The New Works Playhouse Workshops: TV Ready with Devin Tupper

TV Ready with Devin Tupper

With cinemas struggling to remain open, and more and more broadcasters switching to streaming services to reach new audiences, demand for television programming is higher than it’s ever been. From inception to pitch, this workshop will provide insights and tools to help participants avoid the pitfalls of developing ideas for television while providing insight into how to get their idea from the page to the silver screen. With four years worth of television development experience, I have designed this workshop to assist creators and provide them with tools to cultivate ideas and present them to the relevant individuals. As a script editor who has worked in the USA, the UK, and for  European companies, I’ve seen multiple types of approaches and read a great deal of submissions, giving me an insider’s perspective in seeing what moves forward, and what does not. Though this is by no means a guarantee to success, I firmly believe that by providing further transparency into the submissions process, more unique voices and talents will be able to break through and capture the attention of the individuals that can take them the whole way.  

Devin Tupper is a trained screenwriter who’s worked as a script editor over the past six years. He was an assistant script editor on the thirteen-part, one-hour series, Ransom (2017), for Big Light Productions, and script editor on the series, The Window, for Boogie Entertainment. Between these shows, he’s worked in developmental positions as a story editor in Los Angeles and script editor at UK based independent production companies, working with writers at varying points in their careers to get their ideas from page to screen. 

Learning Objectives: 

• Understand the differences between developing ideas for TV vs. other formats. 
• Highlight the differences in market places so that individuals who want to pitch for TV have a clear idea of who they’re pitching to, and give them tools to adjust accordingly. 
• For anyone who is new to story development, give them an alternative way to begin the development process. 
• Inform participants how to analyze and assess current storytelling markets within the realm of TV  and how to best apply their idea to that market. 
• Participants should finish the workshop with a new creative idea or a desire to adapt a potential existing project for the screen. 

Max number of participants

10

Estimated length

Approx 90-120mins

STRUCTURE

     The Idea 

     The state of the industry and how your idea can stand out.

     Everyone says they want unique stories and perspectives, but what do they really mean? 

     The Engine 

     What is the narrative going to look like? How is it going to unfold? Is it chronological? Is it fractured? This should be informed by your character and the type of story you want to tell. The narrative engine should fit into the mold of the character whose perspective we are following! 

     The Pitch 

     Pitch format conventionally used – one-page. 

     Wrap-Up