[Watch the video interview on Youtube here]
Film Courage: Shannon, was it your goal to become a studio executive?
Writer/Instructor and Script Consultant Shannan E. Johnson (The Professional Pen): In the beginning of my career I was a development and current programming executive on the television side. Once I left and I went off to do Broadway national tours and I was doing dance companies and all this other stuff that has absolutely nothing to do with writing, when I came back to Hollywood it was my intention to get back into development, whether that was at a network or a studio or at a smaller production company. I was pretty open but I realized that I liked to work in the area where you take people from idea to production. I probably would have stayed in development but it would not have necessarily been at a network or studio or a production company, just wherever I felt like I would be able to come in and actually be seen and used as a person with all of the knowledge that I have to offer. This can be hard when you go on any job, you want to make sure that you’re able to bring something to the table. I was looking forward to being able to do that, obviously it didn’t go that way. That’s how I ended up back into the kind of script consultant area.
Film Courage: How did you become a studio executive?
Shannan: Back in the day there used to be a program called the Entertainment Associates Program at NBC Universal. A lot of people know about fellowship programs for screenwriters but they’re also used to be programs for people who are interested in being executives. Now there are a few more…(Watch the video interview on Youtube here).
About Shannan:
After grad school I became a junior creative executive at NBCUniversal at the Syfy Channel. I was there for the rebrand. Remember Sci Fi? Yeah, not really. Anywho, it was my job to help writers and producers take their ideas from pitch to production. I co-exec’d on Alphas, Being Human, Haven, Sanctuary, Warehouse 13, and more Syfy dramedies. This is how I honed my skill in all stages of the screenwriting process…(read more here).
CONNECT WITH SHANNAN E. JOHNSON
Facebook.com/TheProfessionalPen
Instagram.com/theprofessionalpen
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