CD: The Good Wife. It was timely. It was political. It was from the
point of view of the woman standing next to the man being ac-
cused. She had to rebuild her life as a lawyer. It was a legal
thriller. It was all these things. I loved it and I remember it like it
was yesterday.
SV: What is the best script you’ve developed that didn’t get made?
What happened?
CD: The Rainmaker, based on JOHN GRISHAM’S novel. I devel-
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oped this show while at CBS with my now current producing
partner, MICHAEL SEITZMAN. I loved it from the beginning
and, for whatever reason, it didn’t get picked up. But, because I
love it so much and believe it deserves to get on the air, we are
working on repackaging it now and it will hopefully be on the air
someday.
SV: What is the most challenging aspect to developing a script?
CD: Seeing the vision of the writer end up on the page. It is so
exciting to hear a great pitch and then you go through the story
area, the outline and the script process. Then, if you get the script
and it doesn’t end up as good on the page, doesn’t live up to the
expectations from the pitch, it’s unfortunate and probably the
most challenging aspect of developing a script.
SV: What are your thoughts about spec scripts?
CD: I love spec scripts. I encourage all writers to always write
original spec scripts, as opposed to specs of existing shows.
Showrunners like to read original scripts vs. an example of their
show because it showcases the writer's unique voice. MARC
CHERRY (writer/creator/executive producer), really proved that
and changed the business with his spec of Desperate Housewives.
He pitched the idea around town and no one bought it, so he de-
cided he needed to write it. He took a chance and it paid off. It
rebranded ABC!
SV: What do you love, or what is your favorite part of the TV De-
velopment process?
CD: I love hearing a really great pitch and having it be realized to
pilot and ultimately series!
SV: What are the most challenging part and least favorite part of
your job?
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CD: After working on a season of development with hearing up-
wards of 400 pitches, developing 50 scripts that become eight to
ten pilots, and then going to New York for ten days where it is
screened for the company, getting their opinions and then going to
Las Vegas where the pilots are tested with the public, and getting
their opinions… My development ends up getting dwindled
down to maybe two to three shows getting picked up to series,
and hopefully, with one to two of them staying on the air. The
odds are staggering.
SV: What are your thoughts on Indie TV? Is there a successful
Indie TV model that is similar to the Indie movie model?
CD: Not in broadcast television. It can exist and does outside of
broadcast television, but I do not believe it would ever work in
broadcast.
SV: What do you feel will be different about the process of TV De-
velopment, specifically in five years, ten years?
CD: I believe the process for broadcast television development
will be changing because it has to. The current broadcast model
does not work because it is still driven by advertisers. The ratings
are dwindling and it has to change because it can no longer be
about who is watching live TV. No one watches shows live any-
more, with the exception of sports and news.
SV: In today’s market, what is the measure of a successful show?
CD: Awards, accolades, being recognized by word of mouth. A
perfect example is Handmaid’s Tale. Because it has won awards,
people will sign up for the “30-day free subscription” on Hulu
and binge-watch the show. They will then see the other shows
and probably become a subscriber. It’s all about subscriptions.
*****
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INTERVIEW WITH ADAM BONNETT
Executive Vice President, Original Programming, Disney Channel
I met ADAM BONNETT through one of my students at UCLA. His
former assistant told him about my class and Adam offered to be a guest
speaker. At that time, I had not developed any children’s (“kid”) shows.
After his lecture that night, I was intrigued about the opportunities and
benefits of that kind of programming and decided to pitch to him. My
partners and I are currently working on several new ideas to bring to
him. I met with him in his offices on the Disney lot in February, 2018.
Stephanie (SV): What was your first job in this business?
Adam (AB): I was an intern while still at NYU film school. I
worked for GERALDO RIVERA and for CNN. Then my first job
was working as an assistant at Nickelodeon.
SV: Did you know you ultimately wanted to work in children’s
programming?
AB: No, I did not. When I took the job at Nickelodeon, it was
1990. My favorite show was on MTV was Cindy Crawford’s
House of Style. It was about fashion, design and architecture and
stuff like that. This was before HGTV and all the different DIY
shows that are out there now. It was the only way to watch that
kind of stuff, and I loved to watch it and wanted to work on that
show. I thought if I take a job at Nickelodeon, which was in the
same building as MTV, somehow I would make my way to work-
ing on that show, which was somewhat foolish because it was on a
different network. But once I got into the groove at Nickelodeon, I
realized how unstable and fickle the audience was for MTV and
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how loyal the kid audience was at Nickelodeon. Also I liked that,
in terms of creating shows, it had a little bit more longevity and
the whole concept of creating kid stars was really intriguing to me
and certainly how merchandise can come out of content. That felt
interesting and attractive to me. So then I made the choice to stick
around in this kid’s business and not try and go to the more glitzy,
sexy division of Viacom like MTV or VH-1.
