Entertainment business degree

Although few African Americans have the authority to greenlight TV projects, many are creating top-notch entertainment and gaining influence within the networks

A CAREER OF SCRIPTS, SHOW TAPINGS, AND WORKING WITH STARS WAS THE last thing Saladin K. Patherson through when he graduate from MIT.

"I was strong in math and science and was encourage Patterson, who earned his degree in 94 then headed to Vanderbilt University in Nashville. Tennessee, to get his Ph.D.

While at Vanderbilt, Patterson grew introspective and pondered a career far removed from the seiences. "I thought. "If I could do whatever I wanted, what would it be?" In a moment of truth, he realized television writing was his calling.

After his epiphany, Patterson immersed himself like a man prosessed, in the business of television. He poured over hooks on script writing and producing and dissected successful sitcoms of the early 90s, specifically Seinfeld Mad About You, to determine how a winning show is put together.

"I literally sat down and took notes." says Patterson, He then wrote spec scripts-samples writers use to pursue jobs and sent them out to contests and literary agents. Although he didn't get an agent rights away.... was into the prestigious Walt Disney/ABC fellowship program in l9, a select program for asp "ing I.eleviskm directors and screenwriters. dream. Patterson landed a job on ABC's Teen Angel.

These days. Patterson is co executive producer for The Bernie Mac Show FOX's Emmv award-winning sit sitcom. Although there remain relatively few African Americans behind the scenes producing and directing programming. Patterson and a handful of others are positioning themselves to make a significant impact in the $40 billion on network television industry.

Among them are Eunetta Boone, a 13-year television veteran and executive product. or show-runner for UPN's One on One, Larry Williams creater and one time executive producer of The Bernie Mac Show, who now has a deal with NBC to develop new shows--the first African American to land such a deal with a major network: veteran TV producer

Yvette Lee Bowser, executive producer of the UPN sitcom Half & Half, Kriss Turner, executive producer of Whoopi; and Mara Brock Akil, creator and co-executive producer of UPN's Girlfriends.

There's no doubt African Americans are represented in front of the camera. And more shows starring black actors are likely to spring up as advocacy groups pressure networks into diversifying their executive ranks and as the number of successful shows created or produced by African Americans continues to rise. According to Prime Time in Black and White, a report published by the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies at UCLA, black people account for 12% of the population, yet nearly 16% of the characters portrayed on TV are African American.

From new sitcoms like NBC's Whoopi, starring veteran actress and comedienne Whoopi Goldberg, to returning shows such as ABC's My Wife and Kids with Damon Wayans, there's no lack of Afrocentric programming.

Behind the camera, however, it's another story. A 2003 Directors Guild of America Report noted that for the 2002-2003 season, 13 of the top 40 prime time shows didn't hire minority directors. Out of the 860 total episodes studied, white males directed 82%. African American directors did make some progress, earning 5% of the total jobs, up from 3% in the 2001-2002 season. The Bernie Mac Show contributed to this increase, with 62% of its directing jobs going to minorities and women.

Ironically, African American-oriented networks are unlikely to impact these numbers. With few original programs, media outlets such as BET and TV One--a joint cable venture with Radio One (no. 8 on the BE Industrial/Service list with $335.7 million in revenues) and Comcast set to launch in January 2004--will acquire most of their programming from out, side sources. Johnathan Rodgers, TV One president and CEO, says his business model aims for 20% original programming. "We look to do nonfiction programs such as reality shows, game shows, documentaries, and biographies."

With relatively few African Americans behind the scenes, when a program created, directed, or produced by an African American manages to get picked up by a network, there's even more pressure for it to become a bit. "If Whoopi succeeds, it will open doors for more shows driven by African American lead actors. It will also open doors for black producers and female producers," says Wilmore. "It's hard to get jobs on mainstream shows. Whenever someone with star power like Whoopi or Damon Wayans succeeds, it gives other black writers a chance to make their names known to the networks."

Whoopi Executive Producer Turner agrees: "It has been a long time since NBC has had a show with a black lead, and NBC real estate is very hard to get. Once you get a piece, you want to make sure that you keep it, so it's very important that this show makes it. Like Cosby, if it's funny, people will come. If this show is a success, other networks are going to want to emulate it and take a chance on similar shows. If it doesn't work, they'll say, "Well we tried.'"

But for black shows, says actor and comedian Bernie Mac, the networks aren't quite as patient with letting them develop and build an audience. "Black shows don't get a chance to mature like white shows, and that's just a true fact," says Mac, who also produces his show. "And what I mean by that is a white show can come on the air, and they give it three years to develop and let their stories get stronger, But black shows, if they don't come out the gate [strong] they don't last."

Several networks are actively working toward diversifying their ranks. ABC's Talent Development Program is designed to aid aspiring writers, actors and directors, as well as those looking to enter the executive ranks, says Carmen L. Smith, vice president of talent development at ABC Entertainment Television Group. Smith says last year, five of the network's seven TV fellows found jobs at Animal Planet and on shows such as E.R. and Cold Case. NBC and FOX also have programs to identify qualified minority talent.

Another reason for the dearth of African Americans behind the scenes is natural generational shifts, says Lee Gaither, vice president of programming and development at NBC.

"Before we start focusing on race, let's look at generational differences because that helps explain what we see and don't see on TV. In the past, networks were run by people who grew up in the 1960s, people who understood struggle and witnessed the Civil Rights Movement. It would bother them to turn on the television and not see a brown face on a show. Gen-Xers tend to be more cynical and jaded; there's very little social consciousness there. The Gen-X executive was more likely to have exposure to African Americans from childhood to professional adulthood, so they don't carry the same sensitivity about race as boomers."

Shows about single Gen-xers set in urban settings, adds Gaither, would not pass the muster with baby boomer executives. But neither would much of today's TV lineup, he says. "Gen-Xers took all of the family shows off the air. Part of that included shows that had ethnic leads. Gen-xers aren't malicious, just unaware."

Several celebrities, however, have managed to circumvent this by using their name recognition to convince network executives that their involvement will equal solid ratings. Goldberg, Will Smith, and Jade Pinkett Smith all used their star power to influence network brass at UPN into giving their sitcoms (see sidebar) a shot. And Samuel L. Jackson and his wife, actress LaTanya Richardson, recently cut a premium script deal with UPN for an untitled drama about a black family and its struggle to maintain control of a network of mega-churches.

Mac is case in point. Prior to his hit show, the comedian had a wide following from his stand-up act as well as appearances on Def Comedy Jam and the Spike Lee-directed The Original Kings of Comedy.

"Producing is kind of easy for me because that's something I've been doing my whole career-telling stories that have to do with [my life]," says Mac, who was able to keep creative control of his show by producing it. "When you deal with someone else's storyline, you have to constantly fight about what direction the characters want to go," he says, "because as an artist, you see the character one way, the network sees it another way, the executive producers sees it another way, and the writer another."