Is there an audience for a TV show about a microbrewery?

[DoctorDuvel]

Rich relatives isn't that much of a stretch, but rich relatives who will finance your brewery might be.

Unless they finance and are always on your back about profits and/or they micromanage. That might actually be an interesting scenario with possibilities for scandal and intrigue.

 

[mac_1103]

Unless they finance and are always on your back about profits and/or they micromanage. That might actually be an interesting scenario with possibilities for scandal and intrigue.

You trying to turn this into a Law and Order episode?

 

[MikeSpencer]

The financiers are the parents of the brewer. The father has no interest at first, as he thinks little of his son's hobby, but the mother forces the issue and he comes around. But he's shrewd and takes steps to cut the non-family partner out, setting up a power struggle.

 

[day_trippr]

I cannot imagine a more life disrupting paradigm than seeking family funding for a startup

 

[MaxStout]

Voted maybe.

In setting a show in a specific situation like that., the writer needs to go beyond the setting. Making it about "the brewery" will appeal only to a narrow niche and bore everyone else to tears. Put in drama, some romance, a quirky bit character or two, smart dialog, a little conflict, and a twist, and it just might work. In some of the more common TV settings--crime, medical, legal, firefighting--the setting IS the show. But even in those, the characters and writing still have to do a lot of heavy lifting to keep it afloat.

I think a brewery could be a good nucleus for the characters, much like a coffee shop was in Friends, and airline in Wings, or a bakery in 2 Broke Girls. But those shows were not all about coffee shops, airlines or bakeries. As with those shows, you'll need to transcend being just about the brewery. Build interesting characters and stories around the brewery and I think you'll have something.

Good luck--I do hope it works out for you.

 

[madscientist451]

Keep it low budget, maybe 15 minutes long and put it on You Tube. I am absolutely not interested in some fake "reality" show (you said you had a script). Spend your time on ideas, post 2 videos a week and see how many subscribers and view hours you get. You need like 4000 subscribers and a certain amount of views to get monetized. Don't use a script. Talk about stuff that's real, share recipes that work and don't work, show equipment that works and don't work, and you'll get interest.
Putting together another fake reality show will simply crash and burn from lack of interest. The mass audience won't be interested in brewing or a brewery, but a targeted You Tube audience may be interested if its not a bunch of fake BS.
You want to make a sit-com with a brewery in the background? Go for it, I won't be watching.

 

[DoctorDuvel]

You trying to turn this into a Law and Order episode?

no, more like the Sopranos or the 1st season of House of Cards lol

 

[MikeSpencer]

Voted maybe.

In setting a show in a specific situation like that., the writer needs to go beyond the setting. Making it about "the brewery" will appeal only to a narrow niche and bore everyone else to tears. Put in drama, some romance, a quirky bit character or two, smart dialog, a little conflict, and a twist, and it just might work. In some of the more common TV settings--crime, medical, legal, firefighting--the setting IS the show. But even in those, the characters and writing still have to do a lot of heavy lifting to keep it afloat.

I think a brewery could be a good nucleus for the characters, much like a coffee shop was in Friends, and airline in Wings, or a bakery in 2 Broke Girls. But those shows were not all about coffee shops, airlines or bakeries. As with those shows, you'll need to transcend being just about the brewery. Build interesting characters and stories around the brewery and I think you'll have something.

Good luck--I do hope it works out for you.

This post is gratifying to me since I am in complete agreement and wrote the script with this in mind. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[MikeSpencer]

Keep it low budget, maybe 15 minutes long and put it on You Tube. I am absolutely not interested in some fake "reality" show (you said you had a script). Spend your time on ideas, post 2 videos a week and see how many subscribers and view hours you get. You need like 4000 subscribers and a certain amount of views to get monetized. Don't use a script. Talk about stuff that's real, share recipes that work and don't work, show equipment that works and don't work, and you'll get interest.
Putting together another fake reality show will simply crash and burn from lack of interest. The mass audience won't be interested in brewing or a brewery, but a targeted You Tube audience may be interested if its not a bunch of fake BS.
You want to make a sit-com with a brewery in the background? Go for it, I won't be watching.

