concept writing

Below are concepts that I pitched that ended up on the chopping block., but there’s a lot more ideas where these came from!

If you want to get a sneak peek at other concept writing that I’ve been working on before it’s posted here, use the contact form to reach out and we can chat.

Scroll around or use the list below to jump around by network.

AMAZON PRIME
AUDIBLE
AMC
CBS
FX & FXX
FOX
FOOD NETWORK
GENIUS KITCHEN
TBS
USA

AMAZON PRIME

FLYING

CONCEPT SCRIPT

VO
SOME HEROES FLY SHIPS

Quick shot of The Flag Five’s Ship

VO
SOME HEROES FLY THROUGH THE AIR

Quick shot of Superion.

VO
AND SOME HEROES FLY... COACH

CUT TO The Tick in a TSA checkpoint. A TSA officer stands on a stool and waves a metal detector over The Tick’s antennae. The detector squeals with each pass.

TSA EMPLOYEE
Those are going to have to come off.

THE TICK
I’m afraid that’s not possible.

The TSA Employee speaks into the walkie-talkie.

TSA EMPLOYEE
I’m going to need backup at gate seven.

TAG

voicemail

moodboard

concept script

OPEN on ARTHUR’S ROOM. It’s empty. We hear an answering machine:

MACHINE VOICE
Please leave a message after the tone.

We hear THE TICK through the answering machine while the video cuts to different shots of Arthur’s room: his pill bottles on the table, discarded dirty clothes on the floor, different shots of newspaper clippings on his wall, his old Flag Five ship.

THE TICK (through the machine):
Arthur. I really think we need a super duo theme song. How about...

THE TICK (singing):
We’re two defenders of justice Yes you know you can trust us

(BEAT)

THE TICK (through the machine):
That’s it so far. You can have your phone back now.

CUT TO ARTHUR dressed as THE MOTH and THE TICK, suspended upside down by their ankles over a pit of fire. THE TICK hands ARTHUR a smartphone. ARTHUR looks shocked.

THE TICK
I really didn’t want to forget that rhyme.

GFX: TAG

AUDIBLE

CONVERSATIONS

CONCEPT

This concept shows how listening to audio feels like a very personal connection, almost a conversation, by literally bringing the voices to life. We show various Canadian celebrities, authors, and podcast personalities engaged in conversations with regular folks, then use shooting and editing techniques to reveal that these aren’t real conversations, but actually people who are just really engaged in listening to Audible.

We also use fluid camera motion to make these moments feel very connected and to make the reveals feel more dynamic.

TAGLINES

WHERE LIFE MEETS LISTENING
LISTENING BROUGHT TO LIFE
VOICES BROUGHT TO YOUR LIFE
A VOICE FOR EVERY MOMENT

SAMPLE SCRIPT

We see a woman on a bus deep in conversation with a Canadian podcast personality.

PODCAST HOST (Sample Dialogue)
…and that’s the thing about this type of situation in our culture. We have these moments…

We hear just a snippet of this conversation, then cut to a man baking in his kitchen. Canadian chef Anna Olson stands in the kitchen giving him baking tips (that are lines from her cookbook):

ANNA OLSON
This chocolate chip cookie dough has two secrets for success. The first is the cornstarch, which holds in moisture and guarantees a soft-centered cookie...

We see the man grab cornstarch from his cabinet.

ANNA OLSON
The second is chilling the cookies before baking…

Cut to a woman jogging in a park. Jogging along next to her is Canadian talk show host, Rick Mercer. He is talking to the woman, but it’s a piece of his audio book:

RICK MERCER
…we operated with no safety net! We would shoot segments within days of shooting them. This is simply not done in television!

The woman stops at a crosswalk and the camera pans to a nearby car where a man is driving with Ryan Gosling in the passenger seat. Ryan Gosling is saying lines from The Notebook.

Suddenly there’s a ring as the man stops at a red light. We see a single shot of the driver as he answers his phone through the car.

DRIVER
Hi honey… sorry, I’m running a little late but I’ll be there soon.

PHONE VOICE
Ok sounds good. Love you!

The phone call hangs up. We see the man re-start his audiobook through the Audible app. We hear Ryan Gosling again, but now it is clear it is the audiobook. The man is alone in the car.

Cut back to the jogging woman, now entering her apartment. She pulls out her headphones as she enters, and calls out to her Amazon Echo.

JOGGING WOMAN
Alexa, continue my audiobook.

