Advice on pitching an idea to an indie

Has anyone got any advice on pitching an idea of yours to an independent production company? I know for most if not all broadcasters you can't simply send in your proposal and they directly contact you - it has to be in partnership with a production company or department.

Thing is, if you do send your idea to even the one production company what kind of claims can you make on it in terms of copyright, rights etc? And is there actually big money for the creator if they sell the idea to the company and network in question or is money only made when the show is a fully fledged success, broadcasting every week?

Well I haven't got to a stage where I am ready to pitch a show - I am far too young for the industry.. however I plan to go in to this line of work and I have picked up a few hints and tips.

If you feel that you can write a script for a scene of the show then try to do so - then offer this and the idea for the show to a production company. Of course you could send a copy to yourself via the postal system (but DON'T OPEN IT!) to prove that it's your idea. If they reject the script, then work on it, and work on it again - its bound to be crap the first time around.

If the show gets commissioned, then the broadcaster will budget the show and the production company will either buy the rights to your idea or involve you in the show depending on the companies policies on external productions.

There is always one other work around - creating your own registered company - I think it costs about £250 and you technically have your own production company but if you have no experience with filming, lighting, sound, editing then this is really not for you.

All broadcasters have their own rules on external productions, I expect it's very hard to break on to mainstream TV. Spend a few hours researching production companies - It'll pay off. A useful link even if you don't plan on suggesting a format to the BBC : http://www.bbc.co.uk/commissioning/tv/network/public.shtml

Sky One's production pack is available at http://www.skyone.co.uk/commissioning/

Again this will give you an idea of what they are looking for.

With an absolutely gorgeous render in Firefox.

Yeah, that sky site needs some work, here's something I've found more than useful in the past...

http://www.channel4.com/corporate/4producers/