Like all forms of popular entertainment, the final moniker of success for a streaming or limited series produced for an online platform, cable service, or broadcast television network is audience, audience, audience. How large, or small, the collective viewership for the program is determines whether the show is a hit or a miss, a smash or a bust.

Having covered the selling and production of episodic programming in Part One and Part Two of this series, we now focus on the all-important third phase: distribution. Public exposure, and, hopefully, consumption, in the streaming and broadcast universe. In short, finding your audience.

The roadmap for a producer to master this trick has changed considerably in the last several years. A decade ago, 90 percent of television households subscribed to cable TV, and the top cable networks were televising original programs to an audience of millions every night. Today, with just a handful of exceptions, most original shows are streaming series.

In 2023, nearly 40 percent of television households spend more time streaming than watching pay/cable and broadcast TV. And the broadcast and production industry is adapting accordingly. However, it is important for content creators and producers to remember that this is still a three-horse race. Currently, cable represents around 30 percent of viewership, and broadcast accounts for about 25 percent of all television views.

The manner in which a series is distributed is essentially based on how it is produced. When the program is produced through a leading streamer like Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, or Amazon Prime, it is seen on that platform. If the show is produced for a cable network like HBO or Showtime, that’s where you’ll find it. And if the series is a production of a traditional broadcast network, it will be on that network’s lineup.

Whether a series is wholly-owned, or only licensed, by the streamer, cable company, or network, is also a factor in how the program is seen. When the distributor has full ownership they are also producer, and they have complete control over the series. Where it is seen, first-run or syndication, how many seasons, how many episodes in a season. And for streamers, how the episodes are released. For several weeks over the course of a season, or in a “binge-drop” in as little as a day. Wholly-owned programming goldmines include “Squid Game” and “Stranger Things” for Netflix, and “Game of Thrones” for HBO.

On the other hand, when a show is licensed, the streaming platform pays the show’s producer for the rights to air the show on that platform for a predetermined period of time. The streamer gets much more content with less upfront production costs. A good example is “The Magicians” on Netflix. Also, for years, the broadcast networks have done licensing deals, saved money upfront, and still hit paydirt with hits like “CSI” and “Modern Family.”

So, at the end of the day, after all the work and commitment in bringing a series to life, it’s all about finding that audience. That’s the signpost to success in producing a long-form hit.

In part one of this trilogy, “Making the Deal,” I outlined the nuts and bolts of pitching, presenting, and selling a long-form, episodic series for streaming, cable, and broadcast network television. If and when the creators/producers of a proposed program hit paydirt, sell the show, and get a contractual commitment from a content provider, then the real fun begins: the hands-on production of the series. This has lasted for several years with hits like “Game of Thrones” and “Stranger Things,” but can be over in weeks when a show misses and eludes ratings and viewership.

Here in chapter two, I cover the ins and outs of bringing the show to life, of realizing “the vision,” with all the creative, business, and financial demands producing a series entails. The starting point for this has to be where all roads lead in long-form production, where the sun rises and falls, and rises again, the beginning and the end and everything in between, and that is with the role of the showrunner. Very simply, as it says, the showrunner is the person who “runs the show.”

You can liken the showrunner on a streaming or network show to a director on a feature film. The showrunner has creative and managerial control over every aspect of an episodic series. They are quite often the creator of the show, and usually without fail a primary writer and also an executive producer on the show.

As such, the showrunner’s role actually has precedent over a film director, as well as the episodic directors on a series, because the showrunner oversees all aspects of staffing, creating, and producing a show, not just control of on-set physical production, and editing/mixing in post. And from a business and financial standpoint, all this responsibility is clearly exemplified in top showrunners’ contracts and salaries.

Many showrunners have worked their way up from writers’ rooms on series. The showrunner keeps the writers’ room productive and on-target, makes sure the actors are happy, and keeps the show on budget from first episode to last, season to season. A first-time showrunner tends to make around $30,000 per episode. A top creator/producer like Shonda Rhimes (“Greys Anatomy,” “How to Get Away with Murder”) can make $20,000,000 and more per year in the role.

