[ Posted Monday, January 14, 2002 ]

how to pitch to: mtv

SO YOU DIDN'T WIN THE "BE A VJ" CONTEST. MTV'S STILL HUNGRY FOR TALENT.

BY CLAIRE ATKINSON | Come on, admit it: You've secretly dreamed of working for MTV. So, okay, maybe you're never to going to audition as a VJ, but brains, contacts and perhaps an idea for a genre-busting youth show can still get you on the screen.

The man who can help make it happen is Stuart Cohn, a supervising producer for series development at MTV's news and documentaries division. He is something of a televisual A&R man, but his job isn't to search for the next big music act. He's combing the streets for concepts that will help the channel remain at the top of its game.

If you're already a regular viewer then you'll know the kind of thing that works. Falling into the news and documentaries department are shows such as Cribs, a popular series that takes the audience into the homes of celebrities such as Mariah Carey, Tommy Lee, and Snoop Dogg; True Life, a cinema verité documentary series about various subcultures, from the porn industry to political campaigns; and Diary, in which artists like Pink, Ja Rule, and Mandy Moore record and narrate their own first-person video journals. However, if you're not a regular viewer and all you've heard of is Total Request Live and The Real World, then you'll need to become a couch potato for a while to get a feel for what the youth of today are all about.

"To pitch a series or special you have to be aware of what we do. If you're thinking of saying, 'Let's do a piece on the underground music scene in Memphis,' we don't do shows like that. I wish we did, but we don't. It is lifestyle interests of the young."

Cohn says the network is cranking up its development slate in 2002. "We are looking for more ideas and are beginning to look for more stuff [to do] with outside people. Development is becoming more of a priority than it was in the past. We are really looking for the next Cribs, or the next Jackass or the next Making the Band."

Seriously increasing your chances of getting Cohn's attention would be stints at any of the Viacom-backed channels MTV, VH-1, or Nickelodeon on your resume.

Though he acknowledges the difficulty of breaking into TV, he suggests that freelancers familiarize themselves with the team in any way they can. "We work with a lot of in-house people and if you get your foot in the door, you are one of us."

Cohn has worked as both a freelancer and as an in-house executive, so he understands the vagaries of the market and likes working with freelancers. "The upside [with working with freelancers] is that you get people who know what they're doing."

But don't despair if you're a print journalist with no television experience, Cohn is interested in doing more with magazine and newspaper writers. Many print-based journalists appear as experts on a variety of shows. Both Glamour journalist Anna Holmes and Jill Kopelman, who writes for Style.com, have worked with MTV. "We do work with magazine writers. I'd like to develop a show with a magazine writer," adds Cohn.

So what else do you need to know before you turn your back-of-the envelope etchings into a formal concept? Well, having celebrity contacts will always put your pitch into the "return call" category. "We want to gain access to celebrities. We are looking to take our viewers to places they haven't been before."

As an example of such a first-person series, Cohn cites True Life, which focuses on unusual young people and their interests. "We did a show on breast implants, one on cheerleaders, and one on a Nascar driver. We do pieces on the transition to adulthood. We also did a great piece on the youngest people running for office and one on dwarves. It was pretty intense."

If you have an idea that might work for the channel's teens-to-twenties audience, then don't just pitch the content; think about the on-screen visuals. "You should have an idea what your show looks like and what would make it different," adds Cohn.

While it is important to be confident of your show's feasibility, do bear in mind the ratio between the number of pitches MTV receives and the tiny amount of material that it actually commissions from the outside. "I'd say 5-10 percent of ideas [get picked up] so it's tough," says Cohn, again reminding readers, "If you already have your foot in the door, then it's easier."

If Cohn likes your idea, then there are a series of other hurdles to overcome. "There is a submission release to sign and then we do a 'test tape' which is a ten-minute sample tape and then a pilot." Cohn also works for two people in the news and documentaries division; Lauren Lazin and Dave Sirulnick. The department head is Brian Graden, president of programming and production. They might all have a say in whether your idea gets any further through the process.

However, you will only be paid if and when MTV decides to work with you, and even then your idea could take anywhere between six months to a year to get on the air. But by then your dreams have become a reality, right?

The vital info: MTV Networks, 1515 Broadway, New York, NY 10036. Tel: (212) 846-8000.
Contact: Stuart Cohn, director of news development, stuart.cohn@mtvstaff.com

Claire Atkinson is a British journalist specializing in media and entertainment reporting. She has written for The Independent, The Observer, and Sunday Business, and is a contributing editor at PR Week.