Concept Development
Often overlooked, Conceptual Development is actually the most critical part of any production. It is the process by which the creator’s idea is taken and refined into something that can be pitched and sold to producers and production houses and who the actual creator of a project can vary widely. It could be a Director, Producer, Author, or Screenwriter. Also the ideas themselves can come from anywhere; they could be historical, biographical, fictional, fantastical. But no matter what the idea or what the origins, they all have to go through a refining process to create a solid vision worth the money to create it.
The Idea – Obviously this is that spark of inspiration that leads the creator to want to put the time and creative effort to refine with the hopes that it will eventually make it to the Big Screen.
Brainstorming – Basically all the work it takes to work out the idea’s characters, conflicts and setting. (see step 4.)
Story – An outline of the basic events of the project.
Medium – This is the first critical decision: what medium is your project? Is it a movie? For the theaters or television? Network or cable? Is it a TV series? Mini-series? Is it a series of YouTube shorts? All of these need to be considered not simply for creative reasons but also financial reasons. Making any kind of visual media is expensive, even a 30 second commercial can cost $100,000 so you have to plan accordingly. Also, depending on what medium you choose, you may have to reconsider your characters and settings (from step 2.) in order to make the project feasible.
Write a Script – Write a polished screenplay of your story in the correct format for its medium.
Pitch – Take your script and pitch it to a production house/executive producer. This is the hardest gate-keeper in the industry and one of the hardest things not just to do but also to schedule. In today’s Hollywood era, opportunities to pitch an original idea are severely limited to those already working in the industry. Also the people in power nowadays are very different from those during the Jack Warner and Walt Disney days in the 1950s and 1960s. As such, there are less and less original productions in the industry as a whole and more stemming from preexisting novels or comics. That being said, original productions do happen, but often at the behest of a powerful director or producer or actor. This step can be skipped if the project is being independently financed by the creator.
Green-Lit for Pre-Production – Your project has successfully secured financing for the next round of production!
If a project is not green-lit for the next round of production either it can go through another set of revisions or be shelved.
If revising, it would only be worthwhile because someone has some interest in the project. Otherwise it will be abandoned.
Shelved projects are projects that have potential but the production company does not want to move forward at that time. Occasionally those projects will eventually gain life again, the biggest stand out is probably Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, but otherwise chances are very low they will move on.
