How I Navigated The Unscripted Television Industry (Part 1 of 3)

MOVE THAT BUS!

Many people ask me how a PR & event professional, a classically trained chef, and someone with a master's degree in health services administration, found his way into developing unscripted television concepts for major networks?  Even writing that intro seems outrageous! The answer can be traced back to one person. The "inciting incident" that has shaped every fiber of my creative process:  Ty Pennington.

You may know him from Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Not the answer you were expecting? It wasn't so much the show, but the person I was watching with - my late Mom, Toni Ann. Sunday nights she and I would sneak into the basement and watch Ty & his crew change people's lives. The changes were so drastic it would bring us to guttural tears, hand holding, sharing of snacks, and outright consoling each other. I am still amazed at how a piece of content can bring out so much emotion. It was our time to connect, share a moment that was all our own, be vulnerable, and just be present as we watched our favorite show.

I wasn't out then, so my days were spent keeping up a facade of hyper masculinity and outward stoicism, afraid to show any emotion. I never spoke about my sexuality with my Mom back then, but she knew. She knew this was a safe space where I could be myself, cry if I wanted to, and not have to pretend. I miss those Sunday nights, and I guess my love for unscripted television can be traced back to the humanness of those episodes, the safety I felt with her, and the longing I feel each day to spend more time - just me and my Mom.

THE ULIMATE ELEVATOR PITCH

I wish I had a better, more elegant way of saying that our first idea came from being inebriated at a gay bar in Hell's Kitchen, NYC, but I don't. I was with my dear friend & now (& forever) co-producer, Tim Grady. We had just finished dinner and a tequila (or 3) and the idea just came out:

As a chef, how much of a burden would it be to have to cook someone's final meal? 

We talked about the idea deeply, as two people who are a few in do, and concluded,  "Wouldn't that make a great TV show?" 

We easily could have left it there, but the idea followed us everywhere we went.  It became an all- consuming thought, but it was still just an idea. We had no clue how to get it out of the ether and into something tangible, until... we started talking about it to everyone and anyone who would listen. Talking about it, refining it, and sharing it made it real.

One night I was at a friend's Christmas party in Chelsea. As I was leaving, I got into an elevator with some friends and other guests of the party. (And here I go again) I started talking about our idea to my captive audience and when I finished I felt a tap from behind on my shoulder by another party guest I'd just met. He handed me his business card, and said, "Call me Monday."

NYC: MARCH 10, 2020

This began my unexpected journey (The Hobbit pun intended) of meetings with producers, riding the famous escalator up the Viacom building in Times Square into MTV Studios, and a crash course in unscripted TV development. 

I had a taste for the business and an idea in my pocket. I decided to take a class on a whim in TV production on a memorably arctic February day in NYC.  It was a full day of camera work (I hate being on camera) but at the end of the afternoon, we were visited by an Executive Producer & Creator of The Real Housewives of Atlanta & Potomac, and more recently Dubai!  I was struck by the fact that this incredibly successful TV producer took the time in -5 degree weather to visit a class and casually talk to us about this business. It felt selfless, and I was truly moved by her choosing to being there. 

It took me at least an hour to stand up and "pitch" our idea. I was so nervous I probably stuttered through and blurted out nonsense, but she told me to e-mail her anytime. And so, we began a relationship that has resulted in 4 development deals with Truly Original and a mentor and friend that I truly cherish to this day. I learned on that freezing day in February to never be transactional with creative souls, but to always focus on the relationships that grow, as they will flourish over time and produce something truly special.

Our original idea gave birth to a new idea. In learning our subject's story, a single phrase got us thinking, and a new show was born from its predecessor.

What is a proxy wedding?

I had no idea, but I knew it was a great TV show idea! And the journey continued...

Using what we learned from our first show, we took this idea to our fresh network of unscripted producers in NYC. We found a partner, and together we pitched our new show to Lifetime Network (on a zoom?!). Our in-person meeting was canceled by the network the day-of because there was something going around called Covid-19. They didn't want to take the risk of having in-office visitors, so Tim and I sat around a board room table at the production office and zoomed in with the Lifetime team, killed the pitch, and threw ourselves in a cab to get back up to our apartments in Harlem. All of this while feeling depleted and too exhausted to even celebrate the huge win we both just shared. 

That was March 10th 2020, the day before NYC was declared a state of emergency and we both unknowingly had Covid.

The bad news- I couldn't get out of bed for 3 weeks. The good news - we got a call to tell us that Lifetime wanted the show...

UP NEXT: THE PANDEMIC & PITCHING IN PAJAMAS (Part 2 of 3)