The contracts of the highest paid showrunners in the industry are on par with top professional athletes in the NFL and the NBA. This seems appropriate when you consider that a master showrunner is “pulling the strings” and “working the field” over the course of a programming season the same way a Tom Brady does during an annual football campaign.

Most importantly, the showrunner has the task of guaranteeing the central creative vision of the series. This is the basic concept that sold the show in the first place. Streaming and limited series employ multiple writers, producers, and directors, not to mention the cast and crew. Getting a full season “in the can” over multiple weeks or months, especially on shows with ambitious production values, is like shooting several motion pictures all at the same time. During this cycle, the showrunner and his team have to successfully maintain the singular tone of the series. Achieving this goes a long way toward connecting with an audience and producing a hit.

After a series is greenlit and pre-production begins, the showrunner takes the reins and oversees casting and the hiring of all key production personnel for the entire season. The budget also has to be managed, with both individual episodes and the full season in mind, and requires a great deal of long-term strategy. With all legal and contractual business matters addressed, and the prep timeline complete, the show is a go for shooting the first episode, or, if a broadcast network, the pilot.

Generally speaking, streaming platforms like Netflix and Hulu produce scripted series with 6-12 episodes per season, while cable giants HBO, Showtime, and the rest run a 10-16 episode season. The traditional, “old school” television networks, including CBS, ABC, NBC, and Fox, still broadcast 22 episodes per season, and sometimes up to 26. A network can also order a “half season” of 10-13 episodes.

It takes about three to nine months to shoot a full season for streaming or cable, depending on the number of episodes, plus at least two weeks of post-production after principal photography has wrapped. For network shows, the timeline is nine months for 22-24 episodes, with editing/post on each after a 5-8 day shoot.

Each “season” is covered for all parties with standard legal and licensing agreements. With Netflix originals, as well as other platform-produced series, contracts are drafted for entire seasons. The streamers release complete seasons, or near-seasons, all at once after shooting and post is completed in order to accommodate binge watching, and unscheduled, 24/7 random viewing.
Since the broadcast networks essentially invest in the “pilot” when greenlighting a show, and are operating on more of a step-by-step basis, especially during the early run of a series, contracts can be drafted in accordance with this. Network series start airing while episodes are still being shot for the current season.

Once the series has come to creative and physical life and is released for public consumption, it all comes down to viewership. At the end of the day, however you want to categorize it, whatever the programming source, the channel, the network, the platform, and, yes, even the device, it’s about audience, and what the data, the ratings, and the subscriber base say about the size of that audience. Case in point, Netflix has canceled popular series because the “data” showed that their viewership didn’t justify investing in another season.

As I write this, even as powerful media pied pipers like Netflix still hold the purse strings, dramatic changes are brewing in our fast-paced “Peak TV” era. Developments that could radically affect the rules of the game regarding distribution, revenue, and ownership in the streaming and broadcast universe are just around the corner.

I’ll cover this and more in part three of this series, focused on long-form distribution. Coming soon.

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A couple of years ago, I wrote a piece on how to create a standard pitch document for series programming called a Production Bible (“How to Prepare a Killer Production ‘Bible’ for a TV or Web Series”). As a follow-up, and a complement, to that article, this is the first of three installments on the selling, production, and distribution of long-form series programming, with a special slant on the business and legal aspects of such an enterprise. In recent years, such programming has been categorized into “limited series,” which is essentially content produced for TV networks, and “streaming series,” which is created for streaming platforms and cable.

The first major step in launching a series is getting the“green light” from a studio, production company, or streaming platform that produces its own content. Selling your show and getting that deal memo in hand to confirm a production commitment requires a “slam dunk,” and the creator(s)/producer(s) of the project should have an experienced entertainment attorney in their corner from the earliest possible date.

Contracts are tantamount at the earliest stages of creation and development.

From the creative standpoint, the pitch package for a sale consists of a unique, stellar idea for a series, a written and verbal capsule of that concept in the form of a logline and an elevator pitch, respectively, the pitch document, aka the aforementioned production bible, and a killer pilot script.

