My next milestone, like all of the NJN producers/directors was to produce a new weekly series and one of the few times on any job that I truly wondered if I could actually do the job. Why? First, I had the feeling that Program Director Doug was dubious that I could produce and direct a successful program with only one year of TV newscaster experience. I was sure he watched me closely and waited for me to fail. (Paranoid? Properly but maybe not?) Second, I had no idea where to begin.
All my life when I started going in a new direction - I would tell myself, “Take your strengths with you.” After a couple of sleepless nights I took my own advice. I thought of where I came from and what I had learned along the way. I came from a teachers college...I taught junior high...I had a PR graduate degree and many friends and mentors in New Jersey schools. I decided to use that knowledge to produce my TV series about the subject that I was comfortable with and had touched most of us - Education.
The next day I hurried to work and typed up a proposal that I had composed in my head while I tossed and turned trying to sleep and presented it to Doug. He read it quickly and said “Good idea...flesh it out...keep me informed.” I returned to my office very excited and then realized I had no idea where to begin. My fast start ground to a halt as I sat staring at the wall for the rest of the day. The next morning I experienced one of my epiphanes, an “aha” moment of clarity, that for some reason usually happened to me in the shower. I realized that producing a television was not much different than writing a college term paper which I had done countless times - it just wasn’t typed, it was talked and shown! And so I began.
After getting to work, I opened my address book and started the research. My first appointment was with my former graduate school adviser at Glassboro State College, Dr. Donald Bagin, a nationally known authority in school public relations. The first thing I asked him, “If you were going to produce a TV show about education what would you do?” He replied with this answer, "I like to know what innovations are happening in our schools. I’d start at the primary grade level and work my way to college innovations for the future!” And that began a two hour brainstorm that we would call today a "download” (remember this was long beforeGoogle). Driving home I had my premise for the show - "What’s new in New Jersey Education!”
I worked on the idea for several months calling and visiting NJ’s most successful educators on all levels of education. The new year deadline to air my first show crept closer. I had a lot of production to do and would worry about the directing later. I needed a set and all the production elements and this was the easy part step as our studio was full of pros with credits in all aspects of producing a show - so I let them do what they did well many times before. I set a due date by putting in an order for a studio shooting day with Sam Schroeder, our Production Manager. The die was cast as Caesar said in a Latin II class.
Now another major question needed to be answered - what show would I do first from literally hundreds of ideas I had found and recorded on note cards that filled a file box. I sat for days looking through them. And then asked Sam for advice (a great producer and director that I knew at WHYY12 in Philadelphia before he followed me across the river). He responded, “Make sure you start strong...and don’t waste a show doing an introduction to the series, telling folks what you are going to do in the next 12 shows...they don’t care...they want to see what’s up now...a lot of major network producers shoot a first show and then bury it in middle of the season because it may not have been the best content to use first. Get the audience's attention on opening night". So my goal was to produce the best show first and the rest would fall into place. Near the holidays all the pieces started to come together. Paul Hoffman, scene shop designer produced a floor plan that was what I envisioned. It looked like a modern classroom with a green “blackboard” as the center of the set. This set piece was more than background. It would be the trademark for the program using a very new technical production tool - chroma key - which is now used in many programs. I would animate as a transition from studio interviews to film pieces shot, on location of trend setters in education.
I came up with an idea for an opening teasers for the show and shot a montage of kids, teachers and parents from around the state completing the sentence, “Education is…” And got some great replies. One became the tagline for 13 shows to come. It was said by a kindergartener sitting on a swing next to an restored two room school house in Stockton NJ, a very historic Delaware River village. This small blond cutie looked right into the lens of our Arriflex and said, “Education is a building with a flag!" It was perfect in one take. (I still wonder today how that toddler turned out).
The PR department head called me; it was time to publicize this addition to our spring lineup. “What’s the title of the series and what is the first one about?,” Bill Petitt asked. “I’ll get back to you,” I said as I realized that I had spent all my time on the details but hadn’t even thought about a very basic element of a TV program - it's title.
Once again in the shower I had a revelation. The subject of the show is new and notable “directions” in the educational system - the show would be called “New Directions!” And I would make sure it had the exclamation point in TV Guide.
Next, and most important aspect for the success of this show - I needed to find the host for the host and the most critical decision I would make. I had pondered this for months. I needed the “talent” to not only be interesting and entertaining but also, authoritative in the subject matter but not pedantic. A tall order, most "educators" were very serious people. Also, this person had to commit to host 13 shows for the first season for very little pay. This person was the key to success for the whole series - all the rest was frosting on the cake, the topics and the content were an essential ingredient for a show that would be watched - but for a show about “education” (even one focused on innovations was still fairly “dry” material). I needed someone that could be credible and not hesitant to ask the right questions. For the show to have meaning we couldn’t be inhibited by the countless critics and special interest groups that surround education and educators.
Once again I took a look at my past and found the perfect host. A man that I remembered to be the most scholarly, intellectual, entertaining, (born too late for the great renaissance) prof I ever had - who believe it or not, made classic British Literature at Glassboro State College come alive and be fun. I was determined to book the nationally known writer of the monthly newsletter - The Underground Grammarian* - Dr. Richard Mitchell. This publication focused on exposing and satirizing poor language and faulty ideas that abound in all commercial media - and it had a following of language lovers who sent Dr. Mitchell tons of examples from many respected publications. We met. He was reluctant at first but I talked him into giving it a try - and this natural performer in the classroom would become one of the first “stars” for our new network.
*Dr. Richard Mitchell (April 26, 1929 – December 27, 2002) was a professor, first of English and later of classics, at Glassboro State College in Glassboro, New Jersey. He gained fame in the late 1970s as a public television host and the founder and publisher of The Underground Grammarian, a newsletter of opinion, correction of errors in the English language and criticism that ran until 1992, and wrote four books expounding his views on the relationships among language, education, and ethics. (Wikipedia)
For my last task a few weeks before the first taping day I sat at my desk looking at my file of many subjects that had agreed to be on the show and were waiting for my call. I pondered which would have the most impact...entertainment value...and acceptance. And then once again, a moment of clarity that would guide me for the rest of my professional life. I realized that there were dozens of good stories for the first show - but what producing always comes down to - making a choice that is personal. It’s done by using the strengths from the experiences that one brings to the job. The other aspects of a show are easy - what the show is all about is the hard part. And so I made a choice and picked up the phone.
Hours before the first taping I still hadn’t decided on theme music for the opening. Frankly, I had forgotten all about it. The “production” library left a lot to be desired - it made elevator music seem appealing. At lunch I was distraught but determined not to use the “canned” music. I went to a record long gone now and picked a LP of electronic music whose cover made it look interesting. I listened to several cuts and found the “perfect” theme that was used in all the shows. Once again, my lack of experience paid off because I didn't take the usual approach. I crossed my fingers and called “roll tape” and New Directions was born. The first show, about a school that had turned an inner courtyard into a mini-farm/ laboratory aired and the series got very good reviews and ran for two seasons.
From that moment of final decision on, in my broadcasting life and beyond, I relied a lot on what I learned from doing and taking long showers when I needed a new idea - and from time to time let my intuition take over and did what felt right.
Comments
Post a Comment