Create Great Titles for Your Projects: Tons of Tips...

Announcer: Welcome to Producing Unscripted with Joke and Biagio.

Angry Man: Is this some kind of joke?

Biagio: Biagio. Who did this episode? It’s episode 117, and we’re sharing everything we know about creating catchy titles for your projects. The four goals you should aim for with every title you create properly researching what title will work for you. Ten count them ten title templates to help you brainstorm and joke has a dark side. Music courtesy Dave Pelman. Music Dave Pelman.com. Hey everybody. She is joke. He’s Biagio. We’re married. We make unscripted film and television and want to help you do the same.

Joke: Hopefully by teaming up with us.

Biagio: All right. Well, happy June everybody. It looks like June Gloom is finally almost over.

Joke: Hi. I don’t know, it’s almost July, but it’s still very foggy. As our four year old in the car said, mommy, why is it so foggy this morning?

Biagio: I know. I got to tell you, I moved to Los Angeles from Cleveland because it’s supposed to be better weather and it’s still better weather, but it’s not what it was 20 years ago. I’m hoping it gets back to being nice and warm out here. Yeah, beats Cleveland any day. Who am I kidding?

Joke: Our daughter is in Belgium right now experiencing a heat wave over there.

Biagio: That’s right. I thought her went to Belgium in order to catch some rays. We’re we’re we’re back here freezing. So anyways, listen, today we have something really exciting I want to talk to you about, because we’ve actually gotten a lot of questions about this over the years, and we never really got around to doing a podcast on it. And that’s about researching and choosing great titles for your projects. It’s so crucial that when someone hear your title or read your title, they instantly get a feeling for what your show is. But it’s not as simple as just coming up with something that sounds cool. There are specific reasons certain titles work for certain kinds of projects, so today’s episode is going to be broken down into two sections.

Joke: First, we’re going to talk big picture title stuff, share some anecdotes about our own title journeys. And they were journeys quite adventures and also give you an idea of what you’re aiming for when creating a title.

Biagio: That in the second part, we’ll get into ten tried and true templates for creating interesting titles. And by tried and true, I mean I’ve used them and I name them myself. So hopefully you’ll find them useful to.

Joke: All right. So let’s start with part one big picture stuff.

Biagio: All right. So first up I want to give you a little piece of advice before we get started. And this is to keep you sane. You need to know more than likely whatever title you come up with for your project will be changed by the network or studio or somebody. Someone’s going to change your title. This drives some producers and writers crazy. They can’t stand the fact that their title that they slaved over gets changed. It’s going to happen. So it’s better for you to know now, no matter how much you love a title, it is probably going to change.

Joke: Yeah, I think it’s just to also understand some of the legal process that goes behind it. Once a show gets made and it’s going to go on air, we have to do this thing called the title report, where you literally pay legal researchers to see if anybody else has a claim on that title or a title close to it, and it takes some time. They run every single check that you could possibly imagine. So the legal process that goes in it is pretty extensive, which is why everybody kind of wants their $0.02 of like what kind of title works and what doesn’t work. Sometimes it’s really easy, for example, with unmasking a killer. That’s what we pitched it as. And then, you know, they pick up the show and I’m ready to now go on my title journey and be like, okay, so should we come up with some more titles? And CNN was like, no, we like the title. That’s the title.

Unidentified Voice: And was.

Joke: Like, wow, okay. But you know, our MTV show cage was originally pitched as Fight Life early in our career. We were brought onto a show for the Style Network, which was based on a book called Cook Your Way Into Her Pants. Obviously, that title is completely inappropriate for a network aimed at 35 plus educated women. So that changed.

Biagio: Yeah, we went through a lot of title pitches on that one. I remember my favorite one that didn’t get picked was you have to cook it up to hook it up. Anyways, in the end, that show became Foody Call.

Joke: And then Don’t trust Andrew Maine was pitched as magic and mischief goes inside. My child was originally called back from the dead, but like I said, unmasking a killer was pitched as it was. Scream Queens was pitched as it was deadly. Recall actually has an interesting story. That’s what we pitched it as, and they really liked it, but they just wanted to be sure. So they actually internally came up with like six other titles and ran all the titles through focus group testing. So as they were focused grouping the show, they also tested the titles. And then Deadly Recall actually ended up being the title everyone liked best, which was great. And that’s the title of the show. But what that does to you as you’re making the show kind of side note is you’re making a show where the title is not sure yet. So in terms of like your editing and your graphics package and all that stuff oftentimes has to come together at the very end, because some networks will take as long as they can to really make sure they have the right title, which, you know, look, a title makes a big difference to the audience. It’s not that that’s not wise business strategy, it’s just that as a producer, you need to know that’s part of the title journey.

