Shooting Their Own : In a war for viewers, cable channels and the networks are producing their own movies in record numbers

Once a Hollywood runt, the made-for-TV movie has quietly grown into a behemoth. Thanks to the cable industry’s increasing determination to create its own programming, viewers will be able to tune in to nearly 250 original movies and miniseries between now and next September.

Even PBS’ “Wonderworks” has switched to an all-movie format.

There were eight original movies on TV last week and there are five more this week--including two tonight: “Face of Fear” on CBS and “Perry Mason: The Case of the Defiant Daughter” on NBC. Monday night, NBC airs “Promises to Keep.” CBS serves up “Angel of Death” on Tuesday, then is back Friday with “Children of the Bride.”

“Five years ago, there were fewer than 100 TV movies made, and most were for the three networks,” observes Aaron Cohen, senior vice president of programming at N. W. Ayer, who chooses the movies that AT&T; and General Motors sponsor. “Now the number of players in the field has tripled.”

TV movies are proliferating because ratings show there is an enormous public appetite for them. But the expansion has brought problems. Producers have to compete for the services of top writers and actors; then comes the crunch of finding an audience.

“Viewers are making their decision at 8:58 p.m. as to what they’ll watch,” says Allan Sabinson, ABC’s executive vice president of motion pictures for television and miniseries, who will dish out 31 new titles this season. “With all the different cable outlets, and Fox starting up a movie night, how do you do something interesting that gets their attention?”

“It’s harder than ever to turn out movies that don’t look, feel and sound like what everybody else is doing,” says John Matoian, vice president for movies and miniseries at CBS, which will make 32-37 original productions.

“Maybe there is a glut in the marketplace,” concedes Tony Masucci, senior vice president of miniseries and motion pictures for television at NBC, the industry’s biggest producer with 40 original movies and miniseries planned for 1990-91. “But movies are still a viable programming alternative. They probably perform better than any new programming. Over the last several years, while the network shares were declining, the three networks’ movie-of-the-week shares remained constant.”

Yet Masucci adds a cautionary note. “Since cable got into movies, our movie-of-the-week ratings are dropping. NBC may see the demise of one night of movies (out of two on the current prime-time schedule)--maybe next year.”

Even if NBC cuts its movie production in half, however, Fox Broadcasting will pick up the slack. The fledgling network will air its first made-for-TV movie in November and plans to schedule one or two every month in 1991. And both Lifetime and The Family Channel have launched modest movie schedules. “Since women watch made-for-TV and cable movies, it seemed the most natural way to break out,” notes Melinda Fishman, vice president of original movies for Lifetime, a basic cable service that programs for women.

The Family Channel is approaching movie programming more cautiously. “Six months after a viewer watches a movie, he won’t remember where he saw it,” says Paul Krimsier, Family’s vice president of programming. “We’re making a few movies, but I’m more anxious to increase the number of original series we do because they will build network loyalty.”

In the cable world, Krimsier’s voice is in the minority. “Series are riskier and more expensive,” believes Scott Sassa, executive vice president of programming for TNT, which will make 33 movies this season. “When we started TNT in 1988, we needed high-profile programs that would draw attention to us. We chose films because we could get the most publicity for our money. We hoped people would say, ‘Gee, they have good movies. I should subscribe.’ ” Apparently they did. From a 17 million subscriber start-up, TNT now reaches 48 million households.

USA Network, which is now making 30 movies a year, was similarly motivated. “Last year we felt we needed to have a presence in original production in a highly visible way, and movies were a way to achieve that goal,” says Dave Kenin, USA’s senior vice president of programming. “Wednesday had been a so-so night for us. Now, as our movie night, it’s No. 1 in terms of (audience) delivery.”

HBO, Showtime and The Disney Channel, all pay-cable networks, have made their own films in the past but have recently decided to step up production. “Overwhelmingly, original movies are a great influence on retaining subscribers,” Disney Channel president John F. Cooke says. “They also bring subscribers because people read about them and see them listed. Every year we make more because our subscribers want them.”

