# What Writers Should Know About A Story Engine - Brandon Violette

## Метаданные

- **Канал:** Film Courage
- **YouTube:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRZ-C1YPjMo
- **Дата:** 11.03.2026
- **Длительность:** 15:22
- **Просмотры:** 2,693
- **Источник:** https://ekstraktznaniy.ru/video/18037

## Описание

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Brandon Violette was most recently the Head Writer for RoboGobo and Pupstruction at Disney Television Animation and the Co-Creator/Head Writer of CoComelon Lane (Moonbug/Netflix), one of Netflix's top-performing preschool series. His writing credits span hit shows including Dew Drop Diaries (DreamWorks), Pupstruction (Disney Junior), T.O.T.S. (Disney Junior), Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go! (Mattel), and Stretch Armstrong & The Flex Fighters (Hasbro Studios).

In addition to his screenwriting work, Brandon is the host of The Story Series Podcast, where he interviews writers, showrunners, filmmakers, author and creators about story structure, character development, pitching and the creative mindset.

Before moving to Los Angeles, Brandon studied at the Beijing Film Academy and continues to return to China as a guest lect

## Транскрипт

### Segment 1 (00:00 - 05:00) []

Simplicity is like the most important thing especially like in any pitch just to understand it because again we always want to bring too much but it's like is there strength in just the simple story engine. — Can we talk about your pitch for Coco Melon Lane first off how did you get the opportunity uh to pitch to begin with? Yeah, I so back to the show TTS I was on um as the so that same headwriter that opened that door uh earlier where he said hey if you ever have any ideas speak up. So he ended up leaving uh later on second season I think for another show and I stayed on the show eventually I was promoted to staff writer so I was staff writing on tots and his name is Guy Tobvis he came to me like third season of totakes on Coco Melon the property and looking for aged up uh takes and do you want to do this with me and I thought oh yeah this will be like great practice like sure And so we put this pitch together. We kind of uh took in like what the property what Coco Melon was and I was like, "Okay, this is for very young kids, like kind of for babies um and nursery rhymes, but they're looking to age it up. " And so we essentially said, "What if we did like a Rugrats kind of take on these characters, these kids? " And so that's how that came about really. That's how it started. Would you have been able to get the pitch meeting if you hadn't been a screenwriter starting out? — No. So that that's an example of something that you can't predict but that comes back around, you know. So it was the you know the impression I made on him when we were working together and then he ended up leaving so we kind of go separate ways. Something falls on his desk and he's like, "Hey, do you want to team up and do this together? " And so that was, you know, a great uh circumstance of like opportunity and timing coming together. — Yeah. and being ready and and you know you talked about uh in the beginning they took you to lunch your first job and kind of said right you may get this opportunity and — yes so yeah being ready like that and just always being writing I mean that's why you're doing it in the first place so you can do it for yourself it's not like every piece of material you have to go out and try to sell but it's just doing it the act of doing is is important and so yeah when he came back around and asked me do we want to team up I literally was like oh I hadn't done this before like putting a pitch like this was great practice. Yeah. And so we got this prompt of kind of what they were looking for this like one pager of like here's the property and here's where we want to take it and uh we put a very simple pitch and a very simple story engine around that prompt and then took it to them as like an oral pitch. — How long was the pitch that you created? Oo, this was an oral pitch, so it was 10 minutes. Probably 10 minutes. Yeah. Mhm. — And how long did it take you to create that pitch? — Probably twoish weeks. Couple weeks of passing something back and forth and having some meetings of him and I and just kind of shaping it. Yeah. — Where did the pitch take place? The pitch was all on Zoom. This was during the pandemic and so I was home at the time working on another show, staff writing during the day and this was uh something that we could do. It was all from home. Yeah. — Was that do you think that was in your favor? Did you actually feel more comfortable being in your own environment doing this pitch rather than if they called you in — a bit because it was my first kind of time and also um uh you could simply a lot of people do this have your notes in front of the zoom. So instead of seeing faces because sometimes you know you're always looking for that feedback when you're pitching of like okay this person looked at their watch or the you know are they engaged am I losing them? And so you could literally just slide your notes over their faces when it's your turn to talk and then just pretend like you're pitching in front of the mirror, you know, whatever. To just take that like out of the equation and just like focus on the words and just telling the story. Yeah. And not like trying to psychoanalyze all their eye movements, you know, which can drive you nuts. — Sure. You weren't like Jan Brady in the Brady Bunch episode, right? Where she froze. Yeah. — Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's not what Yeah. — So two weeks to come up with essentially a 10-minute pitch. Yeah. — What went into that two week time? What are you doing with that? — You always bring too much. You like any first draft, you always have more than you need. And so it's really like putting everything all your ideas out there on the page and then just seeing what can we repeat because this is TV. Every episode is going to feel, you know, you trying to find the story engine. That's the key in every TV pitch especially in