Thanks for the advice. It is meant to be a funny drama, in which real business concerns are addressed and the characters have to put personal opinions aside for the betterment of the business, which does not always go smoothly. As I mentioned in another post, it’s about a brewery similarly to Cheers being about a bar. Only the running of the brewery gets more attention than in other shows where the setting is more a presumption.

 

[Airborneguy]

I’m surprised no one has mentioned this:

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt10930958/

 

[MikeSpencer]

I’m surprised no one has mentioned this:

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt10930958/

I must admit I’ve not watched this one, don’t want to be influenced, but my understanding is that this show went for the comedy hook, whereas I’ve written a drama that features funny people.

 

[MikeSpencer]

I cannot imagine a more life disrupting paradigm than seeking family funding for a startup

The main character is against the idea, but they are unable to find other funding and so he very reluctantly agrees, but it turns out going against his better interests, just as he had feared.

 

[odie]

maybe...probably not.

most of these type shows are lots of "fluff" and "drama" and very little real action or useful information.

Think "American Chopper"...you will learn nothing about building a bike. All you learn about is their family issues.

And every time they come back from commercial they just repeat what happened before the commercial...like you just tuned in and they have to get you caught up before they can proceed again.

 

[bruce_the_loon]

maybe...probably not.

most of these type shows are lots of "fluff" and "drama" and very little real action or useful information.

Think "American Chopper"...you will learn nothing about building a bike. All you learn about is their family issues.

And every time they come back from commercial they just repeat what happened before the commercial...like you just tuned in and they have to get you caught up before they can proceed again.

Mike isn't proposing yet-another-reality-show, this appears to be a fictional drama with comedy elements.

 

[MikeSpencer]

maybe...probably not.

most of these type shows are lots of "fluff" and "drama" and very little real action or useful information.

Think "American Chopper"...you will learn nothing about building a bike. All you learn about is their family issues.

And every time they come back from commercial they just repeat what happened before the commercial...like you just tuned in and they have to get you caught up before they can proceed again.

What I propose would make my show a drama would be the inherently dramatic situation that starting a business is for real people. There would of course be interpersonal dynamics to consider as well. My personal belief is that shows which aren't believable are second rate, so I've done everything I know to do to not go down that artificial action path. Might end up too slow for some people, but in the end I would hope it rings true across the board. Thanks for posting.

 

[odie]

oh, I thought you were going to follow around a small micro brewery or brew pub and make it a show.

Watching the intimate details of a real, small scale startup brewing operation would be interesting to many of us.

I would watch to learn stuff.

A fictional show...not so much. There are plenty of identical shows out there. Just substitute "brewery" for any other business.

The plots are all the same...

 

[mac_1103]

My personal belief is that shows which aren't believable are second rate...

Sort of depends on whether the audience knows what's believable. My wife never really could tolerate any of the wildly successful medical shows for long because she knows too much real medicine. Many of my lawyer friends and relatives feel the same way about procedural courtroom dramas. But these shows obviously appealed to a mass audience given that they were wildly successful. Most of your audience isn't going to know a damned thing about running a brewery (or starting a real business for that matter), so your plots only need to be plausible to the uninformed. Of course, you still might feel that you were putting out a second-rate product because of your own knowledge of what's actually believable, but how much sleep are you going to lose over that if your show is wildly successful?

 

[MikeSpencer]

Sort of depends on whether the audience knows what's believable. My wife never really could tolerate any of the wildly successful medical shows for long because she knows too much real medicine. Many of my lawyer friends and relatives feel the same way about procedural courtroom dramas. But these shows obviously appealed to a mass audience given that they were wildly successful. Most of your audience isn't going to know a damned thing about running a brewery (or starting a real business for that matter), so your plots only need to be plausible to the uninformed. Of course, you still might feel that you were putting out a second-rate product because of your own knowledge of what's actually believable, but how much sleep are you going to lose over that if your show is wildly successful?

