arya126
Squad Leader
Today, it seems as if the world is moving away from the traditional media of Television and Cinema to things such as Netflix and Hulu. Things are pirated and shown online, and the Internet has come to dominate. No longer.
You are one of many, a new generation of producers and executives that have been tasked with the responsibility of revitalizing the Broadcast and Cinema Industries. Your task may be vast, but the beginning to every new journey is the same. Put one foot in front of another, and so get started!
---
First off, you must choose whether you want to be an executive or a producer. Now, lets explain these two roles.
An executive will be the head of a staff of men and women responsible for the TV schedule of a particular network that airs on television. In the game, they must buy shows from producers, use those shows to form a schedule for their network, attract advertisers who will pay you to air advertisements during certain time slots, balance a budget from all this, and more or less run a successful network. They also have the option of running the network's film subsidiary, which would allow them to work with producers producing movies instead of TV shows. If the TV executive does NOT want to handle the Film subsidiary, then that position becomes open for another player to sign up for, and if nobody wants it, then it will be NPCed. More on that later.
Producers have less responsibility, but are just as important. They are the ones responsible with coming up with content, from a 30 minute cartoon to an hour long hospital drama. They then have to market their ideas to the TV executives, who can buy the rights to the show (either for a single season or for multiple seasons at once). Producers can also come up with ideas for feature length movies whose rights can be bought by one of the film subsidiaries. Movies take several turns to produce, but at the same time they can produce enormous amounts of revenue...or can drive a network to near bankruptcy if it does poorly at the box office. Producers can also finance a movie themselves if they are rich enough, and depending on their notoriety, their Independent film may or may not make it into theaters. However, a successful independent film could show the networks that this guy might have some merit.
Sign Up
Name: Your name.
Role: Executive or Producer
Network: The name of your Network for Executives, as well as any other information you may like to provide.
Film Notoriety: Only for producers, begins at 0 and increases with successful films (does not affect TV production)
Bank: How much money you start with. Producers have $6 million and must make their way up in the world with successful shows and movies. Network executives start with $50 million in order to get started with buying shows from producers, etc.
Making a TV Show
Producers, the first thing you need is a catchy name. After that, you need a description of the show. What is this show about? Preferably give the general genre, such as thriller, horror, comedy, drama. Decide whether the TV show will be 3 minutes long or 60 minutes long (this is important to the networks). Then you have to get to the money.
Acting
You have to decide what level of acting talent will go into the show. This is something the producer and not the network has to decide, and it will likely not only help to determine the value of the show, but also how well it does with ratings, so this is very, very important. The network typically has to pay the acting costs set by the producer. The first thing is:
Ensemble, Multi-Star, or Single Star?
Ensemble essentially means you will be spreading the love. There is no single protagonist or antagonist, and the focus of the show might shift around a bit. This is typically the most expensive. Think the TV show 'Lost' for an example of this. 5+ stars.
Multi-Star is when you have multiple people receiving star billing. This is when there are more than one person that are recognized as the 'lead actors' of the show. Are the main characters a husband and wife? Since its two people, that would be Multi Star. NCIS or a similar show might get this. 2-5 Stars.
Single Star is the cheapest (in principle) of the three. It is when there is definitely a single clear main character receiving star level billing, one person that will be the center of attention throughout the series. Think House M.D. or Spartacus for this.
The next thing is the actual quality of the acting.
A+
A
B
C
C level acting is the kind of stuff that you can clearly see is fake, and usually won't make it on big time TV, however is useful for a cheap filler show if need be. Is a good base as it incurs no additional acting costs.
B level acting is a step up. It doesn't seem so fake, and can actually be called passable, but there are likely no recognizable names on the cast list. However if a show with B level acting does better than expected in the ratings, then it might be upgraded to A level free of charge as a result of some star being discovered as a true prodigy. B level acting will make up the majority of TV shows as well as the Independent films. 200K per 'star'.
