Recently, on an email containing notes on my TV pilot, I got the one thing many writers fear: “could this be a movie?” We’ve all heard the note before, be it in the form of people telling movie writers to make a TV show out of their feature, or TV writers being told to make a movie out of their pilot.
Many of us might not know how to react to this, because the first thing that comes to mind when developing an idea is format. But it’s important that we look for the message underneath the note by asking ourselves: what will change if you switch formats?
What They’re Really Saying
When transforming a TV show into a movie, it could be that the person giving you notes wanted to see more out of the characters, that perhaps they didn’t get enough depth to see them living for more than a couple of hours. Or it could be that your story engine, the thing that will keep your TV show going for several seasons, isn’t strong enough to continue past the last page.
When transforming a movie into a TV show, it could be that the person giving you notes wanted to see things more spread out. It could be that perhaps your 120 pages feel stuffed, and your characters (as well as your plot) need the space to breath- or maybe there isn’t enough to fill 120 pages, but there’s enough to fill 60 pages. Or it could be that your conclusion felt haphazard, or that the reader would love to see it continue further onto several seasons.
Next time you hear someone suggesting a format switch, consider what they think they’ll be gaining from said change. If you start off assuming they want more/less pages, you can soon figure out what problem led to this note, and perhaps even fix it without even changing your format.