Should you care about development mandates?
Selling a screenplay is already impossible. So how important is it to know what executives are looking for? Will it help you or hurt you to take Hollywood's trends into consideration?
This is a free edition of my Weekly Email Newsletter! Every Friday I do a deep dive on an aspect of the business of screenwriting from a literary manager’s perspective.
Subscribe, so you never miss a post.
As a literary manager, part of my job description is to regularly check in with producers, studio executives, and network executives.
On these phone conversations, I ask about job opportunities for writers and directors, and I also ask what their development mandates are.
What is a “development mandate”?
This is just a fancy word for “the type of project that we are looking for right now.”
For a variety of reasons (which I’ll get into in a moment), executives will at times be looking for scripts in a certain format, genre, world, or tone. They’ll convey this request to the agents and managers they know. Then we submit them any relevant client scripts or write their development mandates into an internal document so that when a client has a script later, we know who is likely to be excited about reading it.
Because these mandates are always changing, we need to check in regularly to make sure that our records of who is looking for what are always up to date.
Where do mandates come from?
Development mandate trends are consistent across the entertainment industry.
Meaning, everyone is generally looking for the same type of script.
There are always going to be differences depending on the brand of the company (for example, HBO’s mandate will always feel distinct from CBS’s), but trends and fashions generally affect everyone.
In TV, the Buyers dictate the mandates.
Your TV show won’t get in front of an audience unless it’s greenlit by development executives at one of the following companies:
Broadcast
ABC
CBS
FOX
NBC
FOX
The CW (They are looking at increasingly smaller budgets with a focus on Canadian content right now).
Cable
HBO/Max
FX/Hulu/Onyx
Starz
TNT (They are working with very small budgets right now and are trying to figure out how to make scripted content work in this model).
Streamers
Amazon/FreeVee/MGM+
Apple
BET+
Disney+
Netflix
Paramount+/Showtime
Peacock
Tubi
The executives at each of these companies have marching orders dictated to them by the heads of their departments, who take their orders from the number-crunching MBA’s that run the companies and try to make the whole thing profitable for shareholders.
(The ramifications of this are explored horrifyingly by The Ankler here.)
Once the development executives know the kinds of scripts their bosses want them to bring in, they pass this information along to the people who work at production companies:
“This is what we want to buy.”
Here are some examples of mandates so you know what they can sound like:
“Big tentpoles with global appeal.”
“More procedurals and male action a la REACHER, JACK RYAN”
“Contemporary ongoing dramas a la OZARK, SUCCESSION, YOU”
“Elevated, juicy, ongoing female-led soaps, mysteries and thrillers.”
“Romance—could be lighter a la BRIDGERTON or more intense a la OUTLANDER.”
“Genre/Horror—everything should be the kind of show where if you take the genre piece out, there’s still a rich character piece at the center. Tone should be escapist and propulsive—shows shouldn’t be too bleak or heavy.”
“Sophisticated popcorn with a big hook.”
“Elevated adult fare with a distinctive POV”
“Their version of BARRY.”
“Tried and true franchise procedurals with mystery solving case-closure of the week.”
They also specify projects that they will NOT buy. This is for one of two reasons:
They already have too many projects that are similar.
This subject matter doesn’t fit in their brand.
Here are some examples of mandates buyers have said they DON’T want:
“Limiteds without big attachments.”
“Anything too self-serious.”
“Cynical or dystopian.”
“Period or political.”
“Border/drug cartel stories.”
“Inside Hollywood/Showbiz.”
“Trauma heavy.”
“Anything coastal.”
Once the executives know what they are looking for, they pass this information along to the people who work at production companies.
There are two kinds of production companies:
PODS with Overall Deals.
“Free and clear” independent producers.
Production companies with overall deals have an agreement and financing structure in place from one of the major studios attached to a Buyer:
20th/ABC Signature/Disney/FX/Hulu
Viacom/CBSTVS/Paramount
NBCUniversal
Amazon/MGM
Apple
HBO/WBTVS
Netflix
There are two kinds of deals a production company can have:
Overall - An exclusive agreement to only sell to this studio and no one else.
First Look - The company has to give the studio the first opportunity to buy a show, but if they pass, the company is allowed to take it to other studios.
No matter whether the company has an overall or first look, they will want to find material that will make their studio happy. Because their overall is only for a set number of years. Once that time is up, they will have to negotiate a renewal.
And the company will only continue to get money if they keep bringing the studio the kinds of projects that they want.
There are also production companies with deals at one of the smaller studios who have no buyers under the parent company umbrella:
A24
A&E Studios
Fifth Season
Fremantle
Legendary
Lionsgate
MRC
Skydance
Sony
Wiip
These studios have the advantage of selling to any Buyer.
But they also have a disadvantage because Buyers have a preference for wanting to buy shows from a studio in their parent company.