“Ratings of HBO movies on average are higher than (theatrical) movies we get from studios,” says Robert Cooper, senior vice president of HBO Pictures. “More subscribers watch HBO-produced pictures than the average movie on our service. If you look at the gross rating points, which add up all the times each movie plays, an HBO picture measures 43 while the average picture measures 31. That means we have a 39% advantage for our pictures. In homes that get HBO, an HBO picture gets about a 10% higher rating than network programming when it first premieres.”

Cooper, who made the first original cable movie, “The Terry Fox Story,” in 1983, jokes about the current proliferation of product, “I started some of the trouble. We believed it could lead to a lot of films for HBO. We didn’t know it would explode out of HBO. An HBO movie used to be an event. It is no longer. Now people want to know, ‘What’s the hook?’ ”

Competition for good scripts and top actors is becoming more heated than ever. “I see a problem in having a lot of good actors who do good work bumping up against themselves,” CBS’ Matoian says, referring to such instances as “L.A. Law’s” Michael Tucker starring in his network’s “Archie’s Wife” and NBC’s “Casey’s Gift: For Love of a Child.” “Hopefully we’ll attract more talent from outside the TV world. For instance, this season we’ll have Glenn Close and Christopher Walken in ‘Sarah, Plain and Tall.’ ”

Lindsay Law, executive producer of PBS’ “American Playhouse,” who has been making high-quality, low-budget movies for a decade, notes, “It’s been more difficult for us casting lately because there’s a wider range of choices for actors.” The surge in TV/cable movies comes at a time when the feature film business has thrown heavy resources into action pictures. “Because small theatrical production companies are falling on hard times, a whole wealth of talent that was making interesting independent movies in America is coming to us,” says Colin Callender, executive producer of HBO Showcase, a division of HBO that makes lower-budget films.

Others are finding projects in someone else’s rejection pile. “Some of our scripts were sitting around,” USA Network’s Kenin says.

And what of the TV movie’s continuing image problem? Since its inception 26 years ago, the form has often been brushed off as merely a modern incarnation of the old B-movie.

“They are B-movies,” NBC’s Masucci acknowledges, “but B means budget, made for a price. B doesn’t mean bad.”

With so many TV movies being made, programmers increasingly are trying to pinpoint specific audiences rather than cater to everyone. The major networks, of course, have a broader mandate than their competitors, but even they have recognized the importance of niche programming. Following is a breakdown of the movie-making philosophy of each broadcast and cable network that makes original films.

ABC--Philosophy: “This season will be markedly different,” says Allan Sabinson, executive vice president of motion pictures for television and miniseries. “We’re moving toward quality pieces and first-rate original dramas. We’re also dealing with issues--civil rights, AIDS, rights of the handicapped, treatment of American Indian natives, the Middle East. We’re moving away from ripped-from-the-headlines docudramas. We’ve done them (‘The Preppie Murder’; ‘Challenger’), and we’ll do them again, but for the moment they’ve been done to a point where it’s a joke. We think audiences are tired of them.”

Audience: Primarily women. “Women are more desirable to advertisers. The male does more zapping. They are more fickle viewers. They’re more apt to go off in pursuit of sports or cable.”

CBS--Philosophy: “We try to get an incredibly varied slate of movies,” says John Matoian, vice president of movies and miniseries. “We will have comedy, romantic comedy, horror, science fiction, Westerns and headline movies. We want to do event movies that attract major casting. We eventually hope to attract a younger audience.”

Audience: Sunday night--primarily women; Tuesday night--lead-in is “Rescue 911,” which attracts a lot of male viewers, so CBS hopes to attract men and women to its movie offering. “When you try to please everybody, you end up pleasing nobody,” Matoian says. “But when you’re reaching a much larger audience and an advertiser-supported network base, you’re less able to specialize.”

NBC--Philosophy: “A balanced cross-section of films not weighted to one genre or another,” says Tony Masucci, senior vice president of miniseries and motion pictures for television. “In terms of content, I do believe that we offer more substance than most theatrical releases. We have no more or less headline-driven films than before. Some can make sense dramatically, others not.”

