We are a story development company for the Entertainment Industry

We believe that everyone has creativity the world is clamoring to see.

Having an idea is easy.

Developing that idea into a story for the Entertainment Industry is hard.

The Entertainment Industry is a multi-billion dollar enterprise, and all of it starts with a good story. Without a story idea, there isn’t a film, a series, a game, or a book. But breaking in to the Industry is hard. Many great ideas get vanquished to “Development Hell”, the purgatory where ideas go to die. . . or languish until they are greenlit for development.

This can occur for any number of reasons, many of which the writer cannot control.

But there is one thing that is within the writer’s domain. . . the story.

Having a story that traversed the many stages of Development Hell increases the probability a producer will want to acquire your story.

That’s where E.T.S. Story Development Company helps. We coach writers/content creators through the stages of development. From Idea to first draft. And we provide a forum here for Industry buyers to view your story’s progress, and if interested, reach out to you or your representative for option or sale of your idea.

Our Story

In 2018, our founder, U.S. Army Major Jim Monihan, faced the prospect of medical separation from the Service. This was an opportunity, and after 24 years with stints in the Active Army, Army Reserves, and Army National Guard, Jim decided to look at transitioning to the Entertainment Industry.

After an 18-month graduate certification program with UCLA’s Business and Management of Entertainment, he fully understood the ins and outs of the Industry (as much as one can without having that practical experience working up the ladder in Hollywood).

While researching an assignment, he ran across an article from Disney about underrepresented cohorts in film. . . the Veteran Community was on the list. This was an “Ah Ha” moment for Jim, who was struggling to figure how to move into the industry without having to relocate his entire family to Los Angeles or New York, especially since his wife had an established brick and mortar business in North Carolina.

He would find a way to open the door for Veterans to the industry.

But how?

The most difficult part of breaking into the industry, he reasoned, is having a story that is ready to go. With 20 years of story and screenwriting under his belt, he knew his passions lay in the development of story, not in the production of the film (experience on set is exciting, but writers and their stories are at the mercy of the director).

So Jim shifted focus to help Veterans with their stories.

And here we are.