Growth Curve: How Paramount Television Studios is Handling the Shutdown

shutdowns hit in March. Nicole discusses the triage that went into getting the series launches squared away and the painful process of shutting down series and pilots that were in

production or about to shoot. She also talks about the juggling act of managing a growing portfolio of series at a time when dealmaking varies so widely by platform, and Nicole reflects on her previous experience as as an executive at f X, a producer for anonymous content, and an agent at I c M, and how they have all coalesced into helping her in her current role at Paramount Television. Nicole Clemmens, President of Paramount Television Studios, thank you so

much for joining us here over Zoom. Thank you for having me. It's great to be here. We appreciate you taking some some time out. Obviously everybody's working from home, but that certainly doesn't mean that you're not busy. And you know, as just as as time and circumstance would have it, just as the pandemic shutdown started to hit in March, you were right in the you know, right, you were right in the zone of about to launch for you know, really significant new projects for your company, UM.

And we'll talk about each of those in a little more detail, because you are working with an really interesting microcosm of you know, of the of all the diversity of networks and platforms that is in the industry. But UM, tell me kind of just gener really, how and how have you and your team adapted to the work from home mandate doing so much remotely. What's it been like. Well, the first couple of weeks we're just triage to dealing with UM putting shows on hiatus, and that was just

it was, you know, sort of constant nonstuff. And then now we've used into development and it's cranking. I can't believe how busy we are I mean, I think writers are home and they're focused, and they're turning around material really quickly, and people are selling. We've been zoom pitching to networks. We sold a show. You know, it's it's I wouldn't say it's business as usual because in between that,

I'm washing about a thousand dishes. And I don't know, how have you had any situations of you know, um content launches that were tied to other events. Where have there been any disruptions get disruptions in the rollout plans of your series? Well, we had Home Before Dark and Defending Jacob both on Apple, all that, all of our in person press premiers, everything, you know, Paradise Lost also affected. The good news is is that you know, everybody rallied

and pivoted, and I feel like it ultimately. I mean, you know, yes, we didn't get to have the actual physical party to celebrate, but all of the cast, I mean across the industry, everybody has really like jumped into to adjust to this new normal, and I feel like the show's both gotten great pushes. I mean, Defending Jacob launches on Friday, so we'll see. But I feel good

about everything I'm seeing so far. Mm hmmmm. Um. And of course you have, you know, more than a dozen other other shows on your roster, so you must have had things that were in production that had to shut down quickly and unexpectedly. Yes, yeah, we had. Let's see, we had three shows that we got put that were put on hiatus, that were in the middle of shooting. Um, and we have delayed production. We had a pilot that was literally we had just been at the table read

in New Orleans. We're flying home and then that Monday we shut down. Um, so that went on. We had a pilot at Quimby, or not a pilot, but a series at Quimby Varsity Blues that was about to start shooting in the next couple of days and that shut down. Um, we had it was a little farther out, but we had a pilot for USA that was shooting that now is delayed. We you know, we should have been shooting Jack, Ryan and June. So yeah, right, a lot of stuff.

What is the hardest part from a business from a financial standpoint, What is the hardest part about a quick unexpected shutdown? Is it just the cost of you know, putting everything in storage and having people that are on the payroll expecting to get paid all of a sudden in limbo. What from a from a like a production management standpoint, what do you find as the hardest Well, look, I would say my production team did the unbelievable job.

But you know it's the it's the immediate shutdown costs. UM. It's also you have to factor in UM restarting, right, and we also don't know how long this is going to be, so it's adjusting for every single deal across various categories and what that looks like. And I mean it was. It was a phenomenal. I mean, we have shut down shows before, but we'd never shut down every

show one week. It was an amazing UM, it was an amazing drill and to see all of our teams and it brought us really close, but like literally figuring it out as we went along, because it affects business affairs, It affects physical production as you're right, affects like do you fold and hold a stage? Do you are? We? You know? And now we are we're all down and we're now sitting and waiting and thinking like we don't know when we're gonna come up, where we're gonna come

up well, we need to make a location change. You know, various deals across shows for actors will be affected in schedule. I gotta believe and schedules, and look, the thing is is that unlike a shutdown, when the whole world isn't shut down, it's not that someone's taking another job in

the meantime, right. You hope is that your band wants to get back together the second we can get up, and our intention is to and our partners have signaled the same that everybody as soon as we can wants to get going and get back you know, get back on on the on the on the schedule. So you know, it's there's a weird sort of solace knowing that every single person is in the same boat. Nicole, you've been You've been at Paramount heading Paramount Television Studios since September

of two thousand and eighteen. Tell me about the kind of the scope of the team that you've put together. You know, when I got there, um, they certainly there were like a lot of great shows going, but it was a much smaller division. And I think my my approach and my intent was to scale, to diversify the

business model. Um, and to you know, look for opportunities for for margin and so I um, and in expanding the team, UM, you know, I hired a number two there had not been a number two in development, um,

