This post presents the first half of the chapter list for Outside The Spotlights, written in third person. Each section includes a brief description of the chapter – who or what it’s about and how I knew them.
You can find the book on Amazon here:
Content List Part 1:
The book begins with a Foreword that describes how I decided to make a career in entertainment technology. It also includes profiles of three people important to the progress I made, but from outside the industry:
Karen Siegmund – a high school friend who died from MS in 1999
Carol O’Keefe – a lifelong friend I met in LA before I began working at the studios
Monique Barnum – a lifelong friend I hired while employed at John Hancock in Boston
Part 1: Hollywood Before My Time
The first section in the book summarizes Elaine’s background growing up in New Hampshire and introduces her passion both for watching television and the logistics of how stories are told in the medium.
Chapter 1 James Sheldon: We Made It Up As We Went Along
Met Elaine when she worked in Manhattan; mentored her interest in TV history
TV Director from 1948 (live TV shows) to 1988
Influenced the careers of James Dean, Clint Eastwood and Tony Randall
Part 2: Wow! My Name’s on a Parking Space at 20th Century Fox
Soon after she arrived in L.A. in 1977, Elaine landed her first studio job at Warner Bros., followed by a position at Fox that introduced her to exceptional people responsible for departments in the Studio Facilities Group.
Chapter 2 Omer Simeon: For a Time, It Was the Best Place on Earth
Management Information Systems VP and Elaine’s boss at 20th Century Fox
Outstanding African American studio executive, respected as an inclusive leader
Chapter 3 Bernie Barron: I’ve Never Had a Woman Report to Me Before
Senior VP of Studio Operations at 20th Century Fox
Managed 29 studio department heads; Elaine was the only woman
Chapter 4 Henry Kopecky: A 16,000 Gallon Tank of Lemon Jell-O
Head of the 20th Century Fox Special Effects Department and one of Elaine’s clients
Master of ‘the Henry solution’ for TV producers who needed ingenious effects at a moment’s notice
Part 3: PCs Arrive at the Studios
Elaine moved from Fox to Universal Studios in 1983. Hired as an Internal Management Consultant, she became Director of a new department called Television Information Services (TVIS), the first at the studio to manage change as it happened when personal computers began to revolutionize business and production functions.
Chapter 5 James Korris: What We Can Do to Use Technology Better?
Senior Vice President, MCA Universal Television Group
Creative executive as passionate about producing TV as about how to make technology work for UTV shows
Collaborated with Elaine to create TVIS
Chapter 6 Hilton Smith: On Day One, I Went to Robert Zemeckis’s Office
Original TVIS Team Member
A sought-after line and coordinating producer with multiple series to his credit, including John in Cincinnati, Deadwood, Lucifer, the new Magnum P.I. and Seal Team
Chapter 7 Geoff Fairbanks: I Never Thought I’d Be Interested in Reality
Original TVIS Team Member
Combines his career as technology consultant for Universal Features Group with a second career as a producer/writer
Chapter 8 Peter Siegel: No Staircase Is Complete Without a Tyrannosaurus Skeleton
Original TVIS Team Member
Led TVIS teams for non-production areas, particularly international distribution
Later worked with Elaine on Internet startup teams in New York and Portland, Oregon
Chapter 9 Jim Michaels: Film vs. Digital Dragged Production Into the 20th Century
Early on-screen graphics expert who joined TVIS
Pioneered live digital images for shows such as Airwolf and Whiz Kids
In the last decade, a producer on the hugely successful Supernatural
Chapter 10 Karla Aber: Along With the HBO Execs, There Sat Jane Fonda and Ted Turner
TVIS Team Member
Singer/performer who wanted to learn the business of television
Became a successful development executive for multiple production companies
Chapter 11 Cheryl Birch: People Who Work in TV Don’t Have Time to Watch
MCA Universal Television Business Affairs Executive; a CPA by training
Assisted TVIS in the design and launch of systems to manage TV contracts, ratings and talent deal processes
Chapter 12 Jeff Lane: Twelve VCRs in My Dining Room Recorded Prime Time TV Credits
Pioneering entertainment software services entrepreneur
Creator of The Studio System, the first online television credits database, developed originally for the MCA Universal Television Group and TVIS
Founder of Concept To Camera, an automation service for pre-production and on-set data capture and management
Chapter 13 Joset Cook: I Only Worked for Nice People From Then On
Singer who became a writer’s assistant and one of the first and best students trained by TVIS in how to use a PC to write, format and revise television scripts
Assisted writers on multiple series, including Hill Street Blues, Miami Vice and Law & Order
Chapter 14 Charles Floyd Johnson: George Lucas Called
Television Producer for series including Rockford Files, the original Magnum P.I., Quantum Leap, JAG and NCIS
Trail-blazing African American producer in primetime television when Elaine met him
Currently teaching a new generation of producers at Georgia Southern University
Chapter 15 Sharon Mahoney: We’re All Just Walking Each Other Home—Ram Dass
Actress and musical theater performer who appeared as a guest star on TV series, in commercials and in regional theater throughout the U.S.
Met Elaine when she landed the lead in the original musical Shades of Grey, co-produced by TVIS team member Hilton Smith
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