Any person who really wants to be a producer needs the gift of overview. This is the ability to step back and see the forest for the trees and to be able to figure out the optimum path one needs to take in order to transform an idea on paper into a tangible asset. Producing is learning how to best achieve the goal within the agreed upon time and budget parameters that results in the fewest number of disgruntled folk left in the rearview mirror once the project is delivered. There are very few useful books that provide any practical information on this subject. Most of this type of education is experienced at the School of Hard Knocks. Hopefully, this book will steer a few readers away from some of the quicksand pits that I have inadvertently fallen into during my thirty plus years in Showbiz.

My credo: There are a thousand ways to climb the mountain resulting in nine hundred and ninety four dead bodies along the way. There are six ways that work and I am fortunate to know one of them. If you’ve got a better way, I’m all ears. If not, then get out of my way or give me a hand.

Being responsible for spending a couple hundred million dollars of other people’s money (OPM) while producing over 700 TV shows, commercials, rock videos and a dozen movies, I’ve avoided more than my share of near-fatal collisions and learned a few things along the way. On most shows, there are several people who enjoy a variety of fancy producer titles but, ultimately, the day-to-day responsibilities devolve onto the shoulders of the real producer. This person’s job is to break down a project into all of its parts and then put it back together again so that in the end it most closely resembles the project that was originally intended.

No matter what you think of any TV show or movie, some dedicated producer(s) sweated bullets to get each and every one of those babies born. Whether it’s an Oscar-winning film or an infomercial, the producer(s) had to figure out a budget, shooting schedule, hire the on-camera talent, the behind-the-scenes crew, rent equipment, oversee the editing, and make thousands of decisions along the way. The best producers understand how to motivate people and get them to do their best work. It helps to have an excellent memory, an appreciation for details, and a great eye for talent, because the producer always needs a lot of help along the way. With few exceptions, producing any kind of show is a collaborative art. Its outcome depends on attracting the best affordable talent both in front of and behind the camera and devising a couple of game plans how to reach the finish line - because the best plan doesn't usually quite work out as hoped for.

Unless you happen to be one of the fortunate few in Showbiz who are currently “hot” or happen to have long-term contracts working inside the studio walls, working as an independent producer is seasonal by nature and tenuous at best. When work finally arrives, it feels like riding a bucking bronco twelve hours a day. You arrive home bone-tired and weary, recharge the batteries, and return to do it all over again the next day. However, when all the pistons are firing, when everyone is doing what they're supposed to, when the machine is functioning properly and you’re consistently turning out a great product, it is a truly joyful experience. If you make it to the big leagues, you’re responsible for helping to transform an idea or words on a page into something that millions of people all over the world will see, respond to, and hopefully enjoy for years to come.

I’ve lived a life of extremes. Feast or famine. Great luck followed by horrible luck followed by great luck. My first job in Hollywood was as an assistant film editor on a Roger and Gene Corman low budget black exploitation movie. I then got lucky and began a 2 1/2 year stint as Orson Welles’ film editor where I learned about Hollywood’s heyday from someone who actually made history. Herman J. Mankiewicz, the primary writer of CITIZEN KANE, once remarked as Orson walked by, “There, but for the grace of God, goes God.”  

Orson was a fascinating, self-invented creature. He had become world famous in his early twenties and said he used to carry his fame around “like a ball and chain.” He also remarked that, “Gluttony is not a secret vice.” He certainly proved it at 6’1” and almost 500 lbs. He was mercurial and pretty much had his way with the world. I was just a lucky kid who got to hang around and watch the genius at work. Orson could be demeaning and indifferent. And just when I was going to tell him where he could shove that legend, he would wrap his meaty arm around my shoulder and sincerely say, “Have I told you lately what a good job you’re doing?” We figured out how to make it work and I learned from one of the best that ever was. 

