I have a bunch of scripts for the pilots that got picked up by the US nets for the fall. I’m still working my way through the reading. But leafing through I’ve noticed a trend toward the beefy opening act.
Sometimes the script labels this section Teaser, sometimes Act One, but by and large they are long. Short is eight pages. But most are upwards of 10. 12, 13, 14 pages seems to be the norm for a Teaser/Act One. A couple of the scripts have 17, 18 page openings. Only one of the nearly dozen scripts has an anemic, traditional 3 page teaser.
If you’ve got an audience to tune in, why let them go? Keep them watching as long as possible before giving them a break in the action.
Act One of the pilot script for Pushing Daisies is 18 pages long.
wcdixon
Can you elaborate? Are they still teasers anymore or just Act One’s with a sexy beginning? And where is the title sequence falling in that opening chunk…pre first image? Or after 18 pages/minutes?
Jill Golick
Sure, Will. I just added a post which I hope answers your questions.