Once all of this is put together, the creator or creator/producing team begins the rights acquisition process. This is legalese for determining separated rights and ownership on the project, e.g. “created by, developed by, written by, produced by,” et al. Copyrights and trademarks are then filed accordingly with each party’s entertainment lawyer. The assessment of rights must be drafted carefully and without loopholes that could lead to litigation after the series is distributed.

With ownership in place, the shopping of the project can begin. This is where the “package” of logline/pitch, production bible, and pilot script comes into play, and where pitch meetings with those studios, production houses, and streaming platforms like Netflix and Hulu become the order of the day.

The realities of the industry confirm that it is much easier to “make the deal” if you are a producer or writer with a track record and some credits behind you, and one represented by an agent or manager. This is a professional given, not belabored here, just acknowledged as one business aspect of this process, and a call to action if applicable.

An important element of pitching and selling a long-form series these days, both from a business perspective and a creative one, is the fact that pitching to a streaming platform, or a cable provider, requires a different mindset than pitching to a studio for network television broadcast.

Generally speaking, the streaming and cable services take more risks and have much deeper pockets to finance production than a studio that produces network television. That means the boundaries are wider and less rigid with streaming platforms like Netflix, and major cable providers such as Spectrum and DIRECTV, and the show being pitched can be artier, edgier, and more stylized than the more traditional programming that appears on network TV. The basic pitch, as well as the production bible, can reflect this more liberal stance.

Network television, on the other hand, is looking for a safer bet, a surer thing. The pitch presentation should be more concise, and focus on the basic selling points of the series’ premise and characters. Networks are also more interested in future episodes, and where the series “is going.” They operate, arguably, with more of an eye on business and the bottom line. When you consider Netflix has unlimited funding sources, and that a network studio is making an essentially speculative investment when greenlighting a pitch, this isn’t surprising. Also, the TV networks have advertisers to please when making programming choices.

When a creator or producer finds the “holy grail” and hears the proverbial word “yes” after pitching their project, then the production agreement is drafted with seasoned, legal entertainment counsel. The deal is structured pursuant to whether the show is set for a streaming/cable service, or network.

The leading streaming platforms including Netflix, Amazon, and Apple, as well as cable titan HBO, do what is called a cost-plus agreement. They buy the show at the rate of the cost of production plus about 30 percent of production costs. This is a greater payment upfront for the creators, but with a price.

The streaming/cable company gets more of the upside revenue down the line if the show is a big hit. In terms of the rights covered earlier in this piece, the streamer/cable service retains most of the future licensing rights, which can amount to millions if the series is a monster success. Nonetheless, creators still make cost-plus deals in droves because the contract covers all production costs, plus they are able to make the show they envision, with little interference.

A traditional network licensing deal works differently. When a series is sold to a studio/production company for airing on network television, the network pays a fee of only 60 to 70 percent of the show’s production cost. However, the production company, as well as the creators/producers, by way of the rights they have been accessed contractually, will make money through licensing deals and syndication, especially if the show is a huge ratings grabber.

When the production agreement is in place, and the show is a “go,” all pertinent eyes focus on production.

In part one of this series, I gave an overview of the current film and television scene in Las Vegas, that gambling and entertainment mecca in the Nevada desert that is increasingly becoming a busy production hub for the industry. And although Vegas can rightfully hold court as both a popular destination and a thriving home base for media professionals, content creators, et al, it surely doesn’t end with narrative feature films or dramatic and reality episodic series.

“The city that never sleeps” is also a humming center for documentary films,  commercials and advertising spots, and coverage of live entertainment and sporting events.  The action on all of these fronts is full and steady, and rounds out the full production landscape that is making Las Vegas more and more a “media” town in 2022.

One of the most successful and artistically challenging documentary houses in Las Vegas is Paradise Filmworks International.  Founded by producer-director Paula Fouce, Paradise has been producing top-flight, award-winning documentaries for years, including “Not in God’s Name,” about the Dalai Lama, and “No Asylum,” exploring an unturned page in the story of WWII’s heroic Anne Frank.

