Pilot/ Incomplete Submission FAQ
How will this distribution work?
This is for creators who have shot a pilot and would like to potentially make your show an official Cideshow series, complete with funding. If you want to submit a completed series, please see this Series Submission FAQ.
The first step is to submit information about your pilot here. Make sure to fill out all of the required sections.
If we agree that the show is a good fit, we will ask to see the pilot.
If selected, we will distribute your pilot on our site for at least six months. During this time, your show will be up for voting to become an official Cideshow Series to be funded by us.
How will the voting work?
The voting is based on how many additional episodes you’d like to shoot next and what the budget for each episode will be.
Cideshow viewers will have a currency they can use to vote for their favorite shows. We adjust the amount of votes your show would need based upon the criteria above.
Those additional episodes will then be up for more voting. This process continues until your series is complete, you sell your show elsewhere or retire your show, or it doesn’t receive enough votes.
What kind of ideas are you looking for?
We prefer full length shows. By full length we mean 10-50 minutes per episode and at least 5 episodes per season (ideally at least 10 episodes total).
We’re looking for show that are trying different things. Some qualities that we love: imaginative, innovative, fun, edgy, experimental, interactive. Also LOW BUDGET.
We’re still in the beginning stages and we do not anticipate being able to get enough votes to fund higher-budget shows. Preferably all episodes can be made for $3,000 or fewer (the lower the budget, the higher chance your show gets made).
Oh, and of course, it should be your idea, and you should have full rights to it. Nobody likes lawsuits.
Will Cideshow own my show?
If your show is not continued by viewers, we will absolutely not any part of your series.
If it does get picked up by viewers, becoming an official Cideshow series, receiving funding from us, we will then arrange for an 80/20 (you/us) split.
You will have the freedom to sell your show at anytime to a bigger/ different network.
Does my series have to be exclusive to Cideshow?
If it becomes an official Cideshow series, we do ask you to be exclusive to our site.
However, if the show stops getting renewed by viewers, it ends, or you decide to stop having Cidshow fund it, you have complete freedom to distribute your show anywhere or anything else you want with it.
How much money will I receive?
Aside from getting the episode funding, we’re doing a fair version of revenue sharing, with unlimited earning potential. If we distribute your show on our site, you get a percentage equivalent to how many viewers watch your series. This percentage is specifically from Cideshow Show Profits, which is estimated to be roughly half of the total Cideshow Total Profits.*
*Note: this is not guaranteed. This is both dependent on Cideshow making a profit and on your show receiving views.
How soon after being picked up, do I need to make the next episodes?
We ask that you finish the additional episodes within 3 months of your show being renewed (the sooner the better). We have some flexibility here, but we definitely don’t want the audience to lose interest in it.
Do I have to own the show in order to submit it?
Yes, or you have to get permission. We’re going to be very suspicious if you try pitching the pilot of Arrested Development to us.
What if I no longer have access to my actors/ crew?
You have a few options. You can readjust where the series is going in order to accommodate this change. We ask that you please disclose this to viewers.
Or you can recast any roles, but we ask you to do so smartly (avoid the “who is that??” effect).
Or or you can choose to reshoot the pilot (see below).
I don’t have a completed pilot, but I have a great idea, can I still submit?
We would not be able to film or fund it. We’re specifically looking for content to have on our show when we launch, so viewers can support it and fund more episodes. We don’t currently have a show budget.
Down the line we’ll be taking episode pitches, so hang in there.
When does the site launch?
It will be up and running by the beginning of May.
When is the deadline to submit?
We need all submissions in by Friday, April 17th, so we have enough time to work everything out and get them onto the site.
Contact shows@cideshow.com to request more information.