Billion-Dollar Kiss

by Jeffrey Stepakoff

  As soon as we moved into our new home in the summer of 2004, the first thing I did was set up an office in the basement, plug in my computer, and, once again, start writing. I thought a lot about what exactly I wanted to write. I knew I had a chance, an opportunity, that very few writers ever got, and I was determined to make the most of it. After so many years of being compensated to lend my skills to tell other people’s stories, I put great consideration into what was the first story I wanted to tell.

  When we were working on Hyperion, and usually when we were directed by the network to do something that ran counter to common sense, Bernie Lechowick often said to me, “Every TV show, like every family, needs a historian.” I took that to mean that remembering where you came from helps you know not only how you got where you are, but where to go next. This thinking led me to believe that the best story I had to tell was the one that I had been living.

  During the time I have been writing this book, the television industry has seen some significant changes. Between 2004 and 2006, great writer-driven series were not only developed and made, but they were promoted and watched. When I pitched pilots during the 2001–2002 season, family shows, soaps, serialized character dramas of any kind were absolutely of no interest to the networks. As of this writing, entirely serialized shows like 24 and Lost are among the strongest programming on television, mainly because of the excellent writing. And series like Grey’s Anatomy—which is run by Shonda Rhimes, an African American woman—are at the top of the Neilsens not so much because of their franchise, but because of their complex characters and well-constructed storytelling. There are several recent shows where this is the case. Veronica Mars, Big Love, Entourage, Studio 60—all great writer-driven TV, as good as anything that I was watching in 1988. Although comedies are still struggling to reinvent themselves, many have, including Scrubs, The Office, and My Name Is Earl.

  Despite the rebirth of quality television, reality still looks like it is a fairly entrenched genre. American Idol is a phenomenon, pulling in 33-shares. That’s more than forty million viewers, which in today’s highly segmented viewing environment is nearly unfathomable. At a 2005 TV press tour, Amy Sherman-Palladino, creator of Gilmore Girls—another show that gives me hope—described American Idol as “like Nazis marching through Poland. You gotta let them go and get out of the way.”

  As of this writing, the Writers Guild is engaged in a major and contentious battle to represent reality television writers. The WGA estimates that currently there are as many as twenty-five hundred nonunion writers, and many women and minorities, working in reality television. One of the factors that plays into this historic organization drive is that the strike war drums are once again beating. Louder and louder each day as this book goes to print, in fact. The primary issue is how to compensate writers for digital downloads, Internet video on demand, and other new and emerging technologies. Just as it was back in the thirties when writers realized they needed a real union, the early sixties when TV came into the picture, and the eighties when home video threatened to change the business, the industry is again facing uncertain and unprecedented times. Just how digital delivery will change the business is uncertain, though most think its effects on revenue streams, both established and developing, will be profound. The central issue is what formula the studios will use to pay writers when their work is viewed on iPods, cell phones, and the Web. The studios are currently using contracts that predate these new technologies. The writers want new pay formulas with higher rates. Once again, the studios seem to be dragging their feet while the WGA is holding its ground. The more the WGA demands a new formula, the more the studios threaten to program additional reality shows. Organizing reality writers is one way to offset this threat. The other issue that’s on the table is writers’ growing frustration with compensation for DVDs, which is based on old formulas developed when DVDs were expensive to produce. The current WGA contract expires in October 2007.

  On September 17, 2006, the WB closed up shop. And on September 18, the CW network, composed of programming from the WB and UPN, launched. My last season on Dawson’s, 2001–2002, was the peak of success for the WB. After that time, it struggled to create and launch new shows. From 2003 to 2005 only the modestly successful One Tree Hill survived. Part of this was due to its aging audience, and part of it to the almost predictable result of putting branding ahead of good writing, something the WB did not do when it first took on Buffy and Dawson’s, before there was a brand. Jointly owned by CBS Corp. and TimeWarner, precisely how this will affect diversity on television remains to be seen, but early indications based on the network’s 2006–2007 fall schedule are not especially promising.

  Another notable change has been ICM’s acquisition of the Broder-Webb-Chervin-Silbermann Agency for about $70 million. This only underscores the continuing significance and value of television, especially quality scripted television, in the overall entertainment industry. Although there are a handful of small competent players, Rothman-Brecher is the last major literary boutique in television.

  As of this writing, Sony is back in the TV business. There are those who say that Sony’s decision to fold Columbia TriStar was a bit of a ruse, nothing more than a short-term cleaning of the house. There are others who say it was the inevitable outcome of management’s misunderstanding of the business, the company’s missed opportunity to overcome foreign ownership hurdles and buy CBS or merge with NBC years ago when it had a chance. There is another school of thought that the corporation’s senior management in Tokyo had just had enough of how its TV business was being run and simply wanted to purge the whole mess out of its system for good. Whatever its true reason for closing shop in 2001, as of this writing Sony has prudently produced a few excellent shows, such as Rescue Me and Huff.

