Meeting with Charlyn Villegas and her team from Four Winds, discussing a reality show for Pocket Man. 3 years ago we attempted a sizzle reel for a reality show. It was not great.... Talking about the Pimp My Pocket Rocket/Polaris with Robert Scoble too. Heres our old sizzle reel: https://youtube/watch?v=5cadRegn9Tc Heres my summary: The Pilot The pilot should be about the creation of the pilot. It is a chance to introduce all of the main characters (and some supporting characters) and set-up the basic, repetitive contrivances/themes/catch phrases, etc., as well as, “explaining” why we are doing this (give the history of SCOTT TV and why we are bringing it back). We seem to have enough material on a daily basis for endless entertaining episodes…we just need the pilot to give us some context. Intro Sequence ð Show a still shot of each main character with first name and SeV title as caption. ð Show 3-4 video/action clips of the character that give a good feel for his or her personality/idiosyncrasies, e.g., Sunny: o Still photo with caption: § Sunny § [SeV] Design and Merchandising Manager o Video clips: § Yelling at email/computer; exclamations when reading email § Making SJ try on a sample and bossing him around in the process § Giving SJ a hard time when SJ, Laura and poodles are leaving and Laura is carrying bags, holding 4 leashes, etc., and SJ is just reading email on his device § “I’m going to throw up in my mouth” Main characters to include: Scott J - the man, the myth, the legend. SJ is a Shark without a Tank (maybe the only natural predator of a Shark) and he runs the show. Part Omarosa, part Donald Trump and all original, Scott gets shit done and compels everyone around him to get shit done, too. Sometimes it even hits the fan. When his feet hit the floor in the morning he starts sprinting, and doesnt stop until he falls asleep at the end of the day. Creative, driven and without a filter, youll always know where you stand with him… but you wont always enjoy it. Scott was made for TV, but not always safe for TV. His catch phrase: Im outta here! Laura - Co-Founder of SeV, wife of Scott and SeVs most dedicated employee. Laura will come into the office at 3AM if she needs to (and she needs to a lot) and is the glue that keeps everything on track. Laura has a genius-level IQ and can find patterns in data faster than Big Blue. She is super fit and approaches everything in life with the same level of intensity. After close to a decade behind the scenes, Laura stepped into the (co-)spotlight last November in the first SeV catalog featuring the newest SeV clothing styles for women. There is no turning back now. Robin - Scotts right-hand woman and trusted executive assistant. If there is a calendar invite to be sent (a running theme in the office), its Robin making it happen. She is also Scotts conduit to the IT department, which is a major, grueling and often painful task… apparently Scott slighted the ancient Mesopotamian god of technology and has been cursed to an eternity of tech nightmares. Robin is the one who dares to cross the streams, Venkman, and get it all sorted out. With a smile. Sunny - As tough and loud as anyone else in the office (including Scott… but dont tell him that), Sunny is our Production/Merchandising/Design Manager. Shes on Skype with the factory one minute, choosing buttons the next and yelling at her computer every minute in between. The funny thing… we believe the computer respects her more for doing it. At about 51, you might think of her as the shortest person in the office… but we think she really is just a huge personality concentrated into a little package. Liz - Liz would be sunshine in a bottle if she climbed into a bottle. Marketing Manager/Social Media Director Liz is bubbly and has appeared on QVC for SCOTTEVEST. Dream job? Appear on QVC all the time. She is a natural in front of the camera, and her young girl voice belies her wisdom. She is always willing to roll her sleeves up and get the job done. She celebrates her birthday for the full month of April, and Halloween for the full month of October… and insists that everyone else does, too. Hannah - Super-smart and headed into a PhD program in Religion for 5 years at the end of this summer. Shes fun, tough, creative and unafraid. She can also kick everyones ass at our weekly Boot Camp workout sessions (well, everyone except for Laura). Between Hannah, Liz and Sunny there is always an outburst echoing off the walls… an exclamation, a few bars from a song or even the occasional string of swearing that could make David Mamet golf clap with approval. Rick - VP of E-commerce is his title, but hes got a sharp, creative mind in all aspects. Hes the always-smiling calm in the storm, able to maintain focus on a phone call in a maelstrom of barking, yelling, brainstorming and generalized chaos. When asked what to call the feature on our new adjustable-waist pants, he responded without missing a beat, The Fiesta Waistband! It probably should have the upside down ! at the front of that sentence, too, but you know what… Rick is cool enough to let that slide. Thats Rick. The Poodles Lucy - Le Grande Dame of the Jordan poodle clan. Sweet personality, smiling face and she will chase a frisbee to the ends of the earth, spin around like a dervish and nudge you until you throw it again. Chloe - She knows the rules and insists they are followed. Usually the first to lay the smackdown on Susie (the puppy) with a well-timed grrrrrowl, she is protective of Lucy and makes the rounds to visit her favorite office humans every day. Margaux - the white sheep of the family, Margaux is snowy in color and marches to her own beat. Susie - the puppy… though she wont be for long, having doubled in size each month since she came home. For training purposes, she is usually tethered to Lauras waist, and occasionally Scotts. She was a handful when she was younger… and that hasnt changed, but now shes more than one handful. Thom - Prefers to stay in the shadows, lest an erstwhile television appearance betrays his location to a roving Colombian hit squad. Kidding? The SCOTTEVEST Crew - As with all great companies and Robert Altman films, there is an ensemble cast of characters that keeps the world spinning and the cameras rolling. At SeV, our crew ranges from: Q our contract-based IT guy who gets the karmic backlash from all of Scotts technology hiccups to Tyler our Paul Bunyan-esque but awesome videographer/photographer/editor to our straight-laced CFO to our tireless (and 50% bearded, 50% red-haired) Customer Service team to our HR manager who sorts out all our hirings and firings (intentional and accidental). We even have our in-then-out-then-in-then-out accidental firee who is enough of a ham to appear on our show though no longer an employee, and get booted weekly like a less-mumbly and more three-dimensional Kenny from South Park. Scene One ð Open with graphic: FLASHBACK…Wednesday, January 18, 2012 o add precise time—we should be able to figure out based on when Liz got the info about the ST trailer o add precise location (info below from citylatitudelongitude . I love their disclaimer language—more on disclaimer language below—Sushi scene): Location of Ketchum, Idaho Coordinates in Latitude and Longitude Latitude Longitude N 43.681170 W 114.371565 Information considered accurate, but not guaranteed. o Consider adding weather, phase of the moon, Liz’s mood (since we’re about to open with her), etc. ð FADE IN: Liz at her desk, reading email. She gets notice that SJ is in ST trailer and starts watching. Slowly calls over Hannah, Rick, Thom, Laura (were Sunny and/or Robin there???). ð All watch it and when SJ gets to the line, “Kevin, You’re Out,” both Laura and Thom yell, “yes,” and then everyone starts making noise/cheering/clapping, prompting SJ to come out of his office (door should be ajar—he needs to hear us, but we also need to see the mood indicator on his door) and make his first appearance. o Mood indicator concept: I think we need an every changing sign on SJ’s door with a note from one of us alerting the others to SJ’s mood or similar. These should be scrawled on scraps of paper, post-it notes, increasingly ridiculous objects, etc. Some real (like in the chart below and CAUTION tape that we can string across doorway), but with captions added…also use traditional (and non-traditional) items that will trigger danger/beware concepts, like slipping on a banana peel. We also need symbols/messages/notes to alert all when he is in a GOOD MOOD. Toxic sign Caution sign Radioactivity sign Biohazard sign Warning sign High voltage sign Chemical weapon symbol Tsunami hazard sign ð We all start saying, “you need to watch this,” “you made the ST trailer,” and so forth—all talking at the same time/over each other, etc. ð Liz plays it again for SJ (and all of us). SJ’s first comment: “I look handsome!” and then he continues to repeat this (as he did), also mentioning fear that he was going to look sweaty, etc. ð While SJ is going on and on about how good he looks, FADE OUT to: Scene Two ð [printed and/or voiceover???]: o The meal portrayed in this scene is based on a real event. The names of the characters have not been changed to protect their identities. Due to sake, deteriorating memories and other forms of impairment, portions of the meal will not be portrayed. These do not affect the outcome of the event. ð “4 Days Earlier…” **Use same elements as flashback above. ð Open with: Laura, SJ and Thom sitting at sushi bar at Sushi on Second on the prior Saturday night. Recreate conversation… o SJ bringing up ST airing and wanting to discuss strategy o Laura asking leading questions to help figure out what he wants from it § Talk show circuit, Colbert conversation (again)…and, typical outcome of these frequent conversations…consider the book, again? o Thom suggests, How to Swim with the Sharks in Life and in Business book idea o Recap conversation threads: Betheny Frankel, bringing back SCOTT TV (examples of how it used to be mostly SJ typing—boring—but with references to the press conference, designing the logo shirts/hoodies and other more interesting things, as we need to show how we have done this for years.) We then mention the idea that we should have Tyler edit the