TV Development Guide

  Head of Development, New Regency

  Senior Vice President, SYFY

  Vice President, Drama Development, Warner Brothers

  ANDREW PLOTKIN was the Warner Brothers development executive I

  worked with when I worked for JERRY BRUCKHEIMER. He is profes-

  sional, charismatic and fun. When his boss at Warner Brothers left to

  start his own production company, he asked Andrew to join him, which

  he did. He has worked on all sides of the TV Development business and

  still loves it. He’s currently a development executive at Sony. We met

  on the Sony lot in February, 2018.

  Stephanie (SV): How did you get your start in the TV business?

  Andrew Plotkin (AP): My first job was working at a studio. Do

  you remember Rysher Entertainment?

  SV: I do.

  AP: I was an intern there for maybe five months or so and a desk

  opened up, and I became an assistant to the head of the television

  department. I did that for about a year. I got promoted off that

  desk and was off and running.

  SV: Is that where you learned about TV Development?

  AP: Yes, that’s exactly how. I realized this is a thing, a business, a

  career.

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  SV: Why did you choose to do TV Development as opposed to do-

  ing something else in the business?

  AP: Originally I thought I was going to be on the movie side of

  the business, but I soon learned about the pace of TV and realized

  I don’t have the patience to work on the movie side. I saw that,

  with TV, you have to constantly feed the beast.

  SV: So were you promoted at Rysher to an executive pretty fast

  and not an assistant very long?

  AP: Yeah, Rysher had a lot of shows. It was good timing. I got

  lucky.

  SV: You’ve been a producer, a writer, a studio and a network exec-

  utive. What was your favorite role and why?

  AP: If I had to choose one as a favorite I would choose producer

  because you are constantly learning. No one project is ever the

  same. They all bring their own sets of obstacles and you have to

  learn how to overcome them. It was just the most kind of rapid

  growth as a producer. I mean, I do the same thing now but, as a

  producer, you are more hands-on. You go from the script to the

  budget to marketing. You touch every part of the process in a

  more meaningful way. A studio executive is less detailed-oriented

  and has more of an overview, and the volume is just SO much

  more in this job.

  SV: Does your role at SONY today differ from when you were a

  studio executive at Warner Bros. 15 years ago?

  AP: In terms of the job, not so much. The job’s the job. It’s more

  or less the same. What’s different is the business, like at Warner's

  it was relatively easy to sell a show. They (the networks) were

  like, “Yeah, we’ll buy it.” They (the networks) would take ‘flyers’

  on things, whereas now good is not good enough. It’s got to be

  rock solid. The package is very important. Today it’s more about

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  how we put it together, the sales and packaging.

  SV: You pursued becoming a writer at one point in your career.

  Why did you decide not to pursue that anymore?

  AP: It was too lonely. When I was in my pajamas at 3:30 in the

  afternoon and I hadn’t left the house, I realized it wasn’t for me. I

  needed more immediate feedback. Like I was saying before, I get

  so impatient. I love being really, really busy bouncing from one

  task to the other. As a writer, the pace is like way different, way

  slower. I love writing, but I couldn’t do it every day. It has to be

  the only thing in the world you can possibly see yourself doing.

  SV: What can a writer or producer just starting out do to get their

  projects in front of you?

  AP: As a writer, it can’t be unsolicited for legal reasons. It has to

  come through an agent or lawyer. As a producer, be an aggressive

  producer. Pick up the phone and say, “I have a great idea.” Be

  persistent and keep at it. Tell the assistants.

  SV: What kinds of shows do you like to develop?

  AP: For me, it’s all about character and emotion. Whatever the

  show is, it all starts with character. Whether it's a pure soap

  opera, or a genre high-concept Game of Thrones kind of thing, it

  doesn’t matter. I love all of it as long as the character stuff is very,

  very powerful. I think that’s the only reason why TV works.

  SV: What is the most memorable pitch you’ve heard?

  AP: I think the most memorable pitch to this day was at Warner’s

  and it was with SHAUN CASSIDY. He had gotten the rights and

  access to the ELTON JOHN library of songs so he created a show

  using characters from his songs. He created this whole mythology

  using some of his really well-known songs. We were pitching it to

  GAIL BERMAN at FOX, and he’s pitching it just regular, and then

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  he gets up and it’s SHAUN CASSIDY, and he can sing! So he

  starts singing, performing in the room and we’re just like, “What’s

  going on here? This is amazing.” So that was pretty cool.

  SV: Did they buy it?

  AP: They did NOT buy it. I think it was ahead of its time. They

  didn’t know what to do with it.

  SV: So it never got made? You didn’t sell it?