SV: What is the biggest difference in being a network executive
today from when you started?
AB: When I was at Nickelodeon, my job at Disney today didn’t
really exist because the great thing about my job now is that I
oversee series development, movie development, current series,
casting/talent relations and short-form programming. The short-
form division didn’t even exist because we have these new plat-
forms that need content. These are new businesses that never ex-
isted and being an executive who oversees series and movies is
pretty unique. You don’t see that all the time. Back when I was at
Nickelodeon, they didn’t even make movies.
Also, making sure that our talent grows up on our shows happy
and healthy is so important to us and that’s a priority that has
evolved over the years. So it’s my job that’s really unique and it’s
always challenging me.
SV: What would you s
ay are the main goals when developing pro-
gramming for kids?
AB: I think that you are targeting a very specific audience who’s
as young as six and as old as 11 to 14. That’s the kids business.
The preschool business is kids aged two to five. So whether
you’re developing for a preschooler or kids, you have to craft a
show that speaks to a very specific audience. For me, I like the
specificity of coming up with an idea for a kid that is as young as
six and as old as eleven. They’re going to love this concept or this
character. Also, we’re boxed in. We can’t develop stuff that is pol-
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itical or about sex or even too much pop culture. We are trying to
create stuff that is very “evergreen.” I actually like having those
guardrails. It forces us to be a little bit more inventive, clever.
Then, on top of that, we are the Disney channel, so it’s not just for
kids, it’s for Disney Kids. So you have to constantly keep “Big
Disney” in mind and make sure that whatever we are making re-
ally feels part of that brand as well.
SV: Do pitches mainly come in to you or do you come up with the
ideas internally?
AB: A lot of the areas we develop we do come up with internally,
and then we go to writers and tell them we want to do a show
about a girl who’s a pop star that feels special, and what’s the
twist? They would come back to us with what turned out to be,
Hannah Montana. That’s not the only way. We went to TERRI
MINSKY, who created Andi Mack and said, “What do you want to
write?” She said, “I love mothers and daughters,” and she came
to us with a pitch about a mother and a daughter show but with a
very unique mother and daughter relationship. It varies, but we
tend to come up with the ideas ourselves. We have this movie
called Zombies coming out in two weeks, and it was originally
called Zombies and Cheerleaders because it’s about the sort of lov-
able zombies and these antagonist cheerleaders. We came up with
it because it has two sets of cliques that didn’t belong together.
We gave the title to the writers and said, “We want to do a show
about zombies and cheerleaders, whatcha got?” And it’s amazing
what they came back with. With Descendants, we said we wanted
to do a movie about the children of the Disney villains, “Come to
us with characters,” which is what they did.
SV: For people wanting to develop shows for kids, what do you
suggest they do?
AB: The first thing you have to do is to remember what you loved
as a kid and the kinds of content you would want to immerse
yourself in…going back to your own childhood and getting excit-
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ed about that time in your life. You also have to remember to look
at things through a lens. You have to be able to say, “Yeah, I think
this is funny, but would a kid think this is funny?” Remember to
have a kid’s point of view.
SV: What advice do you have for writers/creators looking to sell a
TV show to you?
AB: The best thing is to write what is personal to you. You have
to have a personal connection to what you write. If you are trying
to sell something to Disney, and you don’t have a personal con-
nection, or it doesn’t speak to any personal experience you had as
a kid, it will be hard to sell.
If you don’t have any credits as a writer, always attaching yourself
to a person who does is a good thing. Also, every network has
incredible fellowship programs that give opportunities to up-and-
coming creators and writers. For us, we get to work with a lot the
writers who are part of the ABC fellowship program. They get
assigned to shows or ABC/Disney shows and that’s a great op-
portunity. Then, if you prove yourself and they want to hire you
as a writer, you’re done.
Another way is to get a job on the network executive side. We
have a writer on Andi Mack that started out as an assistant here.
