Why is this subject, “Try Not To Hold It Against Me,” important in the world?
Almost everyone we know has two businesses; the one they do for a living and show business. We are currently living in tumultuous times. Movies, television, theater, and almost all forms of show business can provide an outlet for some relief, humor, and escapism from daily life. In my book, Try Not To Hold It Against Me: A Producer’s Life, I have tried to entertain and educate people about what it is like to be a producer.
What is the pressing issue, right, and how are you addressing it?
We need a kinder, gentler world and a return to some civility. I am trying to live my life that way and help where I can. It certainly seems difficult at times. Before the pandemic, I did a lot of teaching and guest lecturing. I taught at Columbia, Tufts, NYU, School of Social Research, School of Visual Arts, UCLA, etc. I also traveled to the Peoples’ Republic of China for a month, speaking about the pre-production, production, and post-production of motion pictures. Teaching, they say, is often a two-way street.; you inform, but you become informed as well.
Julian Schlossberg Biography
What is your background in this subject?
I have spent close to 60 years in the entertainment business. I started at the ABC-TV network. Then I went to the Walter Reade Organization, in the TV and theater divisions. Then I moved on to Paramount Pictures as a Vice President of Production. I ran my own production and distribution company, Castle Hill Productions, for 30 years.
What is something that most people don’t know about you?
Despite being a lifetime New Yorker, I love being at the seashore or in the country. And for most of my life, I have been able to be at one or both places. For the last 17 years, I have lived full-time in upstate New York, where there are no sidewalks, and most of our neighbors are deer, foxes, and squirrels. It’s peaceful.
What are your passions outside of your career?
Outside of my career, my passions are my wife, reading, and writing. I have started my next book and have 20 chapters completed.
Are there any social causes that you believe in and support?
I am a big believer in St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital and have been fortunate to have visited there when my friend Marlo Thomas had a building dedicated to her. I believe in the importance of education and have dedicated many years to producing and interviewing many of the most important leaders in all fields for a 14-hour series entitled “Witnesses To The 20th Century.” The witnesses include President George H.W. Bush, Sandra Day O’Connor, Quincy Jones, Clint Eastwood, Willie Mays, Walter Cronkite, and many others. There are 140 in all talking about how they were affected by the century’s major events and how they caused or helped to cause many of the events they discuss. Finally, I co-produced and co-directed No Nukes, a music documentary regarding the danger of nuclear energy.
What is next for you?
I am producing a Broadway musical based on the lives of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe and a play about Norman Mailer starring F. Murray Abraham. I am also producing a tv special, “We Remember Mike,” regarding the director, Mike Nichols. And we start rehearsals in March for a play entitled Tales From The Guttenberg Bible starring Steve Guttenberg telling stories from his movie career that included Diner, Three Men and A Baby, Cocoon, and Police Academy. His memoir, with other actors co-starring, tells the story of a kid who wanted to be an actor and went to Hollywood to become one.
Try Not To Hold It Against Me
Tell me about your book.
Try Not To Hold It Against Me: A Producer’s Life is a memoir about growing up first with the radio, then the advent of television, attending movies once a week, and great theater. I became a producer of all the media I grew up with. I take the reader behind the scenes to show how movies, plays, and tv specials come to fruition. In the book, I talk about the talent I had produced for or interviewed as a radio host when I had my own syndicated show for nine years.
An Embellishment on Your Resume Is Still a Lie (Opens in a new browser tab)
Where can people buy the book?
People can buy Try Not To Hold It Against Me: A Producer’s Life on Amazon and wherever books are sold.
