Leave it to Batman to inspire a story about a high school girl.
In 2005,Liz Tigelaarwas just getting started as a television writer.
She’d worked in a couple of rooms, includingDawsons Creek, but hadnt yet created her own series.
Credit: Illustration by Jamie Coe for EW
At least not until she went through a breakup and ended up seeingBatman Beginsin theaters.
Tigelaar, as the kids would say,felt that.
“I think I wrote that line in my journal,” Tigelaar says.
Courtesy Liz Tigelaar
Combine that quote with something her ex said, and Tigelaar’s idea was born.
“Thats where I lost my s—.
I was like, ‘As if theres no free will or choice?
Courtesy Liz Tigelaar
You have to choose whats meant to be!
Its a compilation of every choice you make.'”
So, Tigelaar started writing a pilot about a choice.
Courtesy Liz Tigelaar
TitledSplit Decision, the show followed a teenage girl named Lennie on her first day of school.
And when it came time for her to pick a seat in the cafeteria, things got interesting.
It was kind of aSliding Doorspilot, Tigelaar says.
Courtesy Liz Tigelaar
It showed two parallel stories of how who she sits with changes the trajectory of her relationships.
Tigelaar successfully sold the pilot to UPN, which then merged with Warner Brothers to form The CW.
But that didnt stopSplit Decisionfrom heading to Vancouver and filming the pilot.
Courtesy Liz Tigelaar
The idea I loved is that everything will happen to all of us, Tigelaar says.
In high school youll have prom and graduation, whether you go or not.
The milestones will happen, but the circumstances surrounding everything that happens could be totally different.
In one version, we explored how your enemy could be your best friend.
Its how you connect with people.
The feedback we got was, Which one is really her?
Split Decisionmay not have been picked up to series, but it did have a lasting impact.
Guess you could say it was the right decision.
Check out a couple of script pages fromSplit Decisionbelow:
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