Do I need an agent to pitch a reality show?

Do I need an agent to pitch a reality show?

Mark Cronin (Founder & Producer) gives expert video advice on: What are the chances of selling a reality show on a pitch? and more...

In order to sell a reality show, you need a network to buy it. You need to get into a network. You need to get in front of somebody who has money to spend on television shows, and that's not a television production company; that is a network or an actual customer who is selling advertising and using that money to buy television shows. In order to get in front of a network, you need some kind of entrée. It could be that you have an agent, so even if the network executive doesn't know you, they know your agent and know your agent represents other producers who are good, so they trust that the meeting won't be a waste of time. They don't have a lot of time to waste, and they really only want to take pitches from people when they have a really high possibility that they're going to like what they hear. They don't even want to like what they hear from somebody they think can't produce it. Networks are usually only going to take a pitch from somebody who has the wherewithal to actually produce it, the actual experience to do it, so that they can be trusted with the millions of dollars that they're asking for; and there's a likely chance that they're going to like the idea because this is an experienced pitcher who has done other television shows or has the potential. The only way to get around that is an agent who says, "Trust me: this guy's good. He's in his early stages" or "This woman's good. She's not that experienced, but you should hear this reality show pitch; it's really good." An agent can get you over that hump. Getting an agent, of course, is its own little problem, but we're not answering that question, right?