LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – ABC’s “Desperate Housewives” fell to a record low rating for an original episode as the suburban soap returned to the air on Sunday after being sidelined for more than three months by the writers strike.
The show drew 16 million viewers, down about 15 percent from its season average of 18.9 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research. It was still enough to win the 9 p.m. hour by a wide margin, and give ABC the nightly honors with 10.5 million viewers.
“Housewives” was hurt by the absence of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” as a lead-in. Instead, ABC moved the fast-fading “Oprah’s Big Give” to the 8 p.m. slot (8.9 million viewers vs. a season average of 11.5 million).
At 10 p.m., ABC tried out Thursday regular “Eli Stone,” which benefited from the strong lead-in (9.2 million vs a season average of 8.2 million).
CBS was second for the night (10.4 million) with “60 Minutes” (14.1 million), “Big Brother” (10.7 million), “Cold Case” (8.8 million) and “Dexter” (8.2 million).
NBC (5.3 million) was dragged down by recycled episodes of USA Network’s “Monk” (5.2 million) and “Psych” (4.2 million). Fox averaged 5.1 million viewers overall.
Erin Brockovich, of movie fame, is aggressively trying to stretch the limits of Medicare law by suing hospitals, nursing homes and other healthcare providers. So far, federal district courts in every one of the more than 30 California cases that Brockovich filed last summer have refused to “green light” this production. Rather, all courts have dismissed her claims, and they have done so upon initial motions to dismiss filed by the hospitals and other healthcare provider defendants.In nearly identical, form-like, complaints that Brockovich filed across southern California, she urged that the Medicare Secondary Payer (“MSP”) laws impose “primary payer” liability (and resulting double damages) against hospitals and skilled nursing facilities that allegedly commit professional negligence when treating Medicare patients. Brockovich also asserted that MSP suits may be prosecuted by uninjured, non-Medicare-insured plaintiffs, like herself, on the government’s behalf. At the time she filed her lawsuits, Brockovich was 46 years old. She was neither Medicare-eligible nor a former patient of any healthcare provider she had named.
Federal district courts in California uniformly rejected Brockovich’s theories. So have federal courts in Arkansas, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania in cases filed by Brockovich’s lawyers on behalf of another, similarly situated plaintiff. In fact, no court anywhere has done anything other than dismiss these suits, upon the defendants’ initial motions.
Brockovich is persistent, even if she is wrong on the law. She has appealed each California ruling in a pending (and consolidated) appeal before the Ninth Circuit. Brockovich’s lawyers also have pursued a pending appeal to the Eighth Circuit in one of the identical cases filed in the other plaintiff’s name.
In the California cases, the defendants argued that, as a matter of law, they could not be liable under the MSP absent established liability for payment, such as when a provider is determined in a judgment or settlement to be liable or finally responsible to pay on a patient’s claim of negligent treatment. The defendants further argued that Brockovich could not manipulate the MSP private cause of action by attempting to make it, in effect, a qui tam statute that allows a private citizen to sue in the name of the government. The courts agreed, dismissing these actions without leave to amend. 2
The keys to Brockovich’s legal misadventure lie within the language and purposes of the MSP law. The MSP statute was enacted to help reduce Medicare costs. 3It makes Medicare the “secondary” payer whenever a Medicare beneficiary also has other primary medical insurance, or when another source is determined to be primarily responsible to pay for the care – such as worker’s compensation or a third-party tortfeasor’s liability insurance or its self-insurance.
