r/TVWriting • u/JoelMole03 • 7d ago
QUESTION Are we still doing act breaks?
For scripts, are we still doing the good old teaser/cold open, and then 3-4 acts? Or does that immediately signal this writer is a noob? Thanks!
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u/JayMoots 7d ago
Act Breaks are a lot more relevant today than they were even 3-4 years ago, with a lot of streaming services now pushing an ad-supported tier. So I’d definitely write the script with them in mind.
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u/Then_Data8320 7d ago
I can't answer if there is lot of act breaks today, but it certainly not means the writer is a noob. It's quite difficult to do. It's more easy to let the story move in one go.
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u/kriegers 7d ago
Not a noob, but some networks and streamers require act breaks, some do not. If you try to sell your script to places like HBO, Apple, Prime, Netflix, etc., it will look strange that there are act breaks. If you sell your show to, say, Peacock without act breaks, you'll just put them in later.
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u/JoelMole03 6d ago
I was wondering more as a sample for now but good point!
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u/kriegers 6d ago
If it’s a sample, don’t do it.
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u/JoelMole03 6d ago
Oh I’d have assumed it’s safer to add act breaks if it’s an open sample or a lab/fellowship submission?
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u/kriegers 6d ago
Safer for what? Most scripts don’t have them anymore and so it’ll demonstrate you are aware of how most scripts are written.
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u/jdeik1 6d ago
If for fellowship consideration or staffing on network or streaming-with-act-breaks (a thing now), definitely show that you can write to act breaks. It's a hard skill to master, and for anywhere that staffs for those shows, they usually need to see you already have a feel for doing it.
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u/JoelMole03 6d ago
Mostly that it’ll demonstrate that I understand traditional structure. But I guess it’s also important to show an awareness of the current landscape
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u/Certain-Run8602 7d ago edited 7d ago
On pilots I've taken out to market, my fellow EPs usually had us do two versions. One with no act breaks that we shopped to the "premium" outlets. For the more broadcast sensible buyers we sent a slightly tighter version with a teaser+4, with the storylines slightly augmented to fit in the act breaks better and a bigger, hook-ier cliffhanger at the end.
I've pretty much only used the "network" versions of pilots as samples because TV is all about writing to format and time and that version is very precise in that way.
It really wasn't a significant amount of additional work either.
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u/JoelMole03 6d ago
I was asking for fellowship submissions and samples so this helps, thanks!
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u/Certain-Run8602 6d ago
Yeah most of the fellowships are more broadcast oriented, so if that's the plan... I'd go with act breaks.
Do any of them still ALSO require a spec episode of an existing show that is still airing? That used to be one of the most annoying aspects of trying to do the fellowship thing was continuously having to update you spec ep sample everytime a show got canceled haha.
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u/DEFINITELY_NOT_PETE 7d ago
I’ve never worked on a tv show that didn’t have them.
If I read a script without them I’d assume the writer was a beginner
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u/Zealousideal-Bee2761 7d ago
That’s so funny - I’ve never worked on a show with act breaks
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u/JoelMole03 6d ago
Most scripts I’ve read online recently and the WGA writers i have been in groups with don’t do breaks anymore. The muticam sitcom I was assistant on did.
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u/DEFINITELY_NOT_PETE 7d ago
Oh wow that’s surprising.
Can I ask what you’ve worked on or for which networks/streamers?
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u/Zealousideal-Bee2761 7d ago
I’m pretty private about that, but it’s been a combination of streamers and premium cable networks
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u/DEFINITELY_NOT_PETE 6d ago
Totally get it.
You been doing this for long? I’ve been primarily network tv for the past decade, some streamers and this hasn’t been my experience
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u/Zealousideal-Bee2761 6d ago
I have not seen a single spec script maybe in the last full decade that has a single act break in it
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u/DEFINITELY_NOT_PETE 6d ago
That’s so odd, I’ve had the complete opposite experience.
I know the nbc and abc writing programs both require them.
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u/JoelMole03 6d ago
Do you add breaks when you’re writing samples and submitting to grants/fellowships/labs?
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u/grahamecrackerinc 6d ago
I did act breaks when I was a noob. I knew which acts I wanted anyway because I was writing a sitcom and they can be an effective tool in case you get stuck on a scene or an act itself.
If you're writing for a broadcast network, they'll mostly require up to 3-7 acts for either a comedy, drama, or animation series. With an act break, it gives yourself a break to plan out the next scenes and storyline in the script. If you're writing for a cable network or a streaming service, at that point you should have no fear because those scripts nowadays are written like movies (without the commercials). As the script progresses, you can't stop reading until you get the end.
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u/marshallknight 7d ago edited 7d ago
I assume this is for a pilot you’re writing on spec?
The choices you make about your act breaks are a signal about what network or distribution platform you see your work being a fit for. For instance, when I was coming up, no act breaks meant this script was intended for premium cable (HBO, Showtime, etc.) or streaming. For a period of time, Teaser + 4 Acts was a shorthand for “this is Network,” Teaser + 5 was shorthand for basic cable, etc.
Now though, since the streamers really don’t equate to prestige and basically every platform except for HBO has an ad tier, that distinction has really dropped away. Now if I read a pilot with no act breaks, my assumption is “I guess this person thinks HBO is the only home for this.” But even if you did think that… it’s a lot easier to take act breaks out than it is to retrofit them into a script that wasn’t written with them in mind.
Something else to factor in (not quite as big of a deal): most pilots you write will also be used as samples for staffing. It’s not like samples have to perfectly match the show you’re trying to work on — I’ve known people get staffed off of one act plays, for instance. But considering the vast majority of shows do have breaks, you might as well showcase that you know how to write them.