Audience: Sunday night--entire family; Monday night--women. “Because of ESPN football, which attracts a lot of male viewers, and Fox, which has a lot of younger viewers, Sunday night is starting to look like the Monday-night configuration,” Masucci says. “There’s no point in trying to get the male audience away from football.”

Fox--Philosophy: “We want to offer movies that are very distinguishable from the normal TV fare on other networks,” says Lawrence A. Jones, president of FNM Co. (for Fox Night at the Movies). “We’ll have concept comedies, black comedies, compelling dramas, Hitchcock-like thrillers and action-adventures. We may re-make some old 20th Century Fox movies.”

FNM, which is owned by Fox Inc., the same company that owns Fox Broadcasting, will broadcast its first production Nov. 26, “Working Trash,” a comedy about two janitors (George Carlin, Ben Stiller) who work in a Wall Street brokerage firm and get rich by reading what other people throw out.

Audience: 18-34 males and females.

PBS--”American Playhouse” philosophy: “In the past, we’ve made a lot of personal films that have been very narrow in their point of view,” says executive producer Lindsay Law, whose series returns in March. “Frankly, we’re shifting to stronger plots and more universal themes. We have done a lot of enjoyable short fiction. We’ll be less gentle than we used to be. We’re doing fewer historical pieces and more stories that illuminate the world now. We also have an enormous focus on multicultural programming, telling stories about gays, blacks, Hispanics and Asians.” Audience: 30s-40s male and female.

“Wonderworks” philosophy: “We’re a literature-based series,” says senior executive producer Jay Rayvid. “We deal with rites-of-passage stories with heroes or heroines from 7 through to late teens. They always learn something. Our product must be able to be aired on daytime. We have some similarities with the Disney Channel, but they do things that don’t fit our genre.”

Audience: families.

Disney Channel--Philosophy: “Our stories are about families that find themselves in adversity--usually some kind of social, political or economic conflict--and how they rise above it,” Disney Channel President John F. Cooke says. “There is always a teen, pre-teen or young adult in the setting, and there is an interrelationship between mothers, fathers and children. The focus tends to be on people finding themselves and building character. We’ve been very successful with period pieces, but we also have contemporary subjects.”

Audience: families.

Family Channel--Philosophy: “Our movies are character-driven, with people standing up and doing the right thing,” reports Paul Krimsier, vice president of programming. “In our Thanksgiving movie, ‘Clarence,’ Robert Carradine plays the angel from ‘It’s a Wonderful Life,’ who comes back to Earth and has another adventure. One of our goals is that people should feel good after watching them. They’re not just escapism. They should make you think. They aren’t so unique that they couldn’t appear elsewhere.”

Audience: families.

HBO--The pay-cable company has two divisions making TV movies: HBO Pictures and HBO Showcase. “I think of HBO Pictures as Broadway and HBO Showcase as off-Broadway,” says Colin Callender, executive producer of HBO Showcase.

HBO Showcase Philosophy: “We tell stories never told anywhere else or we tell them in a different way,” says Callender, who’ll turn out six films this season. “We’re trying to break the rules in terms of content, form and execution. We want to do work that entertains but challenges. I have a brief that doesn’t require me to deliver massive ratings. If a project could have been done by someone else, I don’t want to do it.

“ ‘Lockerbie,’ coming in December, is not a narrative drama focusing on one character. Instead, we’re saying the Pan Am 103 tragedy could have been averted if the people doing their jobs actually did their jobs. We haven’t fictionalized anything.

Audience: couples rather than families, “people who have found the sort of material they enjoy in less commercial parts of the cinema and theater.”

HBO Pictures Philosophy: “We seek out interesting stories, and part of that is they’re controversial,” says senior vice president Robert Cooper, who has 10 movies on his agenda. “We don’t want to be PBS, but we also don’t want to be NBC. We can tackle political and controversial issues others are not willing to tackle. ‘Judgment’ (coming Oct.13) is based on the true story of a couple in Louisiana whose child was molested by a priest while in a church day-care center. The networks have dealt with child molestation, but have they dealt with the Catholic Church?

