Alex Sepiol
Twitter: @ASepiol (2,392 followers) https://twitter.com/ASepiol
“Another stereotypical gay, Prius-driving liberal in Hollywood. SVP at USA. Near the 101”
Instagram: http://www.iphoneogram.com/u/204212728
Yfrog: http://twitter.yfrog.com/user/ASepiol/photos
Google+: https://plus.google.com/111259281609384897280/posts
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pub/alex-sepiol/5/7a8/b8a
Experience:
Development Executive, Senior Vice President, Original Scripted Series Programming
USA Network
June 2005 – Present (8 years 11 months)Universal City, CA
– Development and current programming of original series at USA Network. Shows I developed and oversee include Burn Notice, White Collar and Suits.
Education:
Stanford University 1995 – 1999
Filmography:
Neil, Inc (2015) Network Executive
Complications (2015) Network Executive
Suits (2013) Network Executive
Burn Notice (2012) Network Executive
Fairly Legal (2012) Network Executive
White Collar (2011) Network Executive
Royal Pains (2009) Network Executive
In Plain Sight (2008) Network Executive
Michael Sluchan
Michael Sluchan is senior vice president, original scripted series programming, at USA Network. He developed and oversees current production on Royal Pains and Necessary Roughness. In addition to development, Sluchan served as the current executive on the limited event series Political Animals, as well as In Plain Sight, The Starter Wife, The Dead Zone and the award-winning hit show Monk. Sluchan joined USA in October 1999 as a creative executive in long-form programming and moved to the original scripted series department in 2005. Prior to USA, Sluchan worked at Cosgrove-Meurer Productions, ABC Entertainment and ABC News. Outside of his professional endeavors, Sluchan served on the board of directors of Outfest from 2006-2010. Born and raised in New York City, Sluchan received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania.
(from Emmy’s Board of Governors bio)
Twitter: @theslooch (545 followers) https://twitter.com/theslooch
“NYer living in LA doing what I love – television. Characters Welcome. Foodie, volleyballer, gay, pop culture addict w/ a love of family, friends & game nights.”
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=7464378&authType=NAME_SEARCH&authToken=Vu_c&locale=en_US&srchid=956222061397166087176&srchindex=1&srchtotal=2&trk=vsrp_people_res_name&trkInfo=VSRPsearchId%3A956222061397166087176%2CVSRPtargetId%3A7464378%2CVSRPcmpt%3Aprimary
Experience:
SVP, Original Scripted Series Programming
USA Network
– Present (1 year 10 months)
Education:
University of Pennsylvania
1989 – 1993
Organizations:
GLAAD
Filmography:
Royal Pains (2015) – Network Executive
Over/Under (2012) – Network Executive
Underfunded (2007) – Network Executive
Monk (2006) – Network Executive
– Sluchan is one of the judges of NBC’s Short Cut Festival.
In The Media:
The Funniest Greatest Scripts Stories Ever Edited Told
UPenn Alumni Profile
http://www.upenn.edu/gazette/0113/pro04.html
Class of ’93 | Michael Sluchan C’93’s story about loving stories begins inside his childhood home. Every evening, he’d curl up on the couch to watch Joanie chase Chachi or root for Charlie’s angels to save the day. (“I wasn’t very discriminating,” he says of his preteen tastes.) He eventually graduated to film-studies classes at Penn, and later joined in the Harry Potter craze.
“I’ve always loved the fact that you can just create these worlds,” he says. “I especially love serialized books where you can see character growth, and I think that’s what TV series allow you to do, too: you can really watch the characters evolve.”
Several decades after tuning in religiously to Happy Days and The Love Boat, Sluchan still spends his time thinking about fictional characters in unusual situations—only now he gets paid for his opinions. As vice president of original scripted series programming at USA Network, he helps develop new shows and oversee current ones. He made sure Monk, The Starter Wife, and The Dead Zone all ran smoothly, and more recently he developed (and still oversees) Royal Pains, Necessary Roughness, In Plain Sight, and Political Animals.
“No two days are ever alike because you never know what problems or issues are going to crop up in a show’s production or development,” he says. “Because we’re dealing with so many different creative personalities, we really are serving as project managers on everything that we do.”
The other day, for instance, he was in Las Vegas for a Royal Pains shoot. Filming there was actually part of a broader deal with the city, and Vegas officials set strict parameters for each shooting location. As a result, he found himself as the go-between for the Royal Pains cast and crew, the show’s ad salespeople, and the city, making sure deadlines were met and agreements followed while guarding the show’s creative freedom.
