I am by no means an expert here, but I’ve had agents for the last six years - and I’ve filmed eight pilots in various incarnations (as a host, judge, guest, etc) - plus worked on / signed what feels like hundreds of contracts and deal terms and term sheets. Sorry to the people who are in the entertainment business - if I muck up the explanations, just correct me!

First, what is the difference between a pilot and a presentation?  As far as I understand it, pilots are generally full length versions of the show, and they will either be “pilot for air” - which means exactly what it sounds like - a pilot that can actually be run.  That said, many - if not most - pilots are never aired, even if they ARE picked up.  Presentations, on the other hand, are shorter form versions of the eventual show.  You may have also heard about a sizzle reel - that’s an even shorter version, although those are usually used to sell the IDEA of a pilot or presentation to a network or production company.

Why do you have to sign a deal before you even do anything??  Most pilots, presentations - and even certain auditions, if they’re narrowed down to a few candidates - require that you sign a deal before you ever set foot in front of a camera.  This means that for almost every pilot I’ve done - the two at Bravo, the Oxygen pilot I shot earlier in February, the pilot with Reveille, etc etc - we already had a deal in place, so when (if) the show was picked up, we could hit the ground running.  It’s really to protect everyone involved, although I think it probably favors the networks, because they can negotiate with your agents using the (pretty powerful) leverage that if the deal terms aren’t to their liking, they’ll find someone else.  Although I don’t know how networks choose their shows, the cost of the show (which includes the talent deal) does factor in, so they need to make sure they know those costs first.

When do you find out about this stuff?

Most deals have “options” or option agreements, which means that the network or production company has a certain amount of time in which the deal terms are valid.  They must decide to pick up your show or your deal (if you’re talent in one of their shows) before the end of the option.  Options can be any amount of time, from a month to six months to a year to several years.

The norm for a pilot, in my experience, is about 4-6 months (sometimes more) from the date of shooting to delivery and decision making by the networks.  And although I have no idea what the real numbers are, I’m guessing that 1 in every 10 pilots gets picked up.  Maybe less, maybe more, but that’s my sense.  I’ll have to ask some professionals if that’s accurate.

Um … let’s see.  What other questions do you have about this? Either email me (julia@nonsociety.com) or ask below.  If I don’t know the answer, I’ll ask my agents!

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