Where Hollywood Hides: Television | Movies | Music | Show Business | Writing | Producing | Directing | Acting

#43 - TV Director Michael Zinberg

In this very personal and candid conversation with Bob and Suzanne, you’ll hear their longtime friend Michael Zinberg as he share the candid details of a professional history that spans four decades and multiple career paths.  Michael is unique in the world of Hollywood, laying claim to hundreds of major directing, writing, and producing credits, as well as to two stints as a network executive.   Today, Michael is among Hollywood’s most enduring and prolific writer-producer-directors, with a track record of creating hit shows that has earned him multiple Emmy nominations and the prestigious Directors Guild Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dramatic Television for his groundbreaking work on Quantum Leap.     Michael—ever the consummate story teller—brings his innate good humor to the conversation as he talks about coming from San Antonio, Texas brimming with ambitions of big-time Hollywood success...and how he has actually achieved it.  You’ll hear about his first job as a CBS-TV usher, how he broke into a dynamic prime-time “above the line” career as an Associate Producer and eventually transitioned into comedy writing and directing with The Bob Newhart Show and The Mary Tyler Moore Show at legendary MTM Productions.     Zinberg has directed in every television format and genre, from half-hour sitcoms to hour dramas, to mini-series and movies.  He’s worked with the entire pantheon of Hollywood celebrities on shows like Taxi, Lou Grant, Family Ties, Everybody Loves Raymond, The Practice, JAG, and Newhart.  Still in non-stop demand as a seasoned, “go-to” director, Michael continues working on major hit shows, including NCIS, Lost, The Unit, The Blacklist, and The Good Wife.     Michael Zinberg reveals the extraordinary work ethic behind his remarkable success, and lights the way for anyone hoping to build a meaningful Hollywood career.  It's a conversation you'll want to be part of.  

#42 - Producer Hawk Koch

  Look up “Hollywood Royalty” in your Webster’s Dictionary, and you just might find the name and face of Oscar Nominee, Golden Globe Winner, and movie producer Hawk Koch on the page.   In this podcast interview with Bob & Suzanne, Hawk talks about his unique childhood on movie sets with his father, Howard W. Koch, one of the most prominent film producers of his generation.  Hawk describes how school vacations spent on movie sets led to his passion for film making and to an inspiring career working with legendary directors like Robert Aldrich, Sidney Pollack, Paul Mazursky, and Robert Wise.    It wasn’t long before he evolved from being “the kid” on Hollywood soundstages to getting hired as the production assistant on Sidney Pollack’s This Property Is Condemned, where he quickly proved himself as someone who could “get it done.”   After a stint as a rock & roll road manager for iconic performers like The Supremes and The Dave Clark Five, Hawk returned to Hollywood as an assistant director on movies destinedto become : Rosemary’s Baby, Chinatown, and Barefoot in the Park.  Hawk candidly recalls how he rose through the Hollywood ranks to work closely with iconic film stars like Warren Beatty, Jack Nicholson, Jessica Lange, Mickey Rourke, Faye Dunaway, Paul Newman, Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, and Kirk Douglas.   You’ll hear how Hawk’s passion for the entertainment business continued to propel him up through the ranks as the producer of dozens of critical and box office hits, including The Pope of Greenwich Village, Heaven Can Wait, Wayne’s World, Primal Fear...and the list goes on.   Hardly resting on his laurels Hawk Koch works hard to "pay it forward" as he vigorously supports the Hollywood film industry. He’s currently President Emeritus of the Producers Guild of America, and has served on the Board of the National Film Preservation Foundation.  Hawk most recently served as 2012-13 President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and continues to produce the movies we love.  

