Podcast dramas morph to TV shows in Hollywood reappraisal
Listened to any good television shows lately?
If you’re glued to a scripted podcast drama, you may be auditioning a potential TV series — a result of Hollywood’s demand for small-screen material and the realization that podcasts beyond nonfiction are a valuable resource.
Dramatizations of fact-based podcasts such as Wondery’s “WeCrashed,” about the WeWork business debacle, and Dateline NBC’s crime saga “The Thing About Pam” have become TV staples with top actors including Jared Leto and Renée Zellweger.
But there’s a new wave of fiction podcasts, some made with the express intent of judging a story’s worthiness for a second life on screen, emerging from prominent newcomers to the audio world. They’re seizing on podcasts as a more cost-effective way to test a series concept than filming a TV pilot, and more persuasive than a written pitch.
“Very traditional, legacy media companies”
see fiction podcasts as content to be mined, said Mark Stern, a former studio chief and head of Syfy channel’s original content for a decade. Stern himself has shifted gears: He’s president of Echoverse, a podcast studio launched in 2020 with a focus on sci-fi, fantasy and supernatural stories.
“We really started this business as an opportunity to absolutely create bestin-class audio dramas, but with very much an eye toward having them serve as proof-of-concept IP (intellectual property) that could then launch TV and film and graphic novels,” said Stern.
That reflects the approach of Wolf Entertainment, whose network franchises include “Chicago,” “FBI” and the enduring “Law & Order.” The company
headed by Dick Wolf is producing podcasts including “Hunted,” starring Parker Posey and Brandon Scott, and “Dark Woods” with Corey Stoll and Monica Raymund — the latter drama in development by Universal Television.
For studio executives inundated with series proposals that often consist of a single page of description, a well-made podcast is a valuable alternative, said Elliot Wolf, the executive producer of “Dark Woods.”
“You have the ability to really immerse yourself in an audio series that paints the picture much better than anything you can do with the written word,” Wolf said. He joined his father’s company, then Wolf Films, about three years ago and is part of its rebranding that includes storytelling in new media.