Just last year, Ms. Fouce produced and directed “The Dark Hobby,” a beautifully shot underwater expose of how the aquarium trade has placed several species of colorful exotic fish on the verge of extinction.  And set for release this year is the rest of this visually stunning but heartbreaking story, “Aquariums: The Dark Hobby.”  DP Evan Spencer Brace and his crew created the striking imagery for both films with Sony EX3 cameras.

Jeremy Settles, the Las Vegas independent producer and founder of Got Films, has been at work for some time now on a riveting documentary on the effect of the Covid pandemic on the city for the past two years.  Entitled “Closing Las Vegas,” the documentary dramatically illustrates the monumental “shutting down” of Las Vegas in March of 2020, at the start of the crisis, and shows the widespread ramifications of the closing of such a world famous tourist, gambling, and entertainment center on corporations, employees, visitors, and the “bottom line.”

The film covers the three-month shutdown of Vegas from March to June, 2020, the welcomed re-opening of the city, and the fortunes of the desert mecca in the last two years since the town returned to business.

The shots of a bustling Vegas countered with a series of shots of a quiet, still, almost dead Las Vegas at the start of the film make for a compelling opening to the documentary, just as the reverse equation of going from silence and lifelessness to the customary pomp and circumstance of Las Vegas back at play is equaling eye-catching and attention-grabbing at the conclusion of this challenging, but ultimately inspiring, cinematic study of a real-life, true-story the likes of which Las Vegas, or the world, has ever seen.

“Closing Las Vegas” should be ready for distribution soon.  Producer-director Settles used Arri and drone cameras and lighting to capture the unforgettable images that dress the film throughout.

Another standout documentarian in Las Vegas is director/cinematographer T.J. Penton of Shokunin 21 Films. A former music engineer who has made several narrative short films, he has also directed and shot several nature environmental documentaries.

Commercial and advertising spots are also a big part of the Las Vegas production scene.  Some of the leading commercial houses are Five Star Creative, Knight Studios, and Aardvark Video and Media Productions.

Five Stars Creative is trusted by some of America’s biggest brands and largest companies.  Clients include Four Seasons Hotels, NBC, Sunkist, CBS, and Entertainment Tonight.  Five Stars Creative shoots their award-winning spots with Red Weapon – Helium 8K, Sony FS7, and JVC 710.

Knight Studios is a full-service production company covering everything from cinema-style commercial production to HD live broadcasting, with multi-camera capabilities and state-of-the-art gear and equipment, including Red, Arri, and Black Magic.  Knight has only been in business for three years, but has already established a stellar reputation for quality, originality, and turning out singular spots on-time and on-budget.

Aardvark Video and Media Productions has over thirty years of experience serving individual business clients directly.  They pride themselves on being a full-service video production company, not just technicians, and their clients include Microsoft, IBM, Verizon, QVC, and Samsung.  Aardvark has a trainload of equipment with over thirty cameras for HD and 4K, drones, live streaming, audio and lighting, Sony and Panasonic cameras, and much more.

When it comes to coverage of live events, E-Planet Media of Las Vegas has been a leading pacesetter in live internet broadcasting for over a decade.  Live events, big or small, from single to multiple camera, with top-notch staging, lighting, audio, projection, and distribution.

And our friend Jeremy Settles of Got Films is also very busy doing video shoots of live events in Vegas, including NASCAR racing events, sporting events from wrestling to boxing, and live coverage of corporate and news events.

When you add it all up, it is clear that Las Vegas has become a full-fledged film and media town, and the sky’s the limit for the desert mecca in gambling, entertainment, and, of course, let’s not forget film and media production.  Lights, Camera, Action!

Yes, Las Vegas, that pantheon of good times, gambling, entertainment, “all-in’s,” and all-nighters, has become a vital and growing hub of production for films, television, advertising, in short, content creation of all kinds.  You might say that “What happens in Vegas, no longer stays in Vegas!”  Las Vegas-based filmmakers, producers, and state-of-the-art production companies are exporting content to the world with increasing regularity and success.

From major studio titles to low-budget indie films, from hit television series to reality shows, and from T.V. commercials to media coverage of live entertainment and sporting events, Las Vegas is buzzing!

