The long journey to becoming a TV writer starts with writing a pilot. A pilot is technically the first episode of any TV show you've ever seen. It's also the first episode of your yet-to-be-made TV show.
And that is the only sample anyone will want to see as you progress in your TV writing career.
Okay, so you've written your pilot... and for some reason the phone still ain't ringing off the hook with agents ready to sign you and executives ready to give you lots of money.
Here's what to do next...
Make Sure Your TV Pilot is Ready
If you're the only one who's ever read or reviewed your own work, chances are it needs some work.
Everybody benefits from some outside feedback.
Therefore, if you have friends who are writers as well, pass your script to them. Ask for notes. Some you'll agree with, some you'll think are the dumbest thing in the world. It doesn't really matter. With enough notes, you'll see which ones have value and which ones don't.
And more importantly, you'll be able to step outside of your own head and look at your work objectively.
When you get enough people reviewing your work, you'll see similar, or even the exact same, criticism come to light. And that's the stuff you need to act on.
Okay, you've gotten reviewed, you've refined your writing. Now what...?
Write A Second TV Pilot
This will be a hard pill to swallow. But you need to have two pilots in your writing sample arsenal.
If anybody likes reading one pilot of yours, they will immediately want to read another. And you better have one or else you're going to be revealed as an amateur.
But it's all good! You've gone through the process before, you can do it again.
So, write another pilot, refine it, pass it to friends, work on notes, and get yourself that second sample.
Getting Your TV Pilot Out Into The World
This is the tricky part. Because there's no one good way to get your work seen by the people that matter.
If you're just starting out, you're going to want to target fellow writers and managers.
Why only managers? Why not agents?
Managers are better known for taking chances on newer, unproven writers. Agents are very much not. So, managers are where your efforts should lie.
But where do you find managers? A lot of them act as readers for screenwriting competitions. And a win in a well-regarded competition could mean some real prospects in your manager hunt.
Another way to go is to get IMDb Pro and look up the managers of some TV writers whose work you respect. Don't go for the top echelon. Go for folks slightly above your level. IMDb Pro will list managers of these writers and sometimes even their contact information.
It's a little bit of a crapshoot. But so it's this entire industry. So, give it a shot.
Now, aside from representatives, the real way you get jobs in this industry is through fellow writers. When a showrunner has a season of TV in front of them, they are the ones hiring the other writers in the room.
But how do you meet these writers? First of all, move to where the writers are... and that is Los Angeles.
Second, it's best to be close to the action. And the right production assistant, or better yet, writers' production assistant job can get you close to, and sometimes, in the writers' room.
Now you have real working writers who may be in the position to hire you soon enough that you can ask to read your work.
If they like your stuff, maybe they'll keep you in mind when they have a show.
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