The MSP statute also provides that the federal government, or a single Medicare beneficiary (through a private cause of action), may recoup double the amount of any sums Medicare paid, if a “primary payer” has a “demonstrated . . . responsibility” to pay, but has failed to do so. A 2003 amendment added that “[a] primary plan’s responsibility for such payment may be demonstratedby a judgment, a payment conditioned upon the recipient’s compromise, waiver, or release (whether or not there is a determination or admission of liability) of payment for items or services included in a claim against the primary plan or the primary plan’s insured, or by other means.” 4
At least three fatal problems with Brockovich’s theory of MSP liability were immediately apparent and decisive:
First, as the California and other courts ruled, Brockovich lacked Article III standing to pursue her claims. The MSP private right of action does not support a claim by the likes of Brockovich, an uninjured person who is not even a Medicare beneficiary. The private cause of action is available, in proper circumstances, to Medicare beneficiaries, but not to simply anyone who decides on his or her own to sue. 5
The second major problem with Brockovich’s claims is evident from the language of the MSP statute itself. Knowing that she had no case or controversy, Brockovich argued instead that the MSP statute is a qui tam statute, which would authorize private suits, by anyone, on the government’s behalf. However, Congress must authorize qui tam actions expressly, if that is its intent – and in the MSP, it did not do so. 6Unlike the quintessential qui tam statute, the False Claims Act 7(a primary tool for policing suspected Medicare abuse), the MSP’s private right of action speaks only to individual claims for damage, and the private right of action is distinct from a separate MSP right of action reserved specifically for claims directly by the federal government.
Unsurprisingly, the MSP private cause of action section lacks any procedural safeguards to protect the government, or any provisions for government ownership, supervision, or control of purely private MSP suits. Congress has been careful to insert such safeguards into the False Claims Act, specifically to prevent runaway litigation by private citizens, ostensibly in the name of the government. Courts repeatedly recognize the constitutional concerns raised by private suits on behalf of the government, and the False Claims Act has been carefully crafted to address them. 8Brockovich’s declaration that she sued on behalf of the government clashed with the Supreme Court’s pronouncement that a tightly circumscribed assignment must exist for qui tam relators to proceed on behalf of the United States. The courts in the Brockovich cases refused Brockovich’s request that they essentially rewrite the MSP private cause of action section to make it read as though it were a qui tam law. 9As the district court in the Pennsylvania case brought by Brockovich’s attorneys noted in its March 2007 order of dismissal, every one of the more than 35 decisions has rejected this “coordinated nationwide effort to persuade the federal courts to find an implied qui tam right of action in the MSP.” 10
The third major problem with Brockovich’s claims also is fundamental, and it transcends the narrower problem of Brockovich’s lack of standing to sue. Neither Brockovich nor anyone else – including an injured Medicare patient – can allege that a provider has a “demonstrated . . . responsibility” to pay, in any instance where the only wrong alleged is an undecided or unsettled allegation of medical negligence. Brockovich was unconcerned with any such real cases. Instead, each of her complaints contained verbatim boilerplate allegations of provider negligence, but none offered even a single allegation about any actual malpractice committed on an actual Medicare beneficiary resulting in care for which Medicare paid. The complaints, therefore, could not fall within the scope of the MSP statute. 11
Brockovich’s only response was to try bootstrapping the MSP’s reference to “other means” by which responsibility to pay can be “demonstrated,” to cover federal and state agency survey reports and mere allegations of deficiencies and claims of non-compliance with certification requirements unique to particular providers participating in the Medicare program. She also cited generally to healthcare providers’ internal incident and investigation reports, and regulatory “plans of correction” and “statements of deficiencies.” These reports contain findings, she argued, that can suffice to create “demonstrated . . . responsibility,” without adjudication or other final finding of fault or a settlement agreement promising to pay.
Of course, none of these things is an acknowledgement that negligence occurred, nor is an investigation of an incident an admission of fault, and attaching MSP liability to such processes could discourage Medicare providers from undertaking internal review and improvement of the care they provide. Moreover, even a provider that renders deficient medical care may be entitled to Medicare reimbursement. Other legal avenues – not the MSP statute – ensure that the government enforces high standards for quality of care rendered to Medicare beneficiaries. 12
Briefing in the Ninth Circuit consolidated California cases will take place in May and June. A similar case has already been briefed in the Eighth Circuit, so a decision from that court may soon establish additional precedent confirming that Brockovich’s attempted expansion of the MSP private right of action exceeds the limits of the statute. 13
Mr. Landsberg and Ms. McCallum are partners in the Los Angeles office of Manatt, Phelps and Phillips, LLP. They are members of the Healthcare Litigation and Appellate Practice Groups, with extensive backgrounds defending healthcare providers before the federal and state trial and appellate courts. Together they defended three of the Brockovich cases described in this article.
