New John Wilkes Booth HBO History Miniseries Based on 'Manhunt" by James L. Swanson.

Two weeks ago HBO announced that David Simon (The Wire) and Tom Fontana (Oz) have been signed to write and produce a new historical miniseries. It’s based on James L. Swanson’s non-fiction bestseller about John Wilkes Booth’s flight after Lincoln’s assassination, "Manhunt: The 12 Day Chase for Abraham Lincoln’s Killer." Now, given the magnetic topic, a perfect vehicle for Simon and Fontana, and HBO’s recent triumph with "John Adams" we have something to really look forward to.

But, ultimately, what will we see? Simon and Fontana have suggested that they’ll tell the story through the minor characters. That proposition was intriguing, so I sat down and read Swanson’s "Manhunt" to see how well the portraits of the peripheral characters were drawn. The resounding verdict is that a "Manhunt" miniseries will be magnificent. Simon and Fontana have had so much experience and success with big casts in complex dramas (especially with lesser know actors who have remarkable real life credibility)--they'll knock this out of the park.

I’ve picked eight of my favorite characters to briefly describe so you can see how this “tell the story through the peripheral characters" might work.

Doctor Charles Leale: An Army surgeon sitting in the dress circle at Ford's Theater, who as the first physician to the scene, by default becomes Lincoln’s physician. The heroic Leale, through a quick diagnosis, CPR and removing blood clots from Lincoln’s brain extends the never-to-return-to-consciousness President’s life by seven unbelievable hours.


Laura Keene: The actress starring in the performance of the mediocre play “An American Cousin” at Ford’s Theater that auspicious night. Keene recognizes the theatrical tableaux emerging in Lincoln’s box, and the opportunity to be immortal. She rushes to President Lincoln to cradle his head and her dress becomes soaked with blood.


Lewis Powell: A rabid Booth co-conspirator. Commissioned by the master planner Booth, Powell is sent to kill Secretary of State William H. Seward. Powell leaves a bloodbath but fails due to the remarkable resistance from Seward’s family and servants. Booth's larger plot is unfulfilled.


David Herold: Another young and naive Booth co-conspirator who follows the Lincoln assassin to the bitter end because of his Booth idolatry and hero-worship. Despite any true involvement in the plot or political interest whatsoever (even though he ultimately hangs for his sins), he just wants to be around Booth around the clock.


William Stanton: Lincoln’s Secretary of War and Director of the manhunt...Stanton witnesses Lincoln’s death in a boarding house and then remains there alone weeping over his corpse before commanding soldiers to wrap the naked Lincoln in an American flag and transport the late President to the White House in a pine box for an completely unnecessary autopsy. Vivid stuff, very vivid.


Thomas Jones: Noted member of the Confederate Secret Service and southward Underground Railroad conductor who hides Booth and Herold in a pine thicket for five days while the entire world searches. Jones rides out from his Huckleberry Hill farm (pictured below) to bring Booth newspapers every morning so he can read what he, as an actor through and through, sees as his dramatic reviews of Lincoln's assassination.


The Garrett Brothers: Sly farmers at the last stop of the chase who, ironically, lock Booth & Herold in the barn behind the house below to prevent them from stealing their horses. This fortuitously imprisons Booth and Herold in a trap from which they can’t escape. Herold surrenders. Booth is burned out and then shot as he attempts his last stand.


That's just the beginning. I could have discussed 20 more minor characters. Just to reemphasize the big picture. This is great screenplay material filled with vivid portraits of the secondary players who will lend remarkable color and interest to the piece.

More on marketing the "Manhunt" miniseries (oh…but for a new name to start with) in my next post, but just consider the above snapshots as a series of 30 second TV promos. And that’s just the beginning. This is an unbelievable marketing opportunity too.

Scott Lackey
New York, New York

"It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia": A Marketing and Advertising Proposal for FX.

Oh what a difference 90 miles can make. After spending a summer in NYC, I have grown to expect (and love...man what a summer in the industry can do for your taste) advertisements for everything, everywhere. This is especially true in terms of billboards, wallscapes, and other various outdoor installation's for fall TV programming. 90210 in the subway. TruBlood as I leave Manhattan via the Lincoln. Gossip Girl in Times Square. Sons of Anarchy on every bus in the city. Discovery Channel’s Shark Week on every bus stop in the city. The list goes on and on.

But now I’m back in Philly, the birthplace of America and the sixth largest city in the US and how many outdoor displays do I see for these shows...next to none. Aside from a few 90210 boards on the side of buses, there’s not much around here. It really took living in and then leaving NYC just to appreciate the amount of space dedicated to outdoor throughout Manhattan (and Brooklyn). Here in the City of Brotherly Love, for better or for worse, there’s just not that much creative use of free space... a sharp contrast to the ingenuity of advertisers looking to create noise in the Big Apple.




All around Philly there are great blank walls and sites that look like they are just waiting for ads. Sure, by advertising here in Philadelphia, networks aren’t able to target both viewers and advertisers like they can in NYC, but they would still be able to reach a lot of people who watch a lot of television. I bet you a billboard for the FX comedy "It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia" would be more effective here than anywhere else in the country yet I’ve failed to see one. I was hoping to see tons of promotions and billboards for the show when I got back to campus (which is actually pretty darn good) as it’s essentially set in my backyard, but all that’s happened is one campus PR event. A huge push on the campuses around Philly could get college kids (a lucrative demographic) talking about Sunny and slowly it would start moving to other students in other cities. Stage a guerrilla event in Philly to publicize Sunny across the country? And maybe an ad or two around the city might help out as well? Just check out a few spaces (above & below) that could be filled with ads for it, or anything for that matter, located right on my walk to campus every morning:





Preston Herschorn
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
9/15/08