Two Years have Passed Since My Last Post!

Two long good years have passed since my last post. I can't believe that it has been so long! I have to admit that I had so much going on that I barely had time to write and update anything. Since my last post, I finally landed a deal at a huge world wide company and a first look deal as well. My business I created has taken off - as many of you know I run a Media Consulting firm. My core business over the last three years has been helping clients and brands with getting major media! It wasn't what I had originally envisioned for myself, but with the economy as bad as it was - I needed a way to survive. What better way to do that than with the skills I already had! With the help of my coach Eli Davidson (in fact she is the one who helped me get featured and on the cover of Kiplinger's Financial Magazine) I started a business.

Needless to say, I have been burning the candle at both ends - doing what I love. Balancing both worlds - media and producing. Everyone reading this knows that I love reality television and LOVE creating it. I love a good title that can spark an idea. That's what happens to me quite a lot. It happened the other day and next thing I know I am pitching it and they LOVE it. So, now its off to do some initial casting and find my subjects.

I promise to write more often now...see you soon! Oh and PS if you think you have a great idea, we want to hear about it! Contact us on our webpage and we'd love to see what you have!

Lessons from The Big Guys

Its been a crazy year with lots of pitches. I am finally seeing some results from my hard work. I have pitched my way all over Hollywood - meeting with some of the best and brightest Executives in town. We pitched last week in NYC at A&E and TruTv and LA for NBC. Now, its back to LA and set for another two big meetings today and tomorrow.

One great lesson that I learned this past month. I've created lots of shows over the past two years and learned a lot from the Talent. When creating a show around a talent you MUST make sure you do one thing with your Shop and Pitch Agreement...make sure that you have your talent sign an agreement that is longer than three months with a clause that will cover you when you are in the middle of pitching!

See the problem with Reality TV is you are dealing with newly found talent and they don't necessarily know our industry. They might think they know. They don't realize that any pitch takes time to move up the ranks and get a green light to start production. There are so many roadblocks, that you could never imagine. Russell Simmons has a great story about this very subject. I have blogged about him in past blogs. He states in his book "Do You!" how long he fought for MTV to take a chance with "Runs House," which did end up on MTV. BUT they told him NO over and over again - and he fought hard for his project and he believed in it 100%. He worked hard to get the end result - a show on the AIR!

What I got was "something should have happened by now." Mind you we pitched two weeks ago. Sometimes people are their own worst enemies. This business is all about who you know, who likes you and is your stuff good and LUCK! Glenn Larson, who had like nine series on the air at once once told me that there are so many factors that go into getting a show on the air. (From IMDB: Glen A. Larson is the man behind some of the world's best known primetime shows. His highly successful productions (successful both financially and popularly, less often critically!) include "Knight Rider" (1982), "The Fall Guy" (1981), "Battlestar Galactica"(1978), and "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century", "Knight Rider" (1982) and "Magnum, P.I." (1980). His venture "One West Waikiki".) He said "There are lots of office politics and you have to have LUCK on your side! It isn't just one factor like a good show that will get it on the air." So, for anyone who thinks that they will land a show with one pitch is crazy. You have to pound the pavement and you are going to get a lot of Passes or No's before you get a YES. And look - you can even get a YES and then someone up above changes their mind and says NO! You could even have a check in your hand - and shows in the can - and they still cancel it!

Everything takes time. Nothing happens over night in Hollywood. Patience is your friend. Having good Producers pitching you is also key. And Producers who know everyone in town is even better!

What I learned at Digital Hollywood

This week Digital Hollywood was put on at the Lowe's Hotel in Santa Monica, CA. What a great event! Even though the printed program was probably the most difficult program book to follow, I made my way to see several content summits that were held.

Day 1: My first round table was the luncheon where Mark Koops spoke. As many of you are aware Mark is a superstar in the TV world. He is co-creator of the hit series on NBC "The Biggest Loser" and managing director at Reveille. If you don't know that production company you should. Its got some major hits under its belt (the Office, Ugly Betty).

Next I hit up the Advertising Platform: Social Networks, TV & Video, Broadband, Mobile and Games. All things about understanding what advertising in the next generation will look like. Moved on to the Master Class workshop "Comedy: Superstars and Hidden Gems." Good stuff from Mike Polk from Break.com and Andrew Steele from Funny or Die. We ended up leaving it was a packed room and stuffy and hot - standing room only. Then I moved on to the Digital Hollywood Pitch Camp. This was a goodie - one of my favorite topics of course! 5 people got to get up and pitch while a panel of elites (Alex Barkaloff - EP Digital Lionsgate, David Gale - MTV, Mark Vega - Luce Forward) gave feedback on the pitches. Here is a breakdown of tips they gave in no particular order:

• Know what is it you are conveying?
• Audio & visual tools are a plus!
• Have a pitch that is intuitive and subjective.
• Innovative idea that understands the marketing of it.
• You get it!
• Know your audience.
• Have a great one liner. (your logline)
• Good idea that is adaptable.
• Have energy and excitement.
• You have to have a good idea, interesting characters are not enough!