Jenna Santoiani, who was fantastic. And then we hired Cheryl Bosnak to run a current department which had not existed that date because we had plenty of shows that needed to be taken care of on the ongoing side, and um, you know, and we've I think it's been in the last a lot since well I guess since I've started, it's been about thirteen new hires across the exact ranks,

so it's it's been a pretty decent expansion. And then on the show front, you know, we increase the pipeline, which we count as show series ordered on air, ordered or in production by about and then our development, which are you know, which is most of it is scripted series kinds of development situation more than doubled in the last and so we've had like nine series orders and seven series renewals. So it's been it's been really busy,

really productive. Let's talk about two of your drama series that you have launching with Apple TV plus Home Before Dark and Defending Jacob, can you talk about the appeal for a studio such as yours working with a streamer like Apple on series on series of this of the genre and type, Well, I mean Apples. The deal structure at Apple is a cost plus model, so um, that is Look, it's it's fantastic in terms of working with Apple at this point in time with them launching, they're

really putting a lot of attention into each shows. They're not in a volume business. They're in a very sort of specialized business. So it's you feel like every each show is very curated and really important to them. Are these in in in these deals with Apple? Are these worldwide or are you able to take these all of that? Every Apple deal is a worldwide rights deal and they launch, Um, they launch day and date all over the world. So just pretty exciting in terms of in terms of your

youth ship. But that's a big part of a part of the draw in terms of the exposure. Um. You know you mentioned um Paradise Lost, which is a show that premiered for US on UH Spectrum Originals, and that's show where Charter takes the first window and then Paramount Network nine months later, will take the second window, and in that case the studio holds some international and so we'll sell the international on that. So completely right on the other end of the spectrum, we have street lights.

When the street lights go on. That launched on Quimby with their launch and that that's been, um, that's been really interesting, you know, in terms of Quimby being designed for people on the go and then having you know, but we uh, we know, we don't have the streamers and Quimby included don't s are specific data, but the feedback that we've had has been great on on our

shows so far. So I was curious if Quimby was going to break that mold, but I kind of I think I think that mold has probably been said uh huh.

So in in a way it is interesting. I mean, these are in all these situations in in kind of a cost plus model, not for Paradise Lost respectrum originals, but in a cost plus model, you kind of you know, you know what your you know what your upside is going in so you manage that within and you know, for for you, I mean for you guys, it seems like you have you know, you have a fair amount of activity in that range. You know, you add things up, big big pieces of business like Jack Ryan and you know,

other profile shows. You add that up and it becomes it becomes a nice portfolio. It's good. We've tried to I mean streaming. I had said to somebody, were like the bonds of the portfolio. There's really no risk, but it's capped upside, right, So you definitely want UM and they're fantastic and there, and each individual platform has its

own you know, UM sensibilities and ways of dealing. But I think that the you know the idea of being able to have some shows with some major upsites so you can hit a home run is you know, obviously something we'd love to achieve. And so you know, we we haven't been our our bread and butter is not in broadcast television UM, which isn't to say that we don't do some, but our sister company, CBS Studios does

that to a much larger degree. But this year we have a pilot at Fox UM that is you know, Melissa Leo starring in and uh Philip Noise is directing, and it's fantastic. It's like house, right, It's it's just one of those ones. That you think like this one could go all the way. So you know, it's totally different. That's a deficit. You're deficiting the pilot and you're rolling

the dice. And you know doing that with Fox with fe C in particular, is you know, they're now studio lists in terms of your not sitting there like you would be at or ABC as an outside studio competing against all of these other pod deals or studios that have an agenda to fill the pipeline. So you really like trying to win, you know, get the winning lottery

ticket for a half of a slot. Right, So it's a much better risk doing a pilot for us with FBC in this scenario, right, Yeah, No, I mean it's and it seems like, um it is a true like people say, it's a true portfolio approach. You have your bonds, you have a couple of you know, you have a couple of a couple of bets, and um, I would imagine also from us, you know, from a standpoint of the kind of creative people that you can attract. You know,

people don't always want to be in one lane. You want to have want to have a little more a little more diversity there and and it is interest thing at this time, you know, whether it's Quimby or if you see there are a lot of new or new ish entities coming in with different how you've been loving HBO Max for example, because they are doing really high budget shows and they're giving huge license fees, but you're still holding international, so you're sort of getting in that case,

the best of both worlds in terms of um very low, very very low deficit and then huge potential for abside. So they came on the scene right as it sort of looked as if everything was gonna shut down, and then they showed up. So it's, you know it ebbs and flows, so you know, look, well who knows? Who knows what the landscape is gonna look like? Right right now?

