International Factual TV Conferences and Festivals 2010

Roll up, roll up! It’s time to get this year’s factual TV conferences and festivals in you diary so you don’t miss out on any schmoozing and pitching opportunities. There are many film festivals every year: this list only contains festivals and conferences where you can pitch/sell your factual TV ideas and documentaries and network/get a little tipsy with TV channel execs. Can’t decide which one to go to? Visit AJ Schnack’s excellent guide to the Top 25 Documentary Festivals. Click through for more information and links.

Best of TV Mole 2009

As the year is drawing to a close and everyone winds down for the holidays, this is the last feature for 2009. TV Mole is almost one year old, so we thought we’d look back at the most popular articles and programmes of 2009 (and some you might have missed).

We’ll be back in 2010 with more TV industry news, inspiration for ideas and tips on how to get your ideas commissioned. There are also some exciting new developments that a will give YOU a better chance of winning those elusive commissions.

An exclusive handful of people are already in on the secret – and have contributed their expertise – and a global buzz is growing (from LA to Cape Town, London, Mumbai, NYC and Amsterdam). Tom Archer, Controller of Factual, BBC said “it could revolutionize the TV industry…” Sign up for the newsletter to be the first to hear the official announcement and find out how you will benefit!
Merry Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus!
(Photo by /eye.contact! CC BY-SA 2.0)

How to Write an Arresting Logline: Quiz Answers

Last week, we looked at loglines – where you boil your concept down into one succinct, hooky sentence – with a fiendishly difficult quiz. As promised, here are the answers (click on the headline to go to the answers). Remember, the first thing your buyer will look at is the title, so the logline should complement and build upon it, so they get an instant feel for the tone and content of your programme. Give yourself a point for each one (and subtract five if you failed to get no. 6 correct).

If you didn’t do that well, you can console yourself with the thought that the loglines weren’t doing their job properly.

And, as ever, feel free to share, tweet or comment. (Photo by ♠ le max)

How to Write an Arresting Factual TV Logline: A Quiz

When you are selling factual television show, whether you are sending an email, writing a proposal or pitching in an elevator, you need to capture the attention of a buyer within seconds. The best way of doing that is to boil down your concept into a single succinct sentence that captures the essence of your programme, suggests the content and makes your commissioner want to know more.

A successful logline (aka tagline or strapline) looks deceptively simple and obvious, but they are fiendishly difficult to devise; and you need to have thought your idea through thoroughly in order to do it right. That means a lot of work, but you knew that, right?

The best way to understand loglines is to look at what other people have come up with, so here’s a quiz to get you going.

I’ve given you 20 taglines that have been attributed to factual TV shows – can guess which show each one refers to (I’ve removed the actual name of the shows in a couple of instances)?

(Photo by Nick J Webb)

Developing Factual TV Shows – How to Get the Best Out of TV Mole

TV Mole is now six months old and has grown hugely, so I thought it would be good to look back at some of the best articles and signpost how you can get the best out of TV Mole – whether you’ve been here since the beginning are are just dropping by for the first time. You’ll find 350+ potential ideas ideas for new programmes, information on 97 TV channels in the UK and USA and a range of resources to help you successfully develop and pitch your nonfiction TV ideas.

Read on to find out how TV Mole can help you generate new ideas, write a punchy proposal, research potential buyers, pitch, and engage with your audience.

(Photo by blmurch

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Help – I’ve Been Asked to Develop Some TV Ideas But I Don’t Know What to Do!

Have you been put into a TV development team for a few weeks but don’t know where to start? Don’t panic. Here is an easy (some might say cheat’s) guide to developing TV programme ideas, fast.
All you need to get started is the TV Mole website, which will give you everything you need to find [...]

TV Proposal Writing Lessons from George Orwell

When writing a proposal for your TV show, you have to impress your commissioner, right?
Wrong.
You need to communicate to your commissioner exactly what you’re proposing as succinctly and clearly as possible. And that means cutting out long words and jargon.
Less, in this instance is definitely more. And that’s because your proposal has to stand out [...]

The Surefire Way to Stop Your Brilliant TV Idea Being Stolen. And Five Better Suggestions.

Here is a guaranteed way to make sure no-one steals your idea:
Don’t tell anyone about your idea. Ever.
That’s is. That’s all you need to do. Unfortunately this strategy has a major drawback – if you don’t pitch your idea you will never sell it?  And what’s the point of that?

There is always a risk that [...]

Six Ways to Allay Your Commissioning Editor’s Fears and Sell your TV Programme

You might think that all you need to get your TV programme commissioned is a good idea. Not so.

Assuming you have a really good idea, and have sprinkled it with fairy dust for luck, it is still unlikely that you will get your idea commissioned. Why? Because your commissioner is scared. They’re scared of commissioning a programme that might fail. And failing programmes put their jobs on the line. Which makes it your job to allay those fears and make it easy for them to say yes.

Here are six fears you need to address in your proposal and pitch. (Photo by Kables)

Where to Pitch Your Idea (and Avoid the Commissioners)

Pitching is a bitch. Especially when you are just starting out. There seem to be so many different channels, all of them with closed doors.

But do you actually need to pitch your idea to a TV channel? No. It depends on your motives for pitching. You might think that the only reason to pitch your ideas is to sell them, but depending where you are in your career, there may be different reasons for pitching, and cleverer ways of pitching. (Photo by heiwa4126)