Along with on-set drop-ins, Sluchan does a lot of reading. He reads every outline, script, and revision for each of the four shows he currently oversees, along with samples, pilots, and script submissions for new shows. It adds up to hundreds of pages each week and results in frequent all-day read-a-thons on Saturdays.
“I do more reading [at USA] than I did at Penn, and I was a history major and an English minor,” he says with a chuckle. His undergraduate experiences dissecting literature certainly help, though. “I think that so much of reading and giving notes on a script are things you learn in English class,” he says. “Stuff like, ‘What makes a good story? Are these good characters? Is the structure clear? What would help with the characterization?’ You really need to recognize what works and what doesn’t—and why.”
Asked what makes a script ‘work,’ he points to “a moment to fall in love with—something you’ve never seen before that makes you fall in love and relate to it a certain way. Usually, there will be this moment where you just get it.”
Sluchan entered the TV world on the ground floor. A few months shy of graduating from Penn, he’d had one of those Oh-crap-I have-no-idea-what-I’m-doing-with-the-rest-of-my-life moments so familiar to liberal-arts majors. A friend’s older sister worked for ABC News. Sluchan loved television and was well-versed in history and current events. Why not give it a try? he thought.
He landed a phone interview, then didn’t hear back for nearly three months. The call eventually came in August of 1993. Would he like to come work as a production secretary?
“If ABC News is offering a job, you don’t turn them down,” he says now. In his “very entry-level” position, he booked travel and crews and began to learn about budgets. “I liked it,” he says, “but that wasn’t where my passion was.”
He discovered his true calling while on vacation in Los Angeles, walking through the West Coast branch of ABC, surrounded by posters of Mork nanu-nanu-ing and Richie Cunningham slurping a malt. For the first time, he thought about the behind-the-scenes people who coined Fonzie’s signature Ayyy and created tangled situations for Laverne and Shirley to unravel.
“I realized there was this whole other side of television that I’d never even thought of,” he says. “Suddenly I was very determined to get a job at ABC—but in entertainment.”
Sluchan eventually landed in ABC’s business-affairs department on the West Coast, then became assistant to the network’s head of movies and miniseries. TV movies were big business at the time, and ABC produced about 35 each year, he says. That output ranged from the wacky-titled (She Woke Up Pregnant) to the big-starred (First Do No Harm with Meryl Streep and Allison Janney) to the eerie (a Shining miniseries based on Stephen King’s book). He left for Cosgrove-Meurer Productions in 1998 and arrived at USA Network the following year. He’s been there in a variety of roles ever since, and in 2010 was named an Amazing Gay Man in Showbiz by the Professional Organization of Women in Entertainment Reaching Up (POWER UP) for his work in television and on the Outfest board of directors.
Now in the midst of a two-year term on the board of governors for the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences—the group that gives out Emmy awards—Sluchan says he gets to “vote for fun categories” and, of course, attend both the Emmys and the Creative Arts Emmys. A pretty cool switch for the kid who grew up watching it all at home.
USA Network’s Michael Sluchan Upped To SVP Original Scripted Programming
1/7/2013 | Deadline.com
http://www.deadline.com/2013/01/usa-networks-michael-sluchan-upped-to-svp-original-scripted-programming/
USA Network has elevated Michael Sluchan to SVP Original Scripted Programming. Sluchan, a 13-year USA veteran, oversees current series and develops and shepherds production on new shows alongside SVP Alex Sepiol. Both report to Bill McGoldrick, EVP Original Scripted Programming. “Michael is a truly talented executive with vast relationships in the creative community and an incredible ability to nurture the types of writers and producers we love to work with,” McGoldrick said. Sluchan oversees production of USA dramas Necessary Roughness and Royal Pains and also oversaw recent limited series Political Animals.
Sluchan joined USA as creative executive, longform programming in October 1999. He developed and oversaw production of such movies and miniseries as Dominick Dunne Presents: Murder In Greenwich, Rudy: The Rudy Giuliani Story, Call Me: The Rise And Fall Of Heidi Fleiss, and Spartacus. In 2005, he moved over to the original series area as director, original scripted programming, where he began working on the fourth season of Monk. A year later, he was promoted to VP Original Scripted Programming.
USA UPS MICHAEL SLUCHAN TO SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, ORIGINAL SCRIPTED PROGRAMMING
1/7/2013 | Press Release from USA
http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news/2013/01/07/usa-ups-michael-sluchan-to-senior-vice-president-original-scripted-programming-16215/20130107usa02/
NEW YORK – January 7, 2013 – USA Network has elevated Michael Sluchan to senior vice president, original scripted programming, it was announced today by Bill McGoldrick, executive vice president, original scripted programming, and to whom Sluchan reports.
