For my blog’s first interview, I decided to interview an old buddy of mine – who happens to be a development executive at a major TV network. To keep his identity private, we’re going to call him John.
About John: He sold his first TV show when he was 19. He went to the number one film school in America and, since then, he’s worked his way up at two cable TV networks. Now, he works as a development executive at a network at a huge TV company. He sees dozens of TV pitches every day, and he helps decide which TV shows move forward.
Cash: What is your title?
John: Senior Coordinator of Original Programming. My team oversees the development of scripted TV and films.
Cash: What is the difference between development and programming?
John: Programming are the people that schedule the shows – they focus on lead ins, lead outs, work with research to maximize our audience at certain times for certain programs. Development is what an editor is to a book author. We work with TV producers, writers, and showrunners – we take a script, from the pilot, and turn it into what you see on TV.
Cash: How did you get into development? How did you decide to take your current job?
John: I went to film school. I didn’t want to live in my car and make movies with my friends – I wanted to pay off my student loans. Development jobs at TV networks are really sought after – it’s one of the few jobs where you get paid to be creative. One of the few jobs where you can actually do that. I was originally on the unscripted team at the network, then I got to assist on script development. Eventually, I got to move into a full-time scripted development position.
Cash: Tell us, in simple terms, what you do on a daily basis.
John: The crux of development is the notes process. We read scripts, we think about it, then read the script again. Then we write notes on the script. Then we talk about the notes with our team, and finally come to a consensus. We send those notes to the producers to incorporate.
The network is the player who knows the audience. We know what works and what doesn’t work. Our job is to help the writers and producers get the script to the best place possible so that people will watch the show.
How many steps are there for a project to make it to air? Walk us through the process.
Step -1: A good development executive already knows all of the players in the field, and what they’re working on. Usually, the head of my team knows someone working on a show, and that’s how they’ll get in the door to pitch.
Step 0: An agent or production company says: “My client has this great show, and we want to pitch it.” Usually, before they come in to pitch, the projects already have established producers, have already attached a lead actor or actress, director, showrunner, and/or ProdCo. Usually, whoever is pitching it has already packaged it.
Step 1: The creator and the producer pitch a pilot. We then read the pilot. If we like it, we sell it up the food chain to our bosses. We pitch it to the Head of Programming, who then pitches it to the network president.
Step 2: If the network decides to purchase the script, we open a writers’ room and approve the show for development funding. Now, all the teams at the network get involved in helping to develop the show: Creative, Legal, Marketing, etc.
What makes the ultimate decision in whether a show makes it to air?
If you don’t have a cast-contingent pickup, then the show is greenlit when you open the writers room. The network doesn'’t want to spend a million dollars writing scripts just to throw the show in the trash.
What percentage of projects make it to air?
1% of shows pitched make it to air.
15% of shows that go through network development make it to air.
Those are pretty standard numbers across all networks — those percentages are pretty normal.
What advice would you give to people who want to work in development?
You should be reading a lot of good scripts in your free time. Learn to read scripts more than once — read once for the story, and a second time for the notes.
Take a writing class and know enough about writing that the writers respect you. You have to prove that you know the craft, but that you are there to help them.
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