Patience is a virtue, part 2
An article on the Broadcasting & Cable website, sent along by Tom Hogan from the aforementioned Boardwalk Empire blog, highlights something that many of you have correctly identified. Sue Naegle, President of HBO, has this to say regarding HBO’s philosophy when it comes to picking up new series:
She’s confident the new regime’s new ways of doing things will return HBO to glory. “We have all the right ingredients to make great TV,” she says.
That includes patience. As we dine at the beginning of April, filming is wrapping on the pilot Treme, a heavily researched post-Katrina New Orleans drama from The Wire creator David Simon. Naegle has scripts for several additional episodes in hand and expects the show will go into production as a series this fall. But it’s not ordered yet.
Nor is there a series order for Boardwalk Empire, the 1920s-era drama written by Terence Winter (Sopranos) and directed by Martin Scorsese, the pilot for which will start rolling in late May. Or Game of Thrones, a fantastical drama based on the George R.R. Martin books. She’s also piloting a fourth project, comedy The Wonderful Maladys, between now and the fall and “may go into production on others,” she says. “They’re moving as if they’re moving into series.”
However, going forward on these projects will be a deliberate, collaborative process. There will be a period of time for each project to get the pilot right. “If we need to edit, make changes, reshoot anything, we want to have time for all of us to tinker,” she explains. “It’s not just for us, it’s for them [the creators]. We’re in it together, to make sure it’s working. It’s not at all because we need Terry Winter or David Simon to pass some test; it’s more that we want to be very careful about being smart with money and production and making sure we’re prepared.”
Winter Is Coming: Well it looks like those predicting a long wait before we get any announcement on Thrones being picked up are correct. It seems HBO is taking it’s time with these projects, and despite my hopes and speculation to the contrary, it seems they are content to wait before giving any orders.
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