How does one make contact with Hollywood?

http://www.hollywood.com/contact/

Does this help?

If not, see what exact studio makes the show you want to watch and try contacting them.

Sorry to be negative, but without a licensed agent it’s virtually Impossible to get any kind of idea seen or heard in Tinsel Town due to studios’ fear of plagiarism lawsuits.

Figure out the studio that produced the program, find out their contact information, go from there. They might bring back a show if they perceive that there’s enough demand, but it’s unlikely that they’ll take you’re ideas. Most studios have a rule against accepting unsolicited material. Even with that rule in place they have enough trouble with lawsuits from people claiming they stole their ideas.

Thanks all. It sounds bleak. Guess it is dead forever.

Ah, @Patty_Melt, don’t let it be dead. Comb the Net for other info. But most importantly, write an outline, or treatment, or script, or short story, or something to get your idea down. As a writer I can tell you that writing anything, even with little or no hope of selling it, is worth the creative effort.

How to Sell Your Idea to Hollywood is an excellent primer to this kind of project. It is difficult for an unknown, but not impossible. It helps if you make it a game that includes obstacles you must work through and hoops to jump over—and leave your ego at the door. It’s kind of like Mario Brothers, only in real life.

In light of the fact that we have many aspiring writers on this site, or we used to, I’ve copied, paraphrased and added to some of the highlights of the article below.

First, you must have a finished product. This is your go-to reference when you are asked details in plot, characters, vignettes, etc.

Draft a synopsis. Synopses are 1–3 page documents that tell your entire story/first season, beat for beat. You want to include the genre (Romantic Comedy, Action) the characters, and the plot in quick, concise, and engaging prose. For reality shows, this is a breakdown of the setting, people, and possible plot lines to follow. This is easier said than done, but a good synopsis will contain, in as few words as possible, the story driven by the characters and not the plot elements. Use action verbs and phrases. Characters drive audience investment in film and TV, so don’t forget about them. The plot should be sparked by your characters, not the other way around.

Write a log line. This is your pitch. In one sentence you must get the development exec’s attention. Examples of log lines are:

Back to the Future: Marty, a high school student, is accidentally transported to the past, where his parents are at risk of never falling in love—or creating him!

Jaws: A police chief with a phobia for open water battles a killer shark. But the greedy town board refuses to admit there is a problem at the beach at all.

Ratatouille: A Parisian rat secretly teams up with an untalented chef to prove that anyone can cook, though jealous critics and pest-control think otherwise.

Before you begin selling your idea, it is important to know what development execs are thinking and working on. Research current networks and development reports. You get this information by reading Hollywood trade publications and websites like Deadline.com and Visit the directories to get the complete list of industry contacts, cross-referenced by company, name, and show, and keep notes of names that are frequently attached to projects like yours. Know what genres your project can fit into. This is where your research comes in handy. You need to know what kind of movies/shows the company produces, and who its audience is, to best capture its attention.

You should notarize and register your story and any major revisions before you pitch it and keep it in safety deposit box. Nowadays a copyright will only get you a long plagiarism case in court that could drain your personal assets before you win, if you win. Usually the person with the largest warchest and the sharpest lawyers win by default when the complainant goe broke and has to walk away.

Create a “hit-list” of appropriate companies to approach. Once you know what studios are producing similar ideas make a list of all the relevant companies. Find out if they accept unsolicited pitches. The best way to do this is through their website. Find phone numbers, emails for assistants, and anything that talks about idea generation (such as “how to pitch”).

Again: Leave your ego at the door. If you are lucky enough to get the attention of a development director and a contract, expect the finished product to be unrecognizable from your original idea. Getting paid is the mportant thing—and establishing relationships within the industry.

Good luck, Jonesy.

Yikes! I’m not a script writer. I had no expectations of making any money. I just wanted to show enough proposal to get MGM to put it back into action. There are LOTS of fans out there who want it back and I think I have a way for fans to stay loyal, use as much origonal cast as possible, and still make it work in spite of obvious aging. The only two things which might stand in the way are not being able to pitch, and I have no idea what the barriers are for on location fees of various cities.
EC- you wiley s o.b.!

If somebody here has the knowhow to gitter done, pm me. For the right can do, I would be happy to share.
If you get money for it, I would hope you would count me in, a little, for boosting it.

@Patty_Melt

Social media can be great for this sort of thing. If there are a lot of fans you can organize. Set up a website, a Facebook page, find out relevant addresses and launch letter and e-mail campaigns to the folks who can make it happen. I know of at least one show (Jericho, which debuted in 2006) that was brought back after cancellation because of fan demand like this*.

(*Granted Jericho was cancelled again after one more season, but that campaign did work for a time.)

Great idea.

Oops. I totally misunderstood the question. It was 4:30 am.

There are fan clubs out there. Google the name of the series, comma, fan club.

There have been a couple of series that were on one station and then picked up by another due to fan clubs recruiting members and showing TV excecs the possibility of profitability. Usually it’s a dropped network series, then picked up by cable or the other way around.

The Married With Children fan club is still out there lobbying. There is a possibility that there will be a retrospective episode (read “Pilot” for renewed series) with the original cast produced by David Faustino, the kid who played “Bud” in the series. Negotiations have been in the works since late 2014. Fan numbers and enthusiam go a long way toward influencing whether or not development execs think a reprise will make money.

A whole lot of people were disappointed when MASH went off the air. They formed fan clubs and the result was the short-lived series AfterMASH (1983). But the execs screwed up. The fans didn’t want to see a bunch of army guys going home to mom and little Suzie, then trying to find jobs. They wanted the bloody Korean War to go on forever! LOL.

I think the Dead Like Me fan club is still out there lobbying

Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.

EC, vreeps me out how you make me feel so transparent.
Do you read over my shoulder as I type?
Yeah, I told my daughter about the responses here, and asked her to deal with tje social media aspect. She is wayyyyy more tuned in on that stuff than me. When I see what she finds, I will go from there.