Here’s the pitch: Ideas for new TV series unveiled at NATPE event

Kirk Baird

Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2002 | 8:22 a.m.

About a year ago Robert Kosberg, a producer with Merv Griffin Entertainment, received an e-mail from an older woman in Ozark, Ark.

The woman heard Kosberg accepted TV and movie scripts or concepts and pitched them to studio executives. She had recently read an article in Parade magazine about a man who lived in the Statue of Liberty, and thought it would make a good movie. The woman suggested it as a movie, which she called, "Keeper of the Flame."

"I was enthralled," said Kosberg, who is in Las Vegas as a guest speaker at the National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) this week.

Kosberg wrote the woman back. She then sent him a copy of the Parade article and he pitched her movie idea to a studio.

"I sold it to MGM and she made a tidy sum ... $75,000 off a Parade article," he said. "And Michelle Pfeiffer may star."

The story almost seems to be of the "Lana Turner discovered in the drug store" variety. Only in this case, this is more than a Hollywood legend.

And unlike the necessary looks required to be "noticed" by a studio executive, the only requirement to make money for a script is a good idea.

"Every cab driver, grocer, my mother has a script idea when they find out what I do for a living," Kosberg said. "They all have something that just has to be made. The problem is, they're not always right."

That's where NATPE comes in. Concluding its three-day run at the Las Vegas Convention Center today, the 39th annual NATPE conference is a chance for TV execs to see what new programming is available to them. It's also an opportunity for anyone with an idea or concept for a TV program be it a sitcom, talk show, game show, drama or cartoon series to promote it.

In the spirit of the medium it supports, NATPE found a way to combine the two into an annual competition, "Pitch Me!"

In its sixth year, "Pitch Me!" is a cross between NBC's "Weakest Link" and HBO's "Project Greenlight."

The event involves 15 contestants who each have two-minute "pitch sessions" to tout an idea or concept for a TV program to a panel of four industry executives.

What executives are seeking for programming has changed since Sept. 11, said Stacey Lynn Koerner of Initiative Media, who tracks programming trends for advertisers buying commercial time on television.

"There's more of a thrust toward family-oriented programming in prime time," Koerner said during an interview at NATPE on Monday. "For syndication, there is much less courtroom drama and a few more talk-show oriented programs and a lot of reality shows that we haven't seen before.

"Everyone's got a reality show they're developing, like two years ago with courtroom dramas."

Contestants at "Pitch Me," restricted to NATPE attendees, didn't necessarily follow that blueprint, though they gamely tried.

During the course of a pitch, the judges may ask the contestant questions about the show or sound a buzzer, thus eliminating the pitcher from the event.

If the contestant survives two minutes, the judges then grade him or her based on (among other criteria) originality, salability and presentation.

At the end, the top three winners are announced, based on the highest scores, with the first-place contestant receiving an opportunity to fly to Hollywood to pitch their award-winning idea to more execs.

Adding to the drama is that all of this plays out for an audience of a couple hundred strangers.

If only real TV programming were so interesting.

For some NATPE attendees, "Pitch Me!" was one of the main reasons they traveled to the event.

Alex Greene, creator and producer of "My Bed Bugs," a late-night educational program for children, had worked to develop a pitch for his concept for several weeks.

Four days before flying to NATPE from his home in Shelby, Mich., he learned the employee who was to pitch the concept couldn't make the trip.

So Diana Gailes, "My Bed Bugs" project coordinator, was recruited for the job.

After attending a seminar co-hosted by Kosberg early Monday on how to properly pitch a concept, Gailes stood in line with about 50 other hopefuls for a "Pitch Me!" screening.

Each contestant was given one minute to pitch an idea to two judges, who then narrowed the pool of contestants to 15.

Without much time to prepare, Gailes said she was "kinda nervous, but not really" during the pitch.

Gailes only had to wait three hours to see how she did. The 15 "Pitch Me!" finalists were announced one at a time during the event, so no one in the audience knew who reached the finals until a name was announced -- game-show style.

Those who did make it, however, covered a wide spectrum of proposed TV programming:

There was a man pitching a documentary-style show in which homosexuals were voluntarily "outed" and the reactions of their surprised families filmed. (This was buzzed almost immediately because of what one judge said was the "liability issues.")

A couple proposed a late-night, half-hour comedy about those involved in the porn industry. This also was met with scorn.

"Believe it or not, I've heard this (concept) pitched a million times -- the behind-the-scenes in the porn business," talent agent and panel member Pat Quinn said.

"It's called a MOP -- Most-Often Pitched," added producer and game-show host Robb Weller, another judge.

Other show concepts -- such as a daily weight-loss program, a game show involving remote-controlled car racing, and an hourlong weekly program about civil liberties versus questionable laws -- fared better, lasting the entire two-minute pitch sessions without being buzzed.

In the end, it was magician Franz Harary from Hollywood, Calif., who was voted the top pick for his proposed paranormal show, "Phenomenons."

Already accustomed to speaking in front of crowds, Harary clearly had an edge on his competition, most of whom were uncomfortable being in front of an audience.

"He was by far the best presenter," Kosberg said. "When they added it all up, he came out on top."

When told it was his presentation that earned him first place and a chance to pitch his show to network executives, Harary simply smiled.

"I didn't know until 11:45 this morning I was going to pitch (my show)," he said. "I thought, 'What the hell,' and went back to my booth and picked a show. I've got 10 products I'm trying to sell -- and I didn't even think ('Phenomenons') is the best show. But it had the best title."