……
Before arriving at USA, Sluchan worked in movies and miniseries development at Cosgrove/Meurer Productions and ABC Pictures. He began his career in New York at ABC News as production secretary for Lifetime Magazine with Lisa McRee. He then moved to Los Angeles as an assistant in the Cap Cities/ABC Network legal and business affairs department. From there, he went to work for Barbara Lieberman, senior vice president, motion pictures for television and miniseries, ABC Entertainment.
Sluchan currently serves as a Governor at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for the Television Executive Peer Group. Outside of his professional endeavors, Sluchan is a former board member of Outfest, the leading organization showcasing, nurturing and preserving lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender film images and artistry.
Sluchan was born and raised in New York City and received his Bachelor of Arts, majoring in History, from the University of Pennsylvania.
‘Walking Dead’ Producer Brings World War II Alien Drama To USA
12/8/2012 | carveonline.com
http://www.craveonline.com/tv/articles/201283-walking-dead-producer-brings-world-war-ii-alien-drama-to-usa
……
“Horizon” reportedly centers on a female secretary at the FBI who learns that her husband may have died while fighting an alien ship in the South Pacific. As she presses her own investigation into the events that claimed her husband, she becomes the only person in a position to oppose the invaders’ agenda.
The project was created by “Burn Notice” screenwriter, Bridget Tyler, with “The Walking Dead” executive producer, Gale Anne Hurd attached as an executive producer.
…
According to USA Executive Vice President, Bill McGoldrick the network “had been actively thinking about how to do genre and period dramas and what an USA genre and period show is.” The report notes that Tyler’s “Horizon” script came as a writing sample for a staffing position on another series before it was discovered by USA Senior Vice President Alex Sepiol.
Christensen Brothers Win Appeal Against USA Network
8/9/2012 | American Bar Association
http://apps.americanbar.org/litigation/committees/intellectual/news.html
The suit alleges that in 2005, Forest Park developed an idea for a show called Housecall, “in which a doctor, after being expelled from the medical community for treating patients who couldn’t pay, moves to Malibu and attends to the rich and famous.” Forest Park created a series treatment for the concept that included storylines and character bios, and the Christensen brothers met with Alex Sepiol, a programming executive at USA Network, to pitch the idea. The brothers allege that, although Sepiol was receptive to the idea, nothing ever materialized after the meeting. Subsequently, in 2009, USA began airing Royal Pains, a show that the brothers claim is a rip-off of their concept for Housecall that focuses on the life of a “concierge doctor” providing medical services to the wealthy residents of the Hamptons.
Judge Colleen McMahon had originally dismissed the suit on the grounds that the claims brought against USA Network were preempted by the Federal Copyright Act. She ruled that, because the allegations entailed the theft of uncopyrightable ideas, the suit had no merit. The Second Circuit, however, disagreed, based largely on the fact that the plaintiffs chose to allege breach of implied contract rather than copyright infringement. The Second Circuit ruled that a claim under state law for breach of implied contract, including a promise to pay, is quantitatively different from a suit to vindicate a right included in the Copyright Act and is therefore not subject to federal preemption.
Judge John M. Walker Jr., writing for the Second Circuit, explains that, even though uncopyrightable material may fall within the subject matter of the Copyright Act, the equivalency requirement for preemption is not met in this case because “extra elements” exist that create qualitative differences between a contract claim and a copyright-violation claim. Among other things, the Copyright Act, unlike contract law, “does not provide an express right for the copyright owner to receive payment for the use of a work.” The court, accepting the plaintiffs’ version of the facts as true for the purpose of the motion, concluded that an implied contract, including a promise to pay, was formed on the Christensen brothers pitching their show concept to Sepiol and that USA Network’s failure to compensate Forest Park Productions for Royal Pains gave rise to a cause of action not subject to preemption. The court also ruled on two other issues, holding that, based on the choice of law rules for a federal court in New York sitting in diversity jurisdiction, California law should be applied in this case and that, in addition to the court’s finding of no preemption, the plaintiffs’ complaint is adequate under the Supreme Court standards in Twombly and Iqbal.
USA Network Promotes Alex Sepiol
10/11/2011 | The Hollywood Reporter
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/usa-network-promotes-alex-sepiol-246790
He has been upped to senior vice president of original scripted series programming.
USA Network has promoted Alex Sepiol to senior vice president of original scripted series programming. He will continue to report to Bill McGoldrick, senior vice president of original scripted programming.