Twenty-nine of the cases were assigned to the Honorable David O. Carter in the Central District of California. Two others were assigned to the Hon. Thomas J. Whelan in the Southern District of California.
See Manning v. Utilities Mut. Ins. Co., 254 F.3d 387, 394 (2d Cir. 2001) (noting that “[t]he MSP creates a private right of action for individuals whose medical bills are improperly denied by insurers and instead paid by Medicare”).
SeeBurnette v. Carothers, 192 F.3d 52, 57-58 (2d Cir. 1999) (“‘there is no common law right to maintain a qui tam action; authority must always be found in legislation”), cert. denied, 531 U.S. 1052 (2000).
31 U.S.C. § 3730(b), (c). see alsoRiley v. St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital, 252 F.3d 749, 753 (5th Cir. 2001) ( en banc) ( qui tam FCA actions only meet constitutional separation of powers requirements because the executive branch retains some degree of control over the litigation, such as the ability to intervene, the ability to dismiss, the ability to supervise).
Brockovich pursued her claims despite the fact that a spate of recent decisions, in the mass tort context, rejected the precise premise of her actions, observing that an alleged tortfeasor has no “demonstrated . . . responsibility” to pay absent an adjudication of liability, a settlement, or some other “like means” – which one court held “encompasses other instances of ‘like kind’ where there is a previously established requirement or agreement to pay for medical services for which Medicare is entitled to be reimbursed.” Glover v. Philip Morris USA, 380 F. Supp. 2d 1279, 1291 (M.D. Fla. 2005) (footnote omitted), aff’d,Glover v. Liggett Group, Inc., 459 F.3d 1304 (11th Cir. 2006) ( per curiam); see also, e.g., United Seniors Association, Inc. v. Philip Morris USA, 2006 WL 2471977 (D. Mass., August 28, 2006).
Erin Brockovich v. Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Health System, Inc.
Defense of two hospital systems in qui tam actions purporting to enforce Medicare’s Secondary Payor provisions (42 U.S.C. § 1395y(b)(3)). Plaintiff sought recovery of all Medicare funds paid to treat alleged but unspecified hospital malpractice injuries. The cases were dismissed while on appeal to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. (C.D. Cal.)
A young gay man’s poignant coming out to his mother is making the blogosphere rounds.
As Dan Brian notes on his YouTube page, “Finally got the strength to come out to my mom…I decided to post this so that I could share my experience with you. Hopefully it will give hope to those who do not have such supportive families.”
Though heartwarming, the authenticity of the video has been questioned on Twitter, to which the 24-year-old has responded, “If she did know [it was being filmed] she would’ve worn better pants!”
Companies commit to greater minority representation
6/7/2010 Variety
As a congressional committee holds a Los Angeles hearing today devoted largely to the impact of the Comcast and NBC Universal transaction on diversity, the companies are unveiling a new series of public interest commitments designed to boost minority representation on and off screen.
Comcast, which already had committed to adding two independently owned and operated cable networks to its systems for each of the next three years, is pledging that at least half of them will have substantial ownership by minorities. NBC Universal also says that it has committed to a major effort to identify minority buyers for Los Angeles Spanish-language station KWHY-TV, which it is divesting from its portfolio.
Among other commitments, the companies also say they will establish four external “Diversity Advisory Councils,” representative of African-American, Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander and other communities, that will meet at least two times per year with Comcast and NBC Universal execs, including an annual meeting with Comcast’s chairman and chief executive officer. Comcast will appoint up to nine members to each advisory council, with input from national minority leadership organizations, and will develop a strategic plan related to diversity, with benchmark studies updated annually.
