More film directors doing TV
Writer-director Paul Haggis, whose “Crash” won best picture in an Oscar upset Sunday, will next direct the pilot for NBC’s crime drama “The Black Donnellys.” And as pilot season gathers steam over the next few weeks, Haggis will have plenty of company from other noted feature directors overseeing shows that are jockeying for a spot on fall schedules.
Take a look at various deals, many reported in the trades or on tvtracker.com over just the last few weeks: James Mangold (“Walk the Line”) is directing ABC’s “Men in Trees,” about a woman who moves to Alaska after the painful breakup of her marriage, while F. Gary Gray (“The Italian Job”) has ABC’s FBI drama “Enemies.” Jon Turteltaub (“National Treasure”) is overseeing at least two projects at CBS: “Jericho,” a thriller set in a small town, and a crime drama, “Suspect Behavior.” Gary Fleder (“Runaway Jury”) will direct the ABC pilot “October Road,” about a writer’s New England homecoming. Barry Sonnenfeld (“Men in Black”) has an untitled buddy cop pilot for Fox, while Frank Darabont (“The Shawshank Redemption”) is directing NBC’s “Seeing Red,” about a cop who communes with the dead. Representing the masters division, William Friedkin (“The Exorcist”) is doing “Anything but Murder,” NBC’s drama based on Boston crime boss “Whitey” Bulger. And this is just a partial list.
Feature directors have been increasingly migrating to TV work for years now, but this time around, the pilot head count seems exceptionally high. Among the reasons, according to agents and managers: 1) directors are lured by executive producer titles that could yield lucrative fees and back-end income if the pilot goes to series and becomes a hit, and 2) the dip in movie box office over the last year has led to a dearth of feature projects in active development or production -- and made even “name” directors more available than they otherwise might be.
UPN’s ‘Model’ slaps NBC
On Wednesday, UPN pulled off a rare achievement, tying NBC for fourth place in the crucial adults ages 18 to 49 demographic.
Red-letter day for UPN or another red-faced moment for NBC? Pick one.
The sixth season of UPN’s “America’s Next Top Model” arrived with a two-hour debut and delivered the show’s strongest premiere numbers ever: a 2.5 rating/6 share in the demo, 5.2 million viewers overall, according to figures from Nielsen Media Research.
That was a noteworthy performance considering that Fox’s “American Idol” dominated the 8 p.m. hour with more singing from the guys. “Idol” did a spectacular 12.3/32 in the demo, with 29.9 million total viewers.
NBC’s lineup withered. The weight-loss contest “The Biggest Loser: Special Edition” starved down to its thinnest rating ever (1.5/4 in the demo, 4.6 million viewers overall), yielding a ludicrous sixth place in the slot (behind Fox, CBS, ABC, UPN and Univision). Why NBC expected that “Loser” would do any business opposite “Idol” and “Model” is hard to fathom, but then not much at the peacock makes sense these days.
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