When the show went into production, he came to us and said, “I
love that show you guys developed and I want to work on it.”
Because we had a relationship with him and trusted him, we were
like, “We’re going to give him this opportunity.”
SV: What is the most memorable pitch you’ve heard?
AB: Well, we do get the crazies who dress up like a clown and
come in with props. But, when I think about the most memorable
pitch or casting meeting, I think about when the JONAS BROTH-
ERS came in. At the time, they were just singers. They did a scene
for us to show that they could act, but then JOE JONAS jumped
on the table and started singing out the scene as a MICK JAGGER
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type of actor/dancer/singer preforming for us. I will never forget
when he shocked us by jumping on the table in the middle of the
conference room. Then recently there was a pitch where the
writer was pitching a show about a family who lives with a robot
and he hired an actor to come in as the robot in a robot suit. It was
annoying and distracting. For a good pitch, you want to talk
about the characters and stories, and these props often take away
from the pitch.
SV: Are you open to original spec scripts?
AB: Definitely open as long as they are submitted the right way,
through an agent or manager for legal reasons. Of course, it’s
hard to nail it on your own, but if you’ve already done it…
SV: Have you bought any specs that have become a show?
AB: I know we’ve done it on the movie side, for sure. As a series,
no, not specs, but we’ve bought busted scripts from other net-
works.
SV: What is your favorite part of the TV Development process?
AB: Two parts. The first is when you hear the idea that feels
where you say to yourself, “Why didn’t I think of that?” It’s just
so good, like Descendants was. It was a great idea. The other part
is when you sit in a casting session and the lead kid… you see it.
You’re like, “wow” that kid is not only the character we are trying
to cast, but depending on the project, you have the sense that this
kid is going to be a star when they grow up. If you look at our
history, starting with HILLARY DUFF, RAVEN SIMONE, MILEY
CYRUS, SELENA GOMEZ, DEMI LOVATO, DOVE CAMERON,
the list goes on and on. We have a great track record and on the
boys’ side, ZACK EFRON, ROSS LYNCH, and THE JONAS
BROTHERS. To be able to find talent at a young age, nurture it
and see them go on to be such a big part of pop culture… and it
means so much to kids and teenagers. It’s really fulfilling.
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SV: What is your most successful/proud project that you were a
part of?
AB: Gosh, really good question. Different projects for different
reasons. I think about That’s So Raven as our first sitcom. I was so
proud of starting the sitcom business for us back in the day be-
cause so much of what has defined the Di
sney Channel after that
has been sitcoms. So to start that genre at the channel, which was
like 16 years ago, was really exciting. It was also that RAVEN was
the first African American girl to star in a sitcom with her name in
the title. The only other show at the time was MOESHA, which
was played by BRANDI, and she was playing a character vs.
RAVEN, where we used her name in the title. She wasn’t a con-
ventional teenage girl. She was incredibly talented, unique in her
own way. She had a different comedic point of view about the
world. She felt vulnerable and special. I’m really proud of
launching that show. I know it meant so much to kids back in the
day, and now as millennials watch her again, but [this time] as a
mom, is really fulfilling. Also, Hannah Montana because of the
commercial appeal of the show and everybody remembers that
show. I think that show really merged music and kids television
story-telling in such a unique way. I used to oversee animation
and I developed two shows that I’m really proud of. One is The
Proud Family, the first animated series about an African American
family. The creator really wanted to animate and create a show
about his family, and for a show to feel so broad yet real was
something that I was really proud of. Lastly, was this cartoon
called, * Kim Possible, about a female crime-fighter and it just felt
ahead of its time. You look at all the crime-fighter shows out to-
day, there’s nothing about a teenaged girl. To introduce a real ac-
tion adventure show that still felt real, I felt was really ahead of its
time.
Side note: *About nine months after our meeting, Disney an-
nounced it was bringing back Kim Possible as a live-action
movie. It’s will be done and released in 2019. I didn’t call Adam
to see if our conversation had anything to do with this reboot,
but I’d like to think it did!
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SV: In today’s market, what would you say is the measure of a
successful show?
AB: Any show where people are generally passionate about it.
When a kid lights up when they talk about the show, when they
want to stay home and see it live so they can talk about it the next
morning, that’s what gets me up in the morning. You don’t see
that a lot with adults. For us, what matters the most is that pas-
sion a kid has in how much they love the show. Then I love to see