Biagio: In Deadly Recall. From from a practical standpoint, I was the one doing the opening titles, so I had already designed them. I’d already cut them all together to the music, but then we’re delivering cuts and we’re delivering episodes, and we still don’t know what our title is. And I was thinking, oh man, if I have to redo all these graphics, it’s going to be some really long nights. Luckily it wasn’t. Now I want to go into another point though. Okay, this is very important just because your title might change. In fact, just because it probably will change that doesn’t mean you can skip out on the sweat equity of brainstorming tons of title concepts. You still need a title that sounds like a TV show or a movie or whatever you’re pitching, and it has to be good. What does that mean? Well, to wrap up section one of today’s app, we like to offer the four goals you should aim for with every title you create.

Joke: Okay, so goal number one seems like an obvious one, but it needs to clearly convey what kind of project you’re pitching. Your title should tell anyone right away in terms of like tone and style and really dejar of your project. So great titles like Deadliest Catch clearly state it’s an action packed show. You know, they’ll probably be some danger since it’s Deadliest Catch, and it’ll be good for places like History or Discovery. On the other hand, say yes to the dress clues you in that it’s a female skewing show, and there’ll be emotions and fashions and decisions to be made.

Biagio: Exactly. So point number two, tip number two, inspire curiosity. All right. When people hear your title, they should want to know more. You know, when you hear the title The Curse of Oak Island, you know, it’s great. It makes you go, well, there’s a curse on Oak Island. Tell me more. At least that’s what it makes me go in our. It shows me.

Joke: Go. Where’s Oak Island?

Biagio: Yeah. In our. But either way, it’s like, oh, I’m curious. In our show, I’m asking a killer. You know, we’re trying to reveal the identity of one of the most notorious serial killers of all time. Who is it? Will he be caught? So your title needs to inspire curiosity, period.

Joke: Right. Your title can’t be. And she said yes.

Biagio: No, that would not be a good title.

Joke: Don’t give away the ending. Okay, so point number three attract buyers and then eventually viewers. So it’s really important your title speaks to the audience you’re chasing. So what are the millions of viewers that tune into that network or you know, on the streaming platform now that might be flipping by it? Or if it’s just a single network executive you’re pitching to, so you’re never going to pitch a show called yesterday, Dress the History Channel, and you wouldn’t want to pitch a show called Deadliest Catch the Lifetime. You got to understand your show, and if it’s an action male driven project, the title should reflect that. And same if you’re out with like a new take on dating, it’s got to be a title that appeals to women.

Biagio: Now, this is also where generic titles can actually really hurt you. You know? Just imagine if Deadliest Catch had been pitched as I love fishing for crabs. Now that might sound silly when I say it that way, but we actually see a lot of titles that they’re a little too bland, a little too vague to one of those describing the plot of the show, but giving no sense of the tone of the show. That’s why it’s important to research titles the buyers currently have on the air. Listen, every single project we do when we’re when we’re developing it, the first thing I do is I say, who would this be right for? Let’s say it’s a female skewing show. I head over to lifetime and see what they have on there. Say yes to the dress, marrying millions. Okay, so that’s going to inspire me to write one kind of title. If I go over to History Channel, I’m going to see The Curse of Oak Island forged in fire, forged in fire, the curse of Civil War gold. Apparently they like the word curse over there. So if you have a History Channel show, put curse in it. But the point is, just by doing that homework, it gets you in the right frame of mind to create a title that’s going to fit in with what they’re currently pushing on their error. And you know, they’re currently pushing it because it’s on TV shows now page. You know what TV shows are on now. Tip number.

Joke: Four and I think this is a big one also is do it concisely. So, you know, Biagio told you earlier that one of the things we were talking about was cook it up to hook it up. It’s just too long, right? So when you put that, if you’re flipping through the channels like it’s either too many words on like a Netflix little like rectangle, that you’re not really going to be able to read it well. Or if you’re flipping through the TV guide, it’s just going to say, cook it up and, you know, to hook it up will disappear. So, you know, try to go for 2 to 4 words. There are exceptions, but it’s important in TV, especially to remember concisely. Getting your message across will be better.