The two companies’ new commitments come after some criticism over their records in hiring and minority representation, in particular from Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), a member of the House Judiciary Committee. At a congressional hearing in February, she chided NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker for a lack of NBC shows aimed at African-American audiences. In a letter to the FCC, she cited low marks that the companies have received by the National Hispanic Media Coalition in the hiring of Latinos in their executive ranks.
She pushed for today’s House Judiciary Committee field hearing at the California Science Center, where representatives from a number of groups including the Hispanic Media Coalition, the National Coalition of African-American Owned Media and the National Assn. of Latino Independent Producers are expected to testify. A number of watchdog orgs have long been critical of all networks, with the NAACP releasing a report in 2008 showing what it called a “serious shortage of minority faces in primetime,” although they did report gains in reality TV.
For their part, NBC U and Comcast released a letter from entrepreneur Magic Johnson in support of the transaction, in which the basketball legend says that NBC U’s commitment to diversity “is long-term and real” and that it is “one of the few companies where I’ve witnessed a CEO who makes diversity and inclusion one of his company’s five business imperatives.”
Representing the network at today’s hearing will be Paula Madison, its executive vice president of diversity. Also expected is Alfred Liggins, the president and CEO of Radio One, which is in partnership with Comcast in the African-American oriented cable channel TV One.
The Messengers: Janet Mock is one of mainstream media’s smartest voices on how to cover trans people. If there’s anyone journalists should listen to, it’s Mock.
7/28/2014 Advocate
Because Janet Mock is part of the media, she has an uncommon authority when explaining to other journalists for the hundreth time why some questions are just plain wrong to ask her and other transgender women.
Mock was working as a staff editor for People.com, then only 28 years old, when she publicly revealed herself to be transgender in a May 2011 Marie Claire profile. To that point in her life, her identity and history as a transgender woman was known only to a few, select individuals.
Her own coming out brought with it a number of people questioning her authenticity as a woman. Others accused her boyfriend of being gay, and through it all, she was forced to confront the hate, bias, and anti-transgender sentiment that permeates society. She still confronts it, often with an audience watching.
In February, while on a media tour in support of her New York Times best-seller Redefining Realness, Mock appeared on Piers Morgan Live to promote the book. What ensued became emblematic of all that is wrong with how trans people are treated by the media at large. The now-infamous interview overwhelmingly focused on Mock’s personal medical history and all but ignored the book she was there to promote.
“You used to be, yourself, a man,” the show’s eponymous host added at the tail end of a question about disclosing one’s trans status to romantic prospects. On the night the pre-taped interview aired, what seemed like one poor word choice by Morgan was amplified as an on-screen chyron appearing under Mock’s image, reading, “Was a boy until age 18,” and the show’s Twitter account tweeted, “How would you feel if you found out that the woman you are dating was formerly a man?”
Mock then angered Morgan by tweeting, “‘Was a boy until 18.’ @PiersMorganLive get it the f*k together. #redefiningrealness.” Her tweet launched thousands more from users all around the world, criticizing Morgan’s lack of tact.
Ever one to make the best out of a bad situation, Mock agreed to appear on the show the following night in hopes of discussing why so many people were so upset by the prior night’s show, and to clarify that no, she was not “a man” or “a boy” up until the moment of having genital reconstructive surgery at age 18. Sadly, Morgan appeared less than open to having a true dialogue with Mock; instead speaking over her, and later using his Twitter account to rail against transgender viewers who were angry with him.
In April, Mock teamed up with Fusion TV’s Alicia Menendez for a faux interview to illustrate how uncomfortable and invasive questions and comments like Morgan’s can make trans individuals.
“What’s so amazing is if I were to look at you, I would have never not known that you weren’t trans,” Mock said to Menendez in the light-hearted and informative flipping of the script. “Do you have a vagina? Do you feel like your idea of self, your cisness, holds you back in any way?”