A level acting is the real deal and what you see on the top level shows that are on the tongue of people across the country. Fairly expensive. This level of acting is seen in the top TV shows, the moneymakers, as well as the better movies that stand a chance at box office success. 800K per 'star'.
A+ level acting contains the household names. Morgan Freeman, Christian Bale, Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks. It is also the most expensive level, and most TV shows do not use this level; it is usually reserved for movies. 2.5M per 'star'.
Acting is paid for by the Network and needs to be paid every season the show is aired. Producers creating an independent film have to pay for the acting themselves however.
Staff
Acting can only take you so far. 'Staff' is the rating that decides the quality of your equipment, your screenwriters, your videographers, your director, lighting, costumes, makeup, and everything else that is used to create a successful TV show or movie. As with acting, you have to make 2 decisions. The first is your 'focus':
Your 'focus' is what your staff specializes in. Will you go for specialized lighting for your horror show, good scriptwriting to go alongside great actors in a drama, good videography for an action show? It is up to you to decide.
Script
Videography
Audio
Lighting
Costumes/Makeup
Set
Post-Production/CGI
Director
If you have something else in mind, let me know!
Your quality is your other decision.
Excellent
Good
Mediocre
Mediocre costs 50K, Good costs 400K, and Excellent costs 1.4M. Staff is paid for by the producer and is a one time fee (does NOT have to be paid for every season like acting). Only has to be paid if the show is bought by a Network; mere 'ideas' that have not been bought do not have to be paid for.
All costs for staffing are TRIPLED and costs for acting are DOUBLED when making a film. All costs are halved when making a 30 minute show instead of 60 minutes.
Ratings
Ratings are relevant to TV shows only. Once the Networks make a schedule, that schedule will be divided into time slots. For example, from 6 PM to 7 PM is a time slot. During this time slot, a certain number of viewers are tuned in to watch TV. These viewers are split across the 3 networks. These 3 networks are competing for viewers. These ratings are the report of how many viewers watched what TV show the past night. These ratings are the reflection of how successful a TV show is and subsequently determine how likely it is to be renewed. Certain time slots will have higher ratings than others simply because more viewers are watching (for example more people are watching TV at 7 than they are at 11).
These ratings also determine how much money you get from advertisers. Therefore, better ratings mean more money for the Networks. Networks begin with a base advertising contract of 100K/1M viewers. So a rating of 5M means you earned 500K that time slot.
A Network may also forgo the advertising in one slot in order to adverse its own shows that come on later in the night/week. This can help to increase viewership in certain time slots.
Also, after the first turn, you may get special advertising offers. Certain companies that want you to air their commercials during certain shows that were particularly successful, and are willing to pay extra in order to see it done.
Special Events
Special Events, such as football during the fall, new years eve, the world cup, etc. will be available as well. But since I do not wish to make it first come first serve since that would mean the first producer to come up with the idea would have the rights to it, I will be controlling these events. Individual producers can then bid on any of the rights that I have listed in every update such as 'Thursday Night Football', and the producer can pay for the rights, then sell the rights to a network. It isn't real world accurate, but it will do for a mechanism in the gameplay.
The Schedule
Network executives, you must be very curious by now what the schedule looks like. But it is rather simple. Essentially, each turn is 1 'season'. A TV show cannot be on for 3 seasons in a row (it can be on for 2 seasons in a row, or every other season, but after 3 seasons there must be a break of 1 season before it starts up again). Each season will consist of 12 weeks. You only have to fill out a schedule for 1 week, and it is assumed that it is repeated 12 times in a row. After each season, you can make adjustments to your lineup, replace underperforming shows with new ones, renegotiate the contract of shows that are doing well lest you lose the rights to another network, etc.Each day you have to fill a schedule with shows from 12 noon to 12 midnight. Saturdays you have to have a schedule all day. Bear in mind that you can fill the less watched time slots such as early afternoon or late night with reruns if you find yourself short of material.
