Lindsay Goffman Is the Matchmaker

Hollywood likes its meet-cute rom-coms. But what about the matchmaking that happens behind the scenes?

For that, consider someone like Lindsay Goffman, who specializes in pairing intellectual properties with writers. She was head of development at producer-performer Daniel Dae Kim's 3AD when that company adapted the South Korean drama The Good Doctor for ABC. She founded her own Gratitude Productions in 2018, and now her credits include producing the Milo Ventimiglia-led ABC drama The Company You Keep, which was also inspired by a South Korean show.

She says her process is to figure out why an existing IP resonates with her and then find a writer who feels the same. "Sometimes it takes going to forty writers, and they all pass," she says. "But when you find the right writer, that's very exciting." Goffman seeks to infuse diversity into stories in unexpected ways. The Good Doctor focuses on a medical professional with autism, played by Freddie Highmore. The Company You Keep featured deaf actress Shaylee Mansfield as Ollie, the wise-beyond-her-years niece of Ventimiglia's character.

While Goffman loves the "super-addictive and binge-worthy" world of K-drama, that's not the only kind of TV that interests her. She's workshopping a project about Harlem's legendary Cotton Club with Dulé Hill (The Wonder Years), his wife, Jazmyn Simon (Ballers), and hip-hop band The Roots. That historic music venue has been central to many programs and films, but this version will be told from a Black woman's perspective.

"When you're looking for a unique point of view, it feels obvious [to ask], 'Where can that come from?'" Goffman says. "What story haven't we seen before?"

Crucial to this, she explains, is acknowledging that she cannot know everything about a topic, so it's imperative to choose "the right partners so that I can learn." To wit, special-education expert Melissa Reiner was hired as an autism consultant on The Good Doctor, and the Company cast worked on learning ASL.

Part of the success of these relationships, Goffman adds, comes from acknowledging others' contributions. She frequently mentions Company creator Julia Cohen's detailed involvement in that project; for example, it was Cohen's idea that Ollie be deaf.

Goffman's matchmaking is paying off so well, her projects are proliferating. ABC ordered a backdoor pilot for a potential Good Doctor spinoff entitled The Good Lawyer, which, in addition to starring Felicity Huffman (Desperate Housewives), will star Kennedy McMann (Nancy Drew) as a young attorney with OCD.

This article originally appeared in emmy magazine issue #7, 2023, under the title, "Matchmaker, Matchmaker."