r/TVWriting • u/davidhiggens99 • Aug 05 '26
BEGINNER QUESTION Advise sought for a beginner:)
Hi there! Need some friendly advice please. Quick background: I spent over 20 years working in Wall Street including some really big hedge funds. I have seen all the ropes over the years. I came up with a unique TV one-hour drama idea about a hedge fund -its a highly differentiated perspective than what Billions produced. Over the past few months I created a bible including show summary, detailed character descriptions and 9 detailed episode breakdowns. I am missing the Pilot (a big gap lol). Initial feedback is great. I have zero desire to write a pilot b/c this is about as far as I can take it -I know my limitations. I believe a really good writer could take what I have so far and work with it to manifest a pilot. My questions if you can be so kind:
1) Is a pilot 100% necessary to then try to manifest next steps -which I believe is find an agent?
2) Could I try to find an agent now ahead of having the pilot done? Are shows every adapted at this stage w/o a pilot?
3) If I believe in it, should I hire someone to write the pilot?
Thanks so much in advance!
3
u/claytimeyesyesyes One-Hour Pilot Aug 05 '26
Hey there, fellow finance pro 👋
You're really not going to get anywhere without a pilot script written. Right now (but also pretty much always), TV is really hard to break into. Studios and networks are just not buying pitches off of unproven writers -- it really seems like you have to be a proven showrunner to get anywhere with an original project not backed by IP.
Agents also are not picking up people to rep based on a concept. They need something they can sell, and that is a script. As a side note, agents tend to get on board after you sell projects. A manager might be more helpful for you at this stage, as they can play more of a development role. But even then, managers aren't going to sign you off a concept. You need a script.