Stephen David of the eponymous production company that
he founded in 2010 is a Emmy-nominated
executive producer who was named to Realscreen’s Global 100 list earlier this
year. He started out as a screenwriter but, as everything in
media nowadays, was able to blend and combine his talents to now include
non-fiction producing. He says, “I started
working as a screenwriter for several studios out in Los Angeles, and then, was
hired onto the creative team of NBC’s The Apprentice. So I ended up
combining my background in dramatic writing and non-fiction producing, and
that’s where this hybrid world came from – mixing these two genres together.”
David’s hybrid abilities are put
to good use in his newest series of projects for several different TV networks – each show tackling big topics throughout
history. He says, “My next project coming out is a fully-scripted event series
for History called Sons of Liberty, which tells the story of how the
Revolutionary War started. With our shows, we’re always trying to find a new
way of looking at history – a new thesis, a new lens… But, we try to avoid
passing judgment on whether what these historical figures did was right or
wrong. We let the audiences decide for themselves.”
I sat down with Stephen and asked
him the following questions:
CW: Stephen, tell us about the
making of Sons of Liberty.
SD: With Sons of Liberty, we wanted to portray
the story behind the Revolutionary War – which tends to get skimmed over. But
in many ways, it’s a far more interesting, exciting story to tell.
And I think that
people are going to find the whole story surprising. It’s the story of the lead
up to the Revolutionary War, which is something that we never really learned in
school. I know that I was surprised when
I learned the real history. It is being filmed in
Romania and stars Ben Barnes (The Chronicles of Narnia) as Sam Adams, Michael
Raymond-James (Jack Reacher, Terriers, True Blood) as Paul Revere, Rafe Spall
(Prometheus, Life of Pi) as John Hancock, Henry Thomas (E.T. The
Extraterrestrial, Gangs of New York, Legends of the Fall) as John Adams and
Dean Norris (Breaking Bad, Under the Dome, Men, Women & Children) as
diplomat Benjamin Franklin. I think audiences are going be truly surprised to
see how the actors have interpreted these iconic figures.
CW: What draws you to history?
SD: It’s not so much that I’m drawn to history.
It’s more that I’m fascinated by what people really did. The true stories, the character motivations…
some of the things these people did – if you made it up, it wouldn’t be
believable.
CW: Are your non-fiction series
editorialized in any way? How do you avoid slanting history?
SD: With our shows, we’re always
trying to find a new way of looking at history – a new thesis, a new lens… But,
we try to avoid passing judgment on whether
what these historical figures did was right or wrong. We let the audiences
decide for themselves. For example, with Sons of Liberty, we wanted to portray
the story behind the Revolutionary War – which tends to get skimmed over. But
in many ways, it’s a far more interesting, exciting story to tell
CW: How do your screenwriting
skills play into your producing skills? Are there ever any inner creative conflicts
you have to navigate – writer vs producer?
SD: The hardest thing is trying
to figure out what you put into these shows given the amount of time, episodes
and budget you have to tell your story. As a writer, you fall in love with
certain stories – but as a producer you realize that sometimes you won’t be
able to tell those stories.
CW: Is Content King?
SD: I don’t know that I
understand distribution models well enough to completely answer that – but I
can tell you that content is king for me. Storytelling is what we love doing
most.
CW: What is your definition of
Television?
SD: The definition has changed
for me over the past ten years. The fact that I can watch a show or a movie or
any form of entertainment on my phone while I’m riding on the subway is
amazing. So for me, any screen I happen to be watching is a television, in a
sense.
CW: 2014 has been a big year for you, with
multiple EMMY nominations, Sons of
Liberty… what else do you have in the works?
SD: Luckily, we’re getting to
work on a lot of
really interesting projects for a variety of networks, some of which are in the
hybrid format, like The World Wars,
and others are fully scripted such as Sons of Liberty. Our next hybrid series
is called American Genius, which we’re doing with National Geographic. It’s
about the greatest inventor rivalries that fueled some of the most innovative
developments in history. We have several other projects that have not yet been
announced, but we’re extremely excited to be working on them and can’t wait to
share more…
CW: How has the programming pipeline changed since you started in the
business?
SD: There are significantly more television
channels now then there were when I first started in the business. And all
these channels have a strong desire to do interesting things. So there’s a lot
of genre-bending going on in television that makes it a very exciting time to
be a content creator.
CW: Looking ahead how do you see the media landscape evolving over the next
3-5 years?
SD: I think as we see more and
more screens available through various mediums, we’re going to see a proliferation
of innovative content as networks
push to grab eyeballs. Ten years ago,
you could have said the word “docudrama” or “factual television” and it
probably wouldn’t have meant much to anyone. Media is constantly evolving –
it’s very exciting to be a part of that larger process, however the “landscape”
may change.
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