We hear Rick Mercer’s voice reading more of his audiobook over the Echo speaker.

Cut back to the man cooking. We hear more from Anna Olson through the Echo speaker as he takes delicious-looking cookies out of the oven.

Cut back to the woman on the bus. She is sitting quietly looking out onto Canadian scenery. Her friend leans across the aisle and taps her.

FRIEND
I just listened to that episode the other day! It’s crazy right?

The woman on the bus pulls out her headphones and begins an animated conversation with her friend.

We cut to another bus passenger. He pulls out his phone; we see the Audible app. He pauses the book he was listening to and turns on the podcast episode the other two are chatting about.

VO
AUDIBLE
WHERE LIFE MEETS LISTENING

FX & FXX

SNOOZE

CONCEPT SCRIPT

Open on an exterior shot of the HOUSE, the sun just setting beyond the horizon. Creepy music swells.

Cut to NANDOR’s room. We see his coffin. It begins to rattle and shake.

Cut to a close up on the seam of the coffin. A pale hand slowly reaches out...

Cut to a wider shot. The hand from the coffin hits a button on a digital alarm clock that reads 5:00PM. The creepy music suddenly cuts out.

The coffin lids slides back into place.

TAG

TAKING OUT THE TRASH

CONCEPT SCRIPT

Open on NANDOR, LAZSLO, and NADJA sitting in the living room, quietly reading or doing a crossword. From off-screen we hear GUILLERMO grunting and something being dragged across the floor.

GUILLERMO appears in the open doorway dragging two large, black trash bags. He calls out:

GUILLERMO
Hey are any of you free to give me a hand with—

The three vampires suddenly turn into bats and flutter away.

GUILLERMO sighs. He continues to drag the two large trash bags past the doorway. They leave a trail of smeared blood.

TAG

COUPON

CONCEPT SCRIPT

Open on NADJA at a supermarket checkout. The CASHIER holds out his hand with a coupon towards NADJA.

CASHIER
This coupon is expired.

NADJA Look into my eyes and then tell me it is expired

The frame grows dark. We cut between close ups of NADJA’s face and the unimpressed and unaffected CASHIER. The shots get closer and closer until...

Cut back to the wider shot. The CASHIER stands motionless, hand still outstretched. NADJA grabs the coupon back in a huff.

NADJA
And I thought I was dead inside.

TAG

BREAKFAST

MOODBOARD

CONCEPT

The camera watches Sam—from a low height so that it seems like the perspective of one of her kids, seated—as she makes breakfast at the stove.

We hear the sounds of food sizzling. Sam slides fried eggs on to a plate.

Sam places the plate in front of the camera and sits down to eat her own breakfast. The camera looks down at the plate of eggs and bacon. Instead of being arranged in a smiley face, however, the bacon ‘mouth’ is sort of an odd slant: neither happy nor sad.

The camera looks back up at Sam from the plate. Sam looks up to make eye contacts.

SAM
What? It’s food. Eat it.

TAG

BEACH DAY

MOODBOARD

CONCEPT

The camera pans across the Baskets family — Dale, Christine, and Chip — sitting in beach chairs on a sandy shore. We see them one by one, starting with Dale and ending with Chip.

Dale’s nose has a thick white coating of sunscreen; Christine’s nose is the same. She looks over at Chip as the camera pans to him: he has applied sunscreen to his whole face except his nose.

Christine stares at Chip and grimaces. Seeing his mother’s look of confusion, Chip responds:

CHIP
If I have a red nose it’s going to be authentic, thank-you-very-much.

With a huff and an eye roll, Chip settles back into his beach chair.

BOTTLE RETURN

MOODBOARD

CONCEPT

Open on Gretchen dragging a giant trash bag full of bottles into a bottle return area of a supermarket. She puts a couple of beer bottles through the machine, then she reaches in and pulls out an empty scotch bottle.

Instead of immediately throwing it back in her bag she pauses and stares at the bottle. ‘I’ll Be Seeing You’ by Billie Holiday begins to play.

As Gretchen stares at the bottle, we see through a large window that Jimmy is dragging his own giant bag of bottles to the bottle return. He stops and looks at Gretchen.

After a beat, Gretchen spies him too. They make eye contact. She takes the bottle she’s holding and throws it at the window where Jimmy is standing as the music abruptly cuts out.

On Jimmy’s side of the window we see the bottle shatter.

TAG

CBS

GLUE

CONCEPT SCRIPT

Open on Stephen Colbert in front of a white cyc, sitting at a non-descript table full of piles of envelopes and papers. Stephen stuffs envelopes as he speaks to the camera.