#41 - TV Writer Philip Taylor

Philip Taylor has a unique show business history and track record. In this podcast interview, he describes his journey from a childhood in rural England to Hollywood sound stages, with dozens of writing and producing credits on some of TV’s most memorable hit shows. Taylor talks about his years of studying at London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, and recalls the thrill of performing Shakespeare on the international stage.  He then shares his experience “being in the right place at the right time”, and how he began writing scripts for hit TV shows. Not many TV writers have the ability to move between comedy and dramatic genres, but Philip has multiple  credits on both sides of the fence.   He’s written for shows as varied as . “Mork & Mindy”, “Murder, She Wrote”, “Eight is Enough”, “CPO Sharkey”, “Good Times”, and “Knight Rider”, demonstrating an unusual ability to move between half-hour sitcoms, hour dramas, two-hour longform TV movies, and feature films.  With great humor and plenty of behind-the-scenes details, Philip tells Bob and Suzanne how he wrote the cult movie classic “Lust in the Dust”, starring Tab Hunter and the legendary Divine. He then describes his four-year stint writing for “The New Zorro” (and acting in an episode on location in Spain), which he quickly followed with multiple scripts for “Highlander” and for Jerry Bruckheimer’s first TV series, “Soldier of Fortune, Inc.” Now teaching film and television writing at Arizona State University, Philip candidly shares tips that have helped many of his students break into the Hollywood mainstream.   If you’ve got your sights set on writing for movies or TV, this conversation with Philip Taylor is “required listening”.  

#39 - Stuart Benjamin: Oscar Nominated Producer & Grammy Winner

Stuart Benjamin—a longtime family friend of Bob and Suzanne—shares the highlights and deteails of his award-winning career as a major film, television, music, and theatrical producer in this revealing podcast interview.     You’ll hear Stuart describe the path of a Harvard-educated lawyer who juggled two careers at once, working his “day job” as a partner in a prominent Los Angeles law firm and eventually discovering his true passion as the producer of high-quality motion picture and musical entertainment.      With college classmate and film director Taylor Hackford, Stuart formed New Visions, Inc. and produced some of the most memorable feature films of his generation.   Their first short film production, Teenage Father, earned Hackford an Oscar and threw open the gates of Hollywood studios as the pair delivered critical and commercial hits like Against All Odds, White Nights, La Bamba, and Everybody’s All-American, working with stellar casts that included Jeff Bridges, Rachel Ward, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Helen Mirren, Lou Diamond Phillips, Dennis Quaid, and Jessica Lang.     Stuart describes the Hollywood studio development process and the growth of New Visions into a creative powerhouse that went on to release another half-dozen movies and award-winning soundtrack albums.    The natural outcome of Stuart’s lifelong passion for music—with music playing a central role in the success of a majority of his movies—was a long and lasting friendship with the legendary Ray Charles.  You’ll hear Stuart describe his relentless, decade-long struggle to produce Ray, which earned six Academy Award nominations, including his own for Best Picture.  The soundtrack for Ray won Stuart a Grammy Award and sales of more than 4,000,000 albums.     Turning his attention to live theatrical production, Stuart discusses differences between working in movies, television, and theater.  With his production of Louis & Keely Live breaking records in Los Angeles, he’s currently developing the compelling story of Stax Records in collaboration with soul singer Tasha Taylor, daughter of the iconic blues legend Johnny Taylor.     Stuart Benjamin has built a career in the mold of Hollywood’s great impresarios...and he generously shares the secrets of his success for us all to follow.  

#38 - Actor David Selby

Listen in as Bob & Suzanne talk to actor David Selby about his life and starring roles on stage, screen, and television.   David describes his childhood in rural West Virginia, and his discovery of “something inside” that drove him to become a serious student of acting. Having appeared in more than 70 stage productions—including starring roles in everything from Oklahoma, to The Crucible, to last year’s A Delicate Balance—David’s theatre work has been the backbone of an unparalleled TV and movie career. His first major television role as “Quentin” on Dark Shadows made David a huge fan favorite.  From there, he jumped into feature films, starring in The Super Cops and playing opposite Barbra Streisand in Up the Sandbox.  Always in demand by Hollywood casting directors, David’s hundreds of acting credits include The Waltons, Police Woman, Raise the Titanic, Mad Men, The Social Network, and the soon-to-be-released Equals, with Twilight’s Kristen Stewart. When David joined Bob on Falcon Crest to play opposite Jane Wyman, he earned an international following that continues to this day.  David talks about making “Richard Channing” an unforgettable character with unusual depth and complexity, which he followed up with as “Xavier Trout” on Soldier of Fortune. Beginning his acting career as far from Hollywood as you can imagine, David Selby has worked with directors like Tim Burton, David Fincher, and Ridley Scott...and with actors from Jeff Bridges and Jason Robards to Barbra Streisand and Julia Roberts. While scaling the heights of show business, David has also managed to author ten books of memoirs, plays, poems, and novels. David Selby, an actor who has remained devoted to his family and rooted in his West Virginia origins, is the ultimate “Hollywood Renaissance Man.”