Unmade, unseen, and unreleased films and television: development hell

We live in a TV multi-channel world where there’s tremendous choice and competition! Gone are the days when producers wrote ideas on the back of cigarette packets and made pitches over a boozy lunch with the (add broadcaster from a choice of four channels) commissioner. Now there are legions of development teams dedicated to finding ‘the next big thing’. Millions are spent on TV development each year, and without it, TV production companies cannot exist. The trouble is with as many as 95% of ideas, never even seeing the light of day. It’s a tricky balancing act for TV production companies to spend enough money to get the return. UWS Broadcast Production: TV and Radio lecturer, Daniel Twist has worked for decades in the TV industry, both in development and production. Daniel has had his own ideas commissioned, but thousands of his ideas never see the light of day. This presentation will discuss the highly competitive entertainment genre and the process of developing some of the most challenging ideas for the TV screen – Formats - from the TV Development Producer and Lecturer who has produced BAFTA Scotland and RTS Scotland award winning shows.