TheGrill 2015: 'Empire' Co-Creator Danny Strong Calls Brian Grazer 'The Godfather' (Video)

Academy Award winner Brian Grazer sat for a wide-ranging discussion of his prolific career — and where it’s headed — as the first day spotlight conversation from TheGrill 2015, TheWrap’s sixth annual Media Leadership Conference.

From his modern smash with Fox’s “Empire” to the 31-year-old mermaid classic “Splash,” Grazer reflected on his road to the top with moderator Sharon Waxman, editor-in-chief and founder of TheWrap.

But first, “Empire.”

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As the second season premiere held its chokehold on big ratings in key demos, executive producer Grazer and show creator Danny Strong (who joined him on stage toward the end of the evening) have faced innumerable questions about what makes the program successful.

“I trust our system,” Grazer said of workflow between showrunners Strong and Lee Daniels. “If things are extreme, I find an elegant way to bring it up.”

And with the groundbreaking, fictional hip-hop family The Lyons, things get extreme pretty quickly.

“We look at him as the godfather of our show,” Strong said of Grazer. “This sage of all show business … if an actor is going crazy? We call the godfather.”

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Strong maintains there’s no particular ingredient that makes the show resonate, just old fashioned quality and popularity. He also pointed out that “Empire’s” writers’ room is never allowed to stray from the epic, nearly-mythical standards he sets for characters played by Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson. Scripts will refer to them exclusively as “King” and “Queen,” and every draft has a Shakespearean quote on the title page.

Grazer places the credit with Fox Broadcasting honchos Dana Walden and Gary Newman. “We were very fortunate that Dana and Gary got it. They loved it,” he said.

Grazer’s interest in hip-hop is long evidenced with other groundbreaking works like “8 Mile” starring Eminem, but the musical genre is just one string in a vast tapestry of Grazer’s interests.

With four decades in show business, Grazer credits his eclectic taste to a fear of “getting trapped breathing the same oxygen as everyone else in Los Angeles. I want to learn about different subjects, and reduce natural preconceptions we all have. If I’ve met 1,000 experts in 30 years, they all proved me wrong about what I thought going in.”

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Take a Chilean torture victim named Veronica Denegra, who told Grazer she lived in an alternate reality she constructed “to survive torture in real time, which gave me insight into how ‘A Beautiful Mind’ would exist in an objective narrative.”

“Beautiful Mind,” of course, landed him the 2002 Oscar for Best Picture along with his producing partner Ron Howard.

Grazer has explored other worlds like high school football (“Friday Night Lights”), competitive surfing (“Blue Crush”) and the forthcoming Universal film “Lowriders” about the Hispanic custom car culture.

“I’m interested in demystifying other worlds — trusting that each one of these human beings falls into the collective consciousness, into this constellation of ideas … and these are about identity and self worth. It interrelates to our desire and need to feel respected,” he said.

Photos: The Scene at TheGrill 2015: TheWrap's Media Leadership Conference (Updating Photos)

For all his success, Grazer maintains life in Hollywood isn’t a cakewalk.

“It’s never been easy. The [project] that I want to make, TV or movies, is usually the idea somebody doesn’t want to do. I remember Robert Redford told Ron and I that every movie he wants to make is the hardest movie — like ‘Ordinary People’ — those were the most difficult ones but those were the most rewarding,” he said.

Not that his career isn’t peppered with lessons, like after 1984’s “Splash.” The beloved movie, starring Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah, was rescued from turnaround by Disney after a similar project had lined up stars Warren Beatty and Jessica Lange.

“I thought after the success of ‘Splash’ that everything would be really easy and then right away, everyone said no to everything I wanted to make,” Grazer said.

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His stellar TV track record might easily make the medium his favorite — before “Empire” there was “24,” “Arrested Develpment” and “Lights” — but the producer won’t choose sides.

“There’s less gray area in the world of TV. In the movie business, it continues to expand,” Grazer said of mounting projects in the respective spaces. “‘Yes’ in movies means yes to another step, but it never wears me down.”

When asked why he’s never pursued the superhero space, a dominating force in culture and box office, Grazer pointed to ownership.

“I’m envious. I don’t make those movies but I make movies with effects and I’m interested in space and really huge canvases — but I don’t own Marvel,” he said.

Some of the more poignant wisdom Grazer shared was knowing when to tune out the Hollywood machine. Pointing to two other classics, “Kindergarten Cop” and the gold-standard firefighter movie “Backdraft,” Grazer said he learned never to trust focus testing — and rely on his own instincts as a viewer.

“Both of those movies got really high test scores. There was no problem with the violence in them. Oddly enough when I showed my kids, I automatically shielded their eyes during [the violent parts]. I realized testing doesn’t tell you everything. It doesn’t exactly put you in the audience’s shoes,” he said.

Watch the full interview here:

Get TheWrap’s complete coverage of the TheGrill 2015.

The Scene at TheGrill 2015: TheWrap's Media Leadership Conference (Photos)

TheWrap's editor in chief Sharon Waxman kicked off the sixth annual TheGrill Conference Day 1.
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"Empire" co-creator/writer Danny Strong (left) and producer Brian Grazer spoke onstage during the first day of TheWrap's 6th Annual TheGrill.
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Producer Brian Grazer spoke onstage during the first day of TheWrap's 6th Annual TheGrill.
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"Empire" co-creator/writer Danny Strong and producer Brian Grazer spoke onstage with Sharon Waxman during the first day of TheWrap's 6th Annual TheGrill.
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"Empire" co-creator/writer Danny Strong and producer Brian Grazer spoke onstage during the first day of TheWrap's 6th Annual TheGrill.
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"Empire" co-creator/writer Danny Strong and producer Brian Grazer spoke onstage with Sharon Waxman during the first day of TheWrap's 6th Annual TheGrill.
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Maker Studios CEO Ynon Kreiz spoke onstage during Day 1 of TheGrill 2015.

