Q. I've written a spec destined for pay cable. But I was taught to have strong act outs, and the script actually has them. Should I leave them in my spec (so people notice my excellent act outs?) or take them out (so people recognize that I'm aiming at pay cable)?I've wondered about this myself. On the one hand, you don't want to look like you don't know what an act out is. On the other hand, if you're aiming at pay cable, then shouldn't the script reflect that? On the other other hand, with no act outs, are you precluding having an exec think, "Huh, this would actually make a great pilot for CBS if the main character just solved crimes"?
If you read scripts as part of your living, would you expect a pay cable spec to have no act outs? If your specs are circulating, what do you do if your script is a natural for pay cable?
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