  Sony, along with most of the other studios, finally figured out that great scripted TV shows don’t come from simply unloading the studio’s coffers, but from identifying talent and passion. Watching writers like Marc Cherry, who many had written off, just show up one day with a hit on his hands has been a powerful lesson for Hollywood. Although the development deal has seen a bit of a reemergence recently, these deals are only being made after careful consideration of a writer’s skills and interest in a project.

  On the other hand, though there has been recognition of the importance of identifying talent and passion, empowering it is still another matter. The major conglomerates are still not only programming and promoting for ownership instead of quality, they are also still meddling. That’s their nature, I suppose. But I firmly believe that if things don’t change, these issues will ultimately prove to be the entertainment business’s Achilles’ heel.

  Perhaps most promising, in 2004, the WGA and the entertainment companies agreed to create a Showrunner Training Program “to help promising writers develop effective showrunning skills.” The first program ran in 2006, and it was a great success.

  Today, Delbert lives on a farm in the pastoral Pennsylvania countryside. He has been sober for sixteen years. My ex-girlfriend is married, lives in Malibu, and surfs pretty much every day. David Rosenthal is running Gilmore Girls. Though the vast majority of TV writers have very short careers in television, an extraordinary number of my colleagues continue to sit in story rooms, walk in the shadows on sets, and plug away in solitude at their computers, quietly shaping and influencing the culture of the world. Joe Dougherty, Anne Hamilton, Gina Fattore, Tom Kapinos, and Greg Berlanti are among them. You’ll probably see their names in your the living rooms sometime this week.

  And finally, over the last couple years, I think I have truly figured out the balance between the writing and the living, the writing and the being a writer.

  What TV has in store for me, I do not know. Television has always been a big part of me, and it always will be, not just because it was my first window on the world and not just because it has been my work for so long. When I think about TV—Kevin and Winnie’s first kiss at the end of The Wonder Years pilot, Mic
hael’s father planting the tree on thirtysomething, Cosby having the funeral for the fish, Roselyn falling down the elevator shaft in L.A Law, that crazed Santa running around China Beach, Jerry and George pitching “a show about nothing” to NBC, the final moment of Friends as the cast walks off into the sunset, and of course that kiss, that Pacey-Joey kiss at the end of #317—these moments take their place along with all the other moments of my life.

  I still love TV as much as I did in 1988, probably even more, though I’ve learned a few things since then. As of this writing, I get up every morning at dawn and head downstairs to spend the day writing, but not before giving my wife and daughters a kiss. You see, one of the most important things I learned in Hollywood is that some things are worth more than a billion dollars.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  One of the amazing things about being a writer is all the people in your life who take care of you, personally and professionally.

  First, thank you to Jim Levine for responding to my work and introducing me to his partner, my agent, Daniel Greenberg. Not only did Daniel hone the vision for this book from the start, but he has been a hardworking advocate in every stage of its creation. Thank you also to my TV agent, Dan Brecher, whose insights and help with this project were, once again, boundless. And to Jamie Wolf at Pelosi, Wolf, Effron & Spates, I appreciate you looking out for me. And to Steve Sidman at Greenberg Traurig, thank you for some of the finest counsel and comradeship a writer ever had.

  I want to express my appreciation to everyone at Gotham, especially Bill Shinker, Lisa Johnson, Beth Parker, Amanda To-bier, and Hilary Terrell. And special acknowledgment must be paid to my editor, Lauren Marino, whose enthusiasm and steadfast direction have been nothing short of a beacon throughout this project.

  Thank you to all the executives and colleagues who spoke with me at length while I researched this book. Thank you to my friends and colleagues who have read various drafts, especially Aaron Levy. And thank you to my teachers and mentors, especially Arthur Giron and Michael Piller, who I am sure is drinking the La Tache every day now.

  Finally, I want to acknowledge my family: my parents, Joel and Elaine; my creative brothers, Mike and Scott; my lawyer-cousin Mark Stepakoff; and my beautiful, talented daughters, Sophie and Charlotte. They have all played a part in my work. And my deepest gratitude to you, Elizabeth, for your humor, unyielding faith, and creative partnership, and for living a life very few people understand. Hopefully, they will now understand more.

  INDEX

  A

  ABC

  Abrams, J.J.

  Academy Awards

  actors

  Ader, Tammy

  Adventures in the Screen Trade

  (Goldman)

  advertising

  AFI

  African Americans

  agents

  development deals and

  downturn and

  first meeting with

  fortunes amassed by

  literary boutiques vs. big

  new breed of

  packaging and

  reality TV and

  rise of

  specs and

  staffing season and

  stealing from rival

  training programs and

  AGR (adjusted gross revenues)

  Airwolf

  ALF

  Alice

  Allen, Fred

  Alliance of Motion Picture and

  Television Producers

  All in the Family

  Ally McBeal

  Almost Grown

  Amen

  American Dreams

  American Eagle

  American Idol

  America’s Most Wanted

  Anderson, Maxwell

  Anderson, Pamela

  Andy Griffith Show, The

  Angel

  animated films

  Annie Hall

  Anything But Love

  Apprentice, The

  Are You Hot?

