Seems to me like the net is a good way to get known if you think your shit is hot but you is a Nobody. Appreciate any other insights ppl have.

You first want to make sure that your pilot idea is solid and that there is nothing in the works that is similar, or that has already been made. Make sure your pilot is great. Either it’s great, or it’s SHIT, there is no inbetween. Those in charge of giving your series a greenlight are not interested in something o.k. or good, especially from an outsider. They want something to wow them, and hopefully wow an audience; with either laughter, tears, drama, whatever you are shooting for in your pilot.

Sure, there are countless pilots and series greenlighted every season that totally suck balls, but those are generally written/produced by people already in the system. Sure, there are cases of outsiders that have produced/created pilots that went on to be successful (Family Guy is an example) but those successes are few and far between.

Look what the creators of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” did. They made their own pilot, passed it around, and it got picked up by FX, and they have been quite successful and even just sold another pilot. Research each network and find out what they are looking for right now and what the head of programming likes and does not like. You don’t want to pitch to a network if you know the head of programming does not like (x) genre.

Don’t dismiss any network. Sure, you would rather be on NBC than USA, but that’s the way it is sometimes. Send your pilot out to everyone you can.

As far as the internet goes…forget about it. The Internet has no value, yet.

It will be years before Internet gets any weight behind it to become viable.

Sure, you can post your pilot to youtube, but the second you do, you devalue your work. Youtube is for short videos of “Ow, my balls!” and although I have seen some funny shorts on youtube, I can’t remember any of them, nor who made them, mainly because I saw them on youtube and my mind has been conditioned that youtube=crap. To be quite honest, Atomfilms and Ifilm are in the same category as well.

Better to post a high quality DIVX video (streaming and download) on your own website and to especially press real dvds with packaging, as it’s dirt cheap now to do so.

The biggest suggestion I have to make to all persons interesting in making their own pilot as a “demo” is to make the pilot as if were actually a real show that is currently on the air. I have seen so many pilots over the years that were so half-assed it’s silly. Some of the pilots had a good premise, but presented their ideas so half-ass it killed the show before it really had a shot.

Lastly, in regards to Isaac’s pilot, I would suggest pressing a dvd, with a professional cover/case and sending it to people that are the helpers and assistants to those important people who you want to get the pilot to.

Let’s say Issac filmed a comedy pilot. He could find out who Tina Fey’s assistant is and send -her- roses with a copy of the dvd pilot with a note attached “Hope you like the flowers, please watch this pilot I made. If you like it, pass it on to Tina and your friends. Thanks..” Or go a different route and send the dvd to the head writer of “30 rock” as an example and ask him/her for the same favor. Sending a filmed pilot is not the same thing as sending a script, to my knowledge, as it actually exists; as script is still a script. Besides, you would obviously have it on the internet in some form anyway.

I am still researching this so you should realize my knowlege is possibility not as extensive as others. I’m just imparting what I’m learning in the hopes that more knowledable people such as John can say whether I am way off base.

It really depends on what you are putting out there, what affinity groups maybe interested in your show, what broad appeal your show has, how you can attract them, etc. It’s not a simple answer.

In fact, my advice is write down a business plan for how you will market first (putting it online isn’t marketing it), sending it to a lot of people isn’t marketing it, what contacts can you leverage (especially the gate keepers on and offline).

I can say that my idea is a niche market with potential cross over appeal. I have contact with a couple of online gatekeepers through friend of friends. So that helps.

As for the show, it’s innovative. This could be because no one has thought it or they thought it was a crappy idea. I interviewed a famous TV director (ie, Emmy award winning) and told me not to assume which it is. I don’t know yet. I am moving along the lines that it’s because it’s not something others are doing- well at least in this country. In other countries, I’ve seen and heard of it so I know it’s not entirely a crazy idea. Just in America. To me, at least, I think you’ve got to be specific with yourself about your product/show.

The question of putting it online may demonstrate that there is a market for it, I hope, that bigger companies don’t presently see. As for making money, it’s very difficult to make money online with web series. I met with a guy from forbes magazine a few months ago, and he made the point that even YouTubes and myspace (according to him) find this a difficult question to answer- how to monetize video online. However, what shows like quarterlife and lonelygirl demonstrate is that they can never the less provide opportunities if a show becomes viral.

There’s one in LA, too.