Anyone can invent 5 characters for a movie or TV series - but just because the characters are interesting doesn't mean the show will succeed, or even that the characters will work out well. I think it would be much more meaninful to ask, "Here is the general plot for a movie, here is the general concept for a TV series... Now what assortment of characters would you plug into that?"
It's funny. I was just reading Sol Stein's masterpiece, "Stein on Writing," and he says that, if one is interested in writing compelling stories, you should do just the opposite. He's a renown editor, author, and writing instructor. He says
"characters make your story. If the people come alive, what they do becomes the story. Writers of literary and much mainstream fiction usually begin by imagining a character ... Some writers of popular and transient fiction begin with a character, but a large percentage who write category books (e.g. adventure , spy, westerns, science fiction, romance novels) start with a plot, then populate it with characters. That method usually results in hackwork, at which some writers have become so skilled that they have made millions with stories that even their devoted readers acknowledge seem 'made up.'
Other writers can't help starting out with a theme that obsesses them. They imagine characters whose lives might involve the theme, or they work out the plot first. If their allegiance is to character, their theme-originated story has a better chance of survival."
This is why Dungeons and Dragons the movie is a hackwork and Lord of the Rings brings me to tears every time I watch the damn thing. This is why I'd much rather read Tolkien or Gaiman or Pullman or Susanna Clarke than read Weis or Hickman or Salvatore.
So, yeah, I think this is a fantastic exercise. BTW, to any aspiring writers of fiction, I'd strongly recommend Sol Stein's books. The man knows his craft.
