How to Get a Green Light for Your TV Show

Welcome to Trade Secrets, TheWrap’s insider guide to making it in Hollywood. For our inaugural story, we’re tackling one of the trickiest challenges in the entertainment business: How to get a television pitch greenlit. We spoke to executives from the industry’s top networks and streamers to bring you the answers.

It’s getting harder to secure a green light for a scripted TV show these days as Hollywood contraction takes distributors from the marketplace. Those left standing are trimming their entertainment budgets to buy sports rights and (gasp) vertical content.

That leaves many asking the same questions: How do television executives decide between the thousands of pitches they hear every year? What makes a project stand out beyond star power? How can up-and-coming writers get their pitches in the room? How do they even find the right door to knock on? TheWrap spoke to executives at Disney, NBCUniversal, Fox Entertainment, Paramount+, Sony Pictures Television, Starz and Versant to get the answers.

Here, in brief, are some of their key insights:

• Beyond a great premise or pilot script, Hollywood execs want showrunners to have a clear roadmap for a show beyond that first episode. For a streaming series, it’s about making sure the central story arc is fully mapped out. For a broadcast show, it means having fully realized characters to anchor more situational premises, like a crime procedural or a TV sitcom.
• Having a big name attached to star in a potential series helps sweeten the pot, but it’s not a surefire way to land a green light.
• Executives encouraged aspiring new voices to network and develop relationships with TV studios, who then foster the talent and do the bulk of pitching and setting up shows at networks and streaming platforms.

How do I get started?

If you’re just entering the business, the path to getting a green light starts with knowing the right people. (If you’re not just entering the business, skip to the next section.) One way is to take advantage of the programs the industry has to offer.

Starz original programming president Kathryn Busby touted the network’s #TakeTheLead initiative, which provides the next generation of writers and filmmakers with training and networking opportunities. Other Hollywood conglomerates share similar programs, like NBCUniversal’s legendary Page Program and others. The Page Program accepts applications three times a year, and offers opportunities across the company’s divisions including marketing, communications, distribution, partnerships and production.

Busby shouted out organizations that provide similar opportunities to emerging creative and executive voices like NALIP, NewFilmmakers Los Angeles, Humanitas’ New Voices Fellowship, Women in Film’s Executive Pipeline program and the Alliance of Women Directors.

Those avenues help connect new voices with studios, whose job is to foster creators and set them up to successfully realize their vision for a show. They are the ones who give writers stable jobs through overall deals, which don’t pay like a Shonda Rhimes or Ryan Murphy contract these days, but still means life-changing money to most.

Find examples of some other training programs below:

• Television Academy Foundation Internship Program
  • Prestigious eight-week paid internship program placing students at major studios, networks and production companies.
  • Includes professional development seminars and mentorship from industry leaders.
• Warner Bros. Discovery Access Writers Program
  • Studio-run pipeline for emerging television writers.
  • Participants receive masterclasses from showrunners, mentorship and potential staffing opportunities on WBD productions.
• Act One Program
  • Hollywood-based non-profit offering training for screenwriters, producers and creative executives.
  • Programs combine classroom instruction, mentorship and industry internships.
• UCLA TFT TV Writing Summer Institute
  • Short-term intensive that simulates a professional writers’ room.
  • Participants develop an original pilot, series pitch materials and writing samples.
• New York Film Academy Screenwriting Program (Los Angeles)
  • Training program where students write multiple scripts and develop pitching skills while studying in Hollywood.

Take matters into your own hands

Executives encouraged new creative voices to use the instruments at their disposal to bring their stories to life and prove to Hollywood why they should care. Thanks to social media, it’s easier to find your own audience if you have a compelling hook or story to tell.

Grab a camera and start writing a script. The practice will come in handy down the line and the social following or content may get you noticed by the studios.

“You can be your own green light and get your story out there,” Busby said, citing creators posting proofs of concept on Instagram, short films or YouTube. “Issa Rae created ‘Awkward Black Girl’ herself and put it on the internet. HBO saw it and gave her a deal.”

Other writers to find success through social media include “Abbott Elementary” creator Quinta Brunson, “Broad City” bosses Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer and “Saturday Night Live” digital shorts trio Ben Marshall, John Higgins and Martin Herlihy — also known as Please Don’t Destroy.