  Arnaz, Desi

  Artists’ Manager Basic Agreement

  (AMBA)

  Artists Television Group (ATG)

  Asimov, Isaac

  Astrof, Jeff

  A-Team, The

  audience: decline of

  demographics of

  Austin, Steve

  B

  Bachelor, The

  “back-end” deals

  Back to the Future

  Baio, Scott

  Balcer, Rene

  Ball, Lucille

  “barter” rights

  Baywatch

  Beauty and the Beast

  Being Bobby Brown

  Bell, Warren

  Bellisario, Donald

  Benson

  Berlanti, Greg

  Berle, Milton

  Berry, Matt

  Bertelsmann

  Betty White Show, The

  Beverly Hillbillies, The

  Beverly Hills

  Bewitched

  Big Brother

  Big Love

  B.J. and the Bear

  blacklisting

  Blinn, Bill

  Bloom, J. Michael

  Bochco, Steven

  Bohem, Les

  Boomer, Linwood

  Borowitz, Andy

  Boston Common

  Boston Legal

  Boston Public

  Boys Don’t Cry

  Bozell, L. Brent

  Bradley, Jeanie

  Brady, John

  Brady, Pam

  Braga, Brannon

  Brand, Joshua

  branding

  Breaking Bonaduce

  “breaking story,”

  Brecher, Dan

  Bressler, Sandy

  Brian Benben Show, The

  Bridget Loves Bernie

  Bright Lights, Big City

  (McInerney)

  Brillstein, Bernie

  Brillstein-Grey

  Brimley, Wilford

  Broder, Bob

  Broder, Kurland, Webb, Uffner

  (BKWU)

  Broder-Webb-Chervin-Silberman

  Brooklyn Bridge

  Brooks, James L.

  Brother Bear

  Brush, Bob

  Buffalo Bill

  Buffy

  Burnett, Carol

  Burnett, Mark

  Burns, Allan

  buzz

  C

  C:16

  cable markets

  Cagney & Lacey

  Caesar, Sid

  Cain, James M.

  Candid Camera

  Capital News

  Captain Kangaroo

  Carnegie Mellon University (CMU)

  Carol Burnett Show, The

  Caroline in the City

  Caron, Glenn Gordon

  Carter, Chris

  Carter, Judy

  CBS

  CBS/MTM Studios

  CBSP (CBS Productions)

  Chandler, Raymond

  Chaplin, Charlie

  character: arcs

  -driven

  story

  charles, Glen and Les

  Charles in Charge

  Chase, Adam

  Chase, David

  Chayefsky, Paddy

  Cheers

  Cherry, Marc

  Chervin, Ted

  Chestnut, Morris

  Chetwynd, Lionel

  Chicago Hope

  China Beach

  CHiPs

  City of Angels

  CNN

  Coach

  coexecutive producers

  Cold Feet

  Cole, Lester

  Cole, Paula

  colleges and universities

  Columbia TriStar Television

  (CTTV)

  shut down

  Columbia TriStar Television

  Distribution (CTTD)

  comedy

  conglomerates and consolidation

  Contender, The

  Conversations with My Agent

  (Long)


  Cop Rock

  coproducer

  Cosby, Bill

  Cosby Show, The

  Costner, Kevin

  Courtship of Eddie’s Father, The

  Cowan, Ron

  Craft of the Screenwriter, The

  (Brady)

  Craig, Charlie

  Crash Bandicoot

  Crazy Like a Fox

  Creative Artists Agency (CAA)

  creative consultant

  Crime Story

  Cronkite, Walter

  Cruise, Tom

  Cupid

  Cuts

  CW network

  Cybill

  cycles

  D

  Daily Racing Form, The

  Dalva (Harrison)

  Daniel, Brittany

  Daniels, Stan

  Daniels, Susanne

  Danson, Ted

  David, Hadley

  David, Larry

  David, Marjorie

  Davis, Hadley

  Dawson’s Creek

  Columbia TriStar

  Dawson’s Creek (cont.)

  shutdown and

  executives and

  favorite episodes of

  final seasons of

  hired for staff job on

  Kiss and

  path of, to Season Three

  pitch and pilot for

  premier of

  producing, in Wilmington

  product placement and

  race and

  revamped

  staffing meeting for

  syndication of

  writing staff at

  Days and Nights of Molly Dodd,

  The

  Deadwood

  Dead Zone, The

  Dear John

  Denny, Reginald

  deregulation

  See also Financial Interest and

  Syndication rules

  Designing Women

  Desilu

  Desperate Housewives

  development deals