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Barry Diller, the actress of TV, film and media, spent a decade in ABC, where he helped popularize the TV-for-TV “Film of the Week”. In its new memoir, “Who knew” (To be published on 20 May by Simon & Shoister), Diller writes about his career, including a lesson about the limits of much information – when a complicated film of the week (eg, eg, a complicated film of the week makes?) Can be a better predictive of success.
Read a fraction below, and Do not miss the interview of Tracy Smith with Barry Diller on “CBS Sunday Morning” on 11 May!
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We were good at the title in the early days
Women in the chain One of my favorite was; It was a terrible film, but what was a preacher title.
Scream, beautiful peggy Was not bad, either.
Sometimes employees used to ask, “Is it commercial?” And I will cruel them, because instead of using their tendency, they were trying to predict public hunger, which I said then and now, repeatedly, just not possible. Neither is using research to help decide. No research on ideas is worth paper (or computer screen), on which it is printed. Data can tell you what Has happenedNo what May be or will happen. Data is often harmful to instinct, and I believe it is not only true to make creative decisions, but also many business decisions. Powerpoint can be enemy; Structured information often suggests the sieve when you need to make it wider in the spaces between information and real understanding. Passing our brain on data alone does not provide a benefit, and it can be a preventive if it is the only decision -making component. This is often a problem with MBA students, which are equipped with all professional equipment and case study but slightly simple human instincts. I do not believe that using the instinct rather than a deep, hard numerical or fact-based data to help make decisions. A lot of information can overload, overcomplicating, and may be unclear what is on the essence of any proposal: is it a good idea, and does it create a general knowledge?
You rarely get the right project or the right script. In all my experiences I have probably not read a thousand to ten scripts, which are fully felt, so completely and inconsistently great that you simply shout, “Make it!” However, one of them was the day in 1970 when Leonard Goldberg, who recently moved from ABC to run a large television production company, called and said, “You will just have to read this script.” it was called Bryan’s songA black and a white supporter between the football player, the story of deep bonding, who will die of cancer. I cried as soon as I read it. I called her and said, “We can only screw it from here – it’s perfect – come on.” Often referred to as one of the best television films ever – and one of the largest sports films – it was nominated for nine Emmies and won five. One of those some time, Dan Curtis, the creator of a leading ABC day, sent me a manuscript of an unpublished novel, called a manuscript, called me. The cooling papersI read it in two or three hours – this was a contemporary story of a vampire in Las Vegas – and I told Dan, “This is as good story as I have ever read.” And what is a great idea: Las Vegas, the most living city at night – the perfect place for a vampire to stay.
We made it from that novel The Night StationWhich came out so well that we held a screening for Senior ABC management, which everyone said, “This is a great film. We should release it dramatically!” I fought a fight against it, saying, “Yes, it’s a great film, but it is one Week filmAnd this is where it is. “We broadcast the film in early January 1972, and it became the highest rated film of ABC, about 50 million people, a record. The night stallkeR gave birth to a sequel (The night strangler) And a television series (Kolchak: The Night Station), And after this, two more TV films and later remakes of the series were remake. All this with a good idea!
From Barry Deller “who knew”. Copyright © 2025 by Barry Deller. Excerpt with permission by a division of Simon & Shoaster, Simon and Shoister, Inc.
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For more information:
- “Who knew” Available on May 20 by Barry Diller (Simon & Shoister), in hardcover, eBook and audio formats
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