At the other end of the artistic spectrum, I was also fortunate to befriend Samuel Z. Arkoff, legendary co-founder with James Nicholson of American International Pictures (AIP). Sam, who billed himself as a simple Iowa farm boy, was full of stories about the good old days. From the 1950’s through the 80’s, AIP produced over 500 “B” movies; I Was A Teenage Werewolf, Dr. Phibes, Little Shop of Horrors, She Creature, How To Build A Monster, Beach Blanket Bingo, Amityville Horror, Dressed To Kill to name a few. Sam was a very smart cat who was the first to zero in on the teenage audience that needed somewhere to go on Friday and Saturday nights. Twenty years later, all the other major studios discovered that the young crowd had become their primary target for most new movies and TV shows.

In the late ‘70’s, I was fortunate to produce 540 half hour tax shelter TV shows in a three-year period for doctors, lawyers and airline pilots looking for a 7-1 tax write-off. In 1986-‘87, I Executive Produced the TV series Airwolf for Universal in Vancouver B.C., a place that soon became Hollywood North and home to billions of dollars of runaway production. In my nomadic experience, I’ve subsequently produced film and TV series for HBO, WB, ABC, CBS and NBC, Fox, Castlerock, Disney, Sony and Universal.

Flying by the seat of one’s pants in Hollywood used to be the order of the day. Everything has changed, as multi-national conglomerates whose existence is dictated by the all-important bottom line currently own the major studios. As an independent producer, you quickly learn out on the high wire that the net is gone and how to make it safely to the other side…or you don’t.

Fate is a cruel mistress. Thwarted ambition is the order of the day, as almost everybody in Showbiz would rather have some other job. The big time music video producer or highly paid commercial producer wants to be taken seriously as a long form storyteller and work in TV. The successful TV producers keep trying to prove themselves worthy of a shot to produce feature films. Movie producers want to run a studio so they can control their destiny. The studio execs all want to produce or direct or write and show everyone how bloody creative they are. It’s a vicious cycle and very easy to lose oneself in the process.

In Showbiz, the only constant is change. If you are a shy, wilting lily type and don’t roll well with the punches, you’re probably not going to make it. Too many people miss great opportunities because they’re busy stumbling over pebbles and lose sight of the mountain they thought they could climb. As with everything in life, it’s very easy to accommodate success. It’s learning how to deal with adversity that determines your character and ultimate fate.

Any would-be producers have to learn the mechanical skills involved with filmmaking like budgeting, scheduling, writing, directing, editing - all of which are addressed elsewhere in this book. What’s difficult to learn is how to convince a truculent star to leave his trailer for a fight in a mud hole when the icy wind is howling and the crew is heading into double overtime. There’s no class that teaches you what to say to a director high on coke who is waving a pistol around at the end of a fourteen-hour day and scaring people. (Get close enough to grab the gun from the side. Don’t stand in front of a gun if you can help it.) How to get a barking dog to shut up in a neighbors yard while you’re trying to film is a neat trick – keep feeding it peanut butter sandwiches.

Having experienced all of these adventures and many more and learning a few things along the way, I am happy to share so that you can avoid these problems in the future. Something else they don’t teach in film school is that Showbiz is teeming with failure. But when it does work, one successful film or TV series can generate more money than the gross national product (GNP) of several small South American countries AND IT’S ALL CASH! That kind of success pays for a lot of mistakes and keeps the big machines well oiled.

What other industry takes complete unknowns, makes them TV or movie stars, and pays them better than the leaders of the free world?

As for the gift of overview, what’s important is to keep your eye on the prize while surrounded by chaos. A great producer thrives under these circumstances. It’s when they feel most alive because the responsibility falls directly on their shoulders. How the enterprise makes it to the other side of the high wire is based directly upon their ability to communicate the vision, inspire the cast and crew to exceed their limitations and deliver something that surpasses everyone’s expectations.

It’s good to know where you want to go. It’s better to be able to get there in one piece and live to fight another day.