How to Write a Pilot

What is a Pilot? 

When you sit down to rewatch your favorite television show, do you ever wonder why the first episode looks different from the rest, and why is it called a pilot episode? A pilot is a single episode of a television series that is used to determine if the rest of the show will be produced. It is a “tester” episode. Traditionally, “pilot season” was used as a time of year when a large number of pitches would be sent to television networks who would then decide what ideas would be turned into full series. With the insurgence of streaming platforms, pilot seasons work differently today, but the concept is similar. There is a lot of pressure on the success of these pilots, because they are the sole driving factor in the future of what will be airing on TV. 

The origin of the word “pilot” cannot be traced back to one source. Many believe that the word comes from the fact that the pilot serves as the guiding force for a TV show, much like how an airline pilot guides the passengers on their journey. Another origin is due to the show’s airing resembling the “take off” of an airplane; hence the word “pilot.” Lastly, some attribute the word to scientists who used the terms “pilot studies” and “pilot projects” to determine feasibility of larger research projects. 

Television Writing 

Television writing differs from that of film due to the way the two industries conduct themselves, though they share similar goals of storytelling. Many aspects of writing are unique to television’s conventions, like script length. The script of a TV show episode will vary depending on the length of the episode; usually a 20-minute segment or a 40-minute segment to account for commercial breaks within the airtime, but television series now have a broad range of time-frames since streaming platforms provide a more freeform environment. Even though the length of one episode’s script may be shorter than the 90 to 120 pages of a film, TV shows have a longevity that by the end, the series script as a whole ends up being much longer than a film. 

As for pacing, TV is written to account for commercial breaks, so the scripts are often broken up into acts that would not be fitting for a film script. The narrative constraints in television mean that the writers must account for the existing storyline and the developing character arcs, which prevents the amount of creative freedom that film writing allows for. Additionally, TV writers need to develop characters over season-long and series-long arcs that allow for more extensive creative opportunities throughout the storytelling process. 

While the format of a television script uses many of the same standards as film scriptwriting, there are a couple of things that need to be added due to the differences in longevity writing. Firstly, the title page must include both the title of the show and the title of the episode. In the case of a pilot, the title is simply “pilot,” but if you are continuing the series each episode must have a unique title. What is fun about this convention is that there is a broad range of creativity that can occur with episode titles. For example, the popular 90’s sitcom Friends adds comedy to the titles by starting each episode title with, “The one with…” Another difference of TV formatting is that the act breaks would be signaled by a page with “END OF ACT [NUMBER]” in the center. 

Types of Television Series

When writing a pilot, it is important to consider what type of series your TV show will be. This can aid in the storytelling decisions made when developing and writing your pilot. 

Episodic: Episodic series are stories that are self-contained. Each episode can generally be watched on its own, and the context of the surrounding episode plots does not need to be known in order to understand the current episode. Examples include The X-Files, Community, and The Office.

Serial: A serial TV show tells one big story. The plot of one episode greatly influences the plot of the next episode, and so on. The story progresses over multiple seasons. Examples of serial shows include Game of Thrones, Euphoria, and Breaking Bad. 

Anthology: An anthology series is a mix of the above in which it tells a full story throughout one season, then the next season tells a completely different story. Examples include Fargo and American Horror Story. 

Limited Series: A limited series is exactly what it sounds like. This is a series that tells a complete story in one season, usually eight to ten episodes long. Examples include Maid and Sharp Objects. 

Writing Your Script

When developing a series there are multiple things you should keep in mind, due to the length of time your story takes to make. Ensure that you create compelling characters and an intriguing world. If your show is going to succeed, the world needs to be interesting enough to create multiple episodes and seasons with. Throughout the idea-creation process, keep your story ideas organized. The different A, B, and C plots that are often involved in complex TV series can get confusing fast if your ideas are not organized. Create a beat sheet for your pilot. Adding sluglines and scene descriptions to your script helps to solve story problems early on in the writing process and eliminates the fear of a blank page. Additionally, if you are collaborating on a script with a partner or group of writers, an organized beat sheet makes it easier to collaborate more effectively. 

According to Issa Rae, actress, producer and writer, there are four things a successful pilot must include. 1) introduce the central character and tell us why we are following them. What about them is important? 2) Answer the question of “Why today?” Why is the series opening at this exact moment that you have chosen? 3) Introduce the main conflict. There must be a driving force for the episodes to continue on. 4) Set up the series. Similar to adding conflict, the series must also make the viewers ask questions and be left wanting more. 

Future Plans

Once you have finished your pilot script, there is a wide variety of options you can choose to follow through with. You can share it to gain feedback and revisions. You can also use the pilot to create a pitch for your series. Networking is a good way to find people who can open doors for your project. You could submit your pilot to competitions to get visibility in that way. And finally, you could use the pilot script to make an independent production. Though these are some of the things you can do with your finished pilot script, the future of your series is really up to you, because after all, you made it.

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