Write the first 5-10 pages of the TV pilot about your family: can be in any genre!
The opening scene(s) of any TV pilot (the first episode of a new show) are crucial in hooking an audience. Using your own family experience as inspiration, write the first 5-10 pages of your pilot script. This is your opportunity to establish the tone, introduce the primary character(s), the essential problem, the ongoing story, and give a sense of the world. Write this scene/sequence as a comedy, drama, or dramedy in a genre of your choice and have fun!
CHALLENGE RULES
Our monthly challenges are open to everyone in the Sundance Co//ab community. One entry per person, per challenge. All submissions will be viewable to the community. Each person who participates will receive a completed feedback form on the work they submit by one of our Sundance judges. All submissions will be given equal consideration and the final winner will be determined by the consensus of the designated Sundance judges.
Only those submissions that meet the criteria outlined in the submission guidelines will be able to be selected as the winner.
PRIZE
The winner will receive a Sundance Co//ab subscription for one year, a one-on-one mentoring session with a Sundance Advisor, a free master class, and will be featured prominently on the site.
Jurors
John Lopez
A Los Angeles native, John Lopez has covered film and the arts for Grantland, Vanity Fair online and Bloomberg Business Week. His short Plan B, starring Randall Park and Rosa Salazar, was a finalist in the NBC Short Cuts Film festival; he also directed segments for NBC’s 2014 Actor’s Showcase and served as associate producer on Hossein Amini’s film The Two Faces of January. In 2015, John was selected as a fellow for the 2015 Sundance Episodic Lab with his pilot Crude. Most recently, John has written for Netflix’s upcoming crime drama Seven Seconds and he has just completed his second season on CBS All Access’s Strange Angel.
Christi
Writer
Born and raised in Minnesota, where the wintertime lows rival the surface temperature on Mars, Christianne Hedtke kept warm by devouring books and movies, and writing endless stories. After earning her degree from the University of Denver, Hedtke launched her career in the world of film festivals, with stints at the Sundance Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, and over a decade on staff at the Telluride Film Festival. Between fests, she worked on feature films in Minnesota and Chicago, finally landing in New York, where Hedtke spent four years developing original content for Nickelodeon. In 2015, Hedtke was selected for the Sundance Institute’s Episodic Story Lab. In 2017, she was named a fellow of the Warner Brothers Television Writers Workshop. She’s been a contributor to Filmmaker Magazine, MovieMaker Magazine, and wrote on Nick Jr.’s animated series Sunny Day. She is currently writing on Chilling Adventures of Sabrina for Netflix.
Marlena Rodriguez
Writer
Marlena Rodriguez has written for Netflix's Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and All About The Washingtons, TBS's Close Enough, George Lopez's Lopez, and The Second City Chicago. Marlena wrote, produced, and starred in a web series called, We Have To Move, as well as a Broadway Video/Mas Mejor produced web series called, Bouncers. In 2016, she became a fellow of the Sundance Institute Episodic Lab with her script DMV. Marlena is currently an Executive Story Editor on HBO's Silicon Valley.
Matt Young
Writer
Matt Young is an alum of both the Sundance Episodic Story Lab and the Warner Bros. Television Writers Workshop. He most recently worked on Seasons 3, 4, and 5 of BLINDSPOT on NBC, writing six episodes of the series and producing two. Matt has written feature scripts for Netflix, MarVista Entertainment and the German-based Rat Pack Filmproduktion. Prior to that, he was a guest writer on Season Two of the Alan Tudyk/Nathan Fillion-produced SyFy comedy show CON MAN. Matt is a father and husband; the son of a small-town Chief of Police; a banjo-picker; an improv comedian at Second City Hollywood; a college writing instructor; and a super nerdy Dungeon Master.
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