TV Commercial Production at Ansel Studio from Author Ben Bryant
- Posted on 21st October 2014
- in Entertainment, entertainment books, Film Production, Hollywood memoirs, TV Commercial Production
- by Ben
In 1975 I got the only full time job I ever had in
TV commercial production.
David Johnson hired me to manage Jerry Ansel’s studio. “Full time” had a profound meaning in this case since the basic hours were fifty per week and that’s when there were no shoots. During my eight month tenure there were maybe ten such no-shoot weeks. My first week, around sixty-five hours, turned out to be about average which means that even longer weeks were not uncommon. While there was no overtime pay there was enormous opportunity for learning. Here’s an excerpt from one of the many TV commercial production stories found in Circumstances Beyond My Control (chapter 14).
That’s me in the hat with the walkie-talkie.
“My first day, Monday 26 September the call time was 6:00 AM. We had a Ray Baker job going on location and a Jerry Ansel shoot in the studio. I went with Ray.
“We were shooting at two locations and wrapped the first one just before lunch. The (freelance) producer/AD was a fellow named Matt Casaba who was not known for his benign management style. We banged heads from the get-go. I do not take kindly to abuse of myself or anyone else and he abused the PAs mercilessly. Along with Ray, I was a representative of the company and as such, the PAs could have been said to be working under me. I got on Matt’s case early asking him to back off with my boys.
“Part of the problem, which I realized was mine to solve, was the complete disarray of the location kits. There was a kit from the studio for each of the crew categories containing incidental and expendable materials needed for their specialties: a prop kit, an electrical kit, a grip kit, a camera kit etc. These should have been stocked and checked before a location shoot and since this was my first day on the job I had yet to handle this situation. Matt was correct in being unhappy about the missing items but beating people up is not my idea of a solution.
“My management style was shaped by a quote from the Broadway Director Moss Hart who said in his autobiography: “The most important job of a director is to create an atmosphere of peace and security in which the actors can do their best work.” This may not be verbatim but to me it summarizes the job of any leader be he/she director, producer, AD or gang foreman. In most disciplines people want to do well and not screw up. Berating and abusing people does not, in my experience, support their best efforts.
“Anyhow my conflict with Matt came to a head as we were loading the truck to move to the second location. After thirty-seven years the details are fuzzy but he was hollering at me and the PAs to hurry up with the loading. I was in the truck with a grip stand in my hand and I walked to the tailgate where he was yelling at one of my guys and, brandishing the heavy metal rod, suggested that if we weren’t moving fast enough he could feel free to lend a hand, or words to that effect. He was nice to me after that.
“I got home around 8:00 and Betsy asked what my call time was for Tuesday. I said 5:30. She chuckled…”
Read many more TV Commercial Production stories when you Buy Circumstances Beyond My Control.
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