Make Documentary, Unscripted, and Reality TV Podcast

The reality TV podcast to help you create, pitch, sell, and produce reality television shows and documentary series – Producing Unscripted.

We’re Joke and Biagio, and we make reality TV shows, documentaries, and factual programming for a living. These days we have over 100 hours of film and television under our belts, but we remember how impossible it seemed to break in when we were two kids living in our one-bedroom apartment.

We started this podcast to teach you the nuts-and-bolts of making reality TV, but more importantly, to give you a path to pitch your projects to us.

Enjoy the podcasts below, and maybe we’ll even get to work together someday.

Deadly Recall – Pitch Detective Based True Crime – 5 Tips

February 28, 2019 by Biagio

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 21:18 — 20.8MB)

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If you’ve ever wondered about building a true crime series around a real police detective, today’s episode is for you. We’re sharing everything you need to know, broken down in five easily-digestible tips. What kind of detectives? Which cases to pitch? How do you know if your detective can sustain a series? We’re giving away everything we know. Plus, what you can learn from the behind the scenes of our new Investigation Discovery series Deadly Recall.

3 Tips from RealScreen 2019

January 31, 2019 by Biagio

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 22:17 — 21.7MB)

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Today’s episode is coming to you straight from the waiting area of the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport! Why? Because we just attended RealScreen 2019, and we’ve got some stuff to share. What is the RealScreen Summit? Well, according to their site: The Realscreen Summit is the definitive global market and conference for the business of unscripted and non-fiction entertainment. That’s a fancy way of saying a lot of big players in the unscripted industry are there. As well as lots of new and aspiring producers hoping to connect with working professionals. There are panels with industry experts, great speakers, and lots to learn. Plus, tons of networking and parties. Since we know many of you couldn’t make it, we’ve pulled together our top three takeaways from RealScreen 2019, plus some totally honest observations and a little emotional support for all you creatives.

Hollywood Stocking Stuffers – Three Tips from the Trenches

December 20, 2018 by Biagio

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 14:36 — 14.6MB)

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Happy Holidays from Producing Unscripted! ’Tis the season to be jolly, and if you asked Santa for a new episode of Producing Unscripted, you’re in luck! Today we share some important stocking stuffers with you – three Hollywood tips to make the most of the season. We cover everything under the tree, from important industry advice, to how to keep busy when you aren’t in production. So grab some hot chocolate, start up the fire and get ready for our last podcast of 2018!

Spooky: Pitching Paranormal Shows – 4 Tips & Happy Halloween!

October 30, 2018October 30, 2018 by Biagio

Pitching Paranormal Shows - 4 Tips and Happy Halloween!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 20:54 — 20.4MB)

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It’s Halloween…and do we have a treat for you. A spooky treat that is! This week we cover all things paranormal. Ghost shows, alien shows, psychic shows…they’ve been a staple of television for years. But how can you make your paranormal pitch stand out? What are the pitfalls to avoid, and the mistakes we see most often when people pitch this genre? Which missteps scare network execs off? How to do make a network scream (with excitement) for your pitch? Get ready for some scary facts about pitching paranormal projects!

Roger Nygard: How to Work Both Scripted and Unscripted

February 1, 2024September 25, 2018 by Biagio

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 39:29 — 37.4MB)

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We travelled the streets of Los Angeles for the 109^th episode of Producing Unscripted. Well, we went a couple of exits down the 101, where we met with this week’s guest, the multitalented Roger Nygard. Roger has edited on many highly acclaimed television series, including Grey’s Anatomy, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Veep (for which he’s earned an Emmy nomination). He’s also a successful documentarian, with box office hits like Trekkies. Plus, his upcoming doc, The Truth About Marriage premieres soon. He took time to discuss all of this and more when we stopped by his office at the Paramount Studios lot in Hollywood. Today, the excellent Roger Nygard shares priceless tips and advice to help you in your career…whatever path it takes..

Amazing Career Advice From Legendary Producer Jon Kroll

February 1, 2024August 28, 2018 by Biagio

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 30:32 — 29.2MB)

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Jon Kroll is the man behind some of your favorite unscripted television shows. From Big Brother to The Amazing Race, he’s been in the industry for over 25 years. He’s here today to share his secrets to success and amazing career advice. Like the students he teaches in the Peter Stark Producing Program at USC, you will learn so much from Jon today. Just like we did when he guest-lectured at a course we took, back when were were trying to break in the industry. Jon shares his his take on how to find a great character, the must haves of every pitch, and what NOT to do to break into Hollywood. Plus, behind the scenes stories from his newest show on CBS, Pink Collar Crimes.

Pitching Family-Based Docuseries – A Kardashians Study

February 1, 2024July 31, 2018 by Biagio

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 17:50 — 17.6MB)

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It’s time for Episode 107! And to celebrate, we’re taking you all the way back to Episode 6 (ah, so long ago.) Pitches come in every day framed as family-centered docuseries. How can you make yours stand out? We checked our own advice, looking back at the six traits that Reality TV characters must have to be pitch-ready. How do these traits translate to the real world when pitching family-based shows? Well, to help answer that, we’re taking a look at one of the most successful family-based TV shows of all time. Today, we explore how the cast of Keeping Up with the Kardashians exemplifies each trait. But we also explain that a family doesn’t need to be rich and famous to carry at TV Show. Everything you want to know about pitching the family-based docuseries is here…including where you can see the ORIGINAL pitch tape that sold Keeping Up with the Kardashians!

Top 3 Pitch Cover Letter Mistakes

February 1, 2024June 29, 2018 by Biagio

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 12:52 — 13.1MB)

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When you’re pitching a project, whether to us or anyone else, you’ll be sending a cover letter (or providing information) to briefly explain what the project is about. Unfortunately, this is where many newcomers go wrong. There are certain statements that both we and our network executive friends have read from numerous people on multiple occasions – and none of them help the pitch. In most cases, they hurt it. So today we’re going to share the three most prevalent mistakes we see on a regular basis. By not making these mistakes, you’ll give yourself a better shot at success, no matter who you’re pitching to or what kind of project you’re presenting.

Getting Your First TV Producer Credit with Marc Jackson

February 1, 2024May 30, 2018 by Biagio

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 18:14 — 18.0MB)

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Marc Jackson says he feels like he’s living his dream. A retired police officer, Marc wanted to start a new career in filmmaking and TV production – but had no production experience. Like many of you, Marc discovered the Producing Unscripted podcast and this site. He trusted us with his concept, pitched it through our portal, and we developed it together. We’ve now set it up as a television pilot at a major cable network. Marc’s earning his first producer credit and jumping in the deep end of television production. Today we break down everything Marc did right, what it’s like to finally have your first TV project, and tips you can use to do the same.

Unmasking a Killer with Todd Lindsey

February 1, 2024March 13, 2018 by Biagio

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 24:14 — 23.5MB)

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Unmasking a Killer is our new true crime documentary series for CNN and HLN. It premieres Sunday, March 18, at 9pm on HLN. Todd Lindsey brought us the show. Additionally, he became the series Supervising Producer. A true passion project, we were thrilled when Todd trusted us to be his partners. Today, Todd discusses the journey: from ten years of research to completing a documentary series for CNN / HLN. The ups, the downs, working through creative differences, dealing with law enforcement, trying to catch a killer, and so much more…