The LCP’s “El Channel” To Be A Pilot For SPIKE TV!
The LCP’s all-new show “El Channel” is a couple of weeks away. We hope you’re already planning to join us. But there’s one more, very cool element of the show that we’ve kept under wraps for a while now, and the time has come to share the news.
Our upcoming “El Channel” is not only an all-new LCP sketch show but an outgrowth of a much bigger event on the LCP’s horizon: A sketch comedy pilot for Spike TV. We’re presently in the very final stages of advanced negotiations on the deal and are on track to start production on the pilot this year, after the local show closes.
The “El Channel” concept is the product of over a year of internal writing and development by the LCP, and it’s a concept that we successfully pitched to the Spike network in 2008 through the representation of CAA (Creative Artists Agency) in L.A. Here’s the story…
The timeline begins with the LCP’s first meeting with representatives of Creative Artists Agency (CAA) in spring of 2008, at their invitation. CAA is the top agency in Hollywood, representing some the biggest names in entertainment and sports, including Steven Spielberg, Beyonce, Brad Pitt, Oprah Winfrey, Peyton Manning, Will Ferrell, and Will Smith, among others. So just walking into the CAA offices was a huge development in the history of the LCP. The purpose was to discuss the possibility of developing and selling a sketch show based around the LCP’s work. (Incidentally, around this same time we first met with MTV Tres producers about creating their 2008 station branding campaign. Read this LCP blog entry for the entire back story on that development, including the campaign’s eventual 2009 Emmy nomination.)
A major catalyst for all this industry interest and activity was the huge viral impact of our “300” parody video, which we’d produced for our “AlienNation” show in August 2007. That fall our “300” was seen by millions of people, with national (and, in some cases, even international) awareness of the LCP skyrocketing within a few weeks’ time. Consequently, late 2007 through late 2008 became a very active period for us.
With CAA’s interest stoked by the LCP’s popular online work, another important purpose of the original meeting was for CAA to gauge whether the LCP was a creatively and professionally stable entity ready to step onto a national platform. I convinced them that we were, sharing with them in detail how the LCP’s process has developed and grown over the decade since our inception. The group at CAA was also very aware of the wide-open market for what the LCP does, as well as the fact that there isn’t anything quite like the LCP on a national scale. As a founder of the LCP, I’ve well understood and long insisted that, given the nation’s changing demographics, a major opportunity exists for anyone able to fill the Latino entertainment void in a truly accessible style. It was a relief to hear industry people on the level of CAA who were also acutely aware of the unexploited opportunities in the sphere of multi-cultural and, more specifically, Latino comedy. They recognized that the LCP’s particular comedic voice and style could be a great vehicle to finally stake out what is now sparsely populated but potentially lucrative comedic territory.
In early summer 2008 we interviewed potential producers via CAA. We eventually partnered with writer/producer Eddie Feldmann, whose long list of credits include comedy shows for HBO and Comedy Central. Almost immediately we agreed on a concept for a show that would not only be distinct from other sketch shows now airing but that would also pay homage to concepts that haven’t been tried in sketch comedy in a long time.
Eddie and I both loved the old “SCTV”, the “a show within a TV station” that in the early eighties first brought to fame Eugene Levy, John Candy, Rick Moranis, Catherine O’Hara, et al. We thought a Latino version of that premise updated for the YouTube generation could be a great show. The title would be “El Channel.” The weekly frame would be the channel and its resident cast of on- and off-air characters, but the core of it would be the same kind of pop culture parody the LCP’s always done - presented in this case as “El Channel” programming. Off-air plots would sometimes spill into programming and other times the programming would be unrelated tv, movie or music parodies. Ideally, we’d have an established cast of characters and situations to develop and provide continuity and running jokes week after week, while still having the freedom to include any other random satirical inspirations that might occur to us.
In the late summer of 2008 we pitched the “El Channel” premise to several networks we felt had aggressive programming philosophies potentially receptive to the LCP’s comedic style. We presented the general premise along with a demo of the LCP’s best existing work and a few video clips specifically produced for the pitch. All the meetings were positive and responsive, and ultimately Spike TV proved the most eager to commission a pilot. Later in the fall, the contractual negotiations began, conducted on our behalf by the law firm Ziffren Brittenham LLP, the same firm that negotiated Dave Chappelle’s famous 50 million dollar Comedy Central contract.
And now, after months of contract negotiations, we’re finalizing the very last details of the deal and are on course to be producing the pilot later this year after our local show closes.
Which brings us to the local run of “El Channel.”
Starting last spring, even before we ever pitched the show to a network, the LCP cast of writer/actors immediately began working on the framing device. We knew we could always produce straight one-off “sketches” but creating a strong, sustainable cast of characters and situations would be a different challenge for the group. It would have to be a rich and indelible assortment of individual characters that ideally would gain even more comedic power in combination with one another. So we carefully explored our decade-spanning catalog of audience favorite sketches and archetypal characters to see which ones might play best off each other once transplanted into this “El Channel” scenario. Then we worked wherever necessary to expand their personas to fit any on- or off-air plotlines we’d want to throw them into. The results of this development and re-purposing of our characters was so much more productive than we could have hoped, with more characters and plotlines than we could even fit into the upcoming full-length live show.
We’ve been working on the concept and characters for over a year and the upcoming live “El Channel” show is our first public introduction of this particular ensemble of characters within this premise. We’re eager to present the live version of “El Channel” to audiences so they can be part of the next level of development in helping us shape - with their laughter – the elements of our pilot and what could eventually become a full-blown series.
Taking into consideration the creation of MTV3’s national branding campaign, our subsequent Emmy nomination, and the opportunity to earn a network series, 2008 and 2009 have been incredible, watershed years for the LCP. And with the possibilities before us, 2010 holds even greater potential.
*Finally, here are the people who’ve walked with and helped us along every step of the way and to whom we’re very grateful: Friend Joe Flores of Corpus Christi, who first reached out on pure faith to help the LCP in any way possible; Mutual friend and filmmaker Javier Chapa; Christy Haubegger, founder of “Latina” magazine and now CAA consultant who brought the LCP under her wing and into the CAA offices; CAA agent Grant Kessman, who’s been a hands-on advocate for us through the whole pitching and negotiation process; CAA agent Peter Micelli (a key player in selling “American Idol” to Fox among other shows) who showed immediate confidence in the LCP’s potential; Ziffren Brittenham lawyer Stephen Espinoza, our wise and patient guide through the maze of industry negotiations; producer Eddie Feldmann, who embraced our comedic voice without reservation; and of course, Bill McGoldrick, who greenlit our pitch for the pilot at Spike. And finally, we’re grateful to all of the above people for sharing the LCP’s belief that laughter has no color.