### Segment 2 (05:00 - 10:00) [5:00]

kids television is like what's the engine? [snorts] And so, how can we repeat this every episode while rotating what we need to rotate out like for characters or for lessons or for loc whatever, but also have a familiarity to it because this is for kids. So, it's got to have that those repeatable elements. And so, you really finding that in the pitch is like what do we want to repeat? feel new? And is this going to satisfy over 72 episodes? Because that was I think at the time what we were told they were looking for. And it was 7 minutes too. So they we knew long. So it's like okay. So that's what we have to work with. So we stretch Armstrong was 22, Tots was 11. So it's like everything's getting like shorter now. And it's like okay, but we still want a beginning, middle, and end. You still have to have story structure in seven minutes. So like what does that look like? So it was a lot of those kinds of conversations and also making sure simplicity is like the most important thing especially like in any pitch just to understand it because again we always want to bring too much but it's like is there strength in just the simple story engine that and so that takes time is like the simple thing and shaving stuff down and getting rid of stuff you don't need. That's like where the time goes. — Can we talk about this story engine that you keep talking about? What is the story engine for Coco Melon Lane? Yeah. So, the show itself is about kids milestones. So, first time going to the doctor, dentist, uh losing your toy or all these things that kids go through. And so, it's like and we had this cast of like six kids. Uh and but one of them was like the main one, his name is JJ. And so, it was like, okay, how do we feature him as like and be true to him being like he's like the Mickey Mouse of that company? Like, he's the mascot. So, we need to feature him prominently, but all these other kids, how do we give them time as well um and feature a milestone in every episode and every and with that milestone, there's going to be an emotion. So, a kid is afraid to go to the doctors. They're going to say, "You feel afraid or you feel this? " And they validate it. The adult, you know, the mom, dad, older sibling says, "It's okay to feel that way. Here's what you can do about it. " And then you get into the song because Coco Melon is all music- based. And so they still wanted music, but they also wanted kids talking and dialogue. And that was hadn't been done before. The original Coco Melon, it's like two, three minute nursery rhymes of singing. And you see the characters and they're young obviously because it's four babies, but they're not actually talking. So this is the first time where we're giving kids these kids that everybody kind of saw aging them up, giving them voices, personalities, and then uh and then the why, which is okay, they're going they're doing some big thing they've never done before and they encounter something they didn't expect. They get help and then they go back and share it with their friends. Hey, I did that thing and uh I was scared at first, but I did this about it or did that. And in putting it together, it was like this is the hero's journey. This is their ordinary world. One of them leaves or maybe a couple of them leaves. They go do the thing. They don't think they're going to do it. They learn what they can do. They become greater than they were at the beginning and then they take that elixir back. It's like it's really funny, but that is the hero's journey. And so even in seven minutes lane, it's like yeah, that is strong. And so as a story engine, as a pitch, then you know how simple you can get because here's the structure of it. The locations can change, but like we would typically open on the playground. So it's like, okay, couple of the kids playing. They're just doing what kids do. And then they're like, but one of them has something they're going to do. And so then they tell the other kids about it. And that kid uh who's like the mascot, I told you, JJ, he broke the fourth wall. So he would be the one greeting. So we actually said it was like Rugrats meets like Ferris Beller for Coco Melon. And so he would draw the audience in. So he was our relationship to the kids at home. And so he was the one, you know, the as like the main kid that everybody associates with Coco Melon, he was the only one that could talk to the audience. So, hey, come on in. We're going to do this thing together. And so that was how we answered that kind of fun problem of like how do we make him stand out but give the other kids time to to shine. And it was like that's how you give him one little thing that's special. And then uh and then it you know they leave the playground, they go do the thing with the mom or dad or whoever. and maybe one friend comes along or doesn't and then they go back there at the end wherever they wherever we started. Maybe it was a friend's house or the playground and they go, "Hey, I just did the thing and here's what I did about it. Wow, I can't wait to do that. " And so it was that was the thing you could repeat each time that made it fun and fresh and also familiar. Yeah. — And when you interviewed Ron Ma on your story series podcast, I think he talked about how he doesn't necessarily outline, he does these short stories. — Yeah. So that was for pitching. So which was great the way he pitches is and this is the thing too like so often

