Redeveloping the original Naked City into a TV series with my production company, Master Licensing, has been a long process. From the very start, I knew that this was not a project designed for speed. It required patience, discipline, and careful control over both the creative direction and the business framework supporting it.
The Naked City project started as a concept shaped by atmosphere more than plot. I was drawn to the tension the original created between public lives and private decisions. The series contained the key insight that cities expose people while letting them hide simultaneously. That contradiction became the backbone of the new project. From the start, I knew it needed room to breathe. This was never going to be a fast turn or a concept that lived comfortably in a single draft.
Early development focused on defining the world. Not just where the story takes place, but how it feels to exist inside it. I spent a lot of time thinking about pacing, silence, and what information the audience is allowed to learn versus what they are forced to sit with. For a project like this, those choices matter as much as plot mechanics. They also affect how buyers, partners, and talent react later on.
Once the creative foundation was clear, the business side demanded equal attention. Naked City is the type of project where ownership, rights control, and long-term flexibility are essential. I was intentional about how the underlying IP was structured and protected. That meant avoiding shortcuts that might have made things faster in the short term while limiting the project’s future.
Development meetings typically focus on what can be changed to make a project easier to sell. I know what that pressure feels like. But I also know that reviving the spirit of Naked City depends on restraint. Every time the material is softened or simplified, something important slips away. My job has been to protect the core while still engaging with the practical realities of financing and distribution.
One ongoing challenge has been format decisions. Film and television offer different advantages, and Naked City lives between them. The story benefits from long arcs and character exploration over time. It also requires discipline in execution. Those factors impact how the project is packaged and who it makes sense to approach at different stages.
Another part of development has involved timing. The industry changes constantly, and projects that survive several cycles need to stay relevant without chasing trends. I have taken pains not to retrofit Naked City to whatever happens to be selling in a given year. Instead, the goal has been to make sure the material is sharp enough to stand on its own when the timing lines up.
Collaboration has had a major impact, but always selectively. I value feedback from people who know the creative risks and the business constraints of this type of work. Not every note is useful, and part of development is knowing which ones to explore and which ones to set aside. That discernment comes from living with a project long enough to recognize what belongs to it and what does not.
There is also the less visible work that rarely gets discussed in public. Legal structuring, chain of title clarity, option strategies, and long-range planning all form the life of a project. These steps are not glamorous, but they determine whether a series like Naked City can move forward cleanly when momentum builds. I have always believed that creative freedom is supported by solid groundwork, not separated from it.
What keeps me invested after all this time is that Naked City still surprises me. The characters continue to reveal new edges. The themes stay relevant without feeling forced. That tells me the foundation is solid. Development is not about locking a project into a final form as quickly as possible. It is about pressure testing the material until it proves it can hold.
I do not see Naked City as an unfinished project. I see it as deliberate. Every development stage has clarified what the project is willing to be and what it refuses to become. That clarity is rare, and it is worth protecting.
When Naked City reaches the screen, it will carry the weight of every choice made along the way. That is the version I am interested in releasing into the world.