From left, moderator Shirley Halperin of Variety explores Netflix new reality show Westside with Kevin Bartel, Johan Carlsson, Tom Corson, James Diener, Michael Flutie and Jenn Levy. (Photo: Paula Parisi / MaxTheTrax)

Netflix’s ambitious new unscripted reality show Westside had a curtain raiser Tuesday at Variety’s Music for Screens Summit, where the show’s executive team shared the backstory with the magazine’s executive music editor Shirley Halperin. The eight-episode series, which debuts Nov. 9, is not a contest like The Voice or American Idol. Rather, it tracks along with a pack of nine aspiring performers as they write songs together, produce records and create music videos.

“We knew we wanted to be in the docu-soap genre, and these producers came in and said ‘We want to tell the story of young people in L.A. pursuing their dreams. And we’re going to elevate that storytelling with original music,’” explained Netflix director of unscripted originals and acquisitions Jenn Levy. “One, we had never heard that before, and two, when you think about great music, when you think about great songwriting, it is about storytelling, it is about people, it is about journey, it is about character and it is about living a life, so why marry character development and storytelling in a docu-series?”

MTV News described the series as “a cross between Glee, Real World and The Hills, so you know it’s going to be full of must-download hits and high-stakes emotions.” Judging by what the panel had to show and tell, the gloss of La La Land crossed with the soul-baring of Boogie Nights may be closer to the mark. Halperin summed it up as “really, really raw.” “It was hours and hours of diving in, and being their armchair therapist, helping them confronting and dealing with their demons on a daily basis while also trying to make it in the music industry,” said executive producer Kevin Bartel, who runs US operations for Love Productions. “They go trough some heavy shit.” All of that angst and human drama was then handed to Westside’s executive music producer James Diener whose job it was to “bring this to life in song,” Levy said.

“None of the songs existed before the episodes existed. We shot for four months then started the editorial process, piecing together the episodes, seeing which storylines made sense and how the episodes were going to be structured. It was at that time that we identified the key dramatic moments of each episode and then went to the incredible writers that James assembled to come up with the songs,” Bartel said.

Diener, a music industry veteran who worked A&R at RCA and A&M and currently co-manages Avril Lavigne and The Struts, was able to assemble a powerhouse bench of songwriters to pen original tunes for the cast: Diane Warren (Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing”), Ryan Tedder (Adele’s “Rumor Has It”), Johan Carlsson (Ariana Grande’s “Dangerous Woman”) and Philip Lawrence (Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk”). He also brought aboard producer Mutt Lange.

“We knew we didn’t want to do covers,” explained executive producer Michael Flutie of Madwood Studios. “We wanted somebody who could lead us to the right opportunities and would understand the vision of the show.” Knowing they wanted a double-album of original material in a condensed period of time made hiring an A&R guy a practical, if somewhat unconventional choice, Bartel said.

“In a typical musical you’d have your music in advance. I was intrigued by the fact that these scenes were going to be generated dynamically and we had to find great music within that timeframe,” said Diener ( a tip of the hat to The Amazing Race?). Because the show travels genres, from country music to pop to urban, a single team of writers and producers was unfeasible. So once the stories started taking shape, song holes were identified. Johan Carlsson wrote and produced “We Are the Ones,” which Diener characterized as “the provisional theme song for the show. It’s anthemic and in episode one and involved the whole cast. Some songs are duets, some songs are triplets, some are solos. This cut featured the whole ensemble. And we did that for 20 songs in a row.”

Diener said it wasn’t very difficult to recruit the songwriters and producer talent. “When you say Netflix is doing something everybody pricks up their ears.” The opportunity to have music showcased in a TV series where the songs are almost treated as characters “is a very interesting opportunity for the creative community. These aren’t just needle drops. These songs are featured in full, with full-production music videos throughout the show.”  Twenty songs, 20 music videos that will be seen in all 190 countries with Netflix.

The writers were given footage of scenes from which they were asked to draw inspiration for the songs. Levy made a point of stressing that the themes aren’t all channeling L.A.’s idealized westside. “They’re universal themes of love, struggle, self-doubt, drug abuse. They’re beyond westside and relatable to people.” The nine cast members who perform the songs are all unknowns (with the exception of Pia Toscano, who was may be recognizable to some as a top 10 finalist on season 10 of American Idol).

Warner Records has taken a strategic position that provides a first-look at all of the talent. “Having been a part of things like American Idol, we felt it was time to break the mold. There hasn’t been a star out of any of these shows for too long,” Warner Bros. Records co-chairman and COO Tom Corson said. “This is very exciting because it’s like a cast album meets soundtrack meets reality show. It’s its own beast. When we saw the cut of the first episode the team at Warner Bros. kind of went mental and said ‘We’ve got to be a part of this.’ Our job now is to amplify it. We love the talent and we think we’re going to get an artist or two out of this. We actually are making a couple of records with each cast member. But that’s a secret.”

Ultimately, Corson said, it’s the audience that decides who can scale and go the distance. When you hit lightning with these things you never quite know where they’re going to go, and who’s going to be the breakout star. We have our own handicapping and opinions at the label, but we’ll have to see. The audience is a little different than we are.”