Scott Rosenbaum sails with 'Royal'
'Shield,' 'V' alum takes reins of FX
pirate drama
Coming off of ABC's "V," showrunner
Scott Rosenbaum had plenty of offers to
join upcoming primetime skeins.
He was close to committing to a project
that was in need of major retooling when
he got a call about a month ago for a
meeting he couldn't pass up. Producers
Gale Anne Hurd and Graham King wanted to
talk to him about the pirate drama they
were hatching atFX, "Port Royal."
After hearing Hurd's broad-strokes
vision for the show about a subject that
has fascinated her for years -- the
buccaneers, merchants and other colorful
characters that inhabited the Jamaican
port city in the late 17th century --
Rosenbaum was in. And the fact that
"Port Royal" was set up at the cabler
where he cut his teeth as a scribe,
working on "The Shield," only added to
his eagerness to set sail with Hurd and
King.
"With Gale and Graham involved, it'll
assure that the show will be given the
epic and expansive treatment it needs,"
Rosenbaum told Variety. "And I love the
idea of going back to work with the FX
team, because creatively this is the
best home for this show."
Forget the camp of Capt. Jack Sparrow.
Rosenbaum said they plan to play these
pirates as straightforward characters,
ruthless in their larceny but also
governed by an unusually strict,
surprisingly democratic code of conduct.
Hurd has sent Rosenbaum a ton of books
and articles that she's been collecting
for years in anticipation of doing a
project set among the real pirates of
the Caribbean.
"What really attracted me to this show
was the spectacle and the fact that the
characters and the place in time really
helped shape the evolution of the New
World as we know it," he said.
Rosenbaum is now in the midst of working
out the initial 13-episode arc for the
show and then will focus on the pilot
script. FX is high on the project, which
marks a departure from the gritty
contemporary fare that has been a
hallmark of the cabler's drama series.
"Port Royal" hails from King's GK-tv,
Hurd's Valhalla Entertainment, FX Prods.
and Fox Intl. Channels.
Rosenbaum started his career as a staff
writer on "The Shield," rising over six
seasons to exec producer status. He
served a stint as an exec producer of
NBC's "Chuck" before he was recruited by
Warner Bros. TV and ABC to take the
reins of the struggling "V" shortly
after the sci-fier debuted in 2009.
Rosenbaum is repped by UTA and attorney
Michael Gendler.Rosenbaum is repped by
UTA and attorney Michael Gendler.