A Glossary of Terms That Every Movie and TV Development Executive Should Know

Development Executive Glossary

I. Key Roles & Players

• Above-the-Line (ATL): The key creative and financial stakeholders in a project, whose salaries are negotiated before production begins. This includes the writer, director, producer(s), and principal cast. Their costs are listed "above the line" in a budget. (See also: Below-the-Line).
• Below-the-Line (BTL): The crew and production staff whose jobs begin closer to and during principal photography. This includes the cinematographer, editor, production designer, and the rest of the crew. Their costs are fixed union scale rates and are listed "below the line" in the budget.
• Creator: The individual credited with creating the foundational elements of a television series—the world, the characters, and the core concept. They often serve as the head writer or showrunner.
• Development Executive (D-Exec): A studio or production company executive who finds and develops projects. They read scripts, listen to pitches, give creative notes, and manage a slate of projects.
• Executive Producer (EP): A high-level producer. In film, an EP often helps with financing or attaches key talent. In television, the EP title is held by the Showrunner and other senior writer-producers who have significant creative and logistical authority.
• Line Producer: The producer responsible for the day-to-day logistics and budget of a production. They translate the creative vision into a practical, on-budget plan.
• Reader: A junior employee or freelancer who reads submitted scripts and provides Coverage.
• Showrunner: The lead executive producer and creative authority for a television series. They are typically the head writer and are responsible for the day-to-day operations, from the writers' room to post-production, managing the budget, and delivering the final episodes.

II. Core Development Documents

• Bible (TV): A comprehensive document for a TV series that details the show's world, tone, characters (including backstories and future arcs), and potential storylines for future seasons. It's used to sell the show and as a guide for the writers' room.
• Coverage: A report written by a reader that summarizes and analyzes a script. It typically includes a logline, a synopsis, and commentary on the concept, characters, plot, and dialogue, concluding with a recommendation (e.g., Pass, Consider, Recommend).
• Logline: A one-to-two sentence summary of a project's core concept, conflict, and protagonist. It must be compelling and communicate the story's hook.
• Lookbook: A visual document used to convey the intended aesthetic, tone, and style of a film or TV show. It includes images, color palettes, and references for cinematography, production design, and costumes.
• Pitch Deck: A visual presentation (often a PDF or slideshow) that expands on a pitch. It includes the logline, synopsis, character breakdowns, thematic statements, and often a lookbook or sizzle reel.
• Script / Screenplay: The written work containing dialogue, scene descriptions, and character actions. The foundation of the entire project.
• Sizzle Reel: A short, stylized video (2-5 minutes) that demonstrates the tone, style, and concept of a proposed project. It's a proof-of-concept used to get executives and talent excited.
• Source Material: The underlying work that a film or TV show is based on, such as a book, article, comic, podcast, or play. Securing the rights to source material is a critical first step.
• Treatment: A prose document that summarizes a story, scene by scene. It's more detailed than a synopsis but not yet a full script. It's often a deliverable in a writer's contract.

III. The Development Lifecycle

• Assignment: A writing job where a studio or production company hires a writer to create a script based on a pre-existing idea, source material, or pitch.
• Development: The entire process of taking a project from an idea to a greenlight. This includes writing, rewriting, attaching talent, and securing financing.
• Development Hell: A state where a project remains in development for years, often passing through multiple writers and executives, without ever getting made.
• Greenlight: The official approval and funding commitment from a studio or financier to move a project from development into pre-production and production.
• Notes: Creative feedback given by executives, producers, or directors to a writer on a script or story outline. The process involves multiple rounds of notes and subsequent drafts.
• Package: A project that has key elements attached, making it more attractive to buyers. A strong package might include a script, a director, and one or more A-list actors.
• Pitch: A verbal presentation of a project idea to a studio or production company, delivered by a writer or producer.
• Polish: A minor rewrite of a script that focuses on improving dialogue and pacing, rather than major structural changes.
• Rewrite: A significant redrafting of a script to address notes on story structure, character arcs, and major plot points.
• Spec Script (Speculative Script): A screenplay written by a screenwriter on their own initiative, without a prior deal or payment. They hope to sell it to a production company or studio.
• Turnaround: A contractual arrangement where a studio that has developed a project decides not to produce it, but allows the producer a limited time to set it up at another studio, which must then reimburse the first studio's development costs.

