Video Interview: The Event’s Steve Stark

NEW YORK: Steve Stark, executive producer of NBC’s The Event, discusses the origins of the show and where it’s headed in this video interview.

Stark actually kept the script for its pilot in his desk drawer for more than two years, just waiting for the right moment to pitch this high-concept show. His patience paid off. The Event was the first pilot NBC picked up for this season. The drama focuses on Sean Walker (Jason Ritter), an ordinary guy who investigates the mysterious disappearance of his would-be fiancée, Leila (Sarah Roemer), and unwittingly begins to expose the biggest cover-up in U.S. history. The Event, which also stars Blair Underwood and Laura Innes, has been averaging some 9 million viewers in its 9 p.m. Monday night time slot, deemed good enough by NBC to order a full-season pickup.

Besides serving as executive producer on The Event, Stark is also executive producer of Medium, now in season seven on CBS, and has recently completed production on a character procedural for USA Network called Fairly Legal, which will premiere in January. Before setting up his own production company, Steve Stark Productions, two years ago, Stark was a partner of Kelsey Grammer in Grammnet Productions and had previously held senior-level executive positions at Columbia TriStar Network Television and at Paramount Network Television, where he oversaw more than 1,300 episodes of such series as Frasier, Cheers, J.A.G., Becker, and Nash Bridges.