This is so true. I figure to hold myself to the highest standard I can and have the show ring true to experts. This is why I have contacts within the brewing community review all my writing for this particular project. I figure if I get beer brewers to sign off, then they will be more willing to help spread the word/make recommendations that people watch. Thank you for commenting!

 

[Bobby_M]

As mentioned, I think the main issue is focus. If you remain true to brewing lore, homebrewers will be impressed/tickled by it but you would probably lose the masses. And vice versa. I stumbled on the Netflix series "Easy" and several episodes had James Franco and his brother brewing in the garage and then eventually opening a brewery. They made very few mistakes in the technical side of things and I appreciated that but my wife hated those episodes.

 

[MikeSpencer]

As mentioned, I think the main issue is focus. If you remain true to brewing lore, homebrewers will be impressed/tickled by it but you would probably lose the masses. And vice versa. I stumbled on the Netflix series "Easy" and several episodes had James Franco and his brother brewing in the garage and then eventually opening a brewery. They made very few mistakes in the technical side of things and I appreciated that but my wife hated those episodes.

There will be an emphasis on getting the brewing parts right, but the show isn't so much about a brewery as it is about people who run one, if that makes sense. It will be more far reaching than just watching brewers at work, to be sure. Thanks for posting!

 

[troxerX]

I will be hooked if it’s themed like The Office but instead of a paper company it is a malt supplier/microbrewery

 

[MikeSpencer]

I will be hooked if it’s themed like The Office but instead of a paper company it is a malt supplier/microbrewery

Not quite the tone, but not far off. I’ve described how I think it could work by comparing it to Friends meets Six Feet Under. It’s about the people running the brewery as much so as about the company itself.

 

[MikeSpencer]

Should anyone be interested, I have a website dedicated to the would-be show.

 

[MikeSpencer]

Company logo as it stands...

 

[sleev-les]

I’m surprised no one has mentioned this:

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt10930958/

I watched that. It's 1 season for a reason. haha

 

[VikeMan]

Several years ago, I got a call from a producer who was planning a reality show about homebrewers. They had got my name from the organizer of a competition I had recently "Ninkasi'd." I politely declined to partcipate. It didn't sound like the kind of show I would watch, let alone be in. Plus, I would have had to clean the house.

I voted maybe, as a dramedy could be interesting, i.e. I'd probably watch the first episode to check it out.

 

[MikeSpencer]

Several years ago, I got a call from a producer who was planning a reality show about homebrewers. They had got my name from the organizer of a competition I had recently "Ninkasi'd." I politely declined to partcipate. It didn't sound like the kind of show I would watch, let alone be in. Plus, I would have had to clean the house.

I voted maybe, as a dramedy could be interesting, i.e. I'd probably watch the first episode to check it out.

I fear you'll not be a fan of my would-be show. The young people setting out to open the brewery are fresh out of college and stuck in neutral. They have to figure out how to reprioritize things and then gain the confidence and momentum they need to run a business. I can't have that all happen in a single episode and come across as believable, unless I just jump ahead in time, but that would be to overlook all the interesting things they'd be doing during to get the place off the ground. Ultimately, it's a coming-of-age story in many respects, so it's a bit of a slow burn. But who knows, if it comes around, perhaps you'll give it a chance, which is all I can ask. Thanks for the post!

 

[Dland]

A important factor would be how well it is written and acted. If it were amusing and the brewing practices were realistic, or better yet informative, I'd watch it.

 

[MikeSpencer]

A important factor would be how well it is written and acted. If it were amusing and the brewing practices were realistic, or better yet informative, I'd watch it.

The good thing along those lines is that I have made many contacts across the industry willing to share ideas from actual experiences, and they also keep my technical writing realistic. PS - You might be a good candidate to read the script. Happy to send it to you. Just fill out the request on my project website: lotsbrewing.com

 

[MikeSpencer]

Thank you for voting/commenting. I’ve got some traction, so I’ll be sure to post updates should things come together. Wish me luck!