Smash is an upcoming American musical series set to premiere on NBC, Monday, February 6, 2012. The show revolves around a group of characters who come together to put on a Broadway musical based on the life of Marilyn Monroe. But before that can happen, the people who will try to bring it all together must deal with their own personal acts. The series will feature original music by composers Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman. Development began in 2009 at Showtime by then-Showtime entertainment president Robert Greenblatt and Steven Spielberg, from an idea by Spielberg, who had been working on the concept for years.[9] Greenblatt then brought the project with him to NBC when he was made NBC Entertainment president in January 2011. NBC ordered production of a pilot in January 2011 for the 2011–12 television season. The pilot was shot on location in New York City beginning in early March 2011. Theresa Rebeck wrote the pilot script and Michael Mayer directed it, with Spielberg serving as an executive producer. It has been reported that the pilot cost $7.5 million to produce. On May 11, 2011, NBC picked the project up to series. When the network announced its 2011/12 schedule on May 15, 2011, the series was slated to premiere in mid-season. NBC opted to hold the show for mid-season in order to pair it up with the hit reality show The Voice on Monday nights.[12] On August 1, 2011, it was announced that show's series premiere date would be February 6, 2012, the night after Super Bowl XLVI, with heavy promotion through early winter on many of the network's properties before the premiere.