What are the key ingredients to a green light?

Fast forward a few years and you’re a writer with some experience under your belt. How do you get over that hill of pitching your own show? Representatives from Disney, NBCUniversal, Fox Entertainment, Paramount+, Sony Pictures Television, Starz and Versant emphasized the importance of specificity when developing a pitch. Finding the right partnerships in both executive producers and studios is key, while a big-name star can help a potential project stand out when slots for new shows are limited.

These elements are even more critical now as the consolidation of studios means there are fewer places to make your pitch than even just a few years ago.

“There’s so much content and so many pitches in the marketplace right now, and as it’s contracting there are also fewer places to pitch,” Fox Entertainment Studios scripted content head Hannah Pillemer told TheWrap. “We are looking for voices that feel undeniable.”

Ultimately, the make or break of a TV show is the writer’s vision. And it’s not just about having the right premise. Hollywood executives expect a writer to have a full picture of the show’s central story arc, or fully fleshed out characters who can carry a more situational project like a crime procedural in the vein of ABC’s “High Potential” or a sitcom like NBC’s “St. Denis Medical.”

“It always starts with the creator and their vision,” said Lisa Katz, NBCUniversal scripted content president, in a February interview.

“When any pitch comes in the door, I look for how well a writer knows the characters they’re talking about and how much they care about them,” Simran Sethi, president of scripted programming for Hulu Originals and ABC Entertainment, told TheWrap. “You can tell when a writer loves their characters and that’s what really makes a good show.”

After selling a pitch, writers should brace themselves for flexibility. That sale clears the way to the development process, in which studio and network executives provide notes to solidify an idea and get it closer to a green light with a series order.

How important is the cast?

While a film can get a surefire green light if the right A-lister is attached to lead its cast, that isn’t always the case for TV. Execs who spoke with TheWrap noted that a big name, either as a contributing producer or attached to star, helps sweeten the pot toward a green light. But more often than not, casting happens after they’ve already fallen in love with a solid idea.

What do streamers want?

Everybody is hoping to land a pitch with a streaming service these days. But each platform is taking its own path to build their programming slates.

Whether a streaming giant like Netflix or a legacy media platform, Hollywood distributors are longing for a show to break through an overly crowded entertainment market. A hit show like “The Pitt” or “Stranger Things” competes for the same audience attention as YouTube videos, TikTok vertical shorts, sporting events and library favorites living perennially at the top of Nielsen’s streaming charts, so you’ll need to keep that in mind when making sure your pitch stands out.

What about Netflix?

In streaming, Netflix is the 800-pound gorilla that no prospective showrunner can ignore. It has grown into a global ecosystem delivering programming across the world created internally or acquired through third-party deals. With 325 million paid members across 190 countries, they’ve learned how to produce a steady stream of projects encompassing all genres.

Its scripted shows regularly top Nielsen’s weekly streaming charts, so we know it can crank out hits.

The benefit of having global reach is Netflix has a far more open mind when it comes to receiving pitches based on different cultures or geography. In fact, it’s looking for locally resonant stories that also work overseas. Case in point: the success of limited series “Adolescence,” which was greenlit by Netflix’s U.K. team but became a hit everywhere.

The streamer is also focused on original ideas, while having seasoned creators and collaborators are a plus. The challenge, of course, is that everyone is pitching to Netflix because it’s the biggest player in town.

Ultimately, Netflix is prioritizing authenticity, clarity of vision and universal appeal when deciding on the green light.

And the other streamers?

The other players follow more curated guardrails, based on what’s been successful with their existing audiences that could also bring in new subscribers.

Hulu is targeting its female-skewing audience with shows anchored by strong character development and authentic relationships — think complicated friendships or conflicting romance like on their hit show “Tell Me Lies.” It also has bigger hits like the sci-fi thriller “Paradise” and the upcoming NFL drama “The Land” starring Chris Meloni, both created by “This Is Us” mastermind Dan Fogelman.

Starz appeals to a more grown-up, mostly female audience with its popular “Outlander” and “Power” franchises, and punchy critical darlings like “P-Valley” and “Sweetpea.” The cable and streaming company has found success in co-productions for its shows, a viable avenue to getting content made at a lower price.

