TV Development Guide

  peake Shores, and he’s the showrunner! When I called him to tell

  him that, after six months of “repping” him, he’s going back to

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  work after six years, and as a showrunner and he was going to be

  paid exorbitant amount of money - way more than he was making

  as a teacher. He was on speakerphone with his wife and they

  were in tears, saying, “You’re an angel sent from heaven.” It’s so

  rewarding to have clients who are super-appreciative. Even today

  a client of mine, whom I’m not even attached as a producer, sent

  me this Chinese New Year two-dollar bill just because I worked so

  hard for them. They told me they wanted to do a show about

  MARIE LAVEAU, the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans in the 1800s.

  So I called the Wolper Organization and, before I even told them

  about the pitch, he’s like, “We’re looking for a writer for a Marie

  Laveau project." I told him, “We have it.” So we brought it to

  them. They loved it and then MARK WOLPER had the idea to

  bring it to LEE DANIELS, and Lee loved it and attached himself as

  the director. Then they made a deal with FOX 21 and sold it right

  before the holidays to Amazon as a ‘put-pilot’ plus two scripts.

  SV: Wow! This shows how the stars aligned for this project.

  GS: Right! And tomorrow they are meeting on the spinoff of Su-

  pernatural because it’s ending. When it works out, there’s nothing

  better.

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  INTERVIEW WITH MARTY BERNEMAN

  Independent Talent Manager/Producer

  Partner, TheNew Entertainment.com

  I met MARTY soon after I moved to Los Angeles from New York. We

  were close friends then and still are today. When I was at Spelling TV

  and developing the Charmed series for the WB network, I gave Marty

  the pilot script after it was completed because I was so excited about it.

  He shared it with a client of his, HOLLY MARIE COMBS. At the time,

  she was best friends with SHANNON DOHERTY, and the rest is histo-

  ry. Marty and I became producing partners in the mid 2000’s when he

  was adding producer to his list of professions. The first project we put

  together as a team was These Broken Stars, which is currently being

  developed for Freeform, with MGM as the studio. This interview took

  place in January, 2018.

  Stephanie (SV): How did you get into the TV business?

  Marty (MB): I have a first cousin that is a television writer, and

  when I was nineteen he sat me down and said, “I think you need

  to get into the business.” I said, “No, no, no,” but he really want-

  ed me to get into this world. A year later, he was doing a pilot for

  ABC. He asked me to come and intern in casting and, after that, I

  became a PA (production assistant) on the set. I decided to try it

  and I worked for NAN DUTTON, a very big television casting

  director at that time, and that was my foray into the business.

  SV: But then you segued into working at an agency?

  MB: Yes. I worked at Innovative Artists Agency. Personally, I feel

  that a talent agency is a really important part of the business. I

  liken it to the central nervous system. All information that is

  needed in the business comes in and out of a talent agency, espe-

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  cially the larger ones. Without the talent agencies, nothing else

  would survive.

  SV: What was the most challenging part of your job as a talent

  manager?

  MB: Knowing what each client needs at a given moment in time.

  Each client is at a different level, and you really have to figure out

  what they need and anticipate what they are going to need. It was

  not even about getting them a job per se, it was about their specific

  needs and making sure you were the center of their world. The

  clients become an extension of your personal and professional life.

  SV: What about when you switched to becoming a producer?

  What is the most challenging aspect?

  MB: Learning the new players. As a talent manager, I was talking

  to the heads of casting at each studio. As a producer, I needed to

  find out and get to know the development executives. These were

  new sets of individuals that I didn’t know. If I didn’t know who

  the player was, I would call the casting person at the studio or

  network that I worked with and ask them to set up a meeting for

  me. They would always come through because I had a relation-

  ship with these leaders of the industry for the past twenty years.

  SV: What is your advice for writers just starting out?

  MB: Get into a writing group, writing workshop. Act as if you

  are part of the business. There are all these different things that

  you can do. You need to immerse yourself into the business in

  order to find out who the players are, who you need to talk to,

  who is that connection to x, y and z. It’s really about who you

  know. Also, now that we have the internet, you can write a web-

  series. Go and do something small and get it self-produced. You

  can’t sit on your ass! You have to go out there and do. No one is

  coming to you. You got to go to them.

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  SV: What advice do you have for non-writing producers wanting

  to produce TV shows?

