Susanne Daniels
Company: The WB
Title: Executive Vice President, Programming
Born: Montclair, N.J., 1965
Education: Harvard University, B.A., English
Most Admired Person: Her parents
Turning Point in Career: Going to work for “Saturday Night Live” creator Lorne Michaels and moving to Los Angeles for a programming job at ABC
Hobbies: Changing diapers
Personal: Married, two children
As The WB’s top woman executive, Susanne Daniels has helped the fledgling TV network sizzle by developing “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Dawson’s Creek” and this year’s “Felicity.” In year-to-date ratings, The WB is up 14 percent from its year-ago level, while some of its bigger competitors, most notably NBC and ABC, have lost viewers. More important, The WB has swept past its once-stronger rival, UPN.
Daniels, executive vice president of programming, attributes much of her success to collaborating with young feature film writer-producers including J.J Abrams of “Felicity,” Kevin Williamson of “Dawson’s Creek,” and Joss Whedon of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”
Prior to joining The WB, Daniels worked at Fox Broadcasting as director of comedy development, where she was involved with “Living Single” and “Martin.” Before Fox, she spent two years at ABC.
After graduating from Harvard, Daniels began her career in television as an assistant to Lorne Michaels, the executive producer and creator of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.” She is married to Greg Daniels, executive producer of Fox’s hit animated TV show, “King of the Hill.”
Question: What has been the key to The WB’s success?
Answer: There’s nothing magic. Part of it is the executives here go with their gut. We develop shows we want to watch. Upper management at Time Warner lets us do just that, take chances. When I was at Fox, Rupert Murdoch wanted more mature programming, like George Carlin, which didn’t work. Garth Ancier (WB’s president of programming) and Jamie Kellner (WB CEO) and Bob Daly (chairman of Warner Bros.) are really great in letting us take risks with younger programming.
Q: The major networks have been losing audiences in recent years while you are gaining viewers. What are the big boys doing wrong?
A: It is hard to be an armchair quarterback, but I think it is all about taste and good writers. The WB has great taste in writers. There aren’t that many out there. It’s like trying to find a needle in a haystack and the (other networks) are not finding them, and if they do, they don’t let them do what they want to do, like Aaron Sorkin (the creator) of “Sports Night.” I don’t think ABC is letting him develop his vision.
Q: What about your old alma mater, Fox? It also has slipped this fall.
A: They don’t seem to have as clear a vision. They used to be the bad boys, now they are not. You don’t have to grow up, as Peter Pan says.
Q: What’s the future of network television?
A: All the networks will be aligned with a studio, the way ABC and Disney are, and we are and Fox. CBS and NBC will be, too. I wouldn’t be surprised to see more low-cost programming, and that includes comedy and drama. We are going to have to find a way to lower the cost of expensive programming. Maybe shoot in “Hi8” video (high-resolution, broadcast-quality video). Salaries and production costs also have to come down. But for the next 10 years, the networks will continue to provide premium programming.
Q: What has been the key to your corporate success?
A: Two things have helped me. One is switching jobs. This is my fourth, and women, more than men, need to move from company to company to be viewed with greater potential. Men can stay and be promoted internally, but it is harder for women to do that. You have to move jobs every two to three years to greater responsibility.
The second reason is having bosses at WB who (do not view) face time where they want to see your car in the parking lot at 9 a.m. before they arrive and still there when they leave as proof you are working hard. They only want the end result, and it doesn’t matter where you are. That means I can read a script late at night or early in the morning. This empowerment allows you to take risks and do your job and not focus on internal politics.
Q: You have been at The WB for nearly five years. Does this mean you’ll be looking for a new job, perhaps at NBC?
A: Oh no, this is the first job where I am not looking. I have another three years on my contract. I love it here.
Q: How did working on “Saturday Night Live” help you as a programmer?
A: I watched Lorne Michaels very carefully. He pays an incredible amount of attention to details. Everything matters. He would change the lighting and the sketch would become funnier. Costumes, writing, direction, Lorne gave notes on everything and made that show, and that input from Lorne continues to make that show.
Q: Why have you been turning to film producers, directors and writers to develop shows?
A: Part of our success at the beginning was, we didn’t know what we were doing. That meant we didn’t know what the rules for television were. None of us had done much drama, except Garth Ancier, who developed “21 Jump Street.” There was openness to doing things differently. It’s not that the TV networks hadn’t used feature film producers before or playwrights. But when they did, they always had a show runner, the person who had the mandate of guiding the playwright or the feature producer on how TV worked. Nobody told us that. So we didn’t do it. We just let them (film and theater veterans) do their show. We just let Kevin make “Dawson’s Creek.”
Q: How did you come up with “Dawson’s Creek,” a show that helped build your network last season?
A: It was a script that was passed on by Fox, and Sony sent it over. We couldn’t believe it was available. My first instinct was that they are using us to boost up their level of commitment at Fox. Studios do this all the time, play one network off against another. We thought this was too good to be true. We didn’t let on how interested we were. We played dumb and said, “well, it is OK.” When we got their letter from business affairs that said it was really available, we didn’t waste a second closing the deal.
Q: How did you and producer Joss Whedon create “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”?
A: Fox’s “X-Files” was at its peak, and whenever that happens people develop copycat shows. They expected us to do “Buffy” as a scary show, like “X-Files.” But I had heard a speech by Geraldine Laybourne (a former Walt Disney Co. TV executive) about breaking stereotypes, and I was motivated to do this at The WB. And then in walks this show. At first, I thought it would be a female superhero and that was one way of breaking a stereotype (of male superheroes). Joss came in with an idea for a series that was based on his film. It would be set at a high school and was based on his experiences that those years are hell, and the story is set in that milieu instead of having someone with a cape. She was just a regular high school student who is called upon to be a vampire slayer. It was “X-Files” meets “Beverly Hills, 90210.”
Q: How did you get “Felicity”?
A: It was a script on spec and was given to all the networks, and we responded with the biggest commitment.
Q: OK, enough about the nuts and bolts how about you personally? What’s a typical day for you?
A: I start at 9 a.m. and it’s meeting after meeting, including a 1 p.m. lunch meeting. The day usually ends around 6:30 p.m., unless there is a taping and that can go late.
Q: Does your TV executive producer husband ever pitch you show concepts?
A: Yes, he is always coming up with ideas.
Q: What if they’re no good?
A: I tell him, but I know The WB would love for him to come up with a project.
Q: Has becoming a mother changed your attitudes about programming?
A: I am more interested in children’s programming. That’s for sure. I am much more picky about what a child watches.
Q: What’s the weirdest place you’ve gotten a pitch?
A: At my 10th college reunion, but it wasn’t any good. People often have a funny anecdote from their life, but it is really not a show. It’s more like a comedy sketch or an amusing story.
Q: To escape people hitting you with pitches, do you disguise what your real job is?
A: Yes. I try to stay as close to the truth as possible. But I’ll make up that I’m a current executive (dealing with shows already on the air) so I won’t open myself up to hearing concepts.
Q: What’s the toughest part of your job?
A: Passing on projects. You have to pass on more projects than you accept. A network is lucky to have one hit a season and that means passing on a lot.
Q: Has your Harvard education been of any help in an industry where education doesn’t seem to count for much?
A: It’s helped me a lot. I studied English and American lit and I learned to analyze stories and fiction. That helped me analyze projects and improve on them.
Q: If you went back to Harvard, what advice would you give someone who wanted to go into the TV game?
A: Try and identify what area of television you want to be in. Being an executive is a far cry from being a writer. You have to make sure you know what you want.
