Elon alumna Michelle Leibel ’14 has weathered the highs and lows of Hollywood, from short-lived shows to breakthrough moments. Now, as co-executive producer of CBS’s critically acclaimed ‘Matlock’ revival, she’s turning resilience and hard work into success.
Working in the entertainment industry, especially writing for television, can feel like the luck of the draw, says Elon alumna Michelle Leibel ’14.
“Everybody out here works hard, everybody out here believes in their shows, and it’s devastating when something goes away,” said Leibel, who lives in Los Angeles, California. “I treat everything like it’s always on the verge of being cancelled because it kind of is. And if it isn’t, then that’s such a gift.”
And Leibel has found that gift with the revival of “Matlock” on CBS, on which she is co-executive producer. Now entering its second season, the show shares a name and draws from the original 1980s “Matlock,” starring Andy Griffith, but the premise is different, and the lead role is gender-swapped, now portrayed by Academy Award winner Kathy Bates.
The show has earned several award nominations, including the Critics’ Choice Awards, Gotham TV Awards and the Television Critics Association Awards. The episode “Claws,” written by Leibel, was honored with a “Norman Lear Award for TV That Makes a Difference.” The awards pay tribute to Lear for his storytelling that dealt with relevant sociopolitical issues.
Bates has also received critical acclaim for her performance, including a Golden Globe nomination, Gotham TV Award win, and Emmy nomination for Best Lead Actress in a Drama.
“It’s very gratifying to know that the hard work that has been put in by everybody has turned into something people like watching and has had such a good reception,” said Leibel.
Exploring the creative
But Leibel’s path to a hit show has been filled with a multitude of opportunities and several starts and stops – all allowing for valuable experience.
“If you are looking to work in film, TV, or entertainment, and you have aspirations of being a writer or a director, producer, or anything, it is so crucial to get experience from the ground up,” she said. “Because if you have never done the jobs that you’re ultimately going to be relying on, you will never have the correct amount of respect for how difficult and complicated each of them are.”
Leibel cherishes the close connections she made at Elon, including on the Elon-produced trivia game show “Win Stuff” and through Cinelon Productions. Several faculty also made a formative impact, including Youssef Osman, assistant professor of cinema and television arts; Scott Proudfit, associate professor of English; and Nicole Triche, professor of cinema and television arts.
“She really is someone who encourages going out and making your own thing and like really exploring the creative,” said Leibel of Triche.
While at Elon, Leibel was able to be a production assistant on the AMC hit “The Walking Dead,” and then became an intern for “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” in Ferguson’s final year before leaving the program.
If you are looking to work in film, TV, or entertainment, and you have aspirations of being a writer or a director, producer, or anything, it is so crucial to get experience from the ground up.
-Michelle Leibel ’14
Getting into the room
After graduating with a degree in media arts and entertainment (now cinema & television arts), Leibel earned a spot in the NBC Page Program in New York City before landing her first writers’ assistant role on NBC’s “Telenovela.” The show only lasted one season, and that left Leibel without a job.
“The biggest thing about being a freelance worker at all is the fear of instability and having to deal with that all the time,” she said. “It’s not easy.”
Her position at “Telenovela” helped connect Leibel with a temporary opportunity at actor Eva Longoria’s production company, before working on the short-lived HBO show “Vinyl,” co-created by Mick Jagger and Martin Scorsese. The connections from Longoria’s company allowed her to work briefly as a director’s assistant and line producer’s assistant on the pilot of NBC’s “Good Girls.” But at that point, Leibel says she was “desperate” to get inside a writer’s room and was able to work as an assistant for DJ Nash, the showrunner of ABC’s “A Million Little Things.”
“He made it clear that he was cool with me pitching stuff as long as I was able to also fulfill my work as his assistant,” she said. “The rule in our room was ‘best pitch wins, no matter who it came from.’ And right from the beginning, I was able to find his voice. It helped that he let me listen in the room and type for him during rewrites. I mostly pitched jokes, and it was pretty thrilling when those got into scripts.”
One evening, Nash had to stay late to do a rewrite on another writer’s episode draft, and asked Leibel if she could help type and pitch in. The pair worked late, and Leibel was able to get both jokes and story elements into the script. The moment became a turning point for Leibel’s career.
“The next morning, when the network emailed and said they were thrilled with the rewrite, DJ called them back and said that if they liked it, they needed to bring me onto the staff in the back half of the season,” Leibel said. “At the time, because I was still DJ’s assistant, I saw all the emails talking about hiring me. It seemed like it was up in the air for a minute because they needed to find the money, and I wasn’t sure they would be able to. It was such a rollercoaster. That I wasn’t supposed to know anything about it, and then I got the gig!”
Making ‘Matlock’
“A Million Little Things” aired on ABC for five seasons, with Leibel moving her way up to supervising producer. Now, as co-executive producer on “Matlock,” she’s taken on more responsibility.
“You are making sure that the things that you’ve learned and the things that you’re supposed to do as a writer in the room get done, but your job also is to make sure the scripts you write are producible,” said Leibel. “You have a specific budget for the show, even if you don’t know that specific number, you know the things that are going to make your show more or less expensive.”
Watching your words go from page to screen is another responsibility, and a perk, of the new role.
“If you’re lucky, you get to go to set and actually be there with the director when they shoot your episode and provide insight into why a line was written that way, if there’s a question about it, or you come up with an alternate line if it’s not working on the day, or a different joke, or there’s something about the scene that’s not quite right. How do we fix it? It’s a lot of problem-solving,” she said.
The keys to the castle
Leibel will share her experience and career journey with Elon students during an Elon University Los Angeles “Learn and Share” event on Sept. 17 at 6:30 p.m. at Elon LA’s home base at The Preserve.
“It’s flattering that anybody even wants to hear my experience, and I’m still experiencing my experience,” she said. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to look back and recognize the things that have changed for me and the things that I’ve learned since the last time I spoke to a group of people at Elon.”
She hopes to provide valuable insight to students and give them a realistic view inside the entertainment industry.
“I find that entertainment feels a little bit like a castle sometimes. Unless you have the keys, you’re not really allowed in,” she said. “I’m always trying to make things seem a little more accessible and a little more understood, less secretive. The only way people get ahead in this industry is by knowing the truth of how difficult it is and how challenging it is before it becomes very rewarding.”