Streamers and studios tend to find those partners either through their connections with production companies or the writers’ — another reason to keep up on your networking.

Crime shows are popular with platforms like Hulu, Paramount+ and Peacock, providing compelling mysteries that keep audiences tuned in. These can be both limited series or shows with arcs spanning multiple seasons.

“It’s not set in stone, because everything evolves as you get into development. But it is really important to have a sense of where the show goes beyond those 55 pages,” Paramount+ head of originals Jane Wiseman told TheWrap.

Comedies are also finding an audience in platforms like Netflix and Peacock, but are not as hot right now as thrillers or drama series.

How about broadcast and cable networks?

On broadcast, procedurals that can be produced with lower budgets are in high demand. NBC is testing five different drama pilots with a crime angle that can hook network viewers as well as streaming audiences when it streams on Peacock. The same can be said for ABC, which only has one drama pilot in consideration this season — a spinoff of their cop drama “The Rookie,” which has grown into a Hulu streaming hit with younger viewers. Both networks are looking at new comedies for their upcoming seasons too, but at a lower scale.

Fox Entertainment Studios sees comedy on the upswing though, with both its partner Fox network and third-party buyers showing interest in getting more laughs into their slates. Pillemer said it comes from an audience need to find “lightness” in complicated times.

Anyone else?

There are the platforms still developing their strategies, some because new leadership is putting their stamp on the programming slate. Streamers like Paramount+ and Prime Video are leaning into genres where they’ve seen success, such as prestige dramas, action thrillers or franchise expansions revolving around a single creator or established IP.

And there’s Versant, a new player breathing life into the cable marketplace with a return for the USA Network’s “blue sky” shows following the ratings success of the legal drama “The Rainmaker,” and the upcoming series “Anna Pigeon.” It also holds networks like E! and Syfy in its portfolio, which are prime for reinvention.

“In the ‘Characters Welcome’ heyday, we had maybe 10 or 12 scripted series. I don’t think we’ll be approaching that, but I’m happy with the rate that we’re developing and what’s in the mix,” Versant original content SVP Mike Sluchan told TheWrap.

Where do the studios fit in?

Studios are the ones pitching and setting up shows across networks and streamers, who may either be owned by the same media conglomerate — which allows for easier communication across leadership and cheaper costs — or set agreements to get the right idea the green light. Those agreements involve higher licensing costs, so those shows have to perform better to justify moving forward.

That’s an achievable benchmark, as proven by the No. 1 scripted show on broadcast TV, “Tracker,” a drama series airing on the Paramount-owned network CBS and produced by 20th Television, one of Disney’s many TV production studios.

Then there’s Sony Pictures Television, the studio behind Prime Video’s “The Boys” franchise, Fox’s hit medical drama “Doc” and the upcoming animated series “Spider Noir.” It’s taking a big swing this year by going to market with “SWAT Exiles,” a fully produced spinoff series of the hit CBS drama — canceled and uncanceled twice in a row before it at last became too expensive to maintain on the air.

The studio believed in that show’s universe so much that it went all-in to produce the spinoff series on its own, keeping the “SWAT” staff of hundreds with production jobs in Los Angeles, while cutting most of the series regular cast of the original and surrounding star Shemar Moore with a new class of police recruits. They presented the 10-episode new series to potential buyers at the London Screenings showcase in February.

“When [Sony Pictures Entertainment president Ravi Ahuja] and [Sony Pictures Television chairman Keith Le Goy] moved into these positions, there were a lot more conversations about taking on more risk and taking control of our own destiny,” said Lauren Stein, Sony Pictures Television EVP and Head of Creative Affairs at Sony Pictures Television. “There’s a freedom to it. Hopefully we get to do more.”

And let’s not forget “Heated Rivalry,” a show that creator Jacob Tierney envisioned very clearly. He opted not to build the idea within the Hollywood development system to preserve his vision intact, ultimately finding a home in Canada’s Bell Media for the local streamer Crave. The show ended up selling U.S. rights to HBO Max and becoming a global hit by the end of 2025 — proof television can still dominate cultural impact and make stars out of thin air.

“Great stories are still making it to the screen,” Busby told TheWrap.

Kayla Cobb and Loree Seitz contributed to this story.

Coming soon: The next installment of Trade Secrets will land in early April. Stay tuned!

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