In July HBO announced that it was committing to a new pilot from Mr. Wahlberg and Mr. Levinson, whose management firm, Leverage, morphed into a production company in 2004. The series, “How to Make It in America,” will follow the efforts of two guys in their 20s trying to establish themselves in business with a start-up jeans company. A few weeks earlier Mr. Wahlberg and Mr. Levinson had also secured HBO’s commitment for one of the most high-profile projects on that network’s development slate: a drama set in the underworld of Atlantic City in the 1920s that Leverage is producing in partnership with Martin Scorsese, who is also expected to direct the pilot, written by the Emmy Award-winning “Sopranos” writer Terence Winter.
At the same time, “In Treatment,” a serialized therapy-session drama on HBO also produced by Mr. Wahlberg and Mr. Levinson, has been picked up for a second season. Several other projects in development at HBO, which has a first-look deal with the pair, include a comedy set in the world of hedge funds, created along with their “Entourage” partner Doug Ellin, and a nascent concept about a New York apartment building where rich men stash their mistresses. Two of their projects are in development at Fox: an adaptation of a telenovela from Colombia and a drama about Silicon Valley.
The production team has stacked up all this work in a relatively short amount of time (the first drafts of “Entourage” were written only five years ago), though becoming producers has always been the long-term goal. Mr. Levinson, who became Mr. Wahlberg’s manager 15 years ago and has steered his career and his expansion into the production side, said their strategy was “to start slow, take it step by step,” building the production company in increments.
“We waited a long time to do it,” Mr. Levinson said. “The plan was to not be involved in production until we felt like we had gotten to a good place in Mark’s acting career.”
Fans of “Entourage” are likely to recognize the mechanics of the partnership between star and manager: The hands-on work of finding the projects, making the deals, organizing the budgets and other details falls to Mr. Levinson, while Mr. Wahlberg acts in films but is also called on to step in at the last minute to seal deals. “We look at him as the hard-throwing reliever,” Mr. Levinson said. “At some point in a deal we’ll jokingly say, ‘Let’s bring in the lefty.’ ”
If you're a writer looking to jam a foot in the door, this may all seem up in the air. But it's not. It's something you really do have to be thinking about right from the start. What will your brand be, who will you strive to work with, when is it right to take a job and when is it right to say now. Ultimately, what is your goal, and what is your plan for getting there? It's not all arrogance or false bravado to actually attempt to have a plan.
Now, getting through the Film Festival Barbecue at the CFC in the rain (first time I ever remember it raining) that's gonna be another story... Hmmm.
1 comment:
interesting post. thanks for this.
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