The faux interview took a creative approach to addressing many of the unsettling and frustrating questions trans people find themselves asked during interviews.
The latest big news for Mock came last week when Marie Claire, where she’d once published that life-changing essay, is now hiring her on as a contributing editor. The now 31-year-old New York City resident is one of the world’s most well-known trans individuals, appearing on Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report, in the HBO documentary The Out List, and making repeat appearances on Melissa Harris-Perry’s MSNBC show. In 2012, she founded #girlslikeus — a movement established to celebrate trans womanhood — and earlier this year, she released the New York Times best-seller Redefining Realness.
In the nearly six months since Redefining Realness came out, trans issues have begun gaining steam with mainstream America.
“The biggest advancement [during those six months] has been a hunger in our nation to have and advance the conversation about trans people and our diversely lived experiences — beyond the body,” Mock tells The Advocate. “For decades, the media only spoke about trans people in the framework of what we do to our bodies, rather than what it means to exist, live, and dream in our bodies.”
When asked what she’d like to see another six months from now, she answers, “I’d like that conversation [go on] to enact change, ensuring that our bodies are given shelter, safety, employment, greater agency and freedom from policing, profiling and incarceration. I want our bodies to be even more centered in collective liberation.”
This is one of eight profiles The Advocate is releasing this week for our annual 40 Under 40 list. Starting this Friday and lasting through August 8, readers can vote on which of these eight you think should be on the cover of a special digital edition for The Advocate. Then the names of the remaining 32 honorees will be released in August. Keep checking Advocate.com’s “40 Under 40: Emerging Voices” section for the other seven profiles throughout the week, and your chance to vote.
Twitter: @ASepiol (2,392 followers) https://twitter.com/ASepiol
“Another stereotypical gay, Prius-driving liberal in Hollywood. SVP at USA. Near the 101”
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.
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)
“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.”
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
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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/
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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.
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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.
“I’m the only person who will stand on this stage and say I hope people steal our ideas,” the president and CEO tells the TCA crowd, “because that means more good television for the public.”
Paula Kerger
With Downton Abbey, Sherlock and a few other scripted successes currently on its roster, PBS is certainly part of the “golden age of television” that seems to have been touted more than ever during this summer’s Television Critics Association press tour. But one thing isn’t quite as golden, says chief Paula Kerger, is the kind of nonfiction programming currently on offer.
The public broadcaster’s president and CEO spoke with reporters at the start of its two-day session on Tuesday morning — and in addition to touting big plans for streaming (and teasing a move into original stateside dramas), she emphasized that her channels were among the shrinking number of those committed to educational nonfiction and not just reality.
“A lot of cable networks that were at one point formed as an alternative to PBS, they’ve gone down a different path,” said Kerger, mentioning A&E, History and Bravo. “I often say we’re not in the same business. Our work is very different.”
Education is still a priority
Yes, it’s great to be the U.S. home of Emmy darling and international phenomenon Downton Abbey. That’s just one piece of the PBS puzzle. Kerger emphasized that their scripted successes, while great, are not her biggest mandate. Kerger brought up cable’s significant departure from science, art, history and curriculum-based kids programming as voids she is constantly trying to fill. “Art, except for competition series, is gone,” she said. “Ovation is still out there and trying to capture an audience, but we see ourselves as standing alone in that space. … My hope is that if we do our job well and more people watch, other channels will follow suit. I’m the only person who will stand on this stage and say I hope people steal our ideas, because that means more good television for the public.”
Ratings don’t matter — but they’re still growing
Several times during the Q&A, Kerger emphasized that the publicly funded organization put little stock in viewership. Their “mission” is still to air programming that connects and educates viewers, but knowing people are watching still helps. “We actually have a broad audience,” she said. “If you look at the numbers, 90 percent of people are watching us at some point in the year.” What’s more: Nights with targeted programming — like Sunday’s drama hub, home to Downton Abbey — are growing substantially year over year. Sunday, for 2014, is up 14 percent from the previous year.
