Jane Root on Where Good Ideas Come From

The Browser has a really interesting interview with Jane Root (CEO Nutopia, ex-Controller, BBC2 and ex-General Manager, Discovery Channel), in which she uses a series of books to talk about creativity, and why some ideas – like The Office and The Simpsons – make it onto TV and why others don’t. Read the interview here. [...]

How Many Narcissists Do You Need to Sell an Idea?

Ever wonder why the person with the biggest ego on the team manages to win the most pitches – even though you know (and they would never admit) that their ideas are no better than yours? Scientists at Cornell University have run a series of studies and found that narcissists were generally more enthusiastic and [...]

Development Hell or Ideas Heaven?

Freelance development consultant Sean Kirkegaard is running an unusual creative experiment on his website Development Hell. Approximately every other day he uploads a new TV programme idea to his website. Once he’s got a slate of about 50 ideas he’s going to ask the public to vote on their favourite. He will then attempt to [...]

Why You Need a Vacation… or Not

It’s been suggested that getting away from it all is good for boosting creativity; it allows the mind to wander and make new and unexpected connections. However, experiments seem to prove that just pretending to be somewhere else can help spark new ideas. Read more in Wired

Ideas Develop Asexually and Creativity Happens Sexually?

Are you developing ideas sexually or asexually? And which is better? That’s the question  Mike Cardus discusses in this video:

Greenlit: Developing Factual/Reality TV Ideas From Concept to Pitch by Nicola Lees

There are some simple principles to successfully developing and pitching your ideas, whether you are working for a global ‘super-indie’ production company, or are a documentary filmmaker pitching a passion project. The extraordinary thing is that no one will tell you what they are! Greenlit is the first book to reveal, step-by-step, how to originate, develop and pitch your factual/non-scripted TV ideas in a global market.

Get insider tips from: * 10 TV development producers – who have a combined 50+ years experience of developing and pitching ideas at all levels; * 20 senior executives who have sold some of the world’s most successful shows, to: * 16 channel executives, who between them have worked at: * 18 TV channels in: * 7 countries across 4 continents.

Greenlit is available now from Amazon and all good bookstores.

Development and Pitching 101: Originating Ideas

If you work in television, or any kind of creative industry you’ll need to generate ideas. One of the most common questions I’m asked is, “where do you get your ideas from?” (I was asked that by a senior producer who claimed to have originated several hit formats…hmm). The answer is, I don’t know where ideas come from: they are all around. All you need to do is to be observant and open-minded.

But what if you have never spotted a good idea in your life? Here’s a list of habits and resources that will get you started. (Photo by lisbo CC BY SA 2.0)

Redub Reader

Redub Reader bills itself as “an experiment in improving the way long texts are read on screen.” Just one edition old, it takes articles that Redub’s founders found difficult to read online and put them in a ‘reader’ that allows you to scroll sideways instead of down, to read text arranged in newspaper-like columns. Features [...]

Help a Reporter Out

Help a Reporter Out (HARO) is a free service for journalists who need to get information or sources. Since it launched in March 2008,  more than 30,000 journalists have used the resource and are now sending 3000+ requests for info to more than 100,000 sources.

Addict-o-matic

If you want a fast way to research a subject without having to trawl through lots of websites or, god forbid, actual real newspapers and magazines (all that dirty newsprint), visit Addictomatic, which is searchable and indexed into a number of themes, including business, TV, politics, parenting, fashion and gadget among others. Click on a [...]