Can You Make Money Pitching Television Shows?

Posted on

May 5, 2010

I recently shared that best-selling author and life hacker, Tim Ferris, would be doing a live video broadcast after the pilot episode of his new show, “Trial By Fire”, which recently aired on the History Channel.

If you tuned in for that live broadcast you would have seen me asking Tim a number of film and television related questions. One questions, however, is one I thought worth sharing.

I asked Tim, “Is there any money to be made in pitching television show ideas?”

Tim jumped on the question and you could see that he was excited by the prospect of answering it. However, he said that NO, there is no money to be made pitching TV shows unless you plan to either be the talent or an Executive Producer on the show. And to be an Executive Producer, you must possess some sort of skill or knowledge that is required in order for the show to continue on and become a success. Without being either the talent or the producer, you are expendable and therefore invaluable.

So, if you’ve got a great idea for a TV show but don’t plan to be either the talent or the producer, then it’s probably not worth the time and effort to develope the idea any further.