Oscar-nominated for “Saving Private Ryan,” which he helped develop, Mark Gordon has produced a broad range of films that includes everything from “The Matador” and "A Simple Plan" to “2012” and two respected TV movies: "And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself" and "Warm Springs."
A gifted dealmaker with a flair for developing material and supporting creative talent, Gordon will have five television series on the air next fall, including ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” and its spinoff, “Private Practice,” and “Criminal Minds” for CBS.
Gordon also is one of the featured speakers at the second annual Produced By Conference held at Fox beginning June 4, the same day he takes office as the new co-president of the Producers Guild of America.
He spoke with Eric Estrin about how being a production manager/teleprompter operator led to producing after-school specials, which led to his breakout movie hit, “Speed.”
I came out here from NYU film school and basically looked for a job for about six months. During that time, I worked as a production assistant in TV commercials -- mostly for directors I had met and worked for in New York while I was in school.
Eventually I got a job as an assistant to a line producer on the second season of the ”Bad News Bears” television series, but I wanted to be a producer. I wanted to make the stuff that I wanted to make.
I actually had gone to film school with the express purpose of being a producer. Even though I directed and did everything else that people did in film school, I believed that my talent was as a producer. I felt like I had the ability to see things both from a business and a creative perspective, and I thought I would be good at that.
So, in 1981, at age 23, I went back to New York to produce a play off-Broadway.
I always say I was working as a hyphenate back then -- as a production manager/teleprompter operator for industrial films -- so I made a living doing that while I was raising money for the play.
It took about a year to raise the money from way too many people. I think we had 63 investors, which is a huge number for a play that cost $150,000, which is what an off-Broadway drama cost at the time.
The play was a flop, but I stayed in New York for two or three of years, producing after-school specials. I'd met somebody who was giving out these assignments for a company which is no longer in existence called Highgate. But the guy that hired me was an executive and producer, and a very successful one now, by the name of Frank Doelger. Once I met him, I just kept pushing and pushing and pushing.
It took me about nine months. I just kept calling him every two weeks until I think he couldn’t take me calling anymore and finally gave me the opportunity.
