Fall Pilot Screenings?
Posted July 27th, 2007 by Rich Heldenfels
Commenter Amy on my "Mad Men" post below has made a suggestion about some possible screenings of TV pilots later this year in Akron. I made a couple of comments of my own, but I thought I'd raise the question in a post. Anyone interested? Daytime or nighttime screenings? Would you be willing to come to the Beacon Journal for them? How many hours of shows could you sit through? I don't know if I could make this work, but I'm willing to discuss. Comment away.
July 27th, 2007 at 4:21 pm
I would be interested in viewing tv pilots this fall. I can't say what time would work best. All that depends on what kind of cancer treatments I have, when they are, and if I will be able to sub or not. I would be able to sit and watch a couple of hours at a time.
July 27th, 2007 at 10:09 pm
Interest: There are probably other TV nerds, I mean, enthusiasts in the Greater Akron vicinity who would come out for a sneak peek at some fall shows. See if you can look up on Netflix all the people in the NE OH area who ordered the Studio 60 pilot episode on DVD last summer — like I did — because there's your target audience.
Show selection: I don't necessarily agree that the event would have to be limited to the final, finished pilots that the networks are actually going to air. It might be neat to see the initial version before the producers re-tool/re-cast/re-everything, just to be able to consider the pros/cons of said moves. Oh wait. Was my geekiness showing? Sorry.
As for timing: I'm leaning toward evening, especially if it's going to be on a weeknight. (I think Aaron's is going to be on a Monday?) If it were a Saturday or Sunday afternoon, that might work.
Location: I'm not averse to coming down to the ABJ offices for this. I'm assuming there's some kind of conference room or auditorium there that would be suitable. I guess it depends on turnout, really. I don't think you'll draw enough people to fill the Civic, but you might get enough to ask the Lake Theater in Barberton or someplace like that so you can show it on the big screen.
Length: I am what they call a "power viewer," capable of watching many hours of televised entertainment in one sitting. Not everyone has my mad skillz, though, so it might be a good idea to limit the actual programming hours to roughly the same time as the average feature film: about two hours. The entire event might run to three-plus hours anyhow if you sprinkle in brief program overviews before each pilot, short post-show discussions, some general Q & A about the life of a a reporter/critic, and a few trivia quizzes/raffles/other ways of cleaning out your cache of promotional items.
Channeling Ms. Obvious: Have you e-mailed Aaron to ask him how many times he's had his event, and to see if he has any suggestions for replicating it?
On the Indians tip: I did notice a general mass exodus from our section (and the entire ballpark) in the 7th last night. My friend wanted to move a few rows down, but I kind of liked my vantage point and wanted to stay put, even though the vast expanse of green bleacher surrounding us in almost every direction did make it look as though our deodorant had stopped working. We were maybe five rows in front of John Adams, whom I ended up talking to for a little bit about the Milwaukee Indians t-shirt I was sporting. He told me that the guy who made the shirts brought him the first one as a gift. How cool!
Right now: I'm loving the fact that they're smacking the Twins around. Can't wait to see who gets the pie in the face tonight. They'll probably interview Lofton after the game, right? Anyhow, I hope they keep the mojo going tomorrow night, because I'm going to be at that game as well.
July 28th, 2007 at 12:31 am
I'd love to do it. Tuesday and Wednesday nights don't work well for me, but outside that I'd make the drive to get a look at some of the fall shows. As for timing, I think 3 hours is manageable, with a little break in the middle somewhere.
July 30th, 2007 at 10:07 am
I luv pilots. And I luv criticizing TV. If you're looking for a big screen, what about the Highland? Esp. if you want to do it during the day.
July 30th, 2007 at 10:22 am
Just saw Aaron's post with an ad for his event in Kansas City:
http://blogs.kansascity.com/tvbarn/2007/07/link-wwwkansasc.html
August 1st, 2007 at 1:15 pm
I'm in — doesn't matter where. I should put my skills of sitting and looking at a screen all day to good use. If it helps my case, I've also done a few 2-week Nielsen reports.