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Hubbard native’s supernatural TV career
By GUY D’ASTOLFO
Michael Narducci’s career as a writer and developer of fantastical television shows can be traced to a bean ball when he was a child.
The Hubbard native and Ursuline High School graduate recently signed a two-year contract with ABC Studios, where he will create and develop TV shows. Before that, he was the showrunner for The CW’s vampire series “The Originals,” and a screenwriter for its predecessor, “The Vampire Diaries” and also “Medium” (NBC, CBS).
A graduate of Harvard University, Narducci has an obvious ability to turn his vision into an on-screen product. He also has a big imagination that was first fueled by his childhood love of comic books.
If Peter Parker became Spider-Man after being bitten by a radioactive spider, then Narducci’s super power stems from getting plunked by an errant pitch.
That may be a sensational – and far-fetched – comparison, and Narducci’s love for supernatural stories started before he ever picked up a baseball bat.
But that bean ball played a role.
He explained during a phone interview from his Studio City, Calif., home, where he lives with his wife, Mimi, and their two daughters.
“I got hit by a pitch during a Little League baseball game when I was 9, and after that, I was afraid of getting hit again,” said Narducci. “So my dad would bribe me by taking me to the comic-book store. He would buy me one comic book for every swing I took.”
That kept Narducci well-stocked with comics for the summer, but also helped him absorb the tenets of the format: serialized stories, mythical characters and plenty of action, horror and adventure. It’s a style that translates into television.
Narducci would go on to become captain of the football team at Ursuline, where he played offensive tackle and defensive end. But his love for comics did not fade in high school.
“Every Friday I went to a comic-book store in Liberty Plaza,” he said. “That’s a crazy ritual but I was into it.”
After Harvard, Narducci – the son of Carmen and Mary Narducci of Hubbard – attended the University of Virginia on a fellowship and earned a master’s degree.
He then moved to Southern California where he taught creative writing at a high school for seven years and wrote short fiction on the side.
His transition into television came about organically.
“I watched ‘The Sopranos’ and fell in love with what you can do with the TV format,” he said. “You get a canvas of 13 episodes, as opposed to the two hours you get for a movie. I really wanted to write for television.”
He got his first job in the industry in 2006, when he started writing for the USA Network’s sci-fi series “The 4400.” After that he moved on to “Medium,” which starred Patricia Arquette.
In 2011, Narducci hooked up with “The Vampire Diaries” and climbed the ladder from staff writer to story editor, executive editor and then producer.
“The Originals,” a spinoff of “The Vampire Diaries,” began four years ago with Narducci and Julie Plec (who created “Diaries”) at the helm.
Narducci was a co-producer for “The Originals,” which follows the saga of an immortal family of vampires, before becoming the showrunner – the top decision-maker.
“The Originals” was recently renewed for a fifth season, but Narducci will not be part of it.
That’s because he accepted his current position with ABC Studios late last year.
Plec will take over as showrunner of “The Originals,” now that “The Vampire Diaries” has ended its run.
Even though he’s no longer with “The Originals,” Narducci is rooting for its continued success.
“I am very happy and very proud of that show,” he said. “Even though I won’t be a part of the fifth season, I am extremely proud of what we’ve done and excited to see what comes next.”
In his new position, Narducci will join the staff of ABC Studios’ new mid-season series “The Crossing.” The show is about a small town in the Pacific Northwest that must deal with a mysterious migration of asylum-seeking refugees who appear to be from a war-torn future America.
“I’m very excited about it,” said Narducci. “I’ll serve as co-executive producer, and my job will be to help the creators achieve their vision. In the meantime, I’ll simultaneously work to develop my own show on ABC.”
Narducci pointed out that ABC Studios, and the ABC network, are owned by Disney – which owns Marvel Entertainment and the Star Wars franchise.
For a comic-book lover, that’s a great place for a story to end – or begin.