Concept Development
Conceived multiple TV series and led development with established producers of properties like "The Office," "Ugly Betty," "Mean Girls" and others
Pitch
Successfully pitched and sold concepts to network executives, leading in-the-room storytelling and presentations
Execution
Concepted and wrote scripts, collaborating with development executives through multiple iterations
Illustration by Jose Garibaldi
TV Sales, Development, Writing
Shortly after launching as a writer and director in a medium I knew well (theatre), I found myself learning all over again for TV. Off the success of the Trailer Park Musical in New York -- and, I suppose, the fact that it was an atypical musical comedy piece -- I was encouraged to start pitching, developing and writing on the left coast.
My background as a performer may have helped me acclimate, but that doesn't mean I wasn't terrified. I was. And that made the wins really meaningful. Telling an engaging, passionate story to executives who have seen and heard it all -- and who seek that lightening-in-a-bottle-zeitgeist-friendly-idea -- is a unique challenge. Rising to it is experience I apply to this day.
I'd already relocated to Los Angeles by the time "Trailer Park" opened and until then, I assumed only people like Larry David, David E. Kelly, Marta Kaufman, Shonda Rhimes...either of the Kohan siblings...ya know, people with major TV-writing track records got to create their own series. It never occurred to me that I could do something like that, but I would go on to sell 5 projects. (I think one was a work-for-hire, but still...I had to pitch, so I'm counting it).
When it comes to TV, the studios don't make everything they buy. That was a little tough, but I was lucky to work with some super-accomplished people (Teri Weinberg, Mark Waters, Universal Music Group, Disney and DreamWorks, to name a few). These fastidious experts helped me develop more than pilot scripts and pitches -- they guided the development of my entire creative work philosophy: Be hard on the work, not the people. Earn trust. Allow the best idea to win -- the one that has legs, motor and heart. And, above all else, care -- because if you care, it's all the more likely the audience will.