Making the Most of Pilot Season

February 26th, 2013|Children In Film Newsletter| Archive |About Us

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Oscar's Leading Ladies

2013's Academy Awards were filled to the brim with current and former child actors, but three in particular were shining brighter than ever before. Here are a few interesting tidbits about these leading ladies:

Anne Hathaway
took home the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Anne admits to practicing her acceptance speech after upsetting criticisms regarding her emotional Golden Globe, SAG and BAFTA acceptance speeches. And for those of you actors practicing your modeling skills, Anne told Teen Vogue, "I've never been at a photo shoot where I didn't have to act." And with all the press she'll be getting, the ability to pose is truly a great skill.

Jennifer Lawrence
took home the Oscar for Best Actress, but before Silver Linings Playbook and even before she was Katniss, Jennifer was on the TBS sitcom "The Bill Engvall Show". Like Anne Hathaway, she's also been featured on the cover of a multitude of magazines.

Quvenzhane Wallis
though she did not take home the Oscar, Quvenzhane has plenty of time to take another shot at earning an award as she is the youngest ever Best Actress nominee. She is slated to play Annie in an upcoming remake of the hit Broadway musical.

Making the Most of Pilot Season

"Creating Success for Pilot Season 2013 and Future Pilot Seasons to Come"

You may have heard that Pilot Season 2013 has been one of the most successful, productive pilot seasons in recent years in that a multitude of shows are being green lit and many of them are sitcoms. This is a big change from years past and may be an indication that productions are headed back toward scripted shows and away from the ever-so-popular reality TV format.

But, for those just getting started in the biz let's back up a bit.

First of all, what is a pilot?

A pilot is the first episode of a television show or cable show and is kind of like a "test run." Generally a pilot is only seen by the heads of the television studios. However, if the pilot is picked up, it will air. It is said that only one in every four pilots is "picked up" (meaning a TV or Cable Network has picked the pilot up for distribution), but the exact number of picked up pilots is not known.

What is Pilot Season?

Pilot Season is the time of year when pilot episodes are given the green light for production and the casting process begins. That's why so many families travel to LA during pilot season to give acting a try; Actors who are lucky enough to book a lead role on a pilot, have a great opportunity to become a series regular if the show is picked up. Shows that are picked up normally carry sizable pay checks and residuals (additional compensation paid to performers for re-use or rebroadcast). Traditionally, pilot season runs from around January (though some shows begin casting as early as November) to about May when the networks present their new shows to potential advertisers (after all, without advertisers a show can not truly be monetized).

Making the most of your season

Getting an audition for a pilot is challenging. Getting the part is even harder. Having that pilot get green lit and then finding out that it will run for more than one episode is a showbiz miracle. With the majority of the factors out of the actor's hands and only some small elements within his/her control, it may have you wondering what you can do to make each pilot season a success for you. Children In Film invites you to read our article "5 Tips for a Successful Pilot Season."

Step 1: Coming to Los Angeles when the time is right for you.

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