Download a TV pilot template with a teaser, five acts, and an optional tag. Replace the scene prompts and adapt the act breaks to your story.
Download the starter and open it in Plot.
Editable Fountain source. The download contains the text below.
Title: YOUR PILOT TITLE Credit: written by Author: Your Name [[This starter uses a teaser, five acts, and an optional tag. Add, remove, or rename breaks to suit your pilot. Replace the bracketed prompts before sharing.]] > TEASER < INT. [OPENING LOCATION] - NIGHT [Introduce a person in the middle of a specific problem. Give us an image or action that makes the situation clear.] CHARACTER [A line that changes what the other person does next.] [End on a discovery, decision, or unanswered question that carries us into the episode.] > END OF TEASER < === > ACT ONE < INT. [MAIN LOCATION] - DAY [Show what the central character wants today and what stands in the way. Let their first choice set the episode in motion.] CHARACTER [A line that commits them to that choice.] [End the act with a consequence that changes the plan.] > END OF ACT ONE < === > ACT TWO < EXT. [NEW LOCATION] - DAY [The character tries a more difficult approach. Give another character a conflicting goal.] [End with a complication caused by what someone chose to do.] > END OF ACT TWO < === > ACT THREE < INT. [LOCATION] - DAY [A discovery changes the character's understanding of the problem. Show the different action they take because of it.] [End with a decision that makes retreat harder.] > END OF ACT THREE < === > ACT FOUR < INT. [LOCATION] - NIGHT [Bring the cost of the earlier decisions into the scene. Put the immediate goal and a personal relationship in conflict.] [End with a choice that leads directly into the final confrontation.] > END OF ACT FOUR < === > ACT FIVE < EXT. [FINAL LOCATION] - NIGHT [Resolve the episode's immediate problem through the character's actions. Show what that resolution changes for the people who remain.] [Leave a specific source of conflict or unfinished business that can generate another episode.] > END OF ACT FIVE < === > TAG < INT. [LOCATION] - LATER [Optional: a brief consequence, reversal, or final image. Delete this section when the episode ends more effectively with Act Five.] > END OF EPISODE <
This starter uses one five-act layout. Add, remove, or rename the breaks for the pilot you are writing; the scene prompts are there to help you begin.
Download the Fountain starter and open it in Plot. Replace the title, character names, locations, and bracketed scene prompts with your own material.
Download an editable feature screenplay starter with a title page, scene headings, action, dialogue, and a short original opening sequence.
Get the templateMinimal Fountain scaffold for shorts and proof-of-concept scripts.
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