  MB: It’s all about material, material, material. Find yourself a hot

  book or an IP. Find that source, whether it’s a great script, article,

  book, foreign television show, comic book series, who knows…

  that’s one thing. Then align yourself with someone, a writer, an-

  other producer, an actor. Then figure out what is your brand. I

  think that's the thing. Know who you are and what you are good

  at selling!

  SV: Do you have a strategy for selling a TV show?

  MB: Cover your bases. Are you represented? Do you have a

  manager or an agent? Next, where does your material fit? If it’s

  an HBO series, then you have to figure out how to connect to the

  HBO network. Be sure not to take your show to the wrong place.

  For instance, if you were selling The Good Wife, you wouldn’t have

  tried to sell that to HBO. Know your audience. That’s the key.

  SV: What was the first TV show where you were part of the TV

  Development process?

  MB: When I was a manager, I was very involved with the first-

  ever Hulu series called, Battleground. They wanted my client for

  the lead. It was interesting to watch that process, because at the

  time they didn’t have a lot of money and almost everyone didn’t

  understand streaming television. I read the script and, actually in

  this case, we got the full-season of episodes to read - all 10

  episodes. The fact that we got to read the whole season and see

  where it goes was an anomaly. I read them and thought there is

  no way my client is not doing this. I remember having a call with

  his agent where I said, “I really think he needs to do this,” and she

  said, “Over my dead body.” I told her that this is the future. He

  ultimately did do it and now he works all the time. Actually, I just


  heard they are putting the cast back together to do a second sea-

  son now - seven years later.

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  SV: What do you feel will be different about TV in the next five

  years, ten years?

  MB: I can already see that, over the last year (2017), CBS has cre-

  ated an all-access app that you can use on all your devices. I think

  they are the first broadcast network to be producing content for

  their own app. No other network is doing this yet. I think they

  are being very smart about it because I don’t think broadcast tele-

  vision will be very strong in the next five years. I think it’s going

  to be all about our devices, and network television, in the tradi-

  tional sense, is going to die. If you look at CDs, DVDs, Block-

  busters, they don’t exist anymore. I think the next thing to go is

  cable. I believe we will all have apps for the different networks

  and studios, and you’re going to be able to pick and choose what-

  ever you want. There is not going to be a need for a television set

  per se.

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  ADVICE FROM TOP NETWORK EXECUTIVES

  I interviewed the TOP EXECUTIVES at A PREMIUM AND A

  BROADCAST NETWORK in August, 2018. Unfortunately their net-

  works’ prohibited me from publishing them, so I paraphrased the infor-

  mation from the interview to share with you.

  THE TV DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

  One of the development executives felt that most TV shows are

  developed the “TV way.” Meaning, there’s a lot of material out

  there and someone will call and tell the network executives about

  it. Or they are developed the “movie way,” which is there’s a lot

  of material out there and the network executives have to find it

  and go after it themselves. Also, networks are presented with a

  tremendous amount of scripts. In the development process the

  truth is, it’s inevitable there are great scripts that don’t get made

  and lesser scripts that do.

  One big consideration for the networks is time constraints. They

  have only so much time to develop a project with someone (aka

  the writer). There comes a point when a project may be taking too

  long or a point where there is just not enough time to work on that

  project. Most networks have a cycle for developing shows. It’s

  about six months long, and then they decide if they are going for-

  ward with it or not. However, there are a few networks out there

  today that will develop a show for years. This is more like feature

  development.

  They talked about how network executives are notorious for giv-

  ing writers plenty of notes, but they expressed that the key is to be

  careful when they express themselves. They know many writers

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  can be sensitive about their material and even though writers

  want to hear what the networks have to say, they’d really prefer to

  be complimented. So a network executive must walk a fine line.

  They can’t insult the writer, yet they need to convey everything

  that has to be changed or modified. They agree it’s important for

  networks to understand what the writer is trying to accomplish in

  each idea put forth.

  One executive talked about how SYDNEY POLLACK is a legend

  in this business because he was one of the first people to be Socrat-

  ic about how he gave notes, meaning he would ask many ques-

  tions. His questions were encouraging while pointing out what

  was wrong with the script. In doing so he was able to elicit un-

  derstandable and workable solutions.

  Therefore, during the script development phase, a network execu-

  tive might ask the writer, “What are you trying to do in that

  scene?” “What do you want me to understand about this part?”

  “What can we do to make this better?” This way the writer won’t

  feel too harshly criticized. Another important skill for executives

  to have is to be a good listener. They have to tell writers what

  they think and make sure they are getting their points across, yet

  they also must listen carefully to what writers are trying to say.