When it comes to filmmaking alone, tax incentives, sunny weather, diverse locations, and close proximity to Hollywood have made Vegas increasingly popular with both financiers and creatives.  The content revolution and digital technology have also added luster to the city’s shine as a “movie town.”

A big production this year is the Netflix original movie “Absolute Dominion,” a $13 million futuristic action drama that wrapped in June after a two month shoot at a shuttered casino in Jean, NV, a suburb just outside of Las Vegas proper.  Laced with a heavy dose of martial arts and an apocalyptic storyline, the film applied for $1.8 million in tax incentives and employed 500 extras.  Heading the cast are Julie Ann Emery and Patton Oswalt.

Writer-director Lexi Alexander is also a female kickboxing champion, a perfect fit considering the martial arts/karate element of the story.  She and cinematographer  Egor Povolotskiy shot the film with the new Sony Venice 2 camera.  Released in early April, just in time for the “Dominion” shoot, the Venice 2 seems a good choice for the creative and logistical demands of the production.

Paired with a newly-developed 8.6 K full-frame CMOS image sensor, the Venice 2 offers excellent image quality with 16 stops of total latitude to capture beautiful images.  The 8K CineAlta camera has a unique dual base ISO of 800/3200 which allows filmmakers to capture incredibly clean, film-like images under a wide range of lighting conditions.  The results on “Absolute Dominion” are highly anticipated.  The film is currently in post-production and is on schedule to be released on Netflix in 2023.

Working on the extensive “Dominion” shoot was Jeremy Settles, a DP, sound mixer, gaffer, and producer.  Jeremy is one of the busiest filmmakers in Las Vegas and founder of Got Films, a Vegas-based independent production house, and also a fully equipped production services company that provides full crewing, gear and equipment, and insurance to producers.

Jeremy is the co-producer of “American Sicario,” a mob thriller starring crime film kingpin Danny Trejo currently in release through Lionsgate.  Most of the film was shot in Las Vegas and the outskirts of Vegas.  But with a twist.  None of the story takes place in Vegas, and none of the characters even mention it.  The film is about a Mexican cartel boss and his cohorts in the Mexican desert.  The outlying Vegas surroundings as a shooting location provided exactly the desert feel the filmmakers were looking for.  The parts of the film shot right in Vegas were interiors, the extravagant hideaways that cartel bosses make home.  By shooting in Vegas, but not for “Vegas,” “American Sicario” opens up even more possibilities for the region as a filming location.

Independently produced on a 2-3 week shooting schedule, the gangster saga was shot with Arri’s Alexi LF camera, part of Arri’s new high speed camera system which allows for an immersive large format aesthetic while maintaining best overall image quality.  This was supplemented by Kino and Astra lighting.

Other independent features presently on Got Films’ slate include “Don’t Suck,” a dark comedy with Jamie Kennedy, currently in post-production, and seven low-budget films produced under the umbrella of the “Lucky Sevens Film Challenge,” a showcase for indie filmmakers created by Got Films, Jeremy Settles, and actor-producer Ben Stobber.

Set in the world of stand-up comedians, “Don’t Suck” was directed by “American Sicario” helmsman RJ Collins, who shot the film in Las Vegas with an Arri Full Frame.  Also featuring comic and television icon Jimmie Walker, “Don’t Suck” is expected to be released this year.

For the “Film Challenge,” seven directors were selected to shoot seven micro-budget films, on $7000.00, in seven days, with a crew of seven!  All the films were shot with the 4.6k Black Magic camera, and all were screened at a gala premiere event at the Gala Luxury Theaters in Las Vegas earlier this year.

One aspect of Vegas as a hub of filmmaking is an “everybody knows, and has worked with, everybody else” aspect to the business.  For example, Got Films’ Jeremy Settles is the line producer on Patel Films upcoming horror entry “Death Club,” about an abandoned, closed-down dance club haunted by vengeful ghosts.  Produced by Neel Esh Patel, the indie chiller was shot with a Red digital, and was racing to finish post-production in time for its Las Vegas premiere on August 15.  Other active producers on the Vegas film scene are Jerry, Scott, and Mike Thompson of Light Forge Studios.

