Pitch & Sell Your TV Show

We just received a contract from Fun Little Movies for 3 of our TV series. This came from my TV pitch at the LATV Fest. The contract came just 3 weeks after my initial pitch.

For those of you who want to know how to pitch a TV show, I want you to know that my pitch was also the first time I had ever met the execs from Fun Little Movies. We had no previous history and the pitch lasted less than 10 minutes.

We just got my latest animated TV pilot posted on YouTube.  Check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgWZ6G9LGws

Mark Simon's TV pilot Enchanted Thyme

Take a look and tell me what you think.

You have until July 31 to apply for a $40 DTV conversion box coupon. Register online at www.dtv2009.gov.

The Sci Fi Network has now completed their rebranding as Syfy. There has been a lot of negative press about this change. Personally, I think it’s a bad idea.

http://www.Syfy.com to see the new branding.

Blog here your thoughts about the change.

A good friend and client, Drew Thomas, just made it to the quarter finals in Los Angeles on NBC’s America’s Got Talent. I’m writing this as I watch the show. Drew was the one magic act to make it to the quarter finals and it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy!

Go win a million bucks Drew!

HRTS hosted the opening party of NATPE’s LATV Fest a couple of weeks ago. They have now posted photos from the event. Click below to see photos from the party.

http://hrts.smugmug.com/gallery/8860747_4HqMr#587343375_yHdWG

http://hrts.smugmug.com/gallery/8860747_4HqMr#587350386_xToY9

Jeanne and I are working on our next Hit Makers Summit, our 3 day conference on how to pitch and sell your TV show.

It will again this year be hosted at the Renaissance Hotel at Sea World in Orlando, September 19-21. That Sunday night we will all watch the Emmy’s together during our cocktail party.

We are lining up our special guests, and back by popular demand is A-list WGA writer Wayne Carter, author of Hollywoodaholic, and seasoned vet who has worked with James Cameron, Robin Williams, NBC, National Lampoon, CBS and many, many others. Wayne will join us in discussions and in our 1-on-1 breakout sessions.

Don’t miss it. Go to www.HitMakersSummit.com to register. Save $ now with our Early Registration discount.

Reality TV shows now have their own Hollywood tour. A number of Hollywood tours, including Hollywoodland Tours, have stops on their tours from shows like LA Ink, Keeping Up With the Kardashians, The Hills and others.

It was just announced that Ben Silverman, the man behind Ugly Better, The Office and more, is leaving as co-chairman of NBC/Universal. He will be forming a new company with Barry Diller to ”unite producers, creators, advertisers and distributors under one roof.”

We were watching the reality TV game show Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader the other day. It was the celebrity edition. During the show, there was a promotional spot for what was coming up in the next segment. This is to keep the viewer from switching channels during the commercial.

In the promo, we saw Bill Goldberg choking the host Jeff Foxworthy. It was a funny piece. However, that never happened in the rest of the show.

There is a reason you see so many writers in the credits of reality TV shows. A lot of the supposed off-the-cuff actions and jokes are actually scripted. The choking was written for promotion.

Post here how you feel about reality shows and game shows being scripted.