Schedule Revising
Schedules are now 5PM-12PM every day, as well as 8am-12noon every saturday morning.
Movie Production
Much regarding this topic has been mentioned elsewhere in this post, but there is some other information you should know.
Namely, Movie Production takes several turns. Generally, this will mean 4-8 turns, with most being 4-6 turns. You must pay the appropriate acting and staffing fees every turn the movie is in production until it is released.
It should also be noted that Producers of the movies typically receive a cut of what the movie makes at the box office and afterwards rather than the usual lump sum for TV shows. However at the same time, the network has to pay all the acting AND staffing costs rather than the producer paying the staffing costs as with TV shows.
Independent films, produced and created by a producer (or a team of producers working together to pool resources) only take 2-3 turns due to the lower budget of the films.
Foreign Content
Every turn, like special events, certain foreign shows, like popular anime, or Doctor Who from the BBC in England, will be available for the networks to purchase the rights for and air. This can be useful if you find that your content is lacking and you want to find a way to edge in on your competition in a unique way. The difference between this and special events is that the producers are cut out of the loop, although the networks still have to pay for the rights.
Finances
I should make a note about finances. First of all, when you are paid for a show, you cannot spend it until the turn after it has already aired. So for example, you sell Show A right now for 2M. Then the update goes up reporting the ratings and everything. NOW you can spend that 2M.
Now, you can go into debt and deficit spend if you so choose. This goes for both networks and producers. A useful tool if you are creating a potential big hit TV show or a blockbuster movie with an excellent staff and an A+ ensemble cast and don't have the money, but expect it to make a ton at the box office or to crush the opposition in its primetime time slot. However, being in debt for several turns in a row isn't very attractive to advertisers, and producers may look elsewhere if the bank cuts you off and you can no longer pay them. Make sure that if you choose to take a risk and deficit spend that you have a plan that will pay off monetarily.
There will be a limit of 3 TV executives until there are 5+ producers. Once there are enough producers in the pool a 4th TV executive can sign up and the Film executive positions may unlock.
Reus and Megs have first dibs on Network Executives if they so choose due to extreme interest in chat. If they decline, their slots are open to anybody else.
All costs and numbers are subject to change before and after game start in order to ensure a balanced game.
You are one of many, a new generation of producers and executives that have been tasked with the responsibility of revitalizing the Broadcast and Cinema Industries. Your task may be vast, but the beginning to every new journey is the same. Put one foot in front of another, and so get started!
---
First off, you must choose whether you want to be an executive or a producer. Now, lets explain these two roles.
An executive will be the head of a staff of men and women responsible for the TV schedule of a particular network that airs on television. In the game, they must buy shows from producers, use those shows to form a schedule for their network, attract advertisers who will pay you to air advertisements during certain time slots, balance a budget from all this, and more or less run a successful network. They also have the option of running the network's film subsidiary, which would allow them to work with producers producing movies instead of TV shows. If the TV executive does NOT want to handle the Film subsidiary, then that position becomes open for another player to sign up for, and if nobody wants it, then it will be NPCed. More on that later.
Producers have less responsibility, but are just as important. They are the ones responsible with coming up with content, from a 30 minute cartoon to an hour long hospital drama. They then have to market their ideas to the TV executives, who can buy the rights to the show (either for a single season or for multiple seasons at once). Producers can also come up with ideas for feature length movies whose rights can be bought by one of the film subsidiaries. Movies take several turns to produce, but at the same time they can produce enormous amounts of revenue...or can drive a network to near bankruptcy if it does poorly at the box office. Producers can also finance a movie themselves if they are rich enough, and depending on their notoriety, their Independent film may or may not make it into theaters. However, a successful independent film could show the networks that this guy might have some merit.
Sign Up
Name: Your name.
Role: Executive or Producer
Network: The name of your Network for Executives, as well as any other information you may like to provide.