And I, myself a screenwriter and filmmaker currently based in Las Vegas, am prepping a co-authored, music-driven, independent feature to shoot in 2023 in Reno, Nevada.  Under the working title “Songbird,” an ambitious, SAG Indie short film was shot this year in Las Vegas to create buzz for the expanded full feature to follow.

Spearheaded by Vegas nightlife favorite, singer-actress Celina Sasso, and actor Sean Dillingham (“Yellowstone”), with music director Paul Jones, the short was shot by break-out cinematographer Winston Moon with the Red Komodo 6K, and should prove a winning mark for Milieu Films, the indie production company behind the entire project.

On the television front, the CSI franchise remains a healthy enterprise for Las Vegas.  “CSI: Vegas,” a sequel to the landmark 2000 series, has been renewed by CBS for a second season in 2022-2023.  In this inspired reboot of the original CSI, the Vegas Crime Lab fights an existential threat while deploying new strategies to preserve justice.  A crew of top-flight DP’s are shooting the series with the newborn Sony Venice 2 camera.

And the veritable reality T.V. mainstay “Pawn Stars” is expected to be on the air with season 20 this year, after season 19 premiered on The History Channel in 2021.  The misadventures at the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop in Las Vegas have been delighting fans for two decades.

The multi-faceted Jeremy Settles has worked the show as director of photography, using the Panasonic AG-HVX200 camcorder to cover all of the clashing, camaraderie, and endless debating with customers that has made “Pawn Stars” famous.

In Part Two of this series, I’ll cover the Las Vegas production landscape for documentaries, commercials, and coverage of live events, while continuing to explore gear and equipment being used in all media.  Until then, should you happen to find yourself in Vegas, remember, “what happens in Vegas (gulp!), doesn’t stay here anymore!”

Before you sell the next “Stranger Things” or “Mindhunter” to Netflix, or the next “Curb Your Enthusiasm” to HBO, or any long-form, episodic series to a television network or online streaming service, you have to present to the powers that be what the industry calls a production “bible.”

It might not be as weighty as the one that made Moses famous, but when it comes to selling a series and closing a deal, it’s just as important. Any writer, producer, and content creator going into a meeting to pitch a series idea will have a well written, expertly crafted production bible in his arsenal.

This is a presentation package, essentially one document, consisting of a title page, a series logline, a series synopsis, a character breakdown, an episode arc, and the script of the pilot episode of the show. When effectively put together, all of these elements provide a clear picture of the conceptual and creative thrust of the proposed series.

Let’s start with the title page, which essentially follows the format of the standard title page for a television script. Front and center on the page is the title of the series and the byline of creatorship. The byline should begin with the descriptive “An Original Web Series Created by…, “ or, if an adaptation, “A Television Series Created by…,” directly followed by “Adapted from (the original source material, book, play, etc.).

Directly below the byline is the series Genre: e.g. Comedy, Dramedy, Horror, etc., followed by the programming Format: e.g. 6 x 60’ serialized drama, 8 x 60’ episodic crime procedural, 6 x 30’ sit com. (The numbers signify how many episodes in a season and episode length in minutes.)

In the lower left corner of the page should be the Writers Guild (WGA) registration number, and/or the date of U.S. copyright on the material. The WGA allows the entire “bible,” including the pilot script, to be registered as one document.

The lower right corner of the title page should display the contact information of the writer, producer, creator(s), and the contact info for the production company and professional representation, if applicable.

Page one of the production, or pitch bible, as it’s also called, delivers the one-two punch of the series logline and series synopsis. The logline is a capsule description, usually one sentence, that states the central premise of the series with an emotional “hook” to generate interest.

The synopsis expounds on the logline with a brief (two to three paragraphs) description of the characters and narrative flow of the series. Whether the show is more episodic or serialized in nature, if the characters and milieu remain the same from one episode to the next, the synopsis should illustrate the character dynamics and dramatic narrative arching over the series.

The synopsis should also touch on the theme, the milieu, and the tone of the production. What the show is really about and what drove you to create it. The place and time of the show. And the creative and stylistic approach to the material.

