A one-page TV show pitch template with a complete example

1. Start with the six decisions the page must communicate

Name the format in a way that helps a reader picture the viewing experience: animated or live action, proposed episode length, intended audience, and whether the story is episodic or serialized. These are creative intentions, not proof that episodes have been ordered. Then make the logline describe a person doing something difficult rather than only a world or a theme.

Give the premise and the engine different jobs. The premise explains the situation and the promise of the show. The engine explains why that situation can keep creating stories. Your pilot paragraph then demonstrates one consequential choice. Finish with what exists now and the help you seek next. A reader should not have to infer whether you have a rough idea, a script, or a finished pilot.

2. Read a filled example before replacing the prompts

Last Stop Lantern is a fictional original animated series created for these resources. It is not an actual Stable Studios project, funded production, or buyer announcement. The proposed format is an eight-part, 22-minute fantasy adventure for teens and families. Those details illustrate how to make a pitch concrete; they are not a format requirement.

Its example logline is: ‘When a flood cuts her city off from its memories, a rule bound apprentice tram conductor must deliver its last lanterns to forgotten neighborhoods before a rival dispatcher closes the only route home.’ The action is delivery, the obstacle is a closing route, and the personal question concerns home. The filled document then gives the lead a specific name and a relationship that complicates her method.

The recurring engine is equally concrete. Each lantern brings a destination, a reluctant recipient, and a deadline. One episode concerns a musician who rejects the memory of a failed performance; another concerns a bridge keeper who wants a rival remembered. These examples demonstrate variation while preserving the series promise. Repeating the same adventure with a different monster would tell us less about the characters.

3. Make the pilot paragraph show a choice and its cost

A pilot summary can become an inventory of scenes: the lead wakes up, goes to work, meets someone, and discovers a secret. Replace that sequence with cause and consequence. What does the lead want, what do they decide to do, why does that tactic fail, and what changes because they act? Preserve the turning point even when cutting a much longer outline.

In the example, Mara takes a condemned tram to follow her missing mother's lantern. A diver refuses the first delivery. Rather than force it, she helps recover his workshop, misses an inspection, and loses a permit. The delay also reveals a submerged station. The paragraph makes her persistence and her changing idea of duty visible through action. Its ending creates the next episode instead of announcing vaguely that the adventure has begun.

4. Use the final paragraph to describe an honest next step

Explain your connection to the material without turning a personal statement into unsupported credentials. Then distinguish completed work, work in progress, and possible collaborators. A team you hope to approach is not attached. A proposed season length is not an order. If the project adapts existing work, describe that source and the permissions questions accurately rather than implying that enthusiasm resolves them.

Make the request small enough to understand. ‘Help make my show’ leaves the next decision unclear. ‘Develop the pilot outline and test a short lantern delivery in storyboard form’ identifies work that can be discussed. You can still seek a substantial production partnership; the first page should explain the project's present state and the next useful conversation.

5. Edit for clarity before changing the typography

The suggested lengths inside the template are editing aids, not Stable Studios submission rules or universal industry standards. The files are deliberately one page at their starting text. Your additions may change pagination. Cut repeated explanations before reducing type or margins, and inspect the exported file because a page break can change between applications.

Ask a reader to tell you what the lead does, what keeps generating stories, and what material exists now. If they cannot, solve the missing decision before adding adjectives. Once those answers are clear, check the target recipient's actual policy and choose which accompanying materials, if any, that route requests.

• Replace every prompt and remove unused sections.
• Make character names, format, and story rules consistent across the pitch and bible.
• Use two contrasting episode situations to test the engine.
• Identify fictional examples and provisional material accurately.
• Check contact details, version, page count, links, and readable type.
• Describe existing scripts, artwork, permissions, and attachments truthfully.