I read the entire article. When will those in the business realize there is no magic formula for a "global" product? Didn't Stage 32 just have a long conversation about the demise of the Super-hero genre? The tried, true, and lucrative formula is: give the people what they want. Comedies? Comedians will tell you "woke" nonsense has killed comedy clubs and movies. Reality shows that everyone knows are about as real as Leprechauns? The day of Big Brother (that has become blacks against whites), Survivor, and Keeping up with Housewives of big cities, Kardashians, and Baby Mamas is coming to a close. Why? BORING. On the other hand, "B" pictures were cheap to make and popular...and were surprise! good stories. What these moguls haven't figured out is that good writing is the key to entertainment. Films like Avatar, Star Wars (now crap), special effects (thank heavens for CGI & AI) can still be made, but movie theaters are probably on their way out for good ....so, why police procedurals? Take a lesson from the Brits. Midsomer Murders is a British crime drama television series, adapted by Anthony Horowitz and Douglas Watkinson from the novels in the Chief Inspector Barnaby book series (created by Caroline Graham), and broadcast on two channels of ITV since its premiere on 23 March 1997. (Wikopedia) It had enough balmy characters to fill a circus. America has tried to emulate the style in Law & Order and spin-offfs (L&O, like the Catholic Mass, is playing somewhere in the world 24/7), but have become nothing more than "woke" vehicles that can bore the dead. In our household, we have dropped streaming services that offer thousands of versions of the same thing (I can anticipate the dialog so well, I can sing-along), mostly horror & witchy stuff which it also repetitious and predictable. We mostly, turn off the TV altogether and watch old movies on DVDs. Or ... enjoy well-made commercials. Yep, some of the commercials are better than the programming. Liberty Insurance's Emu & Doug are really entertaining. I suggest writing for grown-ups as kids, don't have a lot of $$$ unless their parents do and are generous. Why not entertain the people with the $$$ who buy the products? Here's the thing: America is a divided country. Deal with it. You can't please all the people all the time. You have numb-skulls, and you have thinkers. (My judge-show loving daughter who watches reruns of Judge Judy (and has learned about the law in the process) just binged on Downton Abbey. Now she's learned about the stratified class system in Britain, too, and loved every minute of it. I think she's ready for The Jewel in the Crown, Brideshead Revisited, and An Englishman Riding By. OMG! It's white culture. So what? The stories and production values are good. And if producers want "inclusion" start writing stories about something other than victimhood ghetto junk. How about a series called: Mexican-Americans Hate Illegal Immigration as Much as Other People, and feature the vets of the Imperial Valley who fought in WW II? Or how the Mexican-American community worked with the small business commnunity (that included a gay couple) to get the first municipal initiative passed in Brawley requiring a vote on police/fore consolidation? That's a story worth telling. With all the opportunities and technology available, the bilge that passes for entertainment is criminal. Cost-cutting doesn't have to mean skimping on good story-telling.

Congratulations, RB and Sam! This info is quite surprising. Little chance for romantic comedy, fantasy, or sci-fi? Yikes. Not so surprised by this though: "the reality is you do need to be repped [by an agent] and in association with a credible experienced production entity before you get in front of any commissioner. I have to ask if it sometimes works the other way around. Can't interest from a credible producer open the door to an agent?

Amazing!! I'm so glad that the panel was such a hit and got such great attention!

Congratulations on being featured in IBC 365, Sam, RB, and Stage 32! “‘The word is out that streamers want comedies and police procedurals – formats that work with new ad supported models,’ said Sam Sokolow, Executive Producer at Stage 32.” That’s great news for anyone who has a Comedy or Police Procedural and anyone who’s planning to write them (like myself). I have the ideas for both already.

Love it!

This all sounds very hopeful for content creators... I'm optimistic! Thanks for the news, RB.

Love it!