John August

Television

Formatting a reality show proposal

Formatting, QandA, Television

How should a proposal for a reality show be structured? My research to date suggests that reality shows have been evolving towards a more “scripted” format, although I understand that writers don’t get credited (yet).

I have an idea for a reality show (doesn’t everyone, eh?) – so how should it be presented to a producer? An overall description of the premise, and ideas for several episodes? What level of detail is needed (or not needed)?

— Jedd
New Orleans, LA

There are already too many reality TV shows, which are taking jobs away from writers. So I won’t answer your question.
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Okay, I will. But you have to promise your show will be something inspiring like the [Amazing Race](http://www.cbs.com/primetime/amazing_race6/) and not soul-destroying like, well, anything that starts with My Big Fat Obnoxious Dot-Dot-Dot.

There’s nothing approaching a standard format for something like a reality TV show, or, surprisingly, a scripted show. In the [Downloads](http://johnaugust.com/library) section, you’ll see my initial write-ups for The Circle. The format seems pretty standard and straightforward, but I wasn’t trying to match any template. I just wrote what I thought needed to be explained.

For your reality show, I think the proposal would need to include:

1. The premise
2. The people (host, contestants, whatever)
3. The tone, including some sample dialogue/narration if appropriate
4. The reward or outcome
5. Structure of a typical episode
6. Future episode descriptions

I think you need to present enough detail so that the producer really understands what the show is, and how it differs from anything else on television. If you have a background in physical production, you might include more detail about shooting days, crew or locations, but if you don’t know, don’t try to fake it.

New Fox show announced

News, Projects, Television

Both [The Hollywood Reporter](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/television/brief_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000652435) and [Variety](http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117911329?categoryid=13&cs=1) had stories today about the new one-hour drama that I’m developing for Fox with Jordan Mechner, the writer of [Prince of Persia](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2004/prince-of-persia-announced).

The show is about two guys, business partners, who work as private military contractors. They run their own startup firm. Week-to-week, they find themselves in the most dangerous parts of the world — Iraq, Africa, South America — trying to complete short-term contract jobs such as rescuing hostages, guarding facilities, or protecting diplomats. Of course, being a drama, things never go as smoothly as planned.

The idea sprang from research Jordan was doing about military corporations, the mercenaries of the 21st century. It could have been a feature, but the more we talked about it, the more excited we got about developing it for television. The show is sort of a procedural (the term for all the CSI’s and such), but instead of trying to find a killer, our heroes are trying to complete a mission.

Television moves fast, but as I have updates, I’ll try to keep them posted.

Very useful “Dead Zone” writer’s guides

Television

Last week, a reader asked if I could put up an example of a [show bible](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2004/more-dc-stuff-available-in-the-downloads-section). I didn’t have one to give. Fortunately, ‘DC’ wrote in with a [link to the writer’s guides](http://www.zen134237.zen.co.uk/Dead_Zone/) for USA Network’s series [The Dead Zone](http://www.usanetwork.com/series/thedeadzone/).

The guide for Season 3 weighs in as 108 pages of .pdf goodness, and includes summaries of all previous episodes plus guidelines for aspiring writers. Executive Producer [Michael Piller](http://imdb.com/name/nm0683522/) comes from the Star Trek camp, which has long allowed ardent fans to pitch potential episodes — very much the exception to the rule. Kudos to the producers for being so generous.

I’ve never watched The Dead Zone, but if I ever decide to catch up on previous seasons, I now know where to look.

Researching and writing The Circle

QandA, Television

Question MarkI just finished reading [both episodes](http://johnaugust.com/library) of The Circle, and I was wondering if you could answer a few questions about writing for television.

  1. How much time did you spend doing research for each episode?
  2. How long did it take you to write an episode?
  3. Seeing as how you created the show, but would have not written every episode during the season how are the episodes handled by other writers?
  4. Do you as the creator set an outline for the season as to what each episode would center around and where you wanted to show to go?

Thanks for your time, I enjoyed reading them both.

-Josh
Federal Way, WA

I probably spent three weeks researching Alaska for The Circle, most of that before I started writing the pilot. By the time I started working on episode 2, there really wasn’t anything new I needed to research.

Television scripts are short, at least by feature standards. An hour-long drama will clock in below sixty pages, so it’s no big chore to write one in a week. Unfortunately, in the real world of television production, you often have to write one in a weekend, and that’s where it gets ugly.

Since The Circle never went to series, we didn’t end up hiring a writing staff, although [Matt Pyken](http://imdb.com/name/nm0701487/) and [Michael Berns](http://imdb.com/name/nm0076965/) did pen a follow-up episode. Had the show been picked up by ABC, we would have hired an executive producer to ultimately take the reins of the show. Although I would stay on to consult, he would have supervised the writing staff, setting the course for each episode and the series as a whole. This would include meeting with the writers (both individually and as a group); approving beat sheets, outlines and scripts; and rewriting scripts as needed.

This executive producer would be considered the showrunner, since all the creative decisions would ultimately rest with him. I knew this going in. I deliberately created a show I felt could flourish without my day-to-day involvement. Although I love TV, I prefer features. That’s where I make my living, and the time table is much more relaxed.