The next page should lay out a pointed, descriptive character breakdown for the series. Since television and web programming is more character-driven than plot driven, this is key. The character breakdown is a list of all major and secondary characters for the first season of the show.

Along with the name and age of each character, top to bottom, provide a one-paragraph “biography” of the main characters, and a brief but insightful description of the secondary characters in a sentence or two. If a character is colorful and eccentric, describe them as such. If they’re bland but compelling, spell it out. For the main characters, convey their relationship with the other characters, and themselves, and their place in the world the series inhabits. Remember, character is king in most long-form series produced today.

Next up in the pitch bible is the episode arc. This is a one-paragraph synopsis of each episode in the first season of the series. If the story is serialized over the entire season, the episode arc must illustrate how the narrative progresses through the series, with sharp turning points and strong episode hooks.

If the show has a self-contained story or scenario, episode to episode, then each synopsis should spotlight a story that works within the broader context of the series, while pinpointing turning points and series arcs for the main characters.

There is an important final touch for this section. With your episode arc complete, cap it off with a one or two-paragraph summary of the long term direction of the show, the series’ main thrust for season two and beyond.

With all of the above material honed and polished for maximum effectiveness, there is only one more item needed to complete your winning production bible. The written and rewritten, expertly crafted, polished script for the pilot episode of the series. The pilot script. That, and 3 – 5 pages of everything outlined here.

So with a well-versed verbal pitch ready to roll off your lips, and a killer production bible in hand, you writers-producers-creators out there will be better positioned for success in the TV/Web series jungle. Take that meeting!

But before you start playing a funeral dirge for movies, glean a large dose of optimism from the fact that time and time again throughout its history, the film industry has weathered challenges and crises, and each time it has come through turbulence with renewed strength and success.

In the early twentieth century, roughly a hundred years ago, motion pictures were enjoying their first big wave of phenomenal popularity. This was the era of black & white silent film, and movies told their stories in purely visual terms, accompanied by a live pianist, or, in some cases, a full orchestra, at the local movie theater. Silent films were celebrated as the supreme entertainment of the times, and, artistically, the best of them had reached a level of cinematic style and technique that inspire filmmakers to this day.

Then, in 1927, the shoe dropped. Warner Bros. Pictures had acquired the rights to the new technology of incorporating sound into films, and the studio released the first “talking picture” in film history, “The Jazz Singer.” Overnight, there was a sea-change in the industry. For good, …but also for bad.

With the excitement and innovation that came with sound films, there also came production shut-downs en masse. “The Jazz Singer” was a smash, and with its success the production of silent films came to a crashing halt industry-wide. Jobs were lost, and studios took it in the chins financially on abandoned and reworked films.

The careers of several actors who appeared in silent films were virtually ended by the influx of sound. If the performer’s voice was not “microphone friendly,” he or she suddenly found themselves permanently unemployed. This happened most famously to silent star and matinee idol John Gilbert.

Over the next couple of years the industry smoothed out the rough edges caused by sound, the naysayers who felt “talkies” were a short-lived flash in the pan fell by the wayside, and motion pictures embellished by sound, and soon technicolor, would pave the way for decades of future success.

But no sooner did movies find their footing again, they were hit with another calamity, the stock market crash of 1929 that financially wiped-out people, businesses, and entire industries, and began the worst economic tailspin in U.S. history, the “Great Depression.”

The depression had ramifications the world over, but, of course, it hit the United States the hardest. In the film business, the Hollywood industry took the greatest hit. At first, however, due to the popularity of sound films, and the public’s need for diversion in troubled times, Hollywood seemed to be dodging the bullet.

In the early 1930’s, the bubble burst. The film studios had borrowed to the hilt to purchase movie theaters and convert them to sound, and their debts finally caught up with them. With U.S. unemployment at an all-time high, movie attendance dropped by 40% in 1933 and would not recover until the late ‘30’s. Profits evaporated.

With perserverence and ingenuity, Hollywood hung tough. Escapist musicals, screwball comedies, and gangster sagas that reflected the public anger and frustration kept enough people going to the movies for Hollywood to survive. As the worst of the depression started to wane, and box office revenues began to rise again, the American film industry produced some of the greatest films ever made, and saw the 1939 classic “Gone With The Wind” become the highest-grossing motion picture of all time to that date!

