No Hype For Fox Pilots

I can’t help but wonder if Fox deliberately released the list of the seven scripted pilots they would be ordering for the Fall ‘09 schedule while most media and Hollywood types, along with the rest of America, were watching and basking in the glow and promise of the Obama Inauguration because they are embarrassed about what they have developed during the past season and were hoping nobody would notice.  Apparently, The Hollywood Reporter barely noticed, choosing one day later to run the stealthy Fox press piece under a headline announcing that Michele Obama’s stylist has landed a deal with a reality production company that has a show on the Style Network!

I might be reading too much into the timing of the Fox announcement, but by only ordering seven new shows - four comedies, and three dramas- Fox has given us yet more indication of how dire the creative vitality of prime time really is.  Seven pilots is a pathetic output - and I’m betting that the vast majority of these scripts were either written prior to this season, or were ordered mostly to satisfy a pre-existing business arrangement or to avoid paying a penalty if the “put” pilot is not ordered into production. Not that long ago networks might order seven pilots to compete for one time slot!  And I would be remiss not to point out that all four comedies are being produced by 20^th Television (as well as one of the dramas) another example of how the repeal of Syndication and Financial Rule by the FCC during the Clinton Administration (which let networks own the programming) shut independents productions companies out of the process.

Not surprised that Fox ordered more comedies than dramas.  Desperate times call for laughs any way we can get them.  And since it is theoretically cheaper to produce TV on a sound stage than on location, I assumed the cost savings had a lot to do with what got ordered until I saw Fox Prexxy Kevin Reilly quoted as saying that he is looking for more pricey single-camera comedies a la “Malcolm in The Middle” to produce even though they tend to generate less viewers than the more standard three-camera stuff .

Hopefully, some of the new shows will have breakout potential - Ben Stiller is producing something about a CIA station chief in South America that sounds promising - but knowing that every show that’s been ordered will be getting notes from Fox development executives through all phases of casting and production - makes me less than bullish on their future.

However, with “American Idol”, ” 24″, and “House” still pulling in viewers, Fox is in much better shape than woeful NBC who waited until one day after the Obama Inauguration to tout how many “unique” views they received on nbc.com for the likes of Tina Fey’s funny Sarah Pallin stuff on SNL, and episodes of “The Office” in 2008 without indicating how much revenue these “unique views” generated.  Unique Views? Who are they competing with? Revver?

Maybe NBC can package the Inauguration as a weekly series, and, barring that, do a show with Tyler Perry about the dysfunctional family that just moved into the White House? Wait. The Obamas don’t seem very dysfunctional. Hmmm?  Maybe someone ought to call Michele’s stylist instead? Wait.  He’s already working with the Style Network - on a reality show! Foiled again!

Mixed Signals 11409

A year ago Strike TV was born when union activists began posting clever short films with top talent to promote the idea that creative people did not need to rely on the corporate gate keepers to express themselves…and eventually make their own digital shows.

A year ago the AMPTP, the collective bargaining representative for the studios and the networks, was still insisting that since webisodes were only promotional in nature, they were not obligated to pay any additional fees to cast and crew to produce them.

A year ago, the overwhelming consensus on the picket line was that the strike was necessary in order to establish that writers (and creative types) must participate in the profit of “new media”A year ago mainstream media had no real presence in digital entertainment, focusing instead of repurposing broadcast shows.

A year ago I would tell anyone who would listen that the strike was about whether the future would run through abc.com, or would national brands and other funding sources begin to realize that they could work directly with the talent, cutting out the middle men (networks and studios) while allowing indys to preserve ownership of the content they produce.

A year later, this week, in fact, I read this post on the Digital Cynopsis.

“In order to utilize additional platforms to their fullest potential it makes sense that each medium be considered from a project’s gestation stage. CBS and lonelygirl 15 creators EQAL are taking this approach on their next big social media entertainment extravaganza - a whodunit murder mystery called Harper’s Island. Sort of a Lost meets And Then There Were None scenario, the story revolves around a wedding on a secluded island where guests begin to be picked off one by one. The 13-episode show will exist as a weekly hour-long primetime series (premiering on CBS on Thursday April 9 at 10 pm) with active online and mobile elements, the characters and narratives of which will be interwoven with the main show. HarpersGlobe.com will serve as the project’s online interactive hub, with additional content to be distributed across the CBS Mobile and CBS Audience Network”

Obviously, I don’t know if Harper’s Island will be a hit, but if it is, virtually no new show will be ordered for production by a broadcast network without a connecting digital presence in place. Don’t look now but CBS.com (which morphed into tv.com when no one was looking) and NBC.com are launching four and two new digital shows respectively on their websites this year. The wb.com, abc.com via Stage Nine Productions, and Hulu, the universally praised digital website which repurposes shows by Fox and NBC/Universal, have  launched since the wga strike ended.  And how’s Strike TV doing? My sources tell me it’s not getting enough traffic, is having trouble monetizing the venture, and is dealing with dissension in ranks. Shit, maybe the future will indeed run through abc.com after all. Nah. It’ll run through cbs.com. or maybe showbizzle.com. You never what can happen in a year, right?

A year ago we had an idiot in the White House. This week Barack Obama will become President of The United States. Guess it’s been a pretty good year after all.

A Faux Pas For a New Year

We’re only into the first week of 2009 and I have already burned my first bridge. It seems I am a master at burning bridges, been doing it my whole career. This time I alienated a recent Academy Award nominated producer who happens to be the younger sister of one of my oldest and closest.  Her crime?  – not reading my revised screenplay in a timely fashion after giving me the best, most professional, most out of the box, notes I have ever received on any project, in any medium,  on my first draft. Her punishment? — getting confronted for not returning phone calls or e-mails.

What I didn’t understand until she finally responded via an e-mail last night was that she basically read my first draft as a favor to me, not because she had any intention of adding the project to her development/production slate. In her e-mail she also admitted to being overwhelmed between her ridiculously heavy travel schedule, which had her flying all over the world, as well as having some real health issues which required hospitalization. Needless to say my reply was  sympathetic, but still,  hyper-sensitive ass that I can be sometimes, I did question why she didn’t just have her assistant level with me, or, better yet,  get him to read the script on her behalf as I suggested both times I contacted her office in my prior e-mails in early October/early November.  Or take ten seconds to blow me off. Just be direct. Be honest. Anything. Just respond. Just don’t make me feel so small.

And the moment after I hit the e-mail it hit me:  I was completely blurring the lines between what is personal and what is professional,  putting my time frame into the mix, and taking advantage of my lifelong friendship with her brother.  I immediately sent a follow up. I apologized for causing her stress, falling victim to my own insecurities and the fantasy that we would not be developing the project together.

She wrote back. She forgave me…and she gave me great notes on the revised draft I submitted.  She thought it was better, but needed more work…as do I…clearly…