Netflix + Stage 32 Present: Television Pilot Story Structure

Netflix and Stage 32 have partnered on an exclusive global education series in an effort to democratize the worldwide entertainment industry. Together, over the course of 5 webcasts Stage 32's world class educators will bring their knowledge of what it takes to write, develop and produce today's television for the Stage 32 and Netflix creator community. 

To kick things off, we are going to talking about television pilot story structure. 

Nailing your TV drama’s story structure—specifically your pilot—is no easy task. In the span of just 40-60 pages, you have to introduce your world, your characters, your central plot and conflict, and your inciting incident, all while keeping your pacing consistent, finding some resolution for that episode, and allowing your audience to want to watch more. This is a complicated, and delicate game and ultimately comes down to how you structure and map out your script before you start writing. No matter what genre you’re writing in, understanding how to structure your pilot is vital. Gaining a clear grasp on how successful drama pilots are arranged and the rules they all follow is a necessary step if you want to have a show that will get picked up and ultimately connect with an audience.

Anna Henry is a Producer and Development Executive who has worked at CBS, ABC, Nickelodeon, as well as multiple production companies and in literary management. Her clients have worked on shows such as THE DEUCE, VINYL, SEVEN SECONDS, VIDA, CHICAGO FIRE, and THE FLASH, and have set up projects at Netflix, AMC, Amazon, Starz, HBO, Sony, EOne, Corus, and others.

Anna will go in-depth on how to properly structure your drama TV series pilot and will use real past pilot scripts as examples as she breaks down, act by act, the elements necessary to turn your series pilot into stand-out script. Anna will go over the main types of one-hour pilots and will outline the elements for pilot development, including story engine, world, characters, themes and tone. She’ll discuss how to select and map your own template show as well as incorporating multiple plotlines. Anna will then delve into the function and elements of your pilot’s teaser and Acts 1 through 5, as well as your pilot launch, pilot climax, and series launch. She will finally lay out the most common structure problems that you should avoid.

Don’t even think about starting to write your own drama pilot until you gain the tools Anna will provide.

Examples will be used from notable past one-hour drama pilots on network, cable, and streaming platforms. PLUS! you will receive story maps/outlines broken down for each of these pilots:

• LUPIN (Netflix)
• SUCCESSION (HBO)
• THE EXPANSE (Syfy)
• THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL (Amazon)

Note: You will receive the Zoom link to login by the morning of the webinar. 

If you are not yet a member of the Stage 32 community, we encourage you to join the community today at www.stage32.com, it is FREE! You will instantly connect with over 800,000 creatives and professionals in the entertainment industry from all over the world who use Stage 32 to network, find work, learn and develop their projects. YOU MUST HAVE A STAGE 32 PROFILE TO WATCH YOUR VIDEO.