  Only then can they work effectively together.

  There is general consensus in today’s marketplace that writers

  and/or producers are at a disadvantage if they don’t have a book

  or an IP. Network executives believe the reason people get the

  rights to books is because it is a great springboard to be able to

  start with something that already exists. There are hundreds and

  hundreds of words on the subject already, so that is a preference

  for the writer/producer and the networks. Also, movie stars will

  eagerly sign on for eight hours of a book adaptation.

  THE PROCESS FOR SHOWS GETTING ‘GREEN LIT’

  At most networks, developing a TV show is an arduous process.

  There’s testing and company-wide meetings with all different di-

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  visions and departments. Yet there are a few networks that have a

  very small group deciding on everything that gets made. They

  don’t test, or ask anyone else. It’s up to a small group of execu-

  tives.

  PITCHING ADVICE

  Make it interesting! Every place will want to know your idea and

  storyline in about two to three minutes. It’s important for writers

  to explain what their show is about in a simple way while getting

  others curious and excited about what comes next, who the char-

  acters are, and what they are going to do in series (for the

  episodes).

  The network executives advised that it is important to do research

  and learn the interests, focuses and culture of the networks to

  which you are trying to sell. This can make or break selling your

  show. Your producers and agents may also be able to give you

  insight on some of the nuances.

  It is also important to have a fresh perspective. There are over 500

  scripted shows on the air, so obviously not everything you pitch

  will be right for a particular network. Networks end up passing

  on most prospective shows. These days, you really do need to

  stand out from the pack.

  THE BUYERS HAVE DIFFERENT FOCUSES AT BROADCAST

  VS. BASIC CABLE

  The buyers at broadcast networks purchase a greater number of

  TV shows/series than the buyers at cable networks. They have

  more resources and can get a project if they really want it. The big

  difference is they look for programming that has broad appeal.

  When “big names” come to broadcast networks, they have to

  move quickly because of there is a lot of competition.

  Cable networks are more boutique operations. They generally

  cater to a more niche audiences. They are very focused on how

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  much can be spent and how to beat the competition. Also, they

  are much more limited as to the offers they can make.

  ADVICE FOR YOUNG WRITERS AND DEVELOPMENT EX-

  ECUTIVES

  For writers, start with writing as much as you can. You need to

  develop a body of work
so you can figure out who you are as a

  writer. In this way, you will develop your own writing style and

  learn your own voice. You should write something that is close to

  your own experiences. In other words, write what you know.

  A good way to start out as a development executive begins with a

  stint at a talent agency. Then you can work for a production com-

  pany, studio, network, or all of the above. Another option is to

  enroll in this author’s course at UCLA, “TV Development: From

  Idea to Small Screen.” ( This was unsolicited)

  THE MEASURE OF A SUCCESSFUL SHOW IN TODAY’S

  MARKET

  Ratings still matter and awards do help. The hardest thing to

  quantify that means the most today is the ‘cultural impact’ a show

  can have. Network executives agree that if someone can create a

  show that impacts our culture in some way, it makes it more ap-

  pealing. This can be an idea that impacts us socially, has people

  talking about it, helps people see a different point of view, influ-

  ences other media, etc.

  Whether you’re in broadcast, cable or streaming, the buyers be-

  lieve that shows that culturally influence us in some way will

  probably have the greatest impact on us.

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  ADVICE FROM TOP LITERARY AGENTS

  I interviewed LITERARY AGENTS FROM TOP TALENT AGENCIES

  in January and February, 2018. Unfortunately the agencies prohibited

  me from publishing them, so I paraphrased the information from the in-

  terview to share with you.

  THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN A MANAGER AND AN

  AGENT

  Traditionally, agents are tasked with getting people jobs and man-

  agers spend their time developing material. Agents work in vol-

  ume, and managers get into the nitty-gritty with fewer people.

  They felt it is a personal preference. However, many agents be-

  come managers, and many managers become agents.

  They felt that managers are in a better position today than they

  were 15 years ago. They have become more essential to the busi-

  ness as evidenced by the fact that they are a part of the majority of

  TV shows on the air. Agents, on the other hand, have even more

  options. They get to represent a lot more material, projects, vol-

  ume, etc. They also tend to work for a larger companies.

  THE AGENT’S ROLE IN THE TV DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

  Agents felt that it was key for them to know the marketplace, i.e.,