It is hard. What was it like was it? Did you have to adjust it all to produce for Quimby on theirs, you know, their specs and standards of ten minutes and the whole thing adding up to what there was the development process which the writers adapted to really easily informed sort of following function into of knowing that you needed to have those ten minute kind of cliffhanger uh spots and the shows that we have done with

them have lent themselves really well to that storytelling. Um, we did actually have to adapt our shooting style for the Quimby you know, for the vertical and horizontal of the phone, So our filmmakers actually had put tape on the monitors so that they in the frame. But and and look, we were making our first Quimby shows as Quimby's making their first shows, so we were learning their you know, their style together and it was it was

a great experience. We we're you know, we've got street Lights now out where we're doing Varsity Blues and we have a couple other things behind that we love. Working with them been great. We hope that everything you know, I hope it works really well, would be greatful. Do you think do you see those shows? Do you see a completed Quimby season as a potential pilot for something that, you know, something that could go longer term, something in

a more traditional format. Is that because I've heard that that's somewhat of the appeal, but good it could it's not so much I have It's not that it couldn't happen that way. I think, for instance, street Lights is in a complete story and when it comes together that could be sold as a TV movie for example. Right, Um, there are some ongoing series that um, you know that we'll have to see because we haven't done you know,

we haven't actually produced them yet. UM, that you might be able to cut together depending on how many seasons they go and selling that format. So UM, I haven't looked at it so much as a pilot program for um the larger scale places as much as an opportunity to have something that you can cut together and see. Look, if if this model works like the for you in in a few years, you get it back and its entirety to assemble and then a period of time after that you get it back and you can cut it up.

So if that's a form that really takes off, you can re license it in that form. I see. Yeah, I mean the business model was strong, and of that that could all be on the come. The long tail can be an unknown and if there's Grady there, then fantastic. But the upfront model made it worth doing. And it's cost plus essentially. Yeah, it's whether that pick. Yeah, he's exactly, it's cost less. So so they're very smart. I think

about how they went out went out about it. It's interesting and now with Paradise Loss that's also um Charter, the you know, the second largest cable operator in the in the country next to Comcast, started a couple of years ago. They really started putting into their distribution deals, you know, a massive distribution packed for cable channels with Viacom lead to there was kind of a line and a press release. Oh on the sides of you know, the companies have agreed to develop a project, you know,

original content projects together. When I first started to see that, I thought, what, you know, I thought that was just, you know, kind of a throwaway thing. But obviously it has born fruit with with Paramount and by Common and others. Um, how did you tell me do you did you work out the agreement to have it premiere on the Spectrum platform and then go to Paramount the Paramount channel. Was that was that anticipated as part of the dealer? Was

that something you worked out? Now? That was that was actually done day one? So it wasn't It wasn't a process of doing it with Spectrum and then figuring out where to go. It was we have a couple of projects with Spectrum and b ET and we have a couple of projects right now with that are just spectrum and I don't know if they'll have a second window, but uh, it's it's a run the gamut. Mm hm

goa um. Was that being that the spectrum is sort of regional and not so new, Was that it all hard to attract talent or the fact that you would be transitioning to do a more established linear network and undoubtedly streaming platforms. I think what we were able to explain that, which I really believe is true, is that it was great because you get a you get a bite at a release where you're not behold into rising

or falling on ratings. Right, it's all critical and it's not such a huge market that it's then taking a huge bite out of your your you know, you're you're bigger opportunities. So it was sort of like a premier and a preview and an opportunity to shine, build some buzz and then you can have your your next run. Plus there is also the opportunity for international in terms of the business model and the and the back end upside. So you know, people were great and look it's Katherine

Pope who leads the charge there. Who oh an NBC vetter in a long time NBC in Churnon, Yeah, exactly. I think the regional aspect of it really ends up affecting the storytelling more than anything, because that those stories that Charter is going to get in on are going to beat stories that are appealing to their their demographics. That makes sense. It is just like from what we've discussed almost you know, four different kind of models within

four different shows. Do you enjoy a part of the job. Yeah, I mean I love I This is the job that lets me take all of my jobs and roll it all together, from having been an agent to being fired to be increaser, it's all together. What's interesting is when you have a project and you're lucky enough to have several bidders, it's not apples to apples, it's complete apple stranges, right right. None of the deal you have to you know, you have to make to sit and you have to

