The second possibility is a little tougher. If your number of speaking parts is at the high end of the range above (or even beyond the range), then you probably really do have too many characters. Just look at the numbers above and compare to your script. The first possibility is easy to diagnose. There are two possibilities: (a) your pilot does have too many characters, or (b) your pilot doesn’t have too many characters but it feels like it does. I’m guessing a lot of writers who have gotten the feedback that their pilot has “too many characters” actually have fewer speaking parts than that! If that’s you, read on… Why Do People Think My Pilot Has Too Many Characters? The average number of speaking parts, particularly for one hours, is much higher than I expected. It’s interesting that the average number of characters in a one hour pilot is literally double the number in a half-hour. Range: 24-40 ( of which only 3-10 are major characters) The average length of these scripts was 60 pages.Īverage: 30 (of which only 5 are major characters) Range: 9-25 ( of which only 1-6 are major characters) The average length of these scripts was 33 pages.Īverage: 15 (of which only 3 are major characters) The 30 scripts I analyzed were chosen basically at random from a file of recently produced pilots. I define hour-long pilot as a pilot between 50-70 pages, whether it’s a 6-act network police procedural or a streaming family drama with no act breaks at all.Īll of the scripts I used are for pilot episodes of shows produced by a major broadcast network, cable network, or streaming platform in the past three years. I define half-hour pilot as a pilot between 20-40 pages, whether it’s a multi-cam network sitcom or a single-cam streaming dramedy. Possible examples: Cute Barista, Drunk Guy, Uber Driver, Guard #2 In most cases they don’t even have a real name. I define walk-on character without substance as a character we’ll probably never see again after this episode. They are likely only in one scene and have at most a handful of lines. Possible examples: a failed Tinder date, a mean bartender, an interviewer for a job the protagonist doesn’t get I refer to these as walk-on characters with substance, meaning they aren’t a recurring character, but they have a memorable scene or they play a larger role in the episode. Sometimes walk-on characters can play a substantial part in the pilot while still not being a character we need to keep track of for future episodes. Possible examples: the protagonist’s mother-in-law, the protagonist’s neighbor, the protagonist’s roommate Note that sometimes these characters will become major characters later in the series, but I base my categorization on their function in the pilot. I define minor character as a character who doesn’t have that many lines or only appears in one or two scenes, but who has a name (usually) and it’s clear this character will be back in future episodes. Possible examples: the protagonist, the antagonist, the protagonist’s love interest, the protagonist’s sidekick, the protagonist’s mentor I define major character as a character who appears in a large number of scenes, has an important goal, and/or has some sort of emotional arc in the episode. Let’s start by getting some definitions out of the way. How Many Characters Does an Average Pilot Have? If it turns out you do have too many characters, how can you cut them down?.If it turns out your character count isn’t higher than average, then why are people giving you the note that you have too many? I’ll explore some possible explanations for the “note behind the note.”.I’ve separated half-hour pilots from one hours (I analyzed 15 of each). I’ve divided speaking parts into major characters, minor characters, and walk-ons, and I give you both an average and a range. How many characters do “real” (produced by a major broadcast, cable or streaming network) pilots have? I analyzed 30 recent pilot scripts to find out.So the question is: does your pilot really have too many characters or - as one writer suggested - is that just feedback people give when they can’t think of anything more insightful to say? These characters are our babies! And frankly, cutting entire character arcs is a lot of work. This is obviously a common note, but many writers are resistant to this feedback and I understand why. Five times in the past week I’ve either given someone feedback or heard someone else give feedback that a writer’s pilot script had too many characters.
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