Streaming is key
Using the day to also announce that Ken Burns‘ sprawling, 14-hour The Roosevelts: An Intimate History will be available in full online only a day after the first part airs, Kerger said that boosting streaming options is a big priority for both PBS’ widely distributed content and its local offerings. “We have put a lot of effort into [streaming],” she said. “To be able to be in different platforms where people are looking for content seems like a good investment.”
Sherlock‘s return date remains up in the air
The recent announcement that Sherlock will tape additional episodes in 2015 has not cleared up when the Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman starrer will be back on the air in the U.S. Kerger was quite happy, however, knowing that they still have the rights to air the Christmas special and three additional episodes. “We’re so proud to have it on public broadcasting,” she said. “We have to wait to really know when it will be finished. Whenever it comes, we’ll put it in a wonderful place, and we know it’s going to be terrific.”
Domestic drama could come soon
No, there was no news of a new series order, but when asked about the likelihood of PBS moving into original dramas produced here in the U.S. — not just the imported Masterpiece fare — Kerger was playfully cryptic. “I’m smiling, and I’ll be able to tell you something sometime,” she said. “How’s that for a tease?”
A study found that after early adolescence, the social status of socially precocious teenagers often plummeted.
6/23/2014 | The New York Times
At 13, they were viewed by classmates with envy, admiration and not a little awe. The girls wore makeup, had boyfriends and went to parties held by older students. The boys boasted about sneaking beers on a Saturday night and swiping condoms from the local convenience store.
They were cool. They were good-looking. They were so not you.
Whatever happened to them?
“The fast-track kids didn’t turn out O.K.,” said Joseph P. Allen, a psychology professor at the University of Virginia. He is the lead author of a new study, published this month in the journal Child Development, that followed these risk-taking, socially precocious cool kids for a decade. In high school, their social status often plummeted, the study showed, and they began struggling in many ways.
It was their early rush into what Dr. Allen calls pseudomature behavior that set them up for trouble. Now in their early 20s, many of them have had difficulties with intimate relationships, alcohol and marijuana, and even criminal activity. “They are doing more extreme things to try to act cool, bragging about drinking three six-packs on a Saturday night, and their peers are thinking, ‘These kids are not socially competent,’ ” Dr. Allen said. “They’re still living in their middle-school world.”
As fast-moving middle-schoolers, they were driven by a heightened longing to impress friends. Indeed their brazen behavior did earn them a blaze of popularity. But by high school, their peers had begun to mature, readying themselves to experiment with romance and even mild delinquency. The cool kids’ popularity faded.
B. Bradford Brown, a professor of educational psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who writes about adolescent peer relationships and was not involved in the study, said it offered a trove of data. The finding that most surprised him, he said, was that “pseudomature” behavior was an even stronger predictor of problems with alcohol and drugs than levels of drug use in early adolescence. Research on teenagers usually tracks them only through adolescence, Dr. Brown added. But this study, following a diverse group of 184 subjects in Charlottesville, Va., starting at age 13, continued into adulthood at 23.
Researchers took pains to document the rise and fall in social status, periodically interviewing the subjects as well as those who they felt knew them best, usually close friends. About 20 percent of the group fell into the “cool kid” category at the study’s outset.
A constellation of three popularity-seeking behaviors characterized pseudomaturity, Dr. Allen and his colleagues found. These young teenagers sought out friends who were physically attractive; their romances were more numerous, emotionally intense and sexually exploring than those of their peers; and they dabbled in minor delinquency — skipping school, sneaking into movies, vandalism.
As they turned 23, the study found that when compared to their socially slower-moving middle-school peers, they had a 45 percent greater rate of problems resulting from alcohol and marijuana use and a 40 percent higher level of actual use of those substances. They also had a 22 percent greater rate of adult criminal behavior, from theft to assaults.
