#015: Nish Panchal — How to Build a Writing Career in TV & Film

Jul 2, 2022

50:28

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How can a writer start and grow their career in TV? What does it take to work your way into a Writer’s Room for a hit TV series? What happens behind the scenes of deals between producers and media giants like Netflix, BBC, and Amazon Prime? In this interview, held during lockdown, we talk with TV and film agent Nish Panchal (Curtis Brown) about his role as an agent, the main players in the TV industry and how budding writers can make connections and forge a career as a screenwriter.

ABOUT NISH PANCHAL

Nish Panchal is an agent at Curtis Brown, working closely with Sam Greenwood. Their mission is to find unique filmmaking talent that they’re passionate about and enable them to build careers in the UK film and television industry, and beyond. They work with book agents from Conville & Walsh.

SHOW NOTES:

[02:35] Desert Island Disks - the TV show Nish would take on a desert island

[5:29] The influences and people that led Nish to pursue a career in film and TV

[08:01] Nish’s journey to getting a job in Curtis Brown

[15:18] His role as an agent and how he helps writers

[19:06] Understanding the market and what production companies are looking for

[20:21] An overview of the main players in the TV industry

[24:10] How he helps a writer move from an idea to a commercial project

[27:27] How might writers get representation? What emails have caught his eye recently?

[31:10] The importance of a good spec script

[33:06] Recent trends in the industry

[36:47] How books get turned into TV deals

[38:36] How TV writers get paid from treatment to script fees

[42:32] The process of getting a deal with the BBC versus Netflix

[44:36] Can writers make a full-time living from writing for TV?

[47:04] What motivates Nish as an agent?

QUOTES FROM NISH:

“People ask - what do I send through? I think just one good spec script is, is really what we need…If you're an aspiring television writer, um, you know, having a strong spec, pilot that can demonstrate that you can tell a story in 60 pages, set up a character and throw something interesting at them and set up a world. And then also at the end of it, ask enough questions for us to make us to make me think, oh, this is a great world. I'd love to know what happens next. Those things are quite really hard to do.”

RESOURCES

Connect with Nish Panchal:

Twitter: @Nish_Panchal

Curtis Brown Website

Links from the show:

TV shows: