The FIFA World Cup might be behind us now, but that’s not going to be the last time a major sports competition takes over schedules or streaming platforms. For veteran TV writer-producer Carlton Cuse, the increasing value of sports rights is no good thing for the future of scripted TV.
Expanding on comments he made recently at the Italian Global Series Festival (IGSF) in Rimini, the Emmy-winning Lost co-showrunner brought up the 11-year, $77B deal the NBA made with U.S. broadcasters and streamers in 2024.
“Companies have a set amount of money that they’re spending to attract eyeballs, and a greater percentage of that is going to sports, and that just means less money is available to make scripted movies and television,” he told Deadline.
“The challenge is sports, particularly football, is just an incredibly good way to get people to watch your network or your service. Something like 80-plus percent of the top-rated broadcasts in the U.S. were football games last year. The networks know it.”
However, Cuse – whose extensive series credits also include Bates Motel, Jack Ryan and Five Days At Memorial – believes the broader cultural impact of scripted TV would ensure its survival. “The subtextual nature of storytelling creates an opportunity for us to learn lessons about ourselves, the world and about life that you’re not gonna get watching an NFL game,” he said. “I just remain optimistic that it’s always going to exist and it’s always going to be important.”
Cuse had been in Italy to receive a Maximo Excellence award at the IGSF, appearing alongside the likes of David W. Zucker, Titus Welliver, Natasha Lyonne and Richard Gadd. He is currently about to start production on The Secret of Secrets, the Netflix adaptation of Dan Brown’s historical thriller book that looks likely to star Morgan Spector as Robert Langdon and Rebecca Hall as the female lead opposite.
At the time we spoke, casting hadn’t been officially announced, but Cuse did confirm shooting is set to begin in Prague, Czech Republic, where the book is set.
The sixth title in the Langdon novel franchise, The Secret of Secrets sees symbologist Robert Langdon racing against ancient forces and time to rescue his girlfriend, missing scientist Katherine Solomon (Hall), whose groundbreaking manuscript contains the power to forever change humanity’s understanding of the mind.
Given that Prague is primarily used as a backdrop for other places, thanks to the country’s production rebate system, Cuse said it was time to show off the city for itself.
“Everyone in Prague is very excited to be shooting Prague for Prague because it doesn’t happen that much,” he said. “It’s really thrilling to get to show off the city.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Cuse would neither “confirm or deny” he and his son, fellow writer Nick Cuse (Watchmen), are working on a new Star Wars series.
He also addressed streaming residuals (“Honestly, nothing is as good as the old network television model”) and how AI could reduce the sky-high costs of scripted production (“If we were able to use new technological tools to allow people to tell more imaginative stories for less money, I think that’s gonna be a great advance”).
Here’s the full Q&A, which has been edited for clarity and length.
DEADLINE: At the Italian Global Series festival, you talked about how the fight for sports rights is impacting what is and isn’t being made in scripted television. Can you give me some more color on that?
CARLTON CUSE: It’s a challenging time for scripted entertainment. There’re so many pulls on the audience. Obviously, people talk about the influence of YouTube and social media – the audiences that’s watching TikTok versus traditional scripted content.
The other big factor that sometimes gets overlooked is the vast amount of money that’s being spent on sports rights, and particularly in the United States. The NBA just made a $77 billion rights deal; the NFL is looking to renegotiate rights deals. Companies have a set amount of money that they’re spending to attract eyeballs, and a greater percentage of that is going to sports, and that just means less money is available to make scripted movies and television.
The challenge is sports, particularly football, is just and incredibly good way to get people to watch your network or your service. Something like 80-plus percent of the top-rated broadcasts in the U.S. were football games last year. The networks know it.
DEADLINE: Do you think the way that the shape of the industry is going is going to make that worse? Specifically, I’m thinking here that you’ve got Paramount and Warner Brothers Discovery, who are planning to merge, talking quite openly about putting their two streaming services together.
CUSE: Scripted storytellers are in a tough fight against sports programming, but what scripted storytelling offers is a view of the world – a view of life in its best form. The subtextual nature of storytelling creates an opportunity for us to learn lessons about ourselves, the world and about life that you’re not gonna get watching an NFL game. I just remain optimistic that it’s always going to exist and it’s always going to be important.
CUSE: I believe that filmmaking is basically done the same way that that it’s been done for 100 years, and I’m not afraid of AI. Its existence is here to stay. It’s inevitable. It’s really a question about how do we best utilize it?
There are ways that AI helps make filmmaking less expensive. That could lead to a real resurgence in scripted storytelling. It’s so expensive right now and it’s more difficult than it’s ever been in my career to tell stories just because the cost of everything is so enormous. If we were able to use new technological tools to allow people to tell more imaginative stories for less money, I think that’s gonna be a great advance.
DEADLINE: You’ve got a whole bunch of new things coming up. What can you say about The Secret of Secrets? Netflix started talking about that this time last year, so there’s been some development time. Where are we with it?
CUSE: Secret of Secrets is charging forward. We start shooting in September in Prague, where the story is set and I’m very excited. I’ve been bouncing back and forth between LA and Prague, and I’m heading off to Prague again in a few weeks. It’s not only a really exciting thriller, but it really explores the subject of human consciousness in a really interesting way. Like all Dan Brown’s books, they combine really exciting, pulse-pounding, page-turning narrative with something provocative to think about, and this book is no exception.
DEADLINE: It’s interesting that it’s one of the few series that shoots in Prague that’s also set in Prague…
CUSE: Yes, exactly. Everyone in Prague is very excited to be shooting Prague for Prague because it doesn’t happen that much. It’s really thrilling to get to show off the city. I hadn’t spent a bunch of time there, but it’s really a fantastic city and I can’t wait to put it on screen. Not that they need more tourists, but they will get more tourists – and deservedly so. It’s a fantastic city.
DEADLINE: Maybe a few more people going there to see the sights and experience the culture rather than for the great beer and stag dos on the weekends.
CUSE: I mean, don’t kid yourself, they’re still gonna drink beer.
DEADLINE: What about the Star Wars series that you’re looking at with your son? That sounds really intriguing.
CUSE: I can neither confirm nor deny what’s happening. Star Wars has always been something that was really instrumental to me beginning my career in Hollywood and I love it, and that’s all I can say.
DEADLINE: An interesting thing that’s come out of the streaming era is these classic network shows that were popular around, say 2005, finding these younger generations watching them for the first time around. Lost is definitely among them. Do you find that streaming has given the show and some of your others new life?
CUSE: I get approached regularly by people who have just discovered Lost and are in the middle of watching it, and it’s really exciting. One of the great attributes of streaming, is the fact that shows have a shelf life now. It used to be, when you made television, when it was over, it was over. Yeah, you could buy the DVDs or the VHS tapes or whatever, but the ubiquity of watching old shows is on a completely different level when you can actually just access them on your streaming service.
I love that people are seeing Bates Motel. I love that people are watching Colony, and I love that people are seeing Lost. As a storyteller, you work so hard and put in so much time to make something, and the end of that journey is the communion with an audience. The fact that we get to have that ongoing communion now is a wonderful thing.
DEADLINE: What are the residuals like on these shows?
CUSE: Honestly, nothing is as good as the old network television model, when they would rerun an episode of your television and you would get a huge residual check for the full value of the writing fee. It’s an ongoing goal of the guilds to increase the residual revenue for their members, and it’s a very important one.
I think sometimes tech companies are a little shortsighted in understanding that residuals are what keep people afloat between projects, and it allow for the existence of this incredible talent pool that you can draw from. It’s not like you have a biotech company where you have to hire a bunch of doctors and employ them full-time. You can hire five writers, 10 writers or 50 writers, on an ad-hoc basis. That system works if writers, directors and actors have a way to pay their bills between gigs.
I hope that on an ongoing basis the guilds will continue to try to improve the residual formulas for streaming and, and the internet.
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