Many attributed failed adult romantic relationships to social status: they believed that their lack of cachet was the reason their partners had broken up with them. Those early attempts to act older than they were seemed to have left them socially stunted. When their peers were asked how well these young adults got along with others, the former cool kids’ ratings were 24 percent lower than the average young adult.
The researchers grappled with why this cluster of behaviors set young teenagers on a downward spiral. Dr. Allen suggested that while they were chasing popularity, they were missing a critical developmental period. At the same time, other young teenagers were learning about soldering same-gender friendships while engaged in drama-free activities like watching a movie at home together on a Friday night, eating ice cream. Parents should support that behavior and not fret that their young teenagers aren’t “popular,” he said.
“To be truly mature as an early adolescent means you’re able to be a good, loyal friend, supportive, hardworking and responsible,” Dr. Allen said. “But that doesn’t get a lot of airplay on Monday morning in a ninth-grade homeroom.”
Dr. Brown offered another perspective about why the cool kids lost their way. The teenagers who lead the social parade in middle school — determining everyone else’s choices in clothes, social media and even notebook colors — have a heavy burden for which they are not emotionally equipped. “So they gravitate towards older kids,” he said. And those older teenagers, themselves possibly former cool kids, were dubious role models, he said: “In adolescence, who is open to hanging out with someone three or four years younger? The more deviant kids.”
Dr. Allen offered one typical biography from the study. At 14, the boy was popular. He had numerous relationships, kissed more than six girls, flung himself into minor forms of trouble, and surrounded himself with good-looking friends.
By 22, he was a high-school dropout, had many problems associated with drinking, including work absenteeism and arrests for drunken driving. He is unemployed and still prone to minor thefts and vandalism.
But as Dr. Allen emphasized, pseudomaturity suggests a predilection; it is not a firm predictor. A teenage girl from the study initially had a similar profile, with many boyfriends at an early age, attractive friends and a fondness for shoplifting.
Yet by 23, Dr. Allen wrote in an email, “she’d earned her bachelor’s degree, had not had any more trouble with criminal behavior, used alcohol only in responsible ways and was in a good job.”
Dr. Mitchell J. Prinstein, a professor of psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who studies adolescent social development, said that while teenagers all long to be accepted by their peers studies suggest that parents can reinforce qualities that will help them withstand the pressure to be too cool, too fast.
“Adolescents also appreciate individuality and confidence,” he said. “Adolescents who can stick to their own values can still be considered cool, even without doing what the others are doing.”
Matt LeBlanc’s “Episodes” won the best comedy prize, while “Modern Family” star Julie Bowen took home best actress in a comedy.
MONACO — Top of the Lake came out on top at the Monte-Carlo International Festival of Television, sweeping the mini-series category with three wins, including best mini-series, and prizes for stars Elisabeth Moss and Peter Mullan for best actress and best actor.
In the TV film category, the best film award went to Germany’s Take Good Care of Him, and star Julia Koschitz was also awarded best actress for her performance. The best actor prize went to Klaus Maria Brandauer for Austria’s film Blank.
Julie Bowen took home the best actress prize in the comedy category for Emmy favorite Modern Family. Norway’s Lillyhammer, about a mobster relocated to a small village, took the award for international comedy series, and star Steven van Zandt won the best actor prize.
The European comedy prize went to Episodes, the Matt LeBlanc-starrer produced by the U.K.’s Hatrick Productions, which airs on Showtime in the U.S.
In the news category, CNN was awarded for its around-the-clock coverage of the Ukraine crisis, while the U.K.’s Sky News was recognized in the TV news program category for its Central African Republic: Victims of Rape coverage.
Al Jazeera English won in the best news documentary category for its Identity and Exile film, and Norway’s Moment Films was recognized for best current affairs documentary for Twin Sisters.
The awards were presided over by Prince Albert, who opened the festival Saturday with a lifetime achievement honor for prolific producer Jerry Bruckheimer.
