August 2013 Newsletter

Newsletter 25 – August 2013

CLIENT / COACH SPOTLIGHT

You all know Doug Stanley, the Emmy Award-winning producer/DP for many years on Discovery’s hit series Deadliest Catch, and a favorite mentor on our Hit Maker Tours. But you may not be as familiar with his remarkable new success as an executive producer, who has relentlessly been pushing his own shows at television conferences. Those efforts have already ‘netted’ three series deals this year , including Hell and High Water, about a swimming endurance challenge, American Monster, dealing with the phenomenon of monster trucks and Tailgating in America, featuring competitions between rival schools at tailgating rallies.

And there’s more where that came from. Doug admits he has almost 42 shows he can choose from to pitch at this point and he’s just getting started. We suspect he won’t be satisfied until he has a television show empire that rivals Mark Burnett (Survivor, The Voice, Celebrity Apprentice, etc. etc. X 50).

Here’s Doug attributing credit for helping turn him from a top show director of photography and producer into a top show pitcher, seller and executive producer thanks to working with SYTVCN:

“I went to one of the Hit Maker Summits in Florida and met Mark and Jeanne for the first time and brought a number of shows I had created and developed, or semi-developed. I was good at telling stories, but the pitch environment was such a different place, I was being shot down left and right. I sucked. I decided I was going try and rectify that situation by finding somebody who could coach me and help me. I really sat down and started examining the pitch process and the mental process, documents and sizzle reel that are necessary to have a successful pitch. It really has made a huge difference in my career. I just closed my third television deal, so my third series will be coming out soon. But also, at this moment, and as a direct result of working with Mark and Jeanne, in the last 35 days I’ve had 30 network meetings face-to-face.”

Click video to play or go to link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1SWtXJekMs

CURRENT EVENTS

Our free webinar “What Networks Want” was a big success, with more than 770 people registered to attend last month. The focus of this virtual workshop was creating shows or fine-tuning your show to attract the interest of networks. Doug Stanley was aboard, as well, and we discussed a range of topics, including:

The Key Element that all scripted and reality programming must have. A show will not sell without it!
How to make your series grab the attention of network execs!
The “Secret” that makes network execs want to work with you.
What top executive producers do that you may not be doing.
How to make a concept into a real series that can actually be produced. Go from dreaming to doing!

If you missed the webinar, don’t despair. We’ve recorded the webinar and are now making it available for a limited time.
Find it here:
http://www.sellyourtvconceptnow.com/accelerate/whatnetworkswant

We are also excited to let you know that the Accelerate Program, which we discussed in the webinar, and which is the most comprehensive program we’ve offered to date to help you fully develop your show along the professional standards and highest entertainment values most sought after in the industry… is now set up so you can join at any time! You don’t have to wait for another cycle of date start times. Here’s the link for more information:
http://www.sellyourtvconceptnow.com/accelerate/

Accerate! is ongoing virtual group training to help you develop the best stories, characters and episode descriptions that networks want to see and much more.

Once you’re in the program you’ll have access to sample treatment templates and replays of all of the sessions. Thes sessions are conducted live and the course does include two material reviews of your show by Jeanne Simon. You’ll get the latest information on what networks are looking for and how to…

Develop your idea into a television series networks want
Build indestructible story structures
Create irresistible characters that attract star talent
Gain access to the hidden elements network execs are looking for
Fulfill your most creative and rewarding potential
Get there faster than you ever expected!

Find out more about joining the Accelerate Program here:
http://www.sellyourtvconceptnow.com/accelerate/

IN PRODUCTION

Mark just wrapped on location storyboarding for six commercials for Capital One directed by Jeff Bitsack (below right) . You may know Capital One from all the Alec Baldwin commercials running constantly, but those will soon be joined by these commercials, which feature college mascots.

Wayne is writing a feature script for Gem City, based on a TV concept and novel by client Kristin Alexandre. He also just finished a video script for the hotel industry teaching servers how to provide responsible alcohol service. This was a fun script to write since it involved creating characters, dialogue and scenarios of drinking or drunk patrons at casinos, pools, sports bars and restaurants. He didn’t need to do much research, since we’ve all experienced an obnoxious drinker at one of those places or the other. So the next time a bartender at a hotel bar or restaurant cuts you off after three Martinis, you can blame Wayne. (Or the “Under the Dome” drinking game – see “What We’re Watching” section)

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS

Netflix just garnered 14 Emmy Award nominations for three shows it exclusively offers, which is a pivotal event for show creators and the entertainment industry because this is the first time an online web-based programmer has breached the territory and quality of the broadcast and cable networks.

Netflix’s political thriller House of Cards earned 9 nominations; the comedy re-boot Arrested Development earned three; and the supernatural series Hemlock Grove earned two.

Amazon, Hulu and Yahoo are also in the original series game now, so expect them to start tapping serious talent away from the traditional networks and taking pitches from new talent. Amazon already has “Doonesbury” comic strip creator Gary Trudeau for a political series called Alpha House starring John Goodman. (Which we think is even better than House of Cards.)

We’ll see how many Emmys that Netflix actually wins when the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ Emmy ceremony airs September 22, at 8 p.m. on CBS.

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING

Mark is falling in love with Mary Tyler Moore all over again. Triggered by a terrific new read, “Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted,” by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong, Mark and Jeanne have been catching up with the classic Mary Tyler Moore Show on the FamilyNet channel (the entire series is also out on DVD), and are hooked once again.

Named the 4th greatest television series of all time by Entertainment Weekly (after The Wire, The Simpsons and Seinfeld), and in the top ten of the Writer’s Guild best written shows ever, the series holds up as beautifully as the star. The Mary Tyler Moore Show was also revolutionary for showcasing a professional single woman for the first time, and bringing women aboard to not only write for the series, but executive produce.

Never dismiss checking out a series just because it’s old. (to sort-of-quote an old NBC promotion…) If you haven’t seen the show before, it will be fresh and new to you, and you’ll be shocked how soon you’ll love these characters and the laughs they provide (the show eventually spawned three spin-offs, including Lou Grant and Rhoda). The humor is character-based and timeless – as funny as or funnier (funnier, trust us) than any current comedy hits.

We’re all also watching the CBS summer sci-fi series Under the Dome, adapted from a novel of the same name by Stephen King, but so far we haven’t taken a ‘shining’ to it. Wayne refers to the show as “Above the Dumb” for all the ridiculously stupid actions taken by the five or six main characters (who always seem to be the only ones everywhere), such as when two teenagers run aimlessly around outside the shelter as a missile approaches.

Also for the fact every single character reacts in surprise with the same trite phrase, “What the hell?!” In fact, if you made that phrase a drinking game, you would have had to down 11 shots in the first two episodes alone, and would either be a full-fledged AA member or in a coma by the fourth episode. We still have hopes the show can turn around – maybe bring aboard better writers (it just got picked up for a second season of 13 episodes, and King is penning the first episode), improve the dialogue, and come up with a better jaw-drop reaction. We suggest a calm, Spock-like, “Fascinating” might be a good twist. (What the hell?!)

WHERE ARE MARK AND JEANNE

Everyone needs to get away and recharge their batteries, and the Simons found some restorative electricity in the Blue Ridge mountains of North Carolina. Of course, their idea of relaxation is non-stop activities such as cut-throat tennis on clay courts, golf and zip lines: one of which stretched 1,550 feet between two mountain tops. Go ahead… take a ride.

Click on video to play their zipline adventure video or use link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy1AW-l88l