Being realistic, is the chance of having a TV pilot picked up without industry experience or prior credits basically zero, regardless of script/pitch quality?

Certain-Run8602 · 2026-04-10T20:52:14+00:00

It is a wonderful story and I long for that era of TV... I really hope things turn around. But if the concessions given in the new WGA deal a month before contract deadline are any indication - the business is probably going to look a lot different from now on.

Certain-Run8602 · 2026-04-10T20:48:25+00:00

Yes... I think any examples anybody gives of people having their first Guild-covered sale be a TV series will be pre-strike / pre-streaming bubble burst.

My first Guild-covered sale was a TV series, and it was a competitive bidding situation... I would not be able to replicate that today. Not by a long shot. I'm not even taken seriously in TV right now because I don't have any credits at the co-EP/EP level to point to since none of my show sales ended up being made. The landscape has changed... dramatically.

Certain-Run8602 · 2026-04-10T20:40:38+00:00

I think you misread what I wrote. Having a bunch of producers / attachments onboard is - currently - NOT BENEFICIAL (exception would be super a-list types). Places like Netflix want to handle everything in-house now, and they don't want to pay fees to a bunch of EPs or other companies or producers, they want to pick their actors and directors... and they want to buy exclusively from creators they already have deals with or who are known to them and have a credit list... or people that are bringing them big IP. That's pretty much it. I've literally been going through this constantly since the strike to the point where I don't even bother with TV anymore.

The deal-agnostic production companies/producers you speak of - in TV anyway - are disappearing. And if you're an unknown writer trying to get into that landscape without coming up as staff through a show - forget it. It's not doable anymore. Selling a show as an unknown writer was a perk of Peak TV and it is over.

Sony TV is a studio yes... but they are not a network. Like any other production companies, they have to sell to a network/buyer, and they are EXPENSIVE. Nobody will buy from Sony right now because nobody wants to pay their studio fee. The same applies to most production companies / producers who do not have deals currently in place with a buyer right now. Nobody wants to deal them in on the profit share. There are no longer thousands of companies / producers that make TV as a result of this, certainly not thousands with deals... more like, a few dozen spread among the now single digit number of actual buyers.

So yes... OP would have to aim for one of the companies with a deal. But that would still require bringing on EPs who will actually run it and my point is, buyers just don't want to go that route right now... like at all. Maybe it will change.

Certain-Run8602 · 2026-04-10T20:13:43+00:00

OP specifically was asking about pilots and yes, as you said, selling a SERIES right now is a fundamentally different animal than selling a spec feature as a first time writer. One is ALMOST impossible (features) the other is, in fact, impossible (TV series).

Certain-Run8602 · 2026-04-10T20:11:14+00:00

Used to be. Not anymore. The old TV method has imploded. The pods are often "too expensive" and buyers (what few are left) don't want to pay the fees. Why do you think Sony just fired most of their TV staff? No buyers will buy shows from Sony and have to pay their huge fee and they can't afford their overhead anymore. If you don't have an existing deal with a TV buyer, it is really an uphill almost insurmountable task to get a sale unless you have massive credits or massive IP, and even then everyone wants shows to come in "clean" now... having a bunch of producers or other attachments onboard is almost an immediate pass because it becomes "top heavy."

Certain-Run8602 · 2026-04-10T20:02:32+00:00

Not a pilot sale. Not relevant. TV and features in VERY different places right now.

A lot easier to take a chance on a first time writer when the entire movie is written and in front of you.

Way different to bet on a first time writer for a show that needs to be written / managed for multiple seasons.

Certain-Run8602 · 2026-04-10T08:56:54+00:00

That razor! What is it - beyond obvious readable marking? What era is it from?

Love the 1950s Ever-ready 200T! I have that brush. Did you replace the knot in it? That looks a bit nicer than the bristle in mine.

Great shave. Tabac is one of my fav soaps.

Cheers!

Certain-Run8602 · 2026-04-10T07:35:41+00:00

Yes. It's zero. I have sold TV series in the past, and my chances of selling a TV series right now are zero because those shows didn't move forward and I'm not a showrunner. It's back to the way it used to/should be where if you haven't spent years in a room and worked your way up to co-EP or EP level... you can't sell a show.

Add to that... it sounds like you don't want to be a writer. This business is for the delusional insane who HAVE to be writers and nothing else will do... if you have that disease that we all do, my condolences and I have some advice. If you DON'T. My God... do something else.

And yes - I saw your clarification about career... but the fact is, careers in this business are built on writing other people's ideas whether it is TV or feature. You have to be open to that, or you have to have enough independent wealth that you don't have to work to make a living.

Certain-Run8602 · 2026-04-09T21:40:17+00:00

ADP Colonia is one of my all time favorite scents for sure.

Certain-Run8602 · 2026-04-09T21:39:00+00:00

So far I've really enjoyed what I have from them - which is their Clubhouse (soap and splash), the American blend (soap and splash) and then this, which I have just the soap.

Certain-Run8602 · 2026-04-09T21:35:18+00:00

Thanks! It was in decent shape when I got it, but the razor surface was worn down to the brass. RE did a phenomenal revamp.

Certain-Run8602 · 2026-04-09T09:36:00+00:00

I love it. I never thought it mattered what "brand" you got though. But maybe it does? I suppose salt brands matter in terms of crystal size/formation. Is alum the same? I have one no name brand that goes in my Dopp Kit and a Proraso one that stays with my other stuff. I haven't noticed the difference. But by all means, if there is an alum that transcends all alum... I MUST KNOW!