The day ended with a nice cocktail reception by the pool and who doesn't love free drinks!

Day 2: I am still looking in the program trying to figure it out. The program is the worst piece of literature I have ever TRIED to read. I make my way to the Celebrity Media and Reality Shows Transforms to Broadband, Mobile, Social Media and TV. This one was a good one as well. Then on to the Video on the Smartphone Jumpstarting Revolution. Made my way to the Moguls, Indies and Youtube Stars hosted by David Gale and a few other great players. Last but not least, The Hollywood Real Deal Reinventing the Strategy the Platforms and Revenue Stream. This was a great session with Justine Bateman, Frank Nine, George Ruiz, Paul Kontonis. Here is a breakdown of tips this session provided:

• Keep your web content to 3-5 minutes. 3 minutes = 3 pages.
• Every episode has a mini cliffhanger that will demand attention.
• Characters have their own social media networks.
• Production/Writing Staff = key!
• It involves the audience.
• Demo/audience very important.
• Its an added benefit if you have stars that can talk with major outlets because of their celeb status.

I would recommend Digital Hollywood next year to those of you who didn't attend. Its a great way to hear from the experts what is going on in the industry (changes, future). Its also a great way to network. I met so many new faces and some old friends too. I feel as a producer its important to be cutting edge. So if you don't know about what's ahead in the industry your stuff is going to suck.

Performance Pitching

Two Tuesday’s - November 10th & 17th

2 Week Bootcamp with Producer Nicole Dunn & Motivational Speaker and Author, Eli Davidson...

Most times you only have one shot to pitch you, yourself, brand or your book. You’ve got to get their attention in a short amount of time. This workshop is for anyone who has an idea and wants to pitch it. Authors, Experts, Brands, Business Owners, TV Show ideas, Segment Ideas, Book ideas…You’ll pitch and we’ll give you tips and suggestions to help you brainstorm to create the perfect pitch.

In this workshop Motivational Speaker and Author Eli Davidson teams up with Team Emmy Nominated Producer & Creator Nicole Dunn, to help you get into the pitching game. Television Producer Nicole Dunn has personally pitched in over 200 meetings (Network Executives, Development Executives, News, Show ideas, Experts, Authors, Directors, Producers, Publishers) Put Jet Fuel in your pitch!

Being able to write a good pitch is an important business tool to have, no matter what line of work you’re in! You’ll learn to craft your pitch to be unique and stand out from the rest of the crowd. People will respond and return your calls, and book you! You’ll be able to pitch something that people care about hearing more about.

With a well-written pitch you will attract the interest of almost anyone (Producers, Directors, News, Editors, Book Publishers – even your boss!)

Each class will focus on your pitch. We’ll hear everyone’s ideas and help you make them spectacular. The first class is hands on! Everyone must come with a pitch. Not only will you learn from other people’s pitches, you’ll learn from your own.

• How a great logline will book you every time.
• How to be relevant.
• You’ll learn that doing research about who you are pitching and their target audience will land you the job or not.
• How to spot a news trend and piggyback off of it.
• You’ll hear examples of good pitches vs. bad pitches.
• You’ll hear examples of good tips vs. bad tips.
• You’ll work on perfecting a 30 second elevator pitch that you can use to pitch anyone with.
• What Ideas are worth pitching?
• What problems are you solving?
• What solutions are you offering?
• How to Deliver.
• How to follow up.

CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW TO REGISTER NOW!
http://www.dunnpelliermedia.com/Dunn_Pellier_Media_Consulting/Schedules.html
Two Tuesday’s - November 10th & 17th 2009
6 PM PST

CALL IN FROM ANYWHERE: 6:00 PM PST

2 Weeks for $249.99
$1000 dollar value!

Reality Soul Searching

With the recent tragic events that transpired last week regarding reality show contestant Ryan Jenkins, production companies will be reassessing not only the casting process but also relationship shows! VH1 and it's series of "Love" themed reality shows will no doubt change because of what happened.

What did happen? I know that every reality series I ever worked on, we vetted every possible contestant/person with a fine tooth comb. We had a background check done on everyone, we interviewed the persons "mother, brother, father, cousin, co-worker, childhood friend" before they were ever even presented to our bosses or even the Network. Anyone that had any history of drugs, behavior issues, arrests, etc were declined. We even had people that would have made great reality Television with all of the drama that surrounded them, but they had a mark on their law record that made for an easy decision of a solid NO. We once had a guy that on the phone was funny and kind of charming. BUT on paper he was a drug user and was arrested at 19 for sleeping with a 15 year old, who's mother had him arrested for raping a minor. The now 40 something man pleaded his case that it was all a misunderstanding when he was younger. He never made it even close to my boss seeing his casting profile!