### Segment 3 (10:00 - 15:00) [10:00]

pitch decks or whatever can read like technical documents which they should not um and they definitely shouldn't be pitched like a technical document but we've all fallen victim to it because it's pitching is it's its own skill set but he writes short stories. So he takes whatever the concept is for a movie or whatever and he'll write the short story version for himself and that's the version he reads and part of the reason for that is he wants the vibe of like you're not going to believe this. It's like we're around a campfire or whatever we're and this crazy thing happened and then suddenly people are like leaning you know there's the you want to listen to it as opposed to like this is about this and it's for this and you know like there's a way to hook people in just like you want to hook someone on the page. a pitch is that same thing. And so he writes it as a short story, which I think is a great exercise, too, because you are also seeing what works and what is popping for your own idea. And so I think the more you learn about what you're trying to tell or the world you're trying to create, the better. And so that's a that was a really interesting insight, — right? Yeah. I want to finish that episode because he seemed like a straight shooter with so much. He just kind of like told it like it is. We had another person that we interviewed who also talked about his 24 plot points — that he does. — Was that Eric Edson? — No, we've talked to him and he was wonderful. Uh, no, this was uh Adam Argo. — Oh, — so he talked about the 24 plot points and Ron Mita had recommended that. — Yes. Yes. That's right. That's Yes. Mhm. — What do you remember about that specific meeting for the Coco Melon Lane pitch? The thing I remember which is true for every pitch is you never know how it goes. You never know. And so we pitched that what I told you uh and you always answer questions because the executives are always going to ask questions and and then that's kind of it. And then you back to waiting and you know the part of what we were doing we know other writers are trying out. It's like an audition for an actor. Writers audition too. And so you just never know. And so we you always think, "Oh, I think it went well, but you don't know. " And so it's back to waiting and then doing other things and then hoping they reach out. And so what ended up happening is they reached out again uh and said, "Hey, we really liked it. Could you come back and pitch this higher up person? " Which is always a good sign. And so it's like, "Okay, yeah. " And so did it again. Didn't pitch. Okay. We think it goes well. and back to waiting. And I think this was like around like a December. And so it was like you have the Christmas break and all that and then you wait. [snorts] And then sometime in January, I think that was when they said, "Hey, we want your take and now we want to develop it with you. " And so then you go from you're pitching to now you're developing this show and that means Bible pilot. You're getting ready to hopefully get the green light and make it. But that was couple pitches and then you get the like you're selected. Yeah. In line with that, we actually had a question come in that we want to run by you and wondering if you can respond to this comment. How do I even get a meeting? I have two pilots fully realized with decks. Series bibles and pilots can't get anyone to respond to inquiries for attachment to take it to a producer or the managers of these big agencies won't take unsolicited work. It's really hilarious. — Yeah, it's it feels like a catch 22. No one wants to read you without a rep and then but no rep wants to um there is that tugof-war I think so you immediately have to try multiple ways there's not just one way I would say one way to do it is to target an agent or manager who is looking for someone who's new and up and coming um that so who you're targeting to then take the material to a larger company if a company won't get back to you then may they'll hopefully likely get back to a an agent or manager So maybe you should target them first and target someone who's looking for up and cominging writers is one way to do it. Um there's a lot of events now that are uh helpful in meeting people because you could just uh you know brush shoulders with someone who might know someone to help like there those networking things where like those happy accidents. You could try to put yourself in an environment where people are getting together that like like-minded writers and people and then maybe a writer could say, "Oh, you should talk to this person. " Or there's ways like that. Um but aside from just I think it goes back to that numbers. It's just like if [clears throat] someone's not willing to read it, like you know I remember I would send out like 30 query letters and get one response. You know that's and that's like okay then I have to send out 60 to get two. it. So part of it is just being politely persistent

### Segment 4 (15:00 - 15:00) [15:00]

is the other way to do it because then eventually that's how you'll increase your luck and then hopefully that timing will line up. But I I don't know another way other than just things like that. — Thank you for watching the video all the way to the end. Here is a complimentary question from our book story questions.