in
length. They’re written in master scenes. On average the writers have two to three weeks to
write their scripts; the team may spend another six days on the rewrite and do a second
rewrite (in about three days) after the table read by the voice-over cast. Rewriting may
take place after the table read, after the animatic, and again when the animation returns
from overseas and is edited. The later rewrites are usually new lines that don’t have to be
reshot. These last changes will tend to be made because of things that are not funny after
animation or seem offensive or trite (often because of the language or cultural differences
overseas).
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