Startup TV

If you want to be a successful television writer in LA, here are (generally) the steps:

1. Through schooling or natural ability, become a good writer.
2. Spend months writing a few “spec” scripts, (where you write a fake episode of any television show, like Seinfeld, Mork & Mindy, or Lost, to prove that you can write for an established show). These scripts are nothing but resume builders and will never see the light of day.
3. Land a reputable agent by competing with every other writer with a couple spec scripts completed.
4. Have your agent fight to get you a job as a scrub with a tv show, where you make a paltry wage (which he takes a portion of) and the vast majority of your work never sees the light of day.
5. Work your way up slowly & obsessively. Dedicated writers spend more than full-time working for a show, but won’t get ahead unless they also spend their weekends working on their own ideas and looking for better work.
6. Move to another show and continue working your way up slowly & obsessively.
7. After years, become one of the main writers on an established show.
8. After many more years, become a “show runner” (the main writer on a show) or get a lottery-ticket shot to pitch your own show.

If it sounds difficult, it is. I have a few friends who have been very successful doing this, many more who failed, and none who didn’t find the process grueling.

Contrast that to starting a software company in the Bay Area:

1. Build something.
2. See if it sticks.
3. Make or raise money.
4. Didn’t succeed? Build something else.

I don’t mean to make this process sound easy. It’s not. Running a successful startup is also a crapshoot, and it takes hours and hours of dedicated work. But, at no point do you have to do work that never sees the light of day or leave your fate in the hands of someone who doesn’t really care about you.

I’ve always dreamed of writing and producing television. I want to give it a shot. I’m clear on what I’m willing to sacrifice, though. And, I’m not willing to give up my lifestyle or spend years going through what seems like a ruthless grind to make it happen.

So, I’m approaching writing and producing TV as if it was a Silicon Valley startup. We’re going to make stuff, see if people like it, try to sell it, and then make something else. I have no idea whether we’ll succeed, but I’m pretty sure it will be more fun than the alternative.