While not all broadcasters programs require a full written proposal in order to commission a feature – ‘imagining the project’ and writing it out is a great exercise that helps you focus both your research and understanding of the story’s potential…. And gives you the information you need to evaluate whether or not the idea is really worth pursuing.
Before going further I want to stress that a lot of time and research goes into developing a project concept to the point where it's ready to be written into a proposal - you need to have conducted preliminary interviews, been on a RECCI (if possible), secured permissions and also researched background and context - and then critically re-evaluated the concept. You usually only get one crack at presenting the idea to a commissioning editor - so you want to give the project the best chance of getting through and being a great program. (For more on this see the post on developing program concepts)
The proposals are pretty functional and practical sorts of documents – it is a ‘working document’ that needs to:
- ‘Excite, entice and inspire’ an EP into wanting to make the program happen
- Give an EP a strong sense of the program – story, characters, how it will sound, approach, sound sources, access etc and if it is actually viable/possible in the duration in the timeframe with the available resources
- Reassure an EP you have the research, communication and program making skills to execute the project
Make it clear what the document is and your name at the start with an indication of how long you think it should be – begin with ‘Promotional Material’ – a short synopsis of the program that should sell the idea – interest the reader. The synopsis is traditionally the ‘carrot to dangle under their nose’
Follow this up with Explanatory Material – outlines, treatments, scripts – levels of detail vary but basically you need to tease out the story, soundsources, why it’s interesting etc or other relevant information – this is more ‘bread and butter’ kind of writing that give the reader an understanding of ‘how it will work and sound’.
Provide support material in the form of preview tapes or photos or other written stuff if you feel it’s really necessary – but if the information is important then don’t let it get lost in ‘Support Materials’.
In the end ensure you have a business end to the proposal sorted – and don’t forget contact details. When you get down to the nuts and bolts of the proposal concept - you should be clear and direct about the viability and upfront with potential weaknesses.
FURTHER INFO
• Lecture Notes derived from the a lecture I give in the RMIT Media programs Broadcast Media course.• Audio/Transcript of a short interview with producer/presenter Brent Cloughabout pitching and proposing documentary ideas to ABC Radio National feature programs
Interview with ABC Radio National's Brent Clough by kylabrettle
• Post written by longtime producer/executive producer Matthew Leonard, Notes from the Thought Police – an insiders view of the contracting process and great tips for independent contractors
• Find more resources and link under my delicious tag, pitching&proposals
• General resources and links about generating, developing and presenting program concepts under my delicious tag project_development.
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