I am currently writing a script and I can't seem to decide to make it a series, a mini-series, or a movie script.

I definatly know that I what I want to put in it will make it kinda long, but I don't know what length considers as a movie script, a mini, or a regular series.

can someone help me on this?

A movie script is about 2 hours long. Rarely is it allowed to go longer.

A mini-series is generally told in 2 hour "episodes" with usually anywhere from 2-6 episodes, although it could be more, and the length of each episode could be less, but not normally. the complete run time would between 4 and 12 hours. Lord of the Rings could easily have been a mini-series. Only the popularity of the books allowed it to be a movie series, which is rare.

A TV series is written to not have an ending, but continue for as many seasons of 22-26 episodes as can be squeezed out of the public interest. Episodes are 30-60 minutes depending on genre and audience, so a completed series can run for days. Friends, my favorite example, would run for around 8400 minutes or 140 hours or 5.8 days if you played every episode end to end. Stargate SG-1's 8 seasons would currently last 9360 minutes or 156 hours or 6.5 days.

Depends on what you want out of it and what you think you can make of it.

The Stand was 366 minutes and it was a movie. But thanks for the help. Still a little confused on why a mini-series can't just be a regular series.

Because its to long to tell in as an average movie or either its not good enough to be a feature film. They can't be series either because theire are seasons in series, and there isn't enough story to make it into another season.

Quoted from jstxanothrxstory The Stand was 366 minutes and it was a movie. But thanks for the help. Still a little confused on why a mini-series can't just be a regular series.

The Stand had to be broken up into three or four nights, but it was just a single movie.

I remember there was talk of one of the networks producing a series that would last only one season.  Nothing ever came of it.  With all the discussion of Alan Moore's Watchmen series, the best idea I heard was to have it be a twelve episode series on cable.


Phil

I think the essential difference between a series and a miniseries is the concept of "regular episodes". That is, in most series, an episode has some kind of formula or standard occurrence that is simply done in a different way each time. A miniseries is more or less a prolonged movie, with each episode adding up towards the climax or simply adding to the plot of the movie. There does not have to be any formula here.

So if your script is just a very long plot- say, an extensive adaptation of the odyssey and the illiad- you might want a miniseries. However, if what you are interested in a general theme- say, the story of high school students who form a band- a series would be best.

Oh okay.

See, the thing I was writing is about high schoolers who deal with real life issues. But, each episode continues from the previous episode and the plots are interlink. I'm not too sure whether a plot like this would be best for a series or a mini-series.

I've never seen a modern-type show like that be a mini-series. I've only seen Scifi/fantasy miniseries, and I thought that was the only type of miniseries there was.

Well, the first question is do you have a definite plot? Are the beginning and end known to you already, and is the point of the series just to lead up to the end? If yes, if each episode builds on its predecessor to build a climax and resolution, it's probably a miniseries. If not, and the number of episodes, distance to the end and exact end depend on "how things turn out", then it's most probably a series. Perhaps you could let on just a bit more information about the structure, the format, of the series/miniseries?

Well, in the first episode, we're introduced to the characters. There's a plot going on about Phil and Bryan being to close, Mark and Andrew getting stoned too much, Ned and Kelsi fighting too much. Towards the end of the third act, Bryan tells Phil he's gay and Kelsi gets kidnapped.

In the second episode, Phil tries to avoid Bryan and Kelsi plots a way to get out.

That's basically all I have outlined right now.

If that's all you have outlined, it sounds like a series.  There's no definite end to the plot from what I see, but it's a continuing saga.

There's a BBC mini-series on here now, about a serial killer and something (I don't watch it).  The entire mini-series deals with this one killer; if there were an episodic format and a new case each time, that would be a full series.

One last exception:  If you feel that you can't keep it interesting for 22+ episodes, it's best as a miniseries.  The last thing you want is a stale, repetitive series (which TV is full of).

I was thinking of making it a mini-series, but I think I have too many episodes planned though.

Okay, I'll make a few episodes and put them up here and let you decide to make it a series or a mini.

Quoted from jstxanothrxstory The Stand was 366 minutes and it was a movie. But thanks for the help.

Quoted from dogglebe The Stand had to be broken up into three or four nights, but it was just a single movie.

This is called semantics. When a TV movie can be broken into pieces and played in a serial format such as The Stand, then it CAN BE considered a mini-series, although when released on DVD, it is recut to be a continuous film.

A mini-series is simply something in TV land that is longer than one movie, but has a resolution within a few episodes/evenings so it can't be a series. The actual length of a mini-series is a highly variable thing dependant on popularity of the material and time frame available. If The Stand were cut into 23 minute chunks to play in half-hour slots, it would last 16 evenings. 45 minutes for the hour viewings would be 8 nights.

The basic definition of a series is a sequence of anything. The Stand played in sequential evenings and was therefore a series by definition. It was not a full series, so in TV speak, it was a mini-series.

Okay, that makes since. I think I'm going to do a regular series, but I'm keeping the seasons short. More information about the project can be found at http://www.freewebs.com/mlaat .