make decisions that are multi factoral. You can't necessarily just line them all up and the one appear wins. You know, it's it's a super I find it really really interesting and um, you know, I'm glad that there are a lot of buyers and we have stuff on thirteen different platforms, and I'd be thrilled for more to come into the picture. That sounds like HBO Max is going to join the mix. Oh we've got yeah, We've got a lot on HBO Max. Actually we were love Sarah Aubrey and Kevin and so

we've got Greece coming out. Um. We just hired our writer that's on the fast track there, which is a series order. We have Station eleven, which we've already had the first two episodes in the can and we had a hiatus actually already in place because we're going to pick up shooting in the summer. So we'll see now if if COVID affects it at all. That's Hero Marai directing Patrick Somerville's adaptation of Emily St. John Mandel's novel, which is serially, I mean, how could we know it's

a post pandemic world. It's kind of crazy. The first cut came in during the first week of this and I was just it was just like so surreal. Nicole. You have really have had a really a varied career from being you know, a creative executive ed f X to an agent that I see mum earlier and recently manager and producer for Anonymous Content, which is definitely a purveyor of fine content. They truly do. They were very much ahead of the curve in assembling these very high

end uh a lot of unlimited series projects. Um, what would you say earlier in the start of your career? What what were some of the either key experiences or jobs or shows that you worked on that kind of allowed you to to climb the ladder. What would you say was really formative experiences for you as an executive or as an industry professional? Wow? Um, well, in this incarnation, I would say at FX, just being a part of that company, which obviously so much of that is attributed

to John Managraph and the culture that he creates. And first pilot I ever worked on, the executive for that show was John mind Graph, who was the VP at NBC. And so go flash forward all these years and then you know we're working together. So um, I think, uh, you know, obviously agenting for your sixteen years, it's like in your blood, you're never not an agent. But the the experience of really sitting at like Johnsney and watching how he thought about television and the way he cultivated

relationships with artists and really pushed them. You know, you never felt like you were ever dictating or writing a show for somebody, and that a trap you can fall into in development. And what what I think that we were about there was finding really nailing what somebody's authentic voice was, what it was they were trying to say, and then pushing them further and supporting him in that.

And so I think, you know, every show go, whether it was You're the Worst with Stephen Falk, which was one of the first things that I bought to Atlanta to you know, um uh Snowfall, to you know, anything that that we did over the course of that period of time was people are like, wow, the shows. I love those shows, And really you kind of want to say,

we didn't do anything except not screw them up. We just gave them the room to do great work, you know, And so I try to as a studio, you have more responsibility to deliver the show, but in the development process we really try to emulate that in terms of you know, really making bespoke shows. People ask us what the brand is and it's sort of like, well, we're studios,

we're selling what people are buying. But I want the brand to be an amazing experience, and whether a show is the size of Boomerang on b Et with Lena Ways or Jack Ryan, I want the quality to be superior. I want every interaction with every department to feel like they you know, they just love working with us and they trust us to deliver the show that we're making together.

So it's you know, I think that I think just my time at f X really impacted the way I view TV and also the possibilities earlier in your career. Worked for one of my favorite people that I got to know early on in my career, Aaron Spelling. That you worked at Spelling Television. Tell me something that you remember about or that you learned from your time at Spelling, Well,

we would call him the mister. I mean, it was it was this surreal thing to have that be your first job as an executive because it was its own bubble and you had a butler with white gloves, like walking through the kitchen, like there was a very specific way that a Spelling show was. There was a formula and like season four, I think of of nine O

two and No I was in Currents. So those are the shows that are on the air, and I was sitting in his office watching dailies with him with a carpet that was like four inches long and a giant fish tank if you remembering, you know, and uh, and we were watching and we cut interior peach Pit Jason Priestley and uh, you know, I can't remember who, like Luke Perry, and they're talking at the bar and all of a sudden, here, stop, stop, turn on the lots

and they stopped the projector because it was a projector projecting the feeling like where are we? Where are we? We didn't get establishing shot and so it's like it always had to be like establishing shot, wide shot, two shot, over the shoulder, over the shoulder, close up. So it was just, you know, it was mathematical. But it works. It works, it works, you know, it works. It works well. John Lynn Grab and Aaron Spelling. Those are two good Those are two good chapters in your memoir. And now

I have Ginnopolis, So honestly, I like win. I win the lottery of best bosses ever. Yeah, some pretty good ones. Nicole, thank you so much for your time in talking with this. I really I really appreciate you taking your time out of your work from home schedule and and look forward to seeing what you know, what you guys come up with, and how you how you guys, can you know, get through the second half of the year. It's I'm sure it's gonna be a scramble, but here's hoping that we

can all get get on it soon. Thank you, it's my pleasure. It's good to see you. Thanks tee bye bye, thanks for listening. Be sure to tune in next week for another episode of Strictly Business.