Difficulties for Independent Producers

The NY Times Sunday Arts section featured an article about the difficulty of being an independent TV producer these days, given the increase in studio power and pressure. The link is http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/artleisure/indie-producers-tv.html (Note: accessing the Times on-line requires registration, which is free.)

Here is the part that deals with our show:
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Another writer-producer, Marshall Herskovitz, said that he and his partner, Edward Zwick, the creators of "Thirtysomething," went out of their way to make a deal with Disney knowing it would give them a leg up with their series "Once and Again."

"We made a deal with Disney knowing they would be the main supplier of ABC," Mr. Herskovitz said. "What we felt was, at best, there was a statistical advantage in being with an in-house production company. By that I mean that, at some odd moment, when a decision is to be made about a show, and all the factors are equal, it would be of some benefit for a network to favor its own show." (ABC recently renewed "Once and Again" for another season.)