Development United States When a person or company decides to create new content for television broadcast, they develop the show's elements, consisting of the
concept, the
characters, the
crew, and the cast. Then they often "pitch" it to the various
networks in an attempt to find one interested enough to order a
prototype for the first episode of the series, known as a
pilot.
Eric Coleman, an animation executive at
Disney, told an interviewer, "One misconception is that it's very difficult to get in and pitch your show, when the truth is that development executives at networks want very much to hear ideas. They want very much to get the word out on what types of shows they're looking for." To create the pilot, the structure and team of the whole series must be put together. If audiences respond well to the pilot, the network will pick up the show to air it the next season. Sometimes they save it for mid-season or request rewrites and additional review. Other times, they
pass entirely, forcing the show's creator to "shop it around" to other networks. Many shows never make it past the pilot stage.
United Kingdom The method of "team writing" is employed on some longer dramatic series (usually running up to a maximum of around 13 episodes). The idea for such a program may be generated "in-house" by one of the networks; it could originate from an independent production company (sometimes a product of both). For instance, the
BBC's long-running soap opera
EastEnders is wholly a BBC production, whereas its popular drama
Life on Mars was developed by
Kudos in association with the broadcaster. There are still a significant number of programs (usually
sitcoms) that are built by just one or two writers and a small, close-knit production team. These are "pitched" in the traditional way, but since the creators handle all the writing requirements, there is a run of six or seven episodes per series once approval has been given. Many of the most popular British comedies have been made this way, including ''
Monty Python's Flying Circus (albeit with an exclusive team of six writer-performers), Fawlty Towers, Blackadder and The Office''.
Other nations s film a television program at Frenckell's studio on January 2, 1965, in
Tampere,
Finland. The
production company is often separate from the broadcaster. The
executive producer, often the show's creator, is in charge of running the show. They pick the
crew and help cast the actors, approve and sometimes write series plots—some even write or direct major episodes—while various other producers help to ensure that the show runs smoothly. Very occasionally, the executive producer will cast themselves in the show. As with
filmmaking or other
electronic media production, producing of an individual episode can be divided into three parts:
pre-production,
principal photography, and
post-production.
Pre-production Pre-production begins when a script is approved. A
director is chosen to plan the episode's final look. Pre-production tasks include storyboarding; construction of sets, props, and costumes; casting guest stars; budgeting; acquiring resources like lighting, special effects, stunts, etc. Once the show is planned, it must then be scheduled: scenes are often filmed out of sequence, and guest actors or even regulars may only be available at certain times. Sometimes the principal photography of different episodes must be done at the same time, complicating the schedule (a guest star might shoot scenes from two episodes on the same afternoon). Complex scenes are translated from storyboard to
animatics to further clarify the action. Scripts are adjusted to meet altering requirements. Some shows have a small stable of directors, but also usually rely on outside directors. Given the time constraints of broadcasting, a single show might have two or three episodes in pre-production, one or two episodes in principal photography, and a few more in various stages of post-production. The task of directing is complex enough that a single director can usually not work on more than one episode or show at a time, hence the need for multiple directors.
Principal photography Principal photography is the actual filming of the episode. Director, actors, and crew gather at a
television studio or on location for filming or
videoing a scene. A scene is further divided into shots, which should be planned during pre-production. Depending on scheduling, a scene may be shot in non-sequential order of the story. Conversations may be filmed twice from different
camera angles, often using stand-ins, so one actor might perform all their lines in one set of shots, and then the other side of the conversation is filmed from the opposite perspective. To complete a production on time, a second unit may be filming a different scene on another set or location at the same time, using a different set of actors, an assistant director, and a second unit crew. A
director of photography supervises the lighting of each shot to ensure consistency. Live events are usually covered by Outside Broadcast crews using mobile television studios, known as scanners or OB trucks. Although varying greatly depending on the era and subject covered, these trucks were normally crewed by up to 15 skilled operators and production personnel. In the UK for most of the 20th century, the BBC was the preeminent provider of outside broadcast coverage. BBC crews worked on almost every major event, including Royal weddings and funerals, major political and sporting events, and even drama programs.
Post-production Once principal photography is complete, producers coordinate tasks to begin the
video editing. Visual and
digital video effects are added to the film; this is often outsourced to companies specializing in these areas. Often music is performed with the conductor using the film as a time reference (other musical elements may be previously recorded). An
editor cuts the various pieces of film together, adds the
musical score and effects, determines scene transitions, and assembles the completed show. == Budgets and revenues ==