ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

4 years, 6 months ago - Catherine Williams

Hi Dave - I'm a kids TV writer. In my experience, kids TV (development and production) is typically broadcaster funded. Have you got a bible (and script)? What do you need the development funding for? Why not take it to broadcasters? catherine

4 years, 6 months ago - david waldman

Dear Catherine,

Thank you for your kind response. Actually, I'm developing the series with https://www.sallygardner.net/

It's an urban fantasy TV series set in modern day UK and fairly-tale land, a real world where tales are made.

A young 'Ackley Bridge' meets 'His Dark Materials'.

We need to pay Sally to write the first episode. And a producer to budget the concept. We're legible for YOUNG AUDIENCES
CONTENT FUND FOR DEVELOPMENT FUNDING' throught the bfi, which i'm sure you're aware of.

Incidently, the story follows our hero and her opponent as they race in and out of fairy-tales. The opponent is stealing objects (The mirror, the glass slipper, the golden goose etc) and ruining the tale so that it doesn't end 'happy ever after'. In each episode our hero’s mission is to fix the breakage and get the tale back on track so it can make it all the way to its 'happy ending'.

The project needs funding to pay Sally to write a full episode to complete the bible.

Thanks, Catherine. I've started approaching relevant Prod. comps by going through trhe delgates at kidscreen.com to see if they want to throw any muscle at it.

If it piques your interest I'd love to share more.

Yours

Dave

4 years, 6 months ago - Catherine Williams

Hi Dave - sounds intriguing and ambitious (good/challenging combo!). Let me know if I can be any help! catherine@catherinewill.co.uk

4 years, 6 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

If you have an exec already attached, they would usually be bringing either money or contacts within broadcasters or commissioners.

My suggestion would be (if you haven't already) to option the work/series, then write your own (or pay a screenwriter-for-hire) first draft treatment/bible and punt that around production companies with delivered projects in the same sector. You can even offer the author the opportunity of approving/tweaking your one-page treatment.

FWIW it's rare for books to be adapted for screen by the authors themselves - it's a different set of skills altogether, and excellence in one does not automatically translate to the other. In fact, look how many books are adapted into successful screenplays by the original authors - it's very few, and then they are usually working with a screenwriter anyway.

You may have this all in hand, but it's worth thinking about if not, and is a far lower cost route to developing the project if the author is not interested in doing a spec script.