For example, Hulu is much more likely to want to buy a show brought to them by 20th than by Sony, since Hulu and 20th are both owned by Disney. It’s illegal for them to officially have a policy to only buy from within the corporate family (that would be a violation of antitrust law), but it can be an unofficial tendency of theirs.
For a complete rundown of the production companies who have overall deals at these studios, you can Google “Facts on Pacts” (or ask around in your network to see if someone has one).
Make sure you find a document that is recent because these change all the time.
In features, studios and financiers dictate the mandates.
All the major studios I mentioned above also have feature departments.
Mid-budget studios and independent financiers are also routes for a producer looking to put together financing for a movie.
Those studios and financiers all also have their own mandates.
What determines what these companies want?
Hollywood is driven by fear.
The primary goal of any executive is to not get fired. They get fired if they greenlight a flop. They keep their job if they play it safe or if they greenlight a hit.
This is why so many mandates are chasing and copying the types of TV shows and movies that have already been successful.
This is why there are so many mandates asking for “big IP,” “undeniable packages,” and shows “a la” other previously successful shows.
They have seen what works and now they’re asking for something that will do the same thing, reliably, again, for their investors.
The executives at the Buyers are told what to buy.
They relay this information to the executives at the Studios.
Who relay this information to the executives at the Production Companies.
Who relay this information to the Agents & Managers trying to figure out where to pitch their clients’ projects and what to advise their clients to write next.
Who are mandates for?
What is the point of knowing all of this?
Should you keep track of what studios are looking for?
To a point.
Screenwriting has an artistic component. But what makes this form of writing so beautiful is also what can make it so frustrating: It’s a combination of art + commerce.
It’s no good to bury your head in the sand and not know what the market is looking for right now. It’s good to be aware and have a general sense of what industry executives are going to get excited to read.
But these mandates are primarily beneficial for writers who are currently in the process of having their rep make calls on their behalf.
These mandates are helpful to writers who are taking many general meetings with executives and are right now getting into high level rooms.
If you’re just getting started, if you’re still writing the first draft of your script, if you don’t have an agent or manager yet, these mandates will not help open doors for you.
You should take them into consideration when deciding what to write next.
But you don’t need to let them tell you what to do.
Advantage of writing something that’s in demand.
There is a benefit to writing a script that the market wants.
Agents, managers, and executives will be more excited to hear your pitch or read their script if they know it’s something that buyers and studios are looking for. It’s easier to drum up enthusiasm for your work when the gatekeepers can picture the dollars they’re going to make when they sell your script.
If you already have an agent or manager, they’re going to be more excited about your script if it fits the demands of the market.
They’re more likely to carve time out of their schedule to make calls on your behalf. They’re more likely to bring it up in conversations with executives they’re talking to.
And of course, you’re more likely to actually sell the thing.
And more likely to get it made.
Disadvantage of writing to mandates.
But of course, nothing in this town is clear cut or straightforward.
Chasing mandates and letting the needs of the market determine your creative decisions can be a hopeless, losing battle.
If you hear about a mandate and decide to write a script that fits it, by the time you have something ready and sellable, your targets will have probably already found the scripts they were looking for to fill that slot.
Now your project is at the wrong end of the trend cycle.
But even worse, if you chase the trends of the market, you risk writing something that you’re not actually passionate about.
This can lead to despair, hopelessness, and a lack of resilience. You won’t inherently care about this project as much, so you’re not going to deliver material that is the best it could possibly be.
And that won’t open doors for you.
How to use mandates to your advantage:
When you hear that a studio or production company is looking for something specific, think about the essence of the mandate (the note behind the note):
What does it tell you about the audience they want to attract?
What clues can it give you about storylines and characters that have worked for them in the past? If you already have a script that you’re passionate about, pitch it using the language of current popular mandates.
As you’ve seen in the examples, they can be broad at times.
So find mandate language that applies to your project and make sure you emphasize the aspects of it that are currently sellable.
Mandates are most beneficial to writers who already have a script ready to go. So if you hear someone is looking for something that you have, dust off that old script that was out of fashion when you first wrote it. Now might finally be your chance.
This is why it’s so important to keep writing and keep honing your craft.
You never know when the winds will swing your way. You have to be ready to take advantage of the moment before it passes you by.
At the end of the day, quality is what matters.
Mandates are just Hollywood trying to find success.
If your script is good enough, it will cut through the clutter. But that means it has to be amazing. Unexpected AND firing on all cylinders.
Because the most successful projects have seemed to come out of nowhere.
Buyers weren’t asking for FLEABAG, BABY REINDEER, SQUID GAME, KILLING EVE, ARRIVAL, JUMANJI, SEVERANCE, THIS IS US, or SUCCESSION when they were greenlit.
But they took the world by storm, and then became the stories that everyone started trying to copy.
(Believe me, I keep seeing mandates requesting them everywhere).
Necessary advice for the apprentice screenwriter. I can see now why Hollywood operates on such a hive-mind mentality.
This is really useful information! Furthers the argument for having a variety of scripts 📚