Sepiol will continue to oversee production on USA’s Burn Notice, White Collar, Fairly Legal and Suits, all of which he brought to the cable network and developed. He will also be responsible for overseeing production on the untitled Douglas McGrath project, one of two half-hour comedy pilots that have been greenlit, as well as an untitled hourlong drama from White Collar creator Jeff Eastin. Sepiol also oversaw day-to-day production on the second season of In Plain Sight.
“Alex has consistently demonstrated an eye for shows that not only connect with our audience but push the USA brand to new and exciting places,” said McGoldrick. “In his short time as an executive, he has identified and cultivated relationships with some of the most talented writers working in television today. This is a well deserved promotion for an executive who has played a major role in the success of our network.”
Sepiol first joined USA in 2001 as an assistant to Jeff Wachtel, USA co-pesident. He returned to the network in 2004 as a production executive.
USA’S ALEX SEPIOL UPPED TO SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, ORIGINAL SCRIPTED SERIES PROGRAMMING
10/11/2011 press release from USA
……
Sepiol joined USA in the summer of 2001, as the assistant to Jeff Wachtel, one of USA’s co-presidents, and co-head, original content, Universal Cable Productions. After a brief hiatus, he rejoined the network in 2004 and has been busy developing and serving as a production executive, as well as looking for new series projects for USA to develop. In 2008, he was named alongside an elite group of young executives in The Hollywood Reporter’s “Next Generation.”
Prior to joining USA, Sepiol worked as Paul Nagle’s assistant at the William Morris Agency. Outside of his work in television, Sepiol wrote two one-act plays that were produced at the Plymouth Theater in Los Angeles in the fall of 2004.
Sepiol was born and raised in Northern California and received his undergraduate degree from Stanford University.
10 Amazing Gay Men in Showbiz 2010
Power Up Films
http://www.powerupfilms.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=23&Itemid=83
Michael Sluchan is Vice President, Original Scripted Series Programming at USA Network. He developed and oversees production on ROYAL PAINS. He is the current executive on IN PLAIN SIGHT and oversaw MONK, THE STARTER WIFE and THE DEAD ZONE. Joining USA in October 1999, Sluchan oversaw many longform projects, including “Murder In Greenwich,” “The Rudy Giuliani Story,” “The Rise and Fall of Heidi Fleiss” and the miniseries “Spartacus.” Sluchan got his start at ABC News.
He served on the Board of Directors of Outfest from 2006-2010. A native New Yorker, Sluchan received his BA from the University of Pennsylvania.
Michael Sluchan 2010 POWER UP Honoree Speech:
“POWER UP continues to be of vital importance to ALL LGBTQ people; to be recognized for my contributions to our community by an organization whose mission is so near and dear to my heart is an amazing honor.”
USA promotes Alex Sepiol to VP
6/2/2009 | Variety
http://variety.com/2009/scene/news/usa-promotes-alex-sepiol-to-vp-1118004412/
USA Network has upped Alex Sepiol to VP of original scripted series programming.
Sepiol has overseen production of “Burn Notice,” which returns for its third season on Thursday, and “In Plain Sight,” currently in the midst of season two. He will continue to report to Jackie de Crinis, exec VP of original scripted programming.
“We have a great niche in that we continue to explore smart escapism programming,” Sepiol told Daily Variety.
Next up at USA is “Royal Pains,” which also premieres Thursday, and “White Collar” — starring Tim DeKay, Matthew Bomer and Tiffani Thiessen — currently in production for a possible first quarter 2010 premiere.
“Burn Notice” is cable’s top-rated scripted series in the 18-49 demo.
Lincoln grad is a rising star
12/2/2008 | Recordnet.com
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081202/A_LIFE12/812020305/-1/rss06
He isn’t besieged by autograph seekers when he walks down the street, but Stockton raised Alex Sepiol is a rising Hollywood star.
The 31-year-old graduate of Lincoln High School – Class of 1995 – was named in a recent “Hollywood Reporter” profile of the hottest people in the entertainment industry younger than 35.
A director of original scripted series programming for USA Network, Sepiol is refreshingly grateful for the success he’s found in the industry.
“I was really fortunate,” he said of the “Hollywood Reporter” mention. “I’ve been working at USA Network and have had a good run of it the last few years.”
A good run of it is a bit of an understatement.
Sepiol, whose role at the No. 1-rated cable network is to plow through the onslaught of ideas and unearth the hidden gems, has proven to have great instincts.
The first program he developed, “Burn Notice,” debuted in 2007 as the No. 1 new show and will begin its third season in January.
“If I had to name a single thing (I’m most proud of), it would be ‘Burn Notice,’ ” Sepiol said in a conversation while he was home visiting his parents – Jim, a family physician, and Janet – for Thanksgiving.
