Business Plan

[fresh108]

Hey guys,

So finally I have a meeting with a big time producer.
He wants to see a business model of my tv show idea.
I have some idea what to write but I need some kind of format, can anyone help me out and lead me to the correct direction?

I'd need a section for budget & location, but have no idea what else follows.

Thanks

[akula]

a business model for a tv show...questionable use of terminology, but anyways

well...u'd be looking at promo ideas, what other shows this show matches with, forecasts for viewership, segmentation of audience, distribution options like web episodes, pay tv etc

so mostly, yea..a 4p's marketing plan

the whole point of you writing this thing is to help the producer sell this thing to a studio so you can get the funding for a pilot..so any information that explains how and why this show can reach the studio's ratings targets should probably be included

the core of it however is like this: "this show X, is like show Y. show Y made $xx,xxx,xxx and this show will make more because it also does abc"

so...identify the "space" that your show is in..list all the other shows in that space...plot how much money they made and present your pitch in relation to that graphic..

[fresh108]

Yeah well I always thought it was the producer that came up with the business model. As I have the idea I would have like you say the marketing ideas. Maybe he wants to test my understanding of the industry or something.

Thanks.

[akula]

well..yea...i think that may be his way of blowing you off, without being confrontational

i used to get pitched quite a bit..and when a good pitch comes along you don't send the person away to work on a better, more detailed pitch..you sign then as quickly as possible so they don't go to the next guy

..umm...come to think of it, yea..you're right. it's odd for the writers to be asked to do the producers job..unless the writers are being stonewalled..

[chanson]

Free Sample Business Plans and Business Plan Software maybe

[akula]

yea..it a shame..but that's just how it works
this is my fav strip about telling people to fix up their biz plans
Strips
..it lets you stay in touch with the person without either rejecting or accepting what they're offering..
go figure

[StephenG]

Be careful if he asks you for money. Lots of hustlers in this business. There is no way he should be expecting you to come up with a business plan as you could not be expected to know anything about what it akes to produce a show. When I was doing the Da Vinci show we had 4 cast members with at least 15 behind the scenes camera men, editors and office people. We would shoot hundreds of hours of film for a 43 min segment. Very tough to break into. Steve

[fresh108]

That was such a good strip and Im sure so many guys can relate to it!!

Thanks for the advice stephenG.
We got invited to email a pitch to a tv channel. They want it to be 500 words. Is there any advice you can give me of the content to have in it, I've added....the logline, a quick synopsis, character details, and a short sales pitch to finish it off. Does this sound okay? As you're in the industry you can advise better than these other so-called sites that give us a format?

Thanks

[StephenG]

Fresh, I can't really say I am in the indusrty. I have had a little exposure to it as I used to do set design and then spent a few months with discovery channel. But as far as the business end I won't be much help. I think you are on the right track with how you are approaching it. They hear so many ideas it really is hard to get them excited about anything in particular so just do your best to convey your excitement in such a way that they can feel that same excitement reaching an audience. Steve

[fresh108]

Thanks for the encouragement and reply guys. I'll let you know how it went so I can share and maybe advise others that are on the same path