I was in a production office the other day and one of the Executive Producers decided to show the crew a Teaser for the TV show we’re shooting.
The Exec put the DVD in the player, and then turned on the TV. Once that was on we realized the DVD was already playing and we’d missed the opening, but then he still decided to mess around with the color on the TV. Then, finally about 30 seconds after he had put the DVD into the player he sat down and said “Alright, let’s check this thing out.”
And that was when I had the epiphany! I had seen this before but never had it been so clear.
Your Teaser needs to be edited in such a way that it gives an Executive time to get settled AFTER they’ve pressed play.
I’m actually going to repeat that because it is the only reason I’m writing this.
Your Teaser needs to be edited in such a way that it gives an Executive time to get settled AFTER they’ve pressed play.
When that viewing is done it needs to answer one question:
“What is your show about?”
If you’ve put the best material in the first 30 seconds to draw them in and they’re distracted trying from fiddling with the TV or still thinking about a previous meeting or phone call you will be walking out of that office with nothing but a handshake and a morbid sense of disbelief at what just happened.
Executives are busy people and it can sometimes take them time to focus on the current meeting. It’s not a bad thing – it just happens sometimes. So you need to give them that time so that they are not losing valuable information about your show.
If at the end of the viewing they don’t get the concept of the show (even if it is because they weren’t paying attention through the whole thing) you’re finished.
They’re not going back to watch it again because they think they’ve missed something. They’re going to assume that YOU’VE missed something. And you will have. You will have missed a key point in sales – know your audience.
When you cut your Teaser, plan on the Executives not paying attention to the first 30 seconds of it. I’m not saying to make that portion filler, but by all means do not use that time to lay out the intricate details of how your show works.
Then somewhere in the 00:30 – 00:40 mark hit them with what your show is about. Not the Logline but a shorter, clearer version.
By doing this you up your chances dramatically of the Executives seeing what you want them to – and that is the answer to the question, “So what’s your show about?”