Biagio: Okay. So now you know you want your title to telegraph what kind of project you’re pitching. Inspire curiosity, attract buyers, and be concise. Now we’re going to move into the second part of today’s episode, different kinds of titles. Now, what we found useful, and really what I found useful in the past, is to try to categorize different kinds of titles, to examine how they work, and get inspired to create 5 or 6 potential titles, sometimes a lot more. So today we’re going to share ten of these with you. Count em. Ten. Yeah, that’s a bunch. Now there’s more categories we could come up with. All right. Like this. This isn’t completely exhaustive, but these ten cover most kinds of titles, and they really offer guidance on different ways to structure the names of your projects.

Joke: And it’s great to use it as inspiration. Now, not every show you know will. You’ll be able to use one of these kind of subsections as a way to inspire you to write the title for your show. But but it should like, inspire kind of out of the box ideas.

Biagio: So number one, just say it. This is the most straight ahead title you can have. It still has to sound cool. Dancing with the stars, America’s Got Talent.

Joke: Unmasking a killer.

Biagio: The Real Housewives of Orange County.

Joke: Naked and Afraid, Wife Swap.

Biagio: America’s Best Dance Crew. So I mean, I think that yeah, you get it. It’s pretty straightforward. Okay. Number two, sell a subculture. This is where your title fills you in that we’re going to get to know a group of people who we’ve never been exposed to before, hopefully. So for instance, Dance Moms, while it was also mentioned in the first one of just saying it, it’s also selling you on that subculture. Ice road truckers, mountain men. These are all subcultures that, you know, just from hearing the title of the show, you’re going to get an interesting look into a world that hopefully isn’t already all over television.

Joke: Number three would be the big question, right? Who wants to be a millionaire that really simply says, like, Will someone win a million bucks? And I’m like, oh, someone might win a million bucks, right? The dating show for love or money, you know, why will someone get into a relationship? Will they pick love or will they pick the money? Deal or no deal? Will someone walk away with a guaranteed money or will they risk it all? You know, imposing these questions, you’re raising curiosity in your potential buyers and viewers. Titles pose a question, and then you watch the show to get your answer.

Biagio: All right. Number four, we call this one twisted phrases. Now these are sayings or cliches that we’re used to hearing.

Joke: So married at first sight. Obviously a play on love at first sight town Hall, which they spell Hall is obviously a play on the other town hall. Keeping Up With the Kardashians is a famous one, obviously built on keeping up with the Joneses.

Biagio: Right now. Number five is actually a little evolution of the twisted phrases, and I call this riffing on existing TV and movie titles, which isn’t a very good title for a tip, but that was what I that’s what I call it.

Joke: It’s pretty much piggybacking unknown IP. So number four is more like cliches and sayings that everybody might have heard of. And then number five is more like pop culture TV and movie titles that are there. And then you kind of put a twist on those.

Biagio: So for instance, the show Who Wants to Marry a multi-Millionaire, you know, was clearly a plan Who Wants to Be a millionaire? Dinner impossible. On the Food Network, obviously based on Mission Impossible ID has a great one called Unusual Suspects, you know, which is a play on The Usual Suspects. Again, Hogan knows Best is sort of like that old TV show Father Knows Best, which probably most of you have never seen, but that’s what that was playing on our show. Beauty and the geek was a play on beauty and the beast, and my personal favorite, Twisted Sisters Eye is not so much a film or TV movie, but that’s playing up on a band. Twisted sister, who did one of my favorite songs ever. We’re not going to take it.

Joke: We’re not going to take it. So this is really kind of riffing on pop culture IP kind of taking a title that people are used to what? It’s a band name or a movie or TV title and kind of putting a new twist on it. Okay, moving on to inspiration. Number six would be kind of what is called the dramatic destination. I think it’s, you know, it’s it evokes a place that makes you curious. It makes you want to go there. So the hills, you’re like, oh, the hills like what’s what’s in the hills. It seems fabulous. It seems glamorous. I want to know what The Hills is about. Curse of Oak Island is another great example here because like I said, it makes me go. Where’s Oak Island? What’s Oak Island and why does it have a curse? And even Shark Tank kind of gives you a place that these people will be walking into something scary and, you know, but we all know sharks, right? And sharks are people with the with money. But sharks can also kill ya. So there’s a, there’s a, there’s a nice little, little play on words there. But again it kind of it evokes a destination that comes with questions and drama and suspense.

Biagio: Yes. Okay. Moving on to number seven. I call this one name or moniker. Now, this only works if the lead character or characters in your show have real name value. Okay, the Osbornes dog the Bounty Hunter, who was, you know, had been all over the news. RuPaul’s Drag Race we all know RuPaul, Vanderpump Rules. She was at the top of her game. You know Braxton family values as Toni Braxton family. So for this to work, you know it can’t be, you know, hey, it’s the joke and Biagio show. No one’s going to buy that. You know, we don’t have that kind of name recognition. Well, maybe the people who are listening to it. Maybe people who are listening. Yeah, but, you know, it can’t be like, you know, it can’t be like, you know, you know, Bob, whoever, you know, it needs to have name value. But if you’re working on something that has name value, this is definitely one to consider.

