Interview With Stephen David, A Hybrid Producer – Charlene Weisler

Stephen David of the eponymous production company that he founded in 2010 is an Emmynominated executive producer who was named to Realscreenamp8217s Global 100 list earlier this year He started out as a screenwriter but as with everything in media nowadays was able to blend and combine his talents to now include nonfiction producing He says amp8220I started working as a screenwriter for several studios out in Los Angeles and was then hired onto the creative team of NBCamp8217s The Apprentice So I ended up combining my background in dramatic writing and nonfiction producing and thatamp8217s where this hybrid world came from mixing these two genres togetheramp8221Davidamp8217s 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 amp8220My next project coming out is a fullyscripted event series for History called Sons of Liberty which tells the story of how the Revolutionary War started With our shows weamp8217re always trying to find a new way of looking at history a new thesis a new lens amp8230 But we try to avoid passing judgment on whether what these historical figures did was right or wrong We let the audiences decide for themselvesamp8221I sat down with Stephen and asked him the following questionsCW 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 itamp8217s a far more interesting exciting story to tellAnd I think that people are going to find the whole story surprising Itamp8217s 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 RaymondJames Terriers True Blood as Paul Revere Rafe Spall Prometheus Life of Pi as John Hancock Henry Thomas ET The Extraterrestrial Gangs of New York as John Adams and Dean Norris Breaking Bad Under the Dome as diplomat Benjamin Franklin I think audiences are going be truly surprised to see how the actors have interpreted these iconic figuresCW What draws you to historySD Itamp8217s not so much that Iamp8217m drawn to history Itamp8217s more that Iamp8217m fascinated by what people really did The true stories the character motivations amp8230 some of the things these people did if you made it up it wouldnamp8217t be believable 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 wonamp8217t be able to tell those storiesCW Is content king SD I donamp8217t 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 mostCW What is your definition of televisionSD 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 Iamp8217m riding on the subway is amazing So for me any screen I happen to be watching is a television in a senseCW 2014 has been a big year for you with multiple Emmy nominations Sons of Libertyamp8230 what else do you have in the works SD Luckily weamp8217re 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 that are fully scripted such as Sons of Liberty Our next hybrid series is called American Genius which weamp8217re doing with National Geographic Itamp8217s about the greatest inventor rivalries that fueled some of the most innovative developments in historyCW How has the programming pipeline changed since you started in the businessSD There are significantly more television channels now than there were when I first started in the business And all these channels have a strong desire to do interesting things So thereamp8217s a lot of genrebending going on in television that makes it a very exciting time to be a content creatorCW Looking ahead how do you see the media landscape evolving over the next 35 yearsSD I think as we see more and more screens available through various mediums weamp8217re going to see a proliferation of innovative content as networks push to grab eyeballs Ten years ago you could have said the word amp8220docudramaamp8221 or amp8220factual televisionamp8221 and it probably wouldnamp8217t have meant much to anyone Media is constantly evolving itamp8217s very exciting to be a part of that larger process however the amp8220landscapeamp8221 may changeInterview conducted by Charlene Weisler Weisler Media LLC She can be reached through her research blog wwwWeislerMediablogspotcom or at WeislerMediayahoocom Full disclosure Charlene hosts a street art blog on The Starry Eye blog communityRead all Charlene39s MediaBizBloggers commentaries at Media Insights QampampACheck us out on Facebook at MediaBizBloggerscomFollow our Twitter updates at MediaBizBloggerThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaBizBloggerscom management or associated bloggers MediaBizBloggers is an open thought leadership platform and readers may share their comments and opinions in response to all commentaries

Become a Thought Leader. Share your thought leadership article with industry professionals & have them archived in Thought Leadership

Interview With Stephen David, A Hybrid Producer – Charlene Weisler

Author

Publish date

Channel

Charlene Weisler

Hispanic Leadership Roundtable: Inclusion, Mentorship, and Building the Next Generation (Video) - By Juan Ayala

More Videos:

Become a Thought Leader. Share your thought leadership article with industry professionals & have them archived in Thought Leadership

Interview With Stephen David, A Hybrid Producer – Charlene Weisler

Enjoying This Commentary? There's More to Love

Charlene Weisler

Hispanic Leadership Roundtable: Inclusion, Mentorship, and Building the Next Generation (Video) - By Juan Ayala

The payment was successful

Cookies