Disney Channel officially greenlit "Hannah Montana" as a new, half-hour live-action comedy in August 2005. Twenty episodes were initially ordered for the first season and six extra episodes were later added to the commission. The series was developed by Poryes, who had previously co-created and produced "That's So Raven" for Disney Channel. Poryes created the show with Rich Correll and Barry O'Brien, and Steven Peterman joined Poryes as an executive producer. Disney selected the pilot for "Hannah Montana" to progress to a series against a potential spin-off of "Lizzie McGuire", which was the network also considered during the 2004–05 pilot season. The full main cast were attached to the project in August and filming for the remainder of the first season was scheduled to begin in November 2005. It's a Laugh Productions produced the program in association with the network. Former president of Disney Channels Worldwide Rich Ross stated the concept of the series conforms to the typical Disney Channel formula; "an ordinary person in an extraordinary situation".