From Idea to Reality: What Every Producer Needs to Know

I’ve spent over 20 years in rooms most producers are still trying to get into. I’ve developed and packaged projects from a single idea to a greenlit series at Apple TV+, ESPN, Disney, and MasterClass. I’ve been BAFTA shortlisted, a Sundance Fellow, and I currently teach Creative Producing in Columbia University’s MFA Film Program.

But here’s what I know that doesn’t always make it into the classroom: the industry was never designed to hand you anything. I learned that the hard way early in my career — I built a project from scratch, found the writer, attached the actor, set up every pitch meeting, and the show sold. Without me in the deal. That never happened again.

What I teach in House Rules is what I wish someone had taught me — the real frameworks, the honest conversations, and the insti

For more than 20 years, I've been making the impossible happen - on time, under budget, and without losing the creative vision that made the project worth making in the first place. I’ve worked across PBS, NBC, Comedy Central, ESPN, Sesame Workshop, and more, managing productions from $20K shorts to $1M+ specials.

What I bring to House Rules is something most producing courses skip entirely — the production reality. Every great idea has a price tag. Every package has a logistics problem waiting to happen. And every creative producer needs a line producer who doesn’t lead with no.

That’s my philosophy. It’s not no — it’s how. In my sessions I’ll give you the tools to read a script like a producer, ballpark a budget with confidence, and speak the language of physical production before you’re e