Film Notoriety: Only for producers, begins at 0 and increases with successful films (does not affect TV production)
Bank: How much money you start with. Producers have $6 million and must make their way up in the world with successful shows and movies. Network executives start with $50 million in order to get started with buying shows from producers, etc.
Making a TV Show
Producers, the first thing you need is a catchy name. After that, you need a description of the show. What is this show about? Preferably give the general genre, such as thriller, horror, comedy, drama. Decide whether the TV show will be 3 minutes long or 60 minutes long (this is important to the networks). Then you have to get to the money.
Acting
You have to decide what level of acting talent will go into the show. This is something the producer and not the network has to decide, and it will likely not only help to determine the value of the show, but also how well it does with ratings, so this is very, very important. The network typically has to pay the acting costs set by the producer. The first thing is:
Ensemble, Multi-Star, or Single Star?
Ensemble essentially means you will be spreading the love. There is no single protagonist or antagonist, and the focus of the show might shift around a bit. This is typically the most expensive. Think the TV show 'Lost' for an example of this. 5+ stars.
Multi-Star is when you have multiple people receiving star billing. This is when there are more than one person that are recognized as the 'lead actors' of the show. Are the main characters a husband and wife? Since its two people, that would be Multi Star. NCIS or a similar show might get this. 2-5 Stars.
Single Star is the cheapest (in principle) of the three. It is when there is definitely a single clear main character receiving star level billing, one person that will be the center of attention throughout the series. Think House M.D. or Spartacus for this.
The next thing is the actual quality of the acting.
A+
A
B
C
C level acting is the kind of stuff that you can clearly see is fake, and usually won't make it on big time TV, however is useful for a cheap filler show if need be. Is a good base as it incurs no additional acting costs.
B level acting is a step up. It doesn't seem so fake, and can actually be called passable, but there are likely no recognizable names on the cast list. However if a show with B level acting does better than expected in the ratings, then it might be upgraded to A level free of charge as a result of some star being discovered as a true prodigy. B level acting will make up the majority of TV shows as well as the Independent films. 200K per 'star'.
A level acting is the real deal and what you see on the top level shows that are on the tongue of people across the country. Fairly expensive. This level of acting is seen in the top TV shows, the moneymakers, as well as the better movies that stand a chance at box office success. 800K per 'star'.
A+ level acting contains the household names. Morgan Freeman, Christian Bale, Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks. It is also the most expensive level, and most TV shows do not use this level; it is usually reserved for movies. 2.5M per 'star'.
Acting is paid for by the Network and needs to be paid every season the show is aired. Producers creating an independent film have to pay for the acting themselves however.
Staff
Acting can only take you so far. 'Staff' is the rating that decides the quality of your equipment, your screenwriters, your videographers, your director, lighting, costumes, makeup, and everything else that is used to create a successful TV show or movie. As with acting, you have to make 2 decisions. The first is your 'focus':
Your 'focus' is what your staff specializes in. Will you go for specialized lighting for your horror show, good scriptwriting to go alongside great actors in a drama, good videography for an action show? It is up to you to decide.
Script
Videography
Audio
Lighting
Costumes/Makeup
Set
Post-Production/CGI
Director
If you have something else in mind, let me know!
Your quality is your other decision.
Excellent
Good
Mediocre
Mediocre costs 50K, Good costs 400K, and Excellent costs 1.4M. Staff is paid for by the producer and is a one time fee (does NOT have to be paid for every season like acting). Only has to be paid if the show is bought by a Network; mere 'ideas' that have not been bought do not have to be paid for.
All costs for staffing are TRIPLED and costs for acting are DOUBLED when making a film. All costs are halved when making a 30 minute show instead of 60 minutes.
Ratings
Ratings are relevant to TV shows only. Once the Networks make a schedule, that schedule will be divided into time slots. For example, from 6 PM to 7 PM is a time slot. During this time slot, a certain number of viewers are tuned in to watch TV. These viewers are split across the 3 networks. These 3 networks are competing for viewers. These ratings are the report of how many viewers watched what TV show the past night. These ratings are the reflection of how successful a TV show is and subsequently determine how likely it is to be renewed. Certain time slots will have higher ratings than others simply because more viewers are watching (for example more people are watching TV at 7 than they are at 11).