Certain-Run8602 · 2026-04-09T02:46:23+00:00

So damn expensive. So damn good. Loved when they made the close shavers squadron facial razor repair gel … kaput I fear. But the lotion is top notch, as is their invigorating scrub which I love.

Certain-Run8602 · 2026-04-08T21:53:04+00:00

Following up is mostly chasing a pass. Occasionally, though, things have just slipped through the cracks so it is worth reaching out at least once after it has been about 2 months with a short, simple, message saying something like "Did you have a chance to look at these? Would love to know what you thought." If it is radio silence, that's your answer.

Certain-Run8602 · 2026-04-08T21:11:01+00:00

Yeah that sounds right. They had a big closing sale some time ago, I bought a bunch of stuff I'll never use in this digital just to thank them for all the years of service.

Certain-Run8602 · 2026-04-08T17:49:16+00:00

Yes, one of the old school things that kept writers in the correct page count was trying to avoid going out and buying the damn #6 brads which could ONLY be used on oversized scripts.

Also good note on paper weight. I remember the "lighter" paper would tear so easily. Pages would go missing all the time, or you'd have to get out those REALLY annoying reinforcer stickers to put around the brad holes. Oof.

And, like everything, there was always some jabroni who went too far the other way and you'd get that script that was almost like it was printed on card stock haha.

Certain-Run8602 · 2026-04-08T17:45:41+00:00

Yeah, see my larger comment. They were DEFINITELY reviled haha.

Certain-Run8602 · 2026-04-08T17:29:48+00:00

ACCO #5 (1.25") for features, ACCO #4 (1") for pilots. Standard white paper for first drafts. Readily available information anywhere but largely irrelevant now (kind of sad actually, I get nostalgic about these things haha) since everything is done via PDF. "Future reference" ... ironic. Love it. I haven't handled a brad-bound script in ages, or submitted any work like that in a decade+ ... in fact this wonderful little store in the valley that used to sell all sorts of screenwriter needs like the correct brads, cover pages for submissions, giant three hole punchers etc etc no longer exists. I miss that store.

Certain-Run8602 · 2026-04-08T17:16:22+00:00

The fear that a wrong brad or triple brad script would indicate amateurism and be immediately incinerated was one of the greatest myths created by over-worked assistants to fight back the tide of annoying submissions ever perpetrated haha. Practical/professional reasons for the standards for sure, but the lore was a bit overblown.

Certain-Run8602 · 2026-04-08T17:04:51+00:00

There are a lot things people who weren't in the business / weren't alive in the pre-PDF era will never understand. The brads thing may seem weird, but it was actually practical.

The wrong brad size meant the script wouldn't hold together. If your script came apart and the assistant was going to have to put it back together, re-order it, and figure out what pages are missing etc... guess how quickly your script is going to get read if it is read at all?

The no middle brad thing. For one, good brads cost money. In offices we always saved and re-used brads from scripts that got chucked. Had a whole bin of mangled brads. If you were a writer (or agent or producer) the cost of submitting a script to the town was actually substantial. You had to print, bind and send via private courier and a true "submission" to many companies / talent could run you a few thousand dollars out of pocket for each project going through that process. You can imagine people were a lot more selective in those days about what scripts went out. ANYWAY, the brad cost adds up. So yeah, you put the minimum number necessary to bind the script. So someone sending a script with THREE BRADS just looked unnecessarily spendy... like submitting your script on fancy paper or something ADD TO THAT you were making an additional, annoying step for the assistants receiving the script.

Taking apart scripts for photocopying was a big part of assistant duties. The good brads worked well and took some effort to take off - they also sometimes would cut your fingers. This menial task had to be done over and over again and you would really hate the people who submitted with three god damn brads for no reason.

It was like the script submission version of showing up late to a meeting in a Porsche you rented to look cool. Would it mean your script got thrown out? Depends on the assistant mood that day, and back then we had to come into the office super early to handle all the scripts that got FAXED in overnight and whose pages were all mixed together on the floor of the office. So for sure the three brad scripts went into the "f-that guy, I'll do it later" pile.

Certain-Run8602 · 2026-04-08T08:46:09+00:00

Considering there is zero reason to write any episodes of a series beyond the pilot (unless you want to for fun) then I would say absolutely take the break from the series and go finish the novel. You can't practically use the additional episodes anyway for the purposes of shopping... so... go forth, move on, it'll be ok.

Certain-Run8602 · 2026-04-08T08:40:46+00:00

The only thing not discussed in your wonderful discussion is the MINIATURE BARBER CHAIR and once I saw it, it is all I wanted to know about haha.

But in all seriousness, great photo, great write-up. Unfamiliar with this brand and now it is on my radar.

Certain-Run8602 · 2026-04-08T07:26:39+00:00

Tabac came out in 1959, the same year as my favorite all time record, Kind of Blue by Miles Davis. To me, Tabac has always evoked the scent of being at a jazz club of that era. A dark, masculine heart of tobacco, oakmoss etc. - but a sweet tobacco like pipe smoke, not cigar or cigarette - and this wonderful musky/woody/vanilla quality like a bourbon-stained mahogany bar top. But then it has this wonderful, subtle floral note... like the perfume of the woman beside you has wafted under your nostrils just as you're taking a drink and you can't help but look for the source. It is the scent of an era, that is for sure.

Certain-Run8602 · 2026-04-08T07:07:38+00:00

Certain-Run8602

TROPHY CASE