  AP: No.

  SV: Would you pursue it today?

  AP: Yeah, in a heartbeat.

  SV: What is the best script you developed that didn’t get made,

  and what happened?

  AP: ( laughing) Oh, my God, there’s like a million of them. Okay,

  so one of my favorites, I think LIONSGATE is doing it right now

  actually. It’s a book series called, “The Kingkiller Chronicle.” It’s

  a grounded, fantasy, period-piece, like Game of Thrones, and it’s an

  amazing story. It’s basically the Batman story. It’s about this kid

  who sees his parents and his whole extended family get murdered

  by these essentially immortal, supernatural, bad guys. So he de-

  votes his life to train himself to ultimately confront these really

  bad people, kill them and get revenge. But underneath it all, it

  had this incredible musical element. It’s one of the best book se-

  ries I’ve ever read in my whole life. I mean the script was amaz-

  ing. We sold it to NBC and it should have been a cable show.

  They kind of tried to water it down, give it a franchise essentially,

  and it just didn’t work. That was disappointing.

  SV: Now, you said LIONSGATE is doing it.

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  AP: Yeah, I think when the rights lapsed they picked it up. I think

  they are double-developing it as a movie and a series.

  SV: Probably for cable?

  AP: For sure. It has to be on cable.

  SV: What would you say is the most challenging aspect to devel-

  oping a script?

  AP: I think the most challenging aspect is making it emotionally

  resonate. The challenge is that the writer may be hearing it and

  seeing it one way that can feel incredibly emotional, but if it’s not

  translating to th
e page you’re at a major impasse. So how do you

  get from inside somebody’s head to the page? It’s very hard.

  That’s tough.

  SV: What is your favorite part of the TV Development process?

  AP: My favorite part is getting that first draft and seeing if there’s

  anything there. Is there a there, there, and then honing it from

  there. That’s the best.

  SV: What’s the most challenging part of your job?

  AP: For me, the challenging part of my job is pitching it because

  you only have about twenty minutes to communicate a lot of in-

  formation and to get the people (the network) to feel what it is

  you’re talking about. They hear like fifty pitches a day, or what-

  ever it is, so they are way ahead of you. They know what the

  show is the second you sit down. So how do you get them (the

  network) to care about it? And that’s tough.

  SV: What is your most successful project you are proud of?

  AP: I was very proud of this show called, Being Human, when I

  was at the SYFY network because, at the time, the network was

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  saying they wanted to elevate their programming and do some-

  thing not cheesy. It ended up being satisfying on a few levels.

  One, it was a format that we got from the UK and we were having

  a hard time finding a writer that could do the character stuff and

  the genre stuff. It was about a ghost and a werewolf and a vam-

  pire who live together. But it was a real drama, so I decided to put

  these two writers together. It turns out they were married, but

  they were not a writing team at that time. Together they made the

  perfect, in theory, writer [for this project] and it worked out. They

  went on to create a very grounded, emotional and intense monster

  movie, basically. It was really cool.

  SV: What advice do you have for writers, creators, and producers

  looking to sell a show?

  AP: I would say the first two questions to ask yourselves are,

  “Why is whatever it is you’re doing relevant now?” and “Why

  should anyone care about it?” You gotta remember, there are so

  many choices. That’s what I ask myself, “Why now?” and “Why

  do I care about whatever the series is saying?”

  SV: Being that SONY is an independent studio, meaning they are

  not aligned with any network, what are your thoughts about the

  future of Indie studios?

  AP: We are lucky because we can truly work with pretty much

  anybody out there. We are very entrepreneurial. I think that to

  remain an Indie you have to be more and more entrepreneurial

  and figure out creative ways to get stuff done. We’re thinking a

  lot right now, for example, about starting to sell a show interna-

  tionally and then maybe bringing it back here. So, I think that’s

  the key. You have to constantly change up the game and figure

  out ways that you kind of slip through the cracks and find a niche.

  Everything is changing so fast you have to be ahead of those

  changes.

  SV: Do you think one day they (indie studios) will go away and

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  networks will only work with their in-house studio?

  AP: No, I think that that is cyclical. I think they (the networks) go

  through phases of, “We’re only going in-house," and then they re-

  alize that it’s not the best way to get the best creative material.

  SV: Is there an Indie TV model similar to Indie movies?

  AP: Not as successful because that movie model is driven by the

  financing. When you’re selling here, people don’t need your

  money. It’s nice to presell something and go to NBC and say you

  can have this at a fraction of the license fee. Maybe that works,

  but what you’re giving up is the emotional investment of that

  show. If they love a show, they are going to keep it on the air and

  make it work. If it’s more of a transactional kind of thing, they

  will feel they can cancel in a heartbeat and it doesn’t matter.