IV. Contracts, Deals & Rights

• First-Look Deal: A contractual agreement that requires a writer or producer to submit all of their projects to a specific studio first. The studio gets the first right of refusal before the project can be shopped elsewhere.
• Holding Deal: A deal a TV network or studio makes with an actor to secure their services for the upcoming pilot season. The actor is paid to be exclusively available to that studio.
• Intellectual Property (IP): Pre-existing, branded content with a built-in audience, such as a best-selling novel, comic book series, or video game. Studios are heavily focused on acquiring and developing IP.
• Life Rights: An agreement to purchase the exclusive right to tell a specific person's life story. Essential for biopics.
• Option Agreement: A contract that gives a producer or studio the exclusive right to purchase a script or other source material for a limited period of time for a small fee (the "option fee"). If they decide to make the movie, they "exercise the option" and pay the full "purchase price."
• Overall Deal: A lucrative, multi-year deal a studio makes with a creator, writer, or producer to develop and produce projects exclusively for that studio. In return for this exclusivity, the creator receives significant compensation and overhead support.
• Pay-or-Play: A contractual clause for major talent (directors, actors) that guarantees their full salary even if the project does not go into production, as long as the talent fulfilled their contractual obligations.
• Points: A percentage of a film's profits. Gross Points are a percentage of the gross revenue, which is very rare and valuable. Net Points are a percentage of the revenue after all expenses have been deducted, which often results in no payout.
• WGA (Writers Guild of America): The labor union representing film, television, and new media writers. The WGA sets minimum salary standards ("scale"), determines writing credits, and provides other protections for its members.

V. Television-Specific Terms

• Bake-off: A competitive development process where a network commissions scripts for two or more similar projects, ultimately choosing only one to move forward.
• Episodic vs. Serialized: Episodic shows feature self-contained stories in each episode (e.g., a classic procedural like Law & Order). Serialized shows feature ongoing storylines that cross multiple episodes or an entire season (e.g., Breaking Bad).
• Limited Series / Miniseries: A show with a self-contained story that is resolved within a single season of a predetermined, finite number of episodes.
• Pilot: The first episode of a proposed television series. It serves as a proof-of-concept to determine if a network will order a full season.
• Pilot Season: The traditional period (roughly January to April) when broadcast networks cast, shoot, and screen pilots to decide which shows to pick up for their fall schedule. This model is becoming less dominant with the rise of streaming and year-round development.
• Series Order: The official commitment from a network or streaming service to produce a full season of a show (typically 6-22 episodes).
• Straight-to-Series: A project that receives a series order without first producing a pilot episode. This is a sign of high confidence in the package (script, creator, talent).
• Writers' Room: The collaborative environment where a team of writers, led by the showrunner, works together to break stories and write scripts for a television series.

VI. Creative & Business Concepts

• Four-Quadrant (4-Quad): A term for a film that appeals to all four major demographic "quadrants": 1) Male under 25, 2) Male over 25, 3) Female under 25, and 4) Female over 25. These are typically big-budget tentpole films.
• Franchise: A media property that can be expanded across multiple films or shows, creating sequels, prequels, and spinoffs (e.g., Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars).
• High-Concept: A story idea that is easily and compellingly summarized in a single sentence and is easily marketable. Think Jurassic Park: "Scientists bring dinosaurs back to life with disastrous results."
• Pre-Sales: The practice of selling the distribution rights for a film in various international territories before it is produced. This is a common way to finance independent films.
• Tentpole: A large-budget, high-profile film that is expected to be a major commercial success, capable of propping up a studio's financial results for the year.