Not only did we do a full background check - we also had a full time psychologist that assessed each person's "true well being" from a psychological standpoint. He had the final word on whether the person being considered was considered to have a "sound mind." They were also assessed on whether or not they could withstand the Reality TV process before and after the shoot and its airing. To sum it all up, its a rigorous process where not just one Producer, Executive or Network has the final say. It's a multitude of folks that are involved in getting one person approved for a show. So really what did happen over there at 51 Minds? It's not one person that is responsible for the loss of life here, there are so many people involved in the process, so to blame it on the company that did the background checks is really not fair.

In a Times article today, VH1 President Tom Calderone stated "that VH1 was "trying to get together" with production company 51 Minds Entertainment to figure out where the vetting system went wrong and "fix this problem and never ever let this happen again." I certainly hope so. A woman was killed. Even worse, both parties put reality star Megan Hauserman's own life at risk. What if she had picked him? (We will never know because the show was immediately taken off the air). She could have easily have become victim to his hidden past and dead too. How sad for the family of Jasmine Fiore and tragic that such a beautiful woman's life was cut way too short at the hands of a jealous psycho, that hid his true identity to everyone involved.

Its a wake up call for our industry. I thought about what happened for nearly a week now. It's all very sad. I thought about all of those creepy people that I too had interviewed for past shows that we didn't pick. I always did my detective work along with the background company to vet them out. In reality we need to do better detective work in the beginning so that this never happens again. It can never be one persons fault, but in the future we can help each other decipher the bad eggs from the good.

Cancelled

I got to thinking yesterday about all of the short lived TV shows out there. Don't you hate it when you totally get into a show, and then suddenly it gets CANCELLED!? It seems to me that the networks rarely give shows a chance these days. With so many channels and so many shows, its more than just a fad to cancel a show after one or two episodes. I understand that these execs have a bigger person to answer to, but come on guys give shows a chance!

So where I am headed is - when you create something you never know if people are going to like it. And in TV you never know. When you create something you are guessing that people will like it. Nobody really knows what the public will end up liking in the end anyway.

I wonder how shows like "The World According to Jim," "America's Toughest Jobs," "The Baby Borrowers," "Celebrity Circus," "Cupid," "Harpers Island," "Secret Millionaire," and "Stilista" even got on the air to begin with. Someone obviously had a good pitch and a good relationship with someone to make that happen. At one point I even met a writer on "The World According to Jim," who said the show was stupid and how he couldn't believe it was still on the air! The other side of the coin is they cancel something as successful as "Samantha Who?" People actually watched that show. Who made that decision? The show won Emmy's! Were these shows cancelled because the public didn't like them or were they network execs who gave them the ax?

Anyway, you just never know what people are going to like. So create your heart away. In the end what really matters is if you like it. If you believe in your work, its all that matters anyway...Well, I guess another thing that matters is making the moola.

What favorite shows do you miss? Write and tell me!

The Holy S*^# Factor

I have been getting a big influx of people coming to me with pitches over the last two weeks. My head is in a virtual spin which is a combination of my own projects and everyone else's creative stuff colliding into my world.

The problem I am having with everyone else's projects (and one of my own) is how do you make the show have that important twist that has that "Holy S*&# factor," and stand out from the rest of the crowd in the marketplace? #1 - there is a hell of a lot of competition out there. #2 - if it doesn't have a "Holy S*&# factor" you may as well go back to the drawing board before you go out to pitch. The buyers are rarely committing so you better have something so great that it basically knocks them over like a big gust of wind and they can't get back up right away.

Before I even attempt to go into the marketplace, I address every single angle including research and development of what's been done, what's being pitched and who I can align myself with. Even when I hit the market and do my pitches, I am constantly tweaking utilizing the constructive criticism on every pitch to perfect mine for the next pitch. Its always a work in progress. Its hard work and its dedication!

Not only am I constantly tweaking my projects, but I am also finding other avenues to dip my toes into. Now, I am exploring the Digital marketplace because web based projects are a great way to get something off the ground as well. And there is money and advertisers to partner up with. Build the base and get the hits and fans and then you have content to hit the TV marketplace with. Small mini episodes, that eventually can be formed into a sizzle to pitch networks with. I know that the market is still in exploration mode, but it is where its going. If you can't sell a show to a network, why not align yourself with some partners and go the digital route first.

Think about it before you set out to pitch - does yours have that "Holy S*&# Factor?" Because, they are undoubtedly going to tell you that its missing something if you don't knock the wind out of them with an angle they have never heard before -- and in this town that is difficult to do!!