Mandate

I'm down in LA for the week, pitching a series. The thing you have to watch out for is: the mandate is always on the move. We pitched one production company famous for its HBO and Showtime series. What do they want? An episodic procedural for broadcast. (Which is what we're pitching, which is why they wanted to see us down here.)

Talked to the CW. They don't want high school serials. They don't even want 20something serials, like all their new series. They want older and episodic. They want those 40 year old female eyeballs.

Just met an exec who tells me he can't do anything with a genre show. In other news, someone told me angels are the new zombies.

Always ask about the mandate before you start pitching. Until you find out what they're actually looking for now, this very moment, talk about the weather. (Which, by the way, is ridiculously brisk for summer. Low of 59F? Come on.)