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Maker Studios CEO Ynon Kreiz (left) spoke onstage with AwesomenessTV founder and CEO Brian Robbins (right) during Day 1 of TheGrill 2015.

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Brian Robbins, founder & CEO of AwesomenessTV, spoke onstage during the first day of TheWrap's 6th Annual TheGrill.

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REDEF CEO Jason Hirschhorn spoke onstage with TheWrap's editor in chief Sharon Waxman on Day 1 of TheGrill 2015.
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Edelman president of strategic partnerships and global integration Gail Becker presented results of new consumer study on Day 1 of TheGrill 2015.

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Edelman president of strategic partnerships and global integration Gail Becker presented results of new consumer study on Day 1 of TheGrill 2015.

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Robert Kyncl, chief business officer at YouTube, spoke about the platform's growth rate during Day 1 of TheWrap's 6th Annual TheGrill.

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Robert Kyncl, chief business officer at YouTube, spoke about the platform's growth rate during Day 1 of TheWrap's 6th Annual TheGrill.

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Jason Hirschhorn talked to Kyncl about YouTube's growth and challenges at the first day of TheWrap's 6th Annual TheGrill.

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Andrew Glasgow, SVP at Viacom Scratch, spoke about the declining attention span of Americans during the first day of TheWrap's 6th Annual TheGrill conference.

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Nancy Dubuc, president & CEO of A+E Networks, spoke about the disruption of cable TV during the first day of TheWrap's 6th Annual TheGrill.

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Nancy Dubuc, president & CEO of A+E Networks, spoke about the disruption of cable TV during the first day of TheWrap's 6th Annual TheGrill.

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Dawn Ostroff, president of Conde Nast Entertainment, attended the first day of TheWrap's 6th Annual TheGrill.

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Van Toffler attended the first day of TheWrap's 6th Annual TheGrill.

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From left to right: TheWrap's executive editor Joseph Kapsch, "So You Think You Can Dance" executive producer Nigel Lythgoe, Electus founder and chairman Ben Silverman, PactUS president David Lyle, and "Big Brother" executive producer Allison Grodner.
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PactUS president David Lyle discussed the state of reality TV during Day 2 of TheGrill.

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"Big Brother" executive producer Allison Grodner discussed the state of reality TV during Day 2 of TheGrill.
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Nigel Lythgoe discussed the state of reality TV on Day 2 of TheGrill.
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Electus founder and chairman Ben Silverman talked the state of reality TV during Day 2 of TheGrill.
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CNBC reporter Julia Boorstin attended TheWrap's sixth annual TheGrill conference at The Montage Beverly Hills.
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Conde Nast Entertainment president Dawn Ostroff discussed content creation on Day 2 of TheGrill.
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Box founder and CEO Aaron Levie discussed content protection with TheWrap's editor in chief Sharon Waxman on Day 2 of TheGrill.
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Golden Globe nominee Maria Bello discusses her life and career during Day 2 of TheGrill
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Golden Globe nominee Maria Bello discusses her life and career during Day 2 of TheGrill
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From left to right: Movio co-founder and chief executive Will Palmer, Fandango president Paul Yanover, Skydance Media CCO Dana Goldberg, IMAX's head of international marketing Roger Pollock, Universal president of worldwide marketing Josh Goldstine, and TheWrap's Deputy Managing Editor Thom Geier discussed the moviegoing experience on Day 2 of TheGrill.
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IMAX's head of international marketing Roger Pollock discussed the moviegoing experience on Day 2 of TheGrill.
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Fandango president Paul Yanover discussed the moviegoing experience on Day 2 of TheGrill.
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Skydance Media CCO Dana Goldberg discussed the moviegoing experience on Day 2 of TheGrill.
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Movio co-founder and chief executive Will Palmer discussed the moviegoing experience on Day 2 of TheGrill.
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Universal president of worldwide marketing Josh Goldstine discussed the moviegoing experience on Day 2 of TheGrill.
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Steven Amato, CEO & chief content officer of Contend and Sharon Waxman, founder & CEO of TheWrap spoke onstage during the "Drones and Hollywood" panel at TheWrap's 6th Annual TheGrill.
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Co-founder and chief executive of Movio Will Palmer held a discussion regarding "What Women Want: Unlocking Box Office Revenue" at TheWrap's 6th Annual TheGrill.
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Joseph Atkinson, U.S. Advisory Leader for the Entertainment, Media & Communications Practice at PwC, spoke onstage at TheWrap's 6th Annual TheGrill.
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Twitter and Uber investor Chris Sacca talks investing in the tech space during Day 2 of TheGrill
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Evolution Media Group founder and co-managing partner Rick Hess talks about financing media during Day 2 of TheGrill
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Former MTV president Van Toffler talks about his new company during Day 2 of TheGrill
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Lloyd Braun, Founder & CEO of Whalerock Industries during Day 2 of TheGrill
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Mark Terbeek, Partner at Greycroft, Jesse Jacobs, President of The Chernin Group and Brian Weinstein, Head of Corporate Finance Group of CAA during Day 2 of TheGrill
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Steven Haft, SVP Innovation of Time Inc., Sanjay Sharma, President & COO of All Def Digital, Christian Meinberger, SVP Content Programming & Production at Studio 71, and Tobias Bauckhage, CEO and co-founder of Moviepilot during Day 2 of TheGrill
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Steven Haft, SVP Innovation of Time Inc. and Adam Smith, Partner at United Entertainment Group during Day 2 of TheGrill
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