“The Company You Keep” Executive Producer Lindsay Goffman Talks Casting Milo Ventimiglia, Her Role as a Matchmaker, and the Impending Writer’s Strike
Los Angeles, CA (April 18, 2023): Executive Producer of hit prime-time shows “The Company You Keep” and “The Good Doctor,” Lindsay Goffman gave an insider’s behind-the-scenes take on two of prime-time television’s most successful shows on this week’s episode of Hollywood at Home – a podcast featuring the personal challenges and stories of Hollywood insiders. Goffman tells us how “The Good Doctor” almost didn’t happen, if chemistry between actors really matters, and how a pending strike may affect fans.
Highlights from Hollywood at Home featuring Executive Producer Lindsay Goffman:
Producer = Hollywood Matchmaker?: “I’m…a matchmaker! … I look at the project and [think] this is a really cool story. How can I go about packaging this? … Putting those pieces together and then hearing about Milo Ventimiglia and [thinking], could this be a role for him? As we were putting this together? The biggest news ever came, which was that Milo was coming off of ‘This Is Us’ and he was looking for a new show… We all met on Zoom and pitched him the show… We sold it to 20th and ABC, so there you go.”
Judging On-Screen Chemistry: “We were in the height of COVID when we were putting the show together, so we started on Zoom watching all the audition tapes… Catherine Haena Kim jumped out and then she, Milo Ventimiglia, and our director [got together]. There were chemistry reads…those scenes in the hotel room, in the pool, and everything else – it was hot chemistry… unreal.”
“The Good Doctor” Went From a Pass to ABC’s Huge Hit: “I worked with Daniel Dae Kim (“Hawaii 5-0’” “Lost”) and I showed Daniel the Korean form of ‘The Good Doctor’ … he loved it… He had a deal at the time with CBS Studios because of ‘Hawaii 5-0.’ We got Adele Lim to write it… but CBS decided they weren’t going to move forward with it…I sent this format to 40-50 showrunners. They all passed and then it was Aaron Gunn and David Shore who saw it. And they were like, ‘We love this!’”
What Writer’s Strike?: “I just keep trying to move the ball forward, and I think that’s all you can do. I’ve got 30 projects in different stages of development – I’ve sold many scripts. I’m really excited about the stuff that I have coming up, the stuff that I’ve sold, I can’t really talk about it… I just hope that I get to produce more television…”
Previous guests include Tim Daly (“Madam Secretary”), Iain Armitage (“Young Sheldon”), Sheryl Lee Ralph (“Abbott Elementary”), Marlee Matlin (“CODA”), Jason Alexander (“Curb Your Enthusiasm”), Alan Cumming (“Schmigadoon!, “The Good Wife”), Patricia Heaton (“Everybody Loves Raymond,” “The Middle”), Eric McCormack (“Will and Grace”), Willie Garson (“And Just Like That…”), Colman Domingo (“Euphoria”), Kerry Ehrin (“The Morning Show”), Wendi McLendon-Covey (“The Goldbergs”), Ken Olin (“This is Us,” “Thirtysomething”), Anthony Rapp (“Star Trek: Discovery”), Julie Taymor (“The Lion King”), and Alfre Woodard (Clemency,” “Luke Cage”), among others.
More about The Creative Coalition:
Founded in 1989 by prominent members of the creative community, The Creative Coalition is the premier nonprofit, nonpartisan 501(c)(3) social and public advocacy organization of the arts and entertainment community. The Creative Coalition is dedicated to educating its members on issues of public importance. The Creative Coalition harnesses the unique platforms of the arts community and entertainment industry to make positive impacts on social welfare issues. Actor Tim Daly serves as the organization’s President. For more information, visit https://thecreativecoalition.org.
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Marvin Roca Jr.
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