“It was initially a pitch, just an idea. It was the first time I had the opportunity to see a project through. It’s been a remarkable thing to watch it grow, change, evolve and to, hopefully, have had a positive influence over how that happened.”
He influenced the show from the start.
Writer Matt Nix’s original story of a spy who’s burned – that is, dismissed by the U.S. government – and needs to pick up odd investigative jobs to support himself as he works to discover who burned him, was set in Newark, N.J.
Sepiol suggested Miami.
“In Newark, you have a guy who’s unhappy about his life in a miserable place. In Miami, he’s the only guy not happy to be in Miami,” Sepiol said.
The dark tone of the original story had to be altered to fit the USA model of character-driven stories that are funny and dramatic, but Nix’s use of the spy’s voiceover describing how to accomplish his tricks of the trade, remained.
“I thought that was the coolest thing,” Sepiol said.
Sepiol’s passion for the show helped get it produced, and he remains heavily involved.
Among other roles, he oversees the hiring of writers, selection of directors and cast members and coordinates with the marketing, scheduling and publicity departments of USA.
He has a similar role with “In Plain Sight,” the Albuquerque, N.M.-based show about the witness protection program that came to him as a script.
Sepiol just returned from New York where a pilot was shot for another project he’s overseeing, called “White Collar,” about a con man who teams with an FBI agent to fight crime.
Jetting around the country to the sets of television programs he’s ushered through isn’t the life Sepiol expected when he graduated from Stanford in 1999 with a humanities degree in modern thought and literature.
He just knew he didn’t want in on the dot.com boom with many of his friends. He moved to Los Angeles expecting to write, as he’d done since working on The Lincolnian as a high school student.
His first job was in the marketing department of a video-game company that no longer exists. He was copying his resume at a Kinko’s when he ran into a friend from Stanford who was working at the William Morris Talent Agency. The friend took one of Sepiol’s résumés, and Sepiol eventually was hired at William Morris as an agent assistant.
“For people looking after college to get into the entertainment industry, I highly recommend agent assistants jobs,” Sepiol said. “They pay very poorly and it’s brutal in terms of hours, but you learn so much so quickly. I’m fortunate I had that training.”
Sepiol’s also worked as a writer’s assistant on USA’s “Touching Evil” and as a researcher for VH1’s “Fortune Files.”
Sepiol doesn’t look too far into future positions, perhaps because he’s still stunned by just how far he’s already come.
“When I moved down (to Los Angeles) it wasn’t to be a network executive,” Sepiol said. “I didn’t even know this job existed. I’ve been incredibly fortunate to do the things I’ve done. I’m incredibly lucky with all the people I’ve got 10 to work with, and the projects I’ve gotten to work on. USA is an incredible place to be.”
Sepiol, likewise, considers Stockton a great place to have been.
“I feel very proud of being from Stockton,” Sepiol said.
He notes Tokay students Scott Kannberg and Stephen Malkmus formed the band “Pavement,” that the college scenes of “Raiders of the Lost Ark” were shot at University of the Pacific and, “of course, Chris Isaak is from Stockton.”
Alex Sepiol is from Stockton, too, and while he isn’t on the cover of any record and won’t tour the country for adoring fans, his work is definitely playing to rave reviews.
USA ups programmers
8/1/2006 | Variety
http://variety.com/2006/scene/news/usa-ups-programmers-1200342699/
USA Network has upped Lindsay Sloane and Michael Sluchan to VPs of original scripted series programming.
Pair will report to senior VP Jackie de Crinis. Both will be charged with developing projects; Sluchan will continue to oversee production of “Monk,” while Sloane will continue to shepherd “The Dead Zone,” “The 4400″ and “Psych.”
USA exec VP of original programming Jeff Wachtel described Sloane and Sluchan as “truly the heart and soul of our scripted series team.”
Sluchan most recently worked on the USA dramedy pilot “Underfunded.” He joined USA in October 1999 as a longform exec working on movies. Before that, Sluchan worked at Cosgrove/Meurer Prods. and ABC Entertainment.
Sloane is working on the Sarah Goodman/Lorne Michaels pilot “To Love and Die in L.A.” Prior to USA, Sloane was VP of development at Gran Via Prods.
Hayden leads USA longform
3/14/2002 | Variety
http://variety.com/2002/scene/news/hayden-leads-usa-longform-1117863986/
……
At the same time at USA, several promotions have been granted: Christof Bove has been promoted to VP of development for longform; Michael Sluchan to director of development of longform; Gary Shapiro to director of development for reality programming and specials; and Bill McGoldrick to director of development for original series.
……
Sluchan is responsible for development and production of longform projects, reporting to Hayden. He joined USA as a creative exec in longform in October 1999.