STEPHEN
I’m hosting the 2017 Emmy Awards and it’s a responsibility I am taking seriously, which is why I am personally supervising the envelopes.

Close up of envelopes as Stephen speaks:

STEPHEN
You know in kindergarten I used to eat paste and my teacher said that...

Cut back to wider shot of Stephen.

STEPHEN (con’t)
...I wasn’t responsible enough for craft time. Well look at me now Mrs. Jacobsen!

Stephen licks an envelope and is momentarily transported, like he just tasted something incredibly delicious.

STEPHEN
Oh man. That’s good stuff.

TAG

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS

CONCEPT SCRIPT

Close up on Stephen Colbert’s face against a plain, white background.

STEPHEN
For me, today’s big game is high stakes. And by big game I of course mean…

Cut to a wider shot. Stephen Colbert sits at a table set up with a Dungeons & Dragons board. Three other players, all dressed in casual clothing, sit at the table, seemingly playing the game and arranging pieces as Stephen speaks to camera.

STEPHEN (cont)
…my annual campaign of Dungeons and Dragons. Like football it has strategy, action, suspense—

From off-screen a loud whistle silences Stephen.

STEPHEN
And also I added a referee.

The referee enters and makes a hand signal.

REFEREE
Personal foul!

TAG

puppies

CONCEPT SCRIPT

Open on Stephen in his classic suit on a white cyc, camera slightly above him.

STEPHEN
Some folks say the best Superbowl commercials celebrate our great country and shared values. And some say the best are the just ones with puppies.

Stephen gestures towards the floor, arms wide; the camera pans down to show a flock of golden retriever puppies playing at his feet. They are all wearing American flag bandanas.

STEPHEN
You’re welcome America!

TAG

Cut back to Stephen sitting on the floor, playing with the puppies as they climb on him.

STEPHEN (to puppy)
Who’s giving the people what they want? You are! Yes you are!

FOX

SPORTS CHANTS

CONCEPT

Sports super-fans miss more than just the games when they can’t catch them on their TVs; they miss the whole sports-fan experience. We highlight this longing for that experience in fans’ day-to-day lives with different situations in which an individual fan cheers on normal, everyday tasks.

For example, a man in a checkout line cheers on the person bagging his groceries; a woman gives play-by-play commentary on the guy building her sandwich at a deli; a grown man taunts a dog in a park like a baseball fan taunts a batter.

It’s all about Fox Sports Go recognizing that fans want to feel connected to the sports they love wherever they go.

SAMPLE SCRIPT - BRIAN

We open on a close-up of groceries being scanned across a checkout line. The beeping is monotonous.

We see the cashier looking bored out of her mind; we see a teen bagging groceries, equally unenthusiastic. The teen’s nametag says “Brian.”

From off-camera we hear indistinct cheering. Cut to a man waiting in line watching on. He’s cheering and clapping.

MAN
Woooo! That’s how we do it. LET’S GO BRI-AN!

The MAN claps rhythmically. The cheering continues under GFX.

GFX: WE KNOW YOU MISS SPORTS WHEN YOU’RE AWAY FROM TV

Brian hands the man a phone with the Fox Sports Go App on it.

BRIAN
Here, you should download this.

Cut to footage of the Fox Sports Go app featuring network specific b-roll.

VO
NEVER MISS A GAME WITH FOX SPORTS GO

Cut back to the man and Brian. The man holds out a honeydew melon and a marker.

MAN
Can you sign my honeydew?

FOX SPORTS GO – APP SPORTS CHANTS CONTINUED

VO
WATCH LIVE [TEAM NAME] GAMES, RECAPS, AND HIGHLIGHTS FROM ANYWHERE
ALL FREE WITH YOUR CABLE SUBSCRIPTION

EVERY FAN

CONCEPT

To show that Fox Sports Go is for every fan, everywhere, this series of spots features testimonials from over-the-top fans that represent a certain fan category: nerdy, loud, fussy, lazy, serious, etc. Any adjective that we can show in a fun, crazy, visual way could be inserted into this formula.

We show a bit of the unique fan, then we freeze, then see graphics on screen that say: FOR EVERY FAN. EVEN THE ______S. The blank is filled with a lovingly teasing, made-up fan title that describes the particular type of fan we’re showing. A possibility to bring in the b-roll might be that someone from off-screen or in the existing world hands the fan character a tablet and we can button the spot with their reaction to the app.