“We put risky material in the hands of experienced filmmakers, often feature film directors. Nudity will be included if it’s an integral part of the story. Our shooting schedules are at least 30 days, compared to the average 17-21 days for a TV movie.”

Audience: over 21.

Lifetime--Philosophy: “We strive to be the network (that) women will turn to first,” says Melinda Fishman, vice president of original movies, “so we’ll present material (that is) female in sensibility. Actresses are very responsive to what we want to air. ‘Storm and Sorrow’ (airing in November), a true story about rock climber Molly Higgins, who takes part in an ice-climbing expedition in Russia, had been developed at both ABC and CBS. We worked on it, and it became a Lifetime movie.”

Audience: women.

Showtime--Philosophy: “If the movie could be on a commercial network or basic cable, we wouldn’t be interested,” says Steven Hewitt, senior vice president of original programming and production. “We’ll delve into all kinds of subject matter, such as the supernatural, that the networks won’t go near.

“We want pictures to look like theatrical motion pictures, and we pay a premium for that. We will make action-adventures, psychological thrillers, mysteries, comedies, subject matter that delves into nudity. ‘Psycho IV’ will air in November, and we’re now making ‘Paris Trout’ (based on a 1988 National Book Award-winning novel about a white man who kills a black girl and how his life disintegrates, starring Dennis Hopper, Ed Harris and Barbara Hershey). We give writers more freedom to explore subject matter, plus movies don’t have to be designed for commercial breaks.

“While we’re still in our start-up mode, we’ll comb theatrical movies for unreleased product. ‘Fear’ (which aired last season with Ally Sheedy) was on the shelf. Subscribers don’t care where a movie came from. We’re practical and realistic: If we can find something that’s original and has never been seen, we’ll show it. But we’d love to get to the place where we produce all our movies.”

Audience: over 21.

TNT--Philosophy: “We’re developing a good niche for up-market movies,” Scott Sassa, executive vice president of programming, says. “Ted Turner’s philosophy is to do things designed to enlighten and inform rather than pander to the lowest common denominator. However, we don’t want to become a soap box. Barbara Cartland movies are my idea of the edge of the envelope. I prefer ‘Young Catherine’ or ‘Chernobyl: The Final Warning’ or ‘Orpheus Descending,’ the movie version of the Broadway play. That’s really out there.

“Ted’s tastes are more Middle American than you might expect. He doesn’t read scripts, so I run all movie concepts by him in a monthly half-hour meeting. We go into development with 4-6 movies a month. There is no project Ted has ever said no to if we really wanted to do it. There are four of us who make decisions, and if one of us likes a project enough, it’ll probably go. Ted says, ‘If everybody agrees, maybe we’ll be producing movies that are watered down.’ ”

Audience: No particular demographic target.

USA Network--Philosophy: “We do movies that are pure entertainment,” says senior vice president of programming Dave Kenin, whose channel airs new movies every other Wednesday night. “They’re essentially mystery movies (‘Web of Deceit,’ ‘Nightmare on the 13th Floor’). Usually when you hear the description, you can begin to anticipate. There’s not a lot of teaching in our movies. They’re not going to appeal to critics.

“We have the same approach as the networks to sex and nudity, although our language has been more restrictive. This fall we’re looking to see if we’re too prudish.”

Audience: adults, young adults.

WHO’S DOING WHAT: THE NEW SEASON’S TOP PRODUCERS

NETWORK MOVIES MINISERIES NBC 33 7 TNT 33 CBS 30-35 2 USA 30 ABC 27 4 Home Box Office 16 Disney Channel 12 Fox 10-12 Lifetime 6 PBS 22 Showtime 6 Family Channel 5 Total 230-237 13

Plus: Assorted British TV movies that air on PBS (under the “Mystery!” and “Masterpiece Theatre” umbrellas, for example) and some cable services. SOURCE: Network Executives