By: Sophie Kabel

It was very interesting to hear how the process of unscripted vs. scripted television differs. Our first meeting of the day was at Gaumont, a universal film and television production company. We met with Leslie Belzberg who is SVP of scripted production and her staff. They gave us fantastic insight into the business of scripted television and gave us a day in the life at Gaumont. They read a lot of scripts and decide which is the smartest business investment. Scripted television is also viewed as a riskier venture compared to unscripted. This leads us to our meeting at MGM.

I never thought I would be in the same room as Mark Burnett, the chairman of MGM Worldwide Television Group. It was by chance; we were meeting with Hofstra alum Barry Poznick who is in charge of unscripted programming for MGM, and Mark was able to stay for a few minutes. Mark was the most L.A. personality I have ever met and he gave some great advice about how to use your energy to the fullest when working with people every day. Once he left we heard from Barry about his experience at MGM and how shows like Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? are developed. Barry mentioned how unscripted is less of a risk because it’s cheaper to produce, which makes it easier to sell to networks. This was a great reminder that there is a reason why it’s called show business.