SAMPLE SCRIPT

Open on a man in his work cubicle. The desk is cluttered with papers and calculators. He speaks to the camera, and we cut to close-ups around the space as he speaks.

MAN
I learned how to calculate a pitcher’s WHIP in my head at the age of six. That’s walks-plus-hits- per-innings-pitched.

A whiteboard in the background is full of scribbles. Haphazardly taped to the walls are printouts of baseball stats that are marked up with notes, circles, and highlights. Nearby there’s a smartphone with the FS1 app open.

MAN
WAR, what is it good for? Absolutely determining the league MVP. Try telling the voters that, though.

The man builds a 3-d spray chart out of wire and pencil erasers. He’s reading stats off the Fox Sports Go app from his mobile phone

MAN
This is a 3-D spray chart. When it’s finished, it will reflect the actual trajectory, arc, and distance of every hit in the 2017 season.

VO
FOR ALL FANS. EVEN THE STAT GEEKS.

Cut to MAN holding tablet featuring Fox Sports Go app & network specific b-roll.

VO
DOWNLOAD THE FOX SPORTS GO APP AND WATCH YOUR TEAM LIVE
ANYWHERE, ANYTIME

NOTHING INTERRUPTS

CONCEPT

In each spot we see a person with a tablet or phone going about their normal life, watching sports on the go with the Fox Sports Go app.

Glued to their devices, these sports fans aren’t letting anything interrupt their viewing experience, even when they should maybe look up for their own safety. Without missing a beat, we see viewers narrowly avoid obstacles in their lives (that they seem to not even see) using moves from sports.

For example, while engrossed in her viewing we see a mom bat away a child’s stray meatball like a tennis superstar with a roll of paper towels. We close each spot zooming in to see what each viewer is watching, bringing in network b-roll on the device.

SAMPLE SCRIPT

A man is walking down a busy city sidewalk completely engrossed in his phone.

We see the Fox Sports Go app on his screen as he passes a scruffy man trying to grab an elderly woman’s purse in a tug-of-war back and forth.

Suddenly the purse flies through the air. The man, cheering for his team, reaches his arm up and, accidentally, catches the bag. He looks at it briefly, unfazed, then turns and throws the purse like a quarterback straight towards the woman.

GFX: NOTHING GETS IN THE WAY OF YOUR SPORTS

Cut to footage of the Fox Sports App, featuring network specific b-roll.

VO
WATCH LIVE GAMES, RECAPS, HIGHLIGHTS AND MORE
ANYWHERE, ANYTIME
WITH FOX SPORTS GO

ON THE GO

CONCEPT

We see people in various day-to-day situations already using Fox Sports Go.

A VO announcer briefly explains the app, then quips: “If only you could take the other things you love about sports on the go.”

Then the app user’s world is invaded by elements of a sporting event out of synch with their environment. A marching band in a doctor’s waiting room; or a hot dog vendor on the subway; a kiss cam at a family reunion. Anywhere fans are using Fox Sports Go all of what they love about sports goes with them.

SAMPLE SCRIPT

Open on a man seated on a subway car (above ground), wearing headphones and looking at his phone. Around him it’s a little crowded, but not packed.

VO
NOW THAT YOU CAN WATCH YOUR TEAM ANYWHERE WITH THE FOX SPORTS GO APP...

We see the screen of the man’s phone featuring the app.

VO
IT WILL MAKE YOU WISH YOU COULD TAKE EVERYTHING YOU LOVE ABOUT SPORTS WITH YOU.

From off camera we hear a voice calling out:

VENDOR
Hot dogs! Get your hot dogs here!

The VENDOR attempts to move through the car but is thrown off-balance by the moving train and thwarted along the way by other passengers. He mutters as he struggles while still trying to sell hot dogs.

VO
FOX SPORTS GO

We see footage of the Fox Sports App, featuring network specific b-roll on the man’s tablet.

VO
LIVE GAMES, HIGHLIGHTS AND MORE
ANYWHERE, ANYTIME
JUST DON’T GET BUSTED

GROCERY STORE

SAMPLE SCRIPT

Open on a MAN in a grocery store freezer aisle. He is holding the freezer door open, relishing the puffs of cold air as they wash over him in waves.

Cut to MAN 2 in the middle of mowing his lawn. MAN 2 watches as white dandelion fuzz shoots out from his lawnmower towards the camera in (resembling the snow of a hockey stop)

Cut to a WOMAN in a coffee shop sitting next to a large window. She is looking on in shock and wonder as a police officer is shoving a criminal into the window on the street side, again in slow- mo.

