London calling

A bit of a good news/bad news day. We had submitted the pilot to the BBC Writer's Room for consideration. That was quite a while ago. The process there is that they send a post card verifying receipt of the script. Then they read the first ten pages. If the script sucks, they send it back at that point. If not, it moves on to the next stage where they read more and make notes. If they pass, then it gets sent back with notes. Otherwise, it moves on to the next stage... no point in going any further, since we got our script back with notes.

What have we learned from this? We don't suck!

In fact, we got very encouraging notes and comments back. Things like: "Despite the familiarity of the set up and the style this has plenty of charm and character. The humor is gentle but sharp and has solid foundations in the well rounded characters and narrative. The world is well drawn and there is a strong sense of place in the writing."

Should I go on? Yes, I think I should!

"The narrative is well crafted making quite a complex, multi-character story feel fairly effortless, despite the sprawl of the story it remains quite focused and compelling."

Did I hear MORE???

"Todd is an engaging character, his flaws give him an authentic complexity and depth making his story particularly compelling. Nearly all the characters are well drawn, with plenty of depth and shading, the range of voices is impressive and gives the world and story real texture. The dialog is sharp and funny in places with an authentic ring to it."

So why did they pass?!?!?! It seems our story fits into a "crowded genre." Funny, I think there is not nearly enough dramedy on the air and a crowded genre would be yet another procedural. But, that's just my opinion, I guess. I'm not bitter - I'm just saying.

Thank you, BBC Writer's Room, for the feedback, consideration and well wishes!