Pilot Season - Producing A Pilot From Beginning To End

Pilots generally start as a green-lit idea from a broadcasting station. When you hear about all those movies being green-lit? Yeah. That's what I'm talking about. It means the station is willing to back the show up with funding for everything. Some shows get the green light automatically - a 13 eppy season guarentee. Others are held in case there's a need for a mid-season replacement (see this last fall's epic fail-and my greatest loss, I loved this show -The Beautiful Life, and it's mid-season replacement, Life UnXpected). Most of them, however, start out as one episode, generally known as - you guessed it - a pilot.

First, there's gotta be a script. I know, it seems obvious. But trust me, this is where it ALL starts. If one insignificant change is made to the script by someone at the top, an actor could wind up getting cut from the show completely. Scripts start out as ideas pitched to the people at the station who are in charge of making these ideas into shows. Once green-lit, scripts are then written by screenwriters with the aid of the person who pitched the idea. Sometimes, the two people are the same person - the creator (generally credited as such) can also write the pilot script. Most of this happens around late summer early fall.

Throughout the fall - while most actors are finishing up promo for holiday - release movies or making guest appearances at Fashion Week - people are busy editing and knit-picking at these scripts until they finally have what they want.

As winter comes along, producers and casters send out scripts to both actors they have in mind (most writers do as they're writing their script), as well as agencies responsible for casting around the country. Most of these castings, however, happen in the two most major talent cities - NYC and LA (both of which, I'm proud to say I've been to). Occasional casting is done in central cities like Dallas and Chicago when a more diverse cast is needed.

January is the official start of the pilot season. Most actors/actresses that are being seriously considered for the part by now have already been auditioned and are getting ready for screen-tests and such. This is where the stress at the beginning of the year, the stuff you hear about all the celebrities needing to “Let go of,” comes from.

Call back after call back go by, and finally, the cast is set. And initial filming starts. Once the original pilot is shot, the station goes through screenings. They bring in groups of people, much like they do with movies, in to watch the pilot, sometimes over and over, and these people - testers - are expected to fill out surveys and questionnaires about what they thought about this character or that scene. The producers and directors and writers then take this information back to the drawing table and re-write and re-work the script or cast (most people don’t even notice, but Blair’s mom, Eleanor, isn’t even the same actress in the second episode as the pilot). They then retest the pilot with a new group of people. And do this over and over until the testers are satisfied with the pilot.

This, my friends, is what comes to your TV screen. This tested and re-tested episode, which, in some cases, doesn’t even continue to be a full season (we come back to TBL). Most of this information I’ve gathered from friends in the industry - people who go through this every year. We’ve all noticed that most people don’t even realize how much work goes into making that one episode that hooks you to a show. Makes you feel for the characters, fall in love with the hunk. This, I hope, has informed you on what it takes to make a pilot.