GFX: THE WAIT IS OVER.

Cut to shots of Regional Network b-roll, highlights, etc. playing on the Fox Sports App on the woman’s tablet. They mirror the images from above.

GFX: HOCKEY IS BACK

Cut to network-specific b-roll in the tablet.

VO
ON [REGIONAL NETWORK] AND THE FOX SPORTS GO APP

TBS

BEDROOM

MOODBOARD

CONCEPT

We see close ups on the cast’s faces in black and white: Porsha, Eliot, then Drew. We see the shadow of prison bars against their faces as a light flashes (like a searchlight), transitioning between them. Sirens wail in the background

We end on Dori’s face. The camera lingers, and then begins to pull back, tilting. As the camera moves back we see that Dori is laying on her side, the shadows we thought were prison bars were cast by blinds, now horizontal on her face.

We hear a snort/snore, loud like a bang, and Dori jerks up, startled and on edge. From above we see that she was lying in a messy bed with Eliot, Porsha, and Drew all sleeping around her. Eliot snorts again, should be over-the-top/ridiculous (enough to pull us out of the scene for a second).

TAGLINE

YOU'VE MADE YOUR BED...
NOW LIE

USA

NEW SEX POSITIONS

CONCEPT

We show fully clothed couples in silly, impractical, and maybe even dangerous new sex positions inspired by Temptation Island. Of course, none of these new positions should look or sound even remotely sexy.

The possibilities for names can go anywhere — the volcano, the palm tree, the bonfire, the emotional breakdown — and allow us to remind viewers of the elements of the show in a fun way with some crazy visuals. Each position should heighten the craziness until there’s one that looks like it could practically be a deadly stunt.

FOOD NETWORK

BAYWATCH

CONCEPT SCRIPT

It’s a sunny day at the beach. People are laughing, splashing — all around having a great time. We see Tyler Florence in a lifeguard chair, looking out at the water with binoculars on.

Suddenly, Tyler is startled when a man sitting comfortably in an inner tube calls out from the water:

MAN
Help! Help! I’m so hungry!

VO
WHEN SUMMER CRAVINGS STRIKE…

Cut to a shot of Tyler Florence running down the beach in slow motion, Baywatch style. He’s wearing sunglasses and an apron in classic lifeguard red.

VO
THESE TRUCKS ARE AT THE READY…
(ALT: THESE TRUCKS ARE READY TO DRIVE IN TO ACTION…)

The camera pans away from Tyler to see that he is running next to a series of food trucks, also coming towards the camera in slow motion.

VO
EVEN IF IT IS A LITTLE CHEESY

We see one of the food truck chefs hang out the window of her truck; wind blows through her hair in slow mo. We see she has a container of cheesy fries in her hand; she eats one.

VO
BUT WHICH TRUCK WILL MAKE THE BIGGEST SPLASH?

The trucks pull to a stop, still in slow motion, spraying water and sand dramatically. They form a semi circle around Tyler, who looks out at the water. He takes off his sunglasses.

Motion returns to normal as Tyler raises a megaphone.

TYLER (through megaphone)
Sir, you have to come out of the water. Trucks can’t swim.

TAG

GENIUS KITCHEN

SPLIT SCREEN

MOODBOARD

CONCEPT

In dynamic split screens—diptychs, triptychs, polptychs; different shaped panels—disparate things come together to form new, magical and unexpected collisions.

We shoot cooking tools, foods, and Genius Kitchen talent on green screen. Then we show these objects and people against different comped in backgrounds— an the apartment, at the farmer’s market, a vineyard— coming together from different places to form perfectly imperfect congruous images.

Everything should feel energetic and make the audience feel like we’re part of our talent’s busy day-to-day.

Additionally, we use the multi-panel split screens to create transformations. For instance, a talent or an object passes through one panel and emerges on the other side in the next panel as something or someone different.

AMC

ANNVILLE POSTCARDS

CONCEPT

Using the classic postcard block letters we create a digital Annville postcard.

Like an actual postcard each of the letters contains a different scene from Annville— exciting moments from the show or images from around the town. We can cycle through images, or play an image in each letter like a cinemagraph.

After a few seconds we flip the post card and use an image of Jesse under a rainbow and animate-on text saying: ‘Wish You Were Here?’ or ‘You’ll Wish You Were Anywhere But Here.’

MOCK-UPS