War is always good for the economy, and in 1941, when the United States became embroiled in World War II, the depression may have been over, but a new set of challenges faced the movies, both in America and around the world. The test for the American picture industry wasn’t so much for its survival, for Hollywood did boffo box office during the war years, but for the survival of the free world. When the U.S. entered the war, Hollywood went to war. Motion pictures were a major, and calculated, part of the war effort.

The United States government was working in tandem with the Hollywood industry. “Will this picture help win the war?” was the stock question President Roosevelt asked Hollywood to ask itself. Both factions knew that movies were tantamount for boosting the morale of the military overseas and Americans on the home front.

After shaking off an initial resistance to government directives shaping the films produced during the war, Hollywood became an essential part of the American war machine. From bond drives at movie theaters, to onscreen newsreels, cartoons mocking the axis enemies, and gritty, patriotic, and heartfelt features telling the story of America at war, the motion picture was a valuable weapon.

In the U.K. and Europe in WW II, the film industries had to fight the threat of air raids, Nazi occupation, and much of their world crumbling before their eyes. From the post-war rubble there emerged a new wave of great British and foreign cinema, including the storied Italian neo-realism of the late 1940’s. Again, the movies came through trial, and triumphed.

In June, 1947, NBC launched the first regularly operating T.V. network. CBS and ABC followed in 1948. As the box with the little “movie screen” started appearing in more and more homes in America and abroad in the late ‘40’s and early ‘50’s, the movies had another war to fight. The war against television.

Television was an immediate and tangible threat to the financial success of the motion picture industry. First, in that era, T.V. was totally free. Secondly, it is a broadcast medium, like radio before it. All one had to do was buy a television set, plug it in, and presto! Hours of priceless programming conveniently transmitted to the comfort of home.

Accordingly, movie attendance began to drop, steadily declining each year. This was the case in every country where T.V. had taken a foothold. In America, box office figures bottomed out with a nearly 50% drop from the peak years of the mid-forties. Always game for a challenge, and brim with ingenuity when it was needed most, Hollywood fought back. It introduced new techniques, innovations, and even novelties into motion pictures to get people off the couch and into movie theaters.

Widescreen Cinemascope, super screen Cinerama, stereophonic sound, and 3-D all exploded onto the scene during the 1950’s. Movies were bigger and more spectacular than ever before. They became an event, not just entertainment. And it worked. People got excited about going to the movies again! Motion pictures and television could co-exist on a new, more diverse, entertainment landscape.

Not long after turning into the 1960’s, the industry, and society-at-large, were hit with the “counterculture revolution,” the major explosion in the fabric of the times that influenced music, art, politics, and social and sexual mores. Where foreign films, to a large degree, were in step with the changing times, Hollywood was on the back end of this curve. In the mid-sixties, the studios were being run by aging executives with impressive resumes but no clue to the pulse of the burgeoning zeitgeist.

Several expensive potboilers flopped at the box office. The studio hierarchies didn’t know who their audience was. Crisis. The day was saved by a new breed of young producers and directors who came to prominence in the late ‘60’s and ‘70’s. Beatty, Fonda, Hopper, Scorsese, Coppola, to name a few. Known as the “New Hollywood,” they saved a dying industry and shepherded a decade as creatively rich and financially successful as any in movie history.

Since the millennium, the motion picture has arguably seen more change than any time since movies were invented. Technology, mass communication, and digital innovation have created sweeping new ways of producing, distributing, and exhibiting films.

But with change comes challenge. Movies are more accessible than ever before, both in the making, and in the viewing. Few are shot on film anymore, most on digital video. They can be seen on any number of media platforms and devices, prompting some to speculate on the demise of the movie theater, and overexposure in general. Don’t bet on it. Movie going today can rival, and even outdo, the “event” films of the 1950’s. Just ask any Imax fan. And 24/7 access to movies seems just fine with film lovers the world over.

So if anyone tells you the film industry will never bounce back from COVID-19, tell them to think again. The proof will be on movie screens, large and small, before you know it!