These ratings also determine how much money you get from advertisers. Therefore, better ratings mean more money for the Networks. Networks begin with a base advertising contract of 100K/1M viewers. So a rating of 5M means you earned 500K that time slot.
A Network may also forgo the advertising in one slot in order to adverse its own shows that come on later in the night/week. This can help to increase viewership in certain time slots.
Also, after the first turn, you may get special advertising offers. Certain companies that want you to air their commercials during certain shows that were particularly successful, and are willing to pay extra in order to see it done.
Special Events
Special Events, such as football during the fall, new years eve, the world cup, etc. will be available as well. But since I do not wish to make it first come first serve since that would mean the first producer to come up with the idea would have the rights to it, I will be controlling these events. Individual producers can then bid on any of the rights that I have listed in every update such as 'Thursday Night Football', and the producer can pay for the rights, then sell the rights to a network. It isn't real world accurate, but it will do for a mechanism in the gameplay.
The Schedule
Network executives, you must be very curious by now what the schedule looks like. But it is rather simple. Essentially, each turn is 1 'season'. A TV show cannot be on for 3 seasons in a row (it can be on for 2 seasons in a row, or every other season, but after 3 seasons there must be a break of 1 season before it starts up again). Each season will consist of 12 weeks. You only have to fill out a schedule for 1 week, and it is assumed that it is repeated 12 times in a row. After each season, you can make adjustments to your lineup, replace underperforming shows with new ones, renegotiate the contract of shows that are doing well lest you lose the rights to another network, etc.
Schedule Revising
Schedules are now 5PM-12PM every day, as well as 8am-12noon every saturday morning.
Movie Production
Much regarding this topic has been mentioned elsewhere in this post, but there is some other information you should know.
Namely, Movie Production takes several turns. Generally, this will mean 4-8 turns, with most being 4-6 turns. You must pay the appropriate acting and staffing fees every turn the movie is in production until it is released.
It should also be noted that Producers of the movies typically receive a cut of what the movie makes at the box office and afterwards rather than the usual lump sum for TV shows. However at the same time, the network has to pay all the acting AND staffing costs rather than the producer paying the staffing costs as with TV shows.
Independent films, produced and created by a producer (or a team of producers working together to pool resources) only take 2-3 turns due to the lower budget of the films.
Foreign Content
Every turn, like special events, certain foreign shows, like popular anime, or Doctor Who from the BBC in England, will be available for the networks to purchase the rights for and air. This can be useful if you find that your content is lacking and you want to find a way to edge in on your competition in a unique way. The difference between this and special events is that the producers are cut out of the loop, although the networks still have to pay for the rights.
Finances
I should make a note about finances. First of all, when you are paid for a show, you cannot spend it until the turn after it has already aired. So for example, you sell Show A right now for 2M. Then the update goes up reporting the ratings and everything. NOW you can spend that 2M.
Now, you can go into debt and deficit spend if you so choose. This goes for both networks and producers. A useful tool if you are creating a potential big hit TV show or a blockbuster movie with an excellent staff and an A+ ensemble cast and don't have the money, but expect it to make a ton at the box office or to crush the opposition in its primetime time slot. However, being in debt for several turns in a row isn't very attractive to advertisers, and producers may look elsewhere if the bank cuts you off and you can no longer pay them. Make sure that if you choose to take a risk and deficit spend that you have a plan that will pay off monetarily.
There will be a limit of 3 TV executives until there are 5+ producers. Once there are enough producers in the pool a 4th TV executive can sign up and the Film executive positions may unlock.
Reus and Megs have first dibs on Network Executives if they so choose due to extreme interest in chat. If they decline, their slots are open to anybody else.
All costs and numbers are subject to change before and after game start in order to ensure a balanced game.
