May 9 @ 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Though books have a long track record of inspiring TV dramas, providing the storylines and characters for countless screen adaptations — the printed word faces stiff competition. The booming podcast industry is emerging as an ever-more-popular source of scripted TV narratives. Join SeriesFest for this exclusive conversation with top podcast creators and TV executives from Orbit Media, a new podcast company backed by Sony, as they discuss the process of creating great podcast concepts that translate to TV, the ins-and-outs of selecting which podcasts will become great TV, and why podcasts are the new preferred incubator for dramatic ideas.
In Attendance: Producer and TV executive, Marci Wiseman (Co-Founder, Orbit Media), Award winning journalist, Steve Fishman (Co-Founder, Orbit Media), lawyer and Award winning journalist, and producer/SeriesFest award winner Emil Pinnock
Moderator: Nigel Smith (Senior Movies News Editor, PEOPLE)
Panelists
Marci Wiseman is an award winning Hollywood executive and former co-president of Blumhouse TV. She has turned several podcasts into TV shows, including There’s Something About Pam and the Horror of Dolores Roach, and has produced some of the buzziest TV shows of recent times, including The Loudest Voice, Sharp Objects, The Good Lord Bird, and many others.
Steve Fishman (Co-Founder), Orbit Media, is an award-winning New York Magazine journalist and accomplished podcast creator. His most recent podcast, Empire on Blood charted at #1 on the Apple podcasts charts and was optioned by Blumhouse Productions. His previous podcast series, Ponzi Supernova (Audible), was optioned by National Geographic TV. Many of his magazine stories were optioned for TV and film. One is the basis for The Last Shot starring Alec Baldwin, another became the Lifetime movie, The Two Mr. Kissels. His book, A Bomb in the Brain (Scribner) was called a “literary tour de force” by the Washington Post. He is President of Orbit Media and owns a secret bar in Brooklyn.
Moderator
Nigel Smith is Senior News Editor, Movies at PEOPLE. He is an Entertainment Editor and Writer with more than 10 years of experience in the online and print industries as a journalist, storyteller, proofreader and manager. In 2017, Smith joined the PEOPLE editorial team in New York as News Editor, Movies. He has written feature stories and reviews including interviews with Ryan Reynolds, Anthony Hopkins, Jennifer Hudson and Russell Crowe. Prior, he served as News Editor at The Wrap in Los Angeles, and Entertainment Editor at The Guardian, also in LA, where he covered the red carpet at major awards shows including the Academy Awards, Golden Globes, Governors Awards, Grammy Awards and Independent Spirit Awards. He also attended and reported on major film festivals at Cannes, Sundance, Toronto, Telluride, SXSW and Tribeca. Smith has appeared as an expert commentator on numerous morning and entertainment shows including Good Morning America, Today, NBC News, BBC News, Access Hollywood, NY1, PeopleTV and more. A native of Toronto, Canada, Smith graduated from Syracuse University in New York State with Master of Arts degree in Arts Journalism (Film). He is married and lives in New York City.
