“Before we begin the process of elimination, I believe we need to discuss the current situation with the Jeff Torkelson project.”
Everyone looked at Simon Kent, who smiled and stood. “Most of you know that I initiated the contract, but there were some minor creative differences. The show was heading in a strong direction, but well…I’ll let Ian take over from here. He stepped in and the ball is totally in his court.”
Kent smirked and took his seat. The room looked at Ian, all with questionable looks of various degrees on their faces. David Turner grinned “Young Justyn you have the floor.”
Ian nodded. “May I?”
“By all means.” Turner took his seat and Ian walked to the head of the room.
“Thank you, Simon. I start by thanking you for the wonderful opportunity that you handed me. You are to be applauded for not only seizing an opportunity, but allowing an unseasoned pier to help in shaping it. As Simon said, the show is heading in a very strong, and if I may say so, very exciting direction. We only have one little problem…”
“Problem?” Simon did spider mirror exercises with his fingers. “How could there be a problem? Do tell.”
“Actually, it’s not really a problem, with everyone’s approval it actually solves a problem. The original idea was a spin off.”
“That’s what was contracted.” Kent puffed.
“No, sir. What was contracted was a series with a full year commitment, provided it be ready for airing this fall. Jeff Torkelson and his contracted writing staff had trouble coming up with a sustainable concept for a spin off. Fortunately, through some hard work and sheer luck we were able to come up with an alternative concept, one we already had a development agreement on and we begin shooting the series in two weeks.”
“Casting is done?” Metcalfe couldn’t believe.
“Actually, yes.” Ian assured. “We were able to use the two actors already contracted for the spin off, and the other two regulars, one lead and one reoccurring have already signed on the dotted line.”
Trent Rockford spoke up. “Another lead? Torkelson had already wangled his way into being the highest paid lead in television. What the hell did you sign another lead for? It was unaffordable as it was.”
Ian nodded to Wella, who began to pass out folders with contracts. “The folders Wella is now passing out contains all the contracts and cost analysis of the series, no longer a Jeff Torkelson project, but “The World On A String” starring Jeff Torkelson and legendary HRT star Tess Sinclair.”
“Tess Sinclair?” Someone said. “You signed Tess Sinclair?”
“Yes.” Ian said. “If you turn to the first contract you will see an agreement signed by Jeff and myself declaring the initial contract mediated by Mr. Kent null and void, followed by a new contract at exactly half the original price, with higher back end and raises for the five year term based on ratings increases.”
“He agreed to that?” Kent’s face fell.
“Mr. Torkelson and Ms. Sinclair both agreed that it was more important to make a good series that was affordable to the network.”
“They believe in the project that much?” Rockford asked.
“Absolutely.” Ian smiled. “Please take note, we have broken down the cost analysis to the first contract against the new contracts. “The World On a String” is still an expensive series but only slightly higher than the cost of any new program at any network.”
Everyone but Simon Kent and his assistant applauded. Kent tossed the files on the table in front of him. Simon looked at Ian. “How is any of this possible? You just started on Monday.”
“Wait a minute.” One of the other execs put his hands on the table. “You did this in two days?”
Ian nodded his head and continued. “The original idea was from Jenson Michaels, whom my department has under contract. When Tessie came into the picture, I remembered it.” Ian nodded to Wella again, who began passing out bound scripts.
“These are the first two scripts, the first folder has an episode breakdown for two years. Now, Torkelson’s writers will tweak them slightly but they decided they were too good not to use as stood.”
“You said there was a problem.” Metcalfe said. “All I see here is gold.”
“Well the problem is this is not a half hour sitcom. This is a one hour dramedy, throw “Ugly Betty” and “Mad Men” in a blender and you get “The World On A String”. My suggestion is moving “John and Agnes” from 9:30 to 8:30 on Thursday, filling the early hole and the last one as well.”
“I always thought that ‘John and Agnes’ was more a family oriented show anyway.” Someone piped up.
“It is our highest rated sitcom, and will serve a better build into “String” than the other way around.” Ian said.
“I have to admit, I’m impressed but apprehensive.” Simon grinned. “You threw all of this together in two days. I’ll just put it out there. We shouldn’t okay this until we’ve seen a pilot. Sinclair is a notorious diva and I doubt has any chemistry with Torkelson. We shouldn’t even think about this until we have a pilot.”
“We don’t have time for that.” Ian told him. “Not if we plan to announce it for the fall.”
“Then we pull it off.” Simon smiled and looked around the room. “I move we just cancel the project until we see something concrete.”
“Not a problem.” Ian smiled. “I don’t have a pilot, but we did shoot a teaser for you, even we wanted to see about chemistry between the two leads.”
David Turner stood. “Ian, let me step in here, if I may…” Ian nodded and returned to his seat. “First of all, let me just point out that what you are about to see is two fold. After you see this you will no doubt agree with Ian and myself…”
“You knew about this?” Kent said.
“Of course.” Turner looked down on the man. “Young Justyn wasn’t about to mess with the fortunes of this network with out getting input and approval from a superior, something a couple of you might want to begin taking into consideration.”
Kent’s shrunk back in his chair. Turner beamed, “Now where was I…oh yes, two fold. You are about to see the teaser for “World On A String”, and how it will be used with the fall campaign. The board was so excited when they saw it, we’ve already unanimously approved it.”
Simon Kent clapped his hands and giggled. “I knew it!”
The room including Ian rolled their eyes. Someone even murmured “I heart HRT.”
“Now this is just a…what did he call it, a simple Flash computer program, when it’s transferred over to film it will be a little softer.” Turner seemed pleased. “Shall we roll it?”
He took his seat as the lights dimmed. Wella looked at Ian and patted his thigh, whispering, “At least our teaser will be good.”
The screen at the front of the room lit up and the soft sounds of an orchestra could be heard. A classic picture faded into to view, the portrait of the woman from the lobby. As it went to sepia an announcer’s voice said simply “Hutton”. The process repeated twice with the other two portraits, the announcer saying “Redfield” and then “Turner”. As the final portrait faded into the network logo the room heard “The legend continues this fall…”
Ian and Wella were dumbstruck. It was the campaign they had designed and didn’t bother to submit. They looked at each other and then back to the screen. A classic portrait of Tess Sinclair faded into the logo. It was an iconic shot from the cover of TV Guide of “Tessie” in all her diva glory.
It went sepia fading into a shot of Tessie in the exact pose this time in color. The camera pulled back revealing her on a chaise in modern day diva glory. Jeff Torkelson came into the shot, baby in arm and five year old with thick glasses in hand. He stopped at Tess and frowned. “Got to go for unemployment.”
The little girl crawled over Tess and sits on her legs staring at her. Jeff handed Tess the baby. “You’re in charge”. He walked out of the shot and the camera panned in for a close up of Tess and the baby, every ounce of diva gone.
The announcer said, “The World on a String, Thursdays this fall a new legend is born.”
The baby spits up and Tess looks at the camera as the shot turns to sepia.
The room howled. Applause broke out and the room got to its feet. Even Simon Kent stood, staring angry holes into Ian, but clapping along.
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