  SV: What is the measure of a successful show?

  AP: A smaller, diehard, loyal fan base. That’s how these shows on

  Netflix and cable come back. If they ever let us know what those

  numbers are, what the ratings are… However, they are probably

  not that big, but they are super-consistent and satisfying a key

  demographic.

  SV: That’s really for cable or streaming. What about broadcast?

  AP: I guess for either. The true measure is being able to cut

  through all the clutter.

  *****

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  INTERVIEW WITH CHRISTINA DAVIS

  Partner, Maniac Productions

  SVP, Drama Development, CBS

  I met CHRISTINA DAVIS when she was an assistant at CBS and I was

  an assistant at Spelling Entertainment. Over the years, both of us have

  worked on many of the same TV shows. Christina rose through the

  ranks at CBS and, in recent years, I have been pitching to her as an inde-

  pendent producer.

  She recently left the network and partnered with writer/producer,

  MICHAEL SEITZMAN to form Maniac Productions. They have an

  overall deal with Disney (ABC Studios). When I met with her, they had

  a show in post-production for FREEFORM called, Cleopatra, and have

  a pilot that was picked up at ABC called, Staties. Here is an excerpt

  from my interview with her in January, 2018.

  Stephanie (SV): When did you find out what Television Develop-

  ment is?

  Christina (CD): My first job out of college was a receptionist job at

  TV Guide. I worked in advertising for less than a year, and one of

  the editorial writers made the jump over to a show called, Sisters,

  with SELA WARD, on the Warner Brothers lot. She came back to

  visit one day and asked me what I wanted to do. I told her I was

  in job transition and I didn’t want to continue working in adver-

  tising. She called me that night and asked if I could come and be

  the writers’ assistant for this show, which was in its sixth year. So

  I got a little bit of a handle of what TV Development was there.

  But when that show was cancelled, I went into the Warner Bros.

  lot temp pool and I got a call one morning that there is a job in de

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  velopment. NINA TASSLER (former development executive and

  CBS chairman), needed a temp. I didn’t know what development

  was but, the minute she zipped in and sat down and started mak-

  ing her calls, I started to piece together that there is a studio execu-

  tive who is the liaison between the writers, directors and the net-

  work. That was it! I was in hook, line and sinker! And I fell in

  love with her too!

  SV: Why did you choose working in TV Development as opposed

  to a different job within the industry?

  CD: While working for Nina, I learned that there is somebody

  that has a year-round job that sells to the network, and there is a

  network development person that has a year-round job that buys

  from the studios. That appealed to me because, as a writer’s as-

  sistant, I felt the instability of the business. I thought maybe I

 
wanted to be a writer but, once I met Nina and I learned what de-

  velopment was and the stability of that and the creativity was still

  there, I realized it was a better fit for my personality. It involved

  building relationships with writers. You have a lot of volume.

  That’s the other thing I liked, being busy all the time. From the

  studio, it’s selling, producing pilots… You’re in the trenches with

  the writers. It also blends nicely with my need for structure and

  stability, but it leans directly into a creative role which has been

  rewarding and fulfilling for the last 22 years. It was the perfect job

  for me!

  SV: For people wanting to pursue a career in TV Development,

  what would you suggest they do?

  CD: My suggestion is if you’re right out of college and you don’t

  have a job lined up, which most people don’t, I would say if you

  are a writer, or if you want to be in development, go to an agency.

  That is going to be the biggest education of the business, which is

  changing so much. I would say spend a year there, get your hands

  dirty and learn everything that you can. Listen in on those calls,

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  talk to clients about the industry and then pursue what you want

  to do. If you’re a writer, keep writing. If you want to be a devel-

  opment executive you need to know what the state of the business

  is and who’s who. Try to get into a studio, a pod (production

  company), someone that’s doing what you want to do and learn

  from them.

  SV: What kinds of shows do you like to develop?

  CD: Well, I’ve been at CBS for 20 years so my target has been very

  narrow. There are exceptions, but my focus has been character-

  driven, closed-ended, story-telling. In my new role as a producer,

  I am excited to expand upon this experience and add more serial-

  ized dramas to my development slate. Currently, we are develop-

  ing Cleopatr a, which will be a very different kind of show than I’ve

  developed in the past.

  SV: Regarding development, what would you do if you heard two

  very similar ideas, but the one you liked better came from a lesser

  known entity?

  CD: For me, it is about the idea. I can always package and add

  elements in order to help the writer, but the most important ele-

  ment for me is the idea.

  SV: What is the most memorable pitch you’ve heard?