Please help, I'm desperate

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TheNeutral

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I’ve been trying to find an answer to this question, but no matter where I looked, I couldn’t. I then realized that my Catholic brethren are the only people I have left to go to for this very particular matter…

With that said, I have a question for anyone who can answer it: Can a show’s creator be fired from their own project?

Say I create a new television series; New properties, all original IPs, copyrights, etc. etc., and I have the money to create and fund it myself… All I need now is for a television station to air it. Now, I have heard of showrunners getting replaced and fired before, however they were hired by larger people or corporations to work on their shows, and I’m not quite sure if creators and showrunners are synonymous.

I really want to release my show for the world to see; I feel like God is calling me to use my gifts in these ways–however if I’m going to get fired from my own show and become a prisoner to my own project, I might as well go digital and sustain the viewership and exposure loss.

Also, since this needs to be stated apparently, this is not a troll thread, I’m 100% serious about this and I need your help.

Thank you.
 
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Alright, the below may seem a bit harsh, but you asked for help and I’ve read up a bit on the sort of situation you are asking about in relation to films. Your concern shouldn’t be “what if I get fired from my own project” which is something you can square away in a contract - although you can alienate your writers and actors and directors and camera men and they’ll just either quit or produce garbage, something that has happened before many, many times - but your concern should be “how do I translate my vision to something people will watch and can see”.

I am assuming you are an amateur, as you seem to not know a lot oabout the nitty gritty of contracts and production/distribution. There are a lot of independently financed films, but not many TV shows, which is most likely because it’s a lot easier to distribute a TV show than a movie, and the development of TV shows is tied to established production companies, because established production companies have the ties to the broadcasters to get the TV show on the air. You’d need to know and have an excellent working relationship with a production company in order to pitch a show to them.

But it’s a new dawn for visual medium production, and anything is possible, so let’s go over the options presuming you don’t have the connections needed with a production company, beginning with the actual development of the TV show itself.

Lots of stuff, usually terrible stuff but stuff none the less, is privately financed, often by the creator. The Room and Manos, Hands of Fate come to mind. If you are familiar with either of those films, perhaps them you should consider bringing people on board who are more versed in the arts and sciences of storytelling, because it really is an art and science, and no matter how big your dream, you are going to need a lot of help to make it a reality. Do you know how to write a script? Do you now the basic structure of drama? Do you know anything about acting, or set design, or cinematography? There’s a reason why Steven Spielberg doesn’t do everything himself, and there’s a reason why the Star Wars films released between 1999-2004 are so awful; because the creator/producer doesn’t know how to do everything, and nor should they.

That’s going to be your first hurdle: you may have the money, but unless you have the experience yourself or you hire a lot of people who do have the experience you aren’t going to know what you are doing when it comes to the technical and artistic aspects. And, when you hire the people with this experience, they will make changes to your vision for various legitimate technical or artistic reasons. That’s a loss of control right there, which is something you are going to need to either accept or, if you don’t except it, have an extremely amateurish production (see The Room or Manos, Hands of Fate for more information on rich people who thought they could just make a film their way).
 
However, let’s say you’re David Lean and Stanley Kubrick all rolled into one. The next problem would be getting a network to air it. It’s really, really hard to get a show on the air, especially scripted drama/comedy because it’s so much more expensive to produce. This is all assuming, of course, that you can get a meeting with the programming department, who have meetings with people who have established careers in TV production. And it’s going to be heavily religious, right? Heavily Catholic. Catholics are a minority in the United States, so even disregarding the nightmare that a broadcaster would face in regards to protests/lawsuits/mad Protestants, unless you have like, an entirely devoutly Catholic board of directors for the network, they are not likely to broadcast something that specifically promotes a religion that isn’t their own. It would be kyrptonite for advertisers too, because what if the Southern Baptists get it in their head to boycott Pepsi or whatever because of it?

You could buy commercial time like infomercials do. But that’s on a local market basis, and is not prime time so you will not be reaching the numbers you want. Although I, admittedly, do not know the demographics you are trying to reach, so this could be a viable alternative. This would heavily eat into your budget, however, so you better have some deep pockets. Again, it is not cheap to produce scripted drama/comedy. You will need millions for a season of a professional produced TV show.

I don’t know much about Netflix or Hulu or Amazon Prime selects programs for distribution, but I bet you already need to have a foot in the door, and unlike over the air, traditional broadcasters, you cannot buy airtime.

All is not lost, however. YouTube! That’s actually the best distribution network out there - it’s international, free, and can reach anyone with a wifi device. And, if you have the money, you can make an advertising campaign for it. So, perhaps focusing on YouTube as a platform would be good. However, YouTube is a notorious nightmare of regulations and rules for creators who are trying to monetize/look for an actual audience.

Also, I have for you a sidebar discussion here on the importance of professional quality. Above I mentioned The Room and Manos, Hands of Fate. These are only but the tip of the iceberg when it comes to unprofessional, poorly produced movies. The internet looooooooves bad films. It’s a whole cottage industry. I can’t really think of any TV series that is mocked to the extent that say, Fateful Findings or Birdemic is, but that’s because it’s easier and cheaper to release a film than a TV series. But, if you have the resources to produce AND distribute a self-financed and non-professional TV series, you run the very high risk of making it a laughing stock. Is that what you want your vision to turn into?
 
The production of visual media is a creative collaborative effort. By worrying about holding onto your perfect vision you’re going to, most likely, make something not great. Most infamously bad Hollywood movies are because some director/producer had a steadfast vision that they would not change, despite the best efforts of their co-workers to convince them it was a bad idea. Watch the documentary about the creation of The Phantom Menace and you can see how George Lucas’s total creative control over the project turned it into a bloated film with a confusing plot and wooden acting. The Beginning: Making Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace (Full Version) - YouTube Now, George Lucas has great ideas, but he’s an idea guy, not a details guy, and you’ll notice that he didn’t direct or edit the good Star Wars movies. You have to let other people give their (name removed by moderator)ut.

Don’t worry so much about getting pushed out of your own project - instead worry about your own ego and lack of experience turning what could be a wonderful and touching TV series into a disaster. This isn’t to say you can’t make this, people make stuff all the time, but honestly “I think this what God wants me to do!!!” doesn’t mean much in the way of actually getting this done. You need to learn your craft, build up respect among your peers, and build a career in production in order to bring your vision to life.
 
Please don’t become paralyzed by negative possibilities.
Of course, seek legal advice as suggested.
But remember, also, the old man who sighed and said,
“I’ve had a lot of worries in my life.
Most of them never happened.”

Best wishes for your creative endeavors!
 
If this is a real situation you need to speak to a lawyer. It’s worth it.

No one on this forum has the necessary knowledge to give you competent advice.
 
Thanks for all the answers thus far! This really came in handy. I hope that if I reach the level I desire, you can all look at me with confidence and say “that’s our boy!”. Again, thank you all very much!
 
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