|Steve.Tao|
Steve Tao. When we first met, I knew we were going to be fast friends due to our love of flea markets and Melrose Place. Steve is smart, Uber passionate… and don’t get him started on how to travel! That subject deserves a whole other Q&A.
Steve is a Current Executive at the CW and found time to share some of his past, some tips, what his latest binge worthy show is and for someone so gregarious (at least I think so) a reveal that really surprised me about him.
RS: Where did you grow up?
ST: Palo Alto, CA, when it was a college town, not a Silicon Valley hub.
RS: Who was your best friend growing up? What was something they taught you?
ST: My next door neighbor Lisa, who taught me curiosity (we got into a lot of trouble.)
RS: Who was your favorite mentor and why?
ST: Julie Rothenberg, an assistant at the first company I interned for, who saw I could do more than make copies and coffee and connected me to a producer who let me read scripts and write coverage for him. She became a colleague and confidant.
RS: What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
ST: Don’t get mad; get even. I’ve been disappointed by people I respected, screwed over by people I didn’t trust, and abandoned by people I thought were my friends. I learned that my own success was the best revenge.
On the best advice: I learned that my own success was the best revenge.
RS: You’ve worked in both development and current. What has been the best experience from both sides of the coin? The worst?
ST: Best: being the Head of Drama at ABC, where I could buy projects from up and coming writers in the room, and work with showrunners like David Kelley, Ann Donahue, and Howard Gordon. Worst: (Development) Being an independent producer trying to sell shows during the economic downturn of the late 2000s when no one would buy and trying to figure out how to pay my mortgage); (Current) Being a producer on a show that didn’t work, where we ripped apart episodic scripts, moved episodes around, and had to convince our writing staff not to bail. I’m still traumatized by the last experience!
RS: I found this question on Google, so I can’t take credit for it, but I love it. Describe your job to an extraterrestrial who just landed in Central Park.
ST: I help people make TV shows.
RS: You’ve been doing this job for many years. How do you remain challenged?
ST: The nature of storytelling has changed over the years. I used to do a lot of cop and legal procedurals; now I work on serialized and genre shows. We used to tell a one hour episode in 46 minutes in broadcast; now we do it in 42 minutes. I’ve been on the buying side, the selling side, and the producing side. I still love making shows that people watch and I love the emotional impact the show (my shows) have on audiences. Finding shows that reach an ever evolving audience is what keeps me going.
Finding shows that reach an ever evolving audience is what keeps me going.
RS: When you feel stagnate, how do you snap yourself out of that state of being?
ST: I travel to a place to give me a different perspective.
RS: Name one embarrassing moment you’ve experienced as an executive.
ST: I was interviewing an executive candidate and got his name wrong. The entire interview. I apologized over email after he left. Mortifying.
RS: What’s something about you not reflected in your Bio?
ST: I want to learn how to speak Mandarin fluently.
RS: What’s something about you that would surprise those that know you?
ST: I am shy. Really. (Side Note: This surprised me!)
RS: When staffing a show, what do you look for in a writer? What will knock the writer out of the running?
ST: I’m looking for someone who can create good characters, give the characters interesting dilemmas or choices, and find an entertaining story. I want to remember the writing, not just think it’s fine. If it’s just fine, then I’m on to the next.
Give characters interesting dilemmas or choices. I want to remember the writing, not just think it’s fine.
RS: When reading scripts for staffing, how many pages do you need to read before you know this person is either right or wrong for a specific staffing job?
ST: I know in the first ten pages, but usually read 20-30.
RS: What’s important to you as far as character descriptions in a script? What are the right amount of adjectives to use? To describe a character?
ST: I like to experience the character in the script, not just be told the characteristics in the narrative. I like writers who bring out their characters in their actions and choices.
RS: How do you give dialogue notes?
ST: I usually only give dialogue notes if something doesn’t fit with the character arc, or if it’s confusing to me. I rarely quote the line that I would prefer to have, but give them an idea of what I’d like.
On giving dialogue notes: Only give if something doesn’t fit with the character arc or is confusing.
RS: How have you evolved in your note giving?
ST: I’m faster. I’m still diplomatic and supportive, but writers want to hear the notes and start addressing them. They want to know what you like in a script, and what you think needs work.
RS: What do you think the biggest challenge is (that we face) in our business?
ST: The biggest challenge is the way the audience receives our shows, and how we as creators can monetize the viewership so we can keep making these shows.
RS: At the end of the film Castaway, Tom Hanks stands at a fork in the road… looking at the four corners for a sign as far as the best way to move forward in his life. Did you ever have that moment where you grappled with which road to go down? What did you grapple with?
ST: I’ve had so many forks in the road; the biggest one was whether or not to move to New York to work for a cable company getting into the scripted business. Then 9/11 happened and scripted didn’t happen, so I got off that path and found one that got me back to Los Angeles.
RS: I know one of your favorite things to do is to travel. What has been your best vacation thus far? Why?
ST: Just recently, we honeymooned in The Maldives. Best. Vacation. Ever. We relaxed, we saw some of the most beautiful marine life ever, and we ate some of the freshest seafood ever, while meeting friends from all over the world. If that doesn’t qualify for a perfect vacation, I don’t know what does. Oh, and we checked off my bucket list to stay in an overwater bungalow.
RS: Is there anything you’re obsessed with right now?
ST: Finding something interesting to watch on TV. Seems like we’ve binged everything good lately.
RS: What’s the last show you binge watched?
ST: MARE OF EASTTOWN in two nights.
RS: What are some of your hobbies…. that get your creative juices going?
ST: I cook. It’s creative and rewarding.
RS: What character on a show mirrors who you are or encapsulates your traits?
ST: I’m unique. No character is like me!
RS: Proudest career moment?
ST: The show I championed (THE PRACTICE at ABC) winning the Emmy for Outstanding Drama. The show was not a favorite at the network at first, but I loved it and championed it until it got the attention it deserved.
And there you have it. The stupendous Steve Tao in a nutshell!
For more on current programming from a different perspective, you might like: https://rebecca-stay.com/eric-kim-current-executive-extraordinaire
Bio:
Steve Tao is a veteran film and television executive and producer with more than twenty years of experience at Studios, Networks, and Production Companies. He started his career as a film executive at Walt Disney and Touchstone Pictures working on films such as THE THREE MUSKETEERS and HOCUS POCUS. He then moved to television and became Head of Drama for ABC Television, where he led the Emmy Award winning THE PRACTICE, ONCE AND AGAIN, and NYPD BLUE. Afters stints with VH1, Gale Anne Hurd’s company Valhalla Television, and JJ Abrams’ Bad Robot, he is currently VP of Current Programming at the CW Network, where he oversees many of the network’s biggest hits, including WALKER (highest rated new show on the CW since 2015), ALL AMERICAN (highest ranked digital show), BATWOMAN (highest rated new show last year), and KUNG FU (highest rated show among Asian Americans).
A native Californian, he earned his B.A. in Economics and Mathematics at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, California. He also earned an M.B.A. from the Anderson Graduate School of Management at UCLA. He currently serves as the co-chair of the CAPE New Writers Fellowship for the Coalition of Asian Pacifics In Entertainment (www.capeusa.org), one of the largest professional groups in Hollywood, where he recently retired as Board Chairman. He also serves as an Advisory Board member for the Claremont in Entertainment and Media alumni group for the Claremont Colleges. He’s an avid traveler, foodie, and consumer of all things pop culture.
You can find Steve on Instagram and Twitter: @MileageRunner