old footage to make it more viewable and make available on the site. § FREEZE and FADE TO Tyler’s supporting character profile that would mimic the main character profiles in the opening sequence—still with title and video clip(s). o Back to the sushi bar with Laura, SJ and Thom finishing dinner. The check comes and SJ tells Thom to put it on his credit card. Laura pipes in that SJ is too lazy to deal with the expense report. SJ starts rattling off what Thom needs to write on the receipt (who is at the meal, topics discussed, etc). At this point, mute background noise and focus on Thom with plain black or white background (or chalkboard/classroom setting??). Thom speaks directly to the camera (show him writing details on cc receipt): § “Kids, don’t try this at home. Individual results may vary.” § Show still of SeV Accounting Dept—following same format as main character/supporting character profiles for the still shot (Scott D, Barb and Malora dressed as traditional accountants—looking excessively geeky) and when it would typically cut to the video clips, back to Thom with a comment about not wanting to bore the audience to death with videos of the accounting team in action, etc. ð Fade back to the January 18th flashback scene near Liz’s desk. SJ is still rambling on about how handsome he looks. o Liz, Hannah or Rick, (or Sunny or Robin—if they were there) goes to SJ’s door and changes the mood alert symbol/note to something signifying extreme happiness. Need to figure out what this should be. o This is where we introduce the “confessional” part of the show. These will be along the lines of the, “Calgon take me away,” commercials, except we will need to conjure up Tyler to go “Green Screening,” (except we need a better name for this). [This also works in how we use the green screen at SeV.] Each time one of us goes Green Screening, we let Tyler know where we want to go/what we want to do, based on our mood at the time (it could be a margarita on the beach, a round in a boxing ring, etc.). Once we’re at the green screen location, we provide our commentary. § We freeze the action on Jan 18th near Liz’s desk (and with one of the people named above attaching happy signal to SJ’s office door). § Liz, Hannah, Rick, Sunny and Robin each do a quick Green Screening blurb. § Lucy, Chloe, Margaux and Susie do their Green Screening blurbs with thought bubbles or action videos, tbd. § SJ’s is last and needs to stand out…need help with an ideaJ § Laura and Thom don’t go Green Screening…instead, fade back to clapping/cheering/commentary and Laura and Thom look at each other, sigh, lean against the wall or similar and say something along the lines of, “Now we have to write a book and a pilot for the new show, too?!?!?” ð End with: o Closing credits (need a concept for these that will be repeated in every episode) o Scenes from the next episode General Notes ð The show needs to have a traditional workplace sitcom feel: Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart, Murphy Brown, WKRP, MASH, etc. ð The poodles need to be a regular element of the show. Use thought bubbles for them. ð Reality show feel, but not like original SCOTT TV. This has to be somewhat scripted. ð Need to video any brainstorming sessions concerning the pilot for the “making the pilot” episode. Need to figure out/decide (in addition to questions called out above) ð Are we going to use a naming convention for the episodes (e.g., Friends, “the one with/where…”)? If so, need to come up with the naming convention and name the pilot. ð Will there be a theme song? If so, one of the SeV songs that we already have or a new one? ð Select video clips to show for all of the main characters in the intro sequence ð Do we need to pick regularly used phrases for all of the main characters and make sure to work into each episode? If so, start working on them… ð Decide the order of main characters in opening sequence—really just need to decide whether SJ is first or last. ð Each main character needs to be “known” for something. Start to develop these things. We should be able to reveal/develop over the different episodes, but need to have a general idea from the beginning so that we are consistent. ð Need to name the open office area on the 3rd floor (I ran this past Rick last week, separate from use in tv show. My “petri dish” concept was too gross; he suggested “the incubator.” It needs to be something that describes it as the location where ideas, etc. are generated.) ð When should we start taping? How detailed of a script do we want? (I think it should just be a general outline of the plot, with certain “required” elements/phrases that we have to include.) ð We need a term for Green Screening and a phrase we use (either out loud or just in a thought bubble) to conjure up Tyler to be able to go Green Screening. ð Do we want to end the pilot with a cliffhanger? ð Are we going to say ST, elude to it or bleep it out? Are we going to show the actual trailer or just use it as a teaser? Need to focus on TEC with ST…not SeV.>>
Posted on: Wed, 14 Jan 2015 20:50:44 +0000
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