Joke: Tip number eight. Tip number eight would be kind of invoking like a mission an action. Right. So hunting Hitler is a is a big one. You know I mean 911 you know bar rescue Deadliest Catch. Even though all these shows are very different from each other, they all kind of have that like, oh yes, it evokes action. And so those are great titles, you know, survivor, you know, again, a completely different type of show, a competition elimination. But it’s like wow. Yeah, there’s there’s surviving is going to have to be done on a show named survivor. So let’s watch that. So, you know, anything that kind of evokes a mission and an action, think about your show and be like, can my show do that? Like, what’s the title for my show that evokes action? Because obviously the audience for Hunting Hitler and Nanny 911 or Deadliest Catch and Nanny 911 are very different. But both titles evoke an action.

Biagio: Yeah, it’s it’s like evoking a process, you know, it’s like letting your viewer know, hey, this is the journey we’re going to take you on. All right. So moving on to number nine. I call this one defining trait. The first one is when it has been on a while for a while. But I think it’s perfect. The Dog whisperer right. That’s that’s what that’s what he does. That’s his thing. That’s what defines him. He’s the dog whisperer. Our own show, Deadly Recall. You know, that’s 100% playing on Pat’s photographic memory, right? It’s based on the defining trait of our main character. So, you know, I think that’s that’s one that doesn’t get overused. And I think that’s a good one to look at when you’re coming up with, you know, with your titles.

Joke: And lasso, not least number ten, this is always a fun one to play with is unlikely pairings. Or it’s like alliteration or rhymes or like things that really.

Biagio: Words you wouldn’t necessarily think go together but are put together in a clever way.

Joke: Yeah. So alliteration helps like toddlers entries, right? Or Duck Dynasty. But then you also can play with rhymes. I think one of my favorite titles of all times is wives with knives. You know, you just get it.

Biagio: Should I be scared?

Joke: Oh, that’s a good point. I did use to sell knives for a living.

Unidentified Voice: That’s right.

Joke: So I am a wife and I have knives, so. Yeah. So just have fun. I think for ten unlikely pairings is have fun, try different things and see play with rhymes, play with alliteration. And I think, you know, an extra little tip when we look for titles and when we’re playing with titles, a lot of time I have like Rhyme Zone Open or, you know, even like Scrabble, word finder stuff. You know, you just type in a few letters and see what comes up. You never know, you know, you can come up with some cool words that, that help you, you know, come up with a great title.

Biagio: One more thought on the unlikely pairings ones. Now it doesn’t have to rhyme and it doesn’t have to have alliteration. And I’ll give you the best example of that ever of two words you wouldn’t think go together, but turned into a big show which was Amish Mafia. Who on earth would ever put together the words Amish and Mafia? Well, and it’s also.

Joke: A great subculture because you’re like, wait, the Amish have a mafia? Like, I would never think the Amish would have a mafia. So yes, that’s that’s a that’s a great example of unlikely parents. Things that make you go.

Unidentified Voice: Like joke.

Biagio: And Biagio, that wasn’t unlikely pairing, mainly because I had a chaser to get her to go out with me.

Joke: It’s not an unlikely pairing for people who know us, though it was an unlikely pairing at the beginning. People were like, well.

Biagio: Anyway, so there you have it. You know, that’s a big look at choosing your titles. We talked about a lot of things today. We gave you the four goals to aim for. We talked a little bit about researching your titles and then we gave you ten count em ten title templates that we use. Feel free to use them. Feel free to come up with your own, but I hope you found this helpful. You’ll be able to find the show notes for today at Producing Unscripted Comedy 117 that’s cruising on Crypto.com 117. Because it’s episode 117, you can actually get to all of our episodes that way. And you know, as always, if you are an aspiring producer or a working professional and you think me and joke aren’t too weird and you might want to pitch to us, you can learn all about doing that at the website.

Joke: And by the way, if you have a great kind of tip and trick on how you come up with titles, please do share it with us. We’d love to hear it.

Biagio: Yeah, absolutely. We’ll put it in the episode next time. Thanks so much, everybody. We’ll see you in July. Until then, I hope it stays warm for you. And thanks so much for listening.

Joke: Thank you so much and talk soon.

Biagio: Producing Unscripted with Joke and Biagio.