I saw the documentary, 'His Way', highlighting the life of one of Hollywood’s top producers Jerry Weintraub. I honestly just stumbled on the program and was about to flip to something else when I saw an excerpt of Frank Sinatra singing 'My Way'. to a packed house and receiving a standing ovation. Then I heard about how Mr Weintraub had gone on to manage the music careers and booking management of top stars of the time like Elvis, The Carpenters, John Denver, Led Zeppelin and a host of others.
I went. ‘Ok, that’s great. The guy is good at promoting artists, he did a good job’.
Then I heard how he decided to forge into movie making and I thought... ‘Ok, This guy is a risk-taker, leaving the area where he was most comfortable and had made quite a name for himself into something a bit different. He will do great I’m sure’. It turned out that he did. Only I didn’t know how well he would do it. Then I heard he was the producer of Karate Kid! Karate Kid that I must have seen a zillion times as a child! He ‘produced’ Karate Kid! I sat up a bit after that. Then I heard how he produced Oceans eleven! I went, ‘whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat! This guy is ‘the’ producer!’
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| Oceans 13 Los Angeles Premiere Graumans Chinese Theater 6/5/2007 David Gabber / PR Photos |
Somehow my finger wasn't so quick to want to flip channels anymore. I wanted to know more about this man.
Then in the middle of everything there was a portion about how he started out his own multi-million dollar entertainment company, Weintraub Entertainment and filed for bankruptcy after only two years at the helm.
I went, ‘Wow! Poor guy.....it must be terrible for him to be in this position in such an industry, after riding with the rich and famous in music for many years’. I couldn't help thinking if he had an evil voice saying, ‘I told you so’ in his head as he scrambled to save his company from going under after a string of films with unsuccessful box office ratings.
Then I said. ‘Hmm, but he worked his way up from nothing in the music industry didn't he I am sure he will work something out’. It turns out he did. I just didn't know how well he was going to do! I couldn’t get over the Oceans Eleven part! I still can’t. Jerry himself even said he had seen the original movie and didn't like it and had promised himself that he would do a much better job someday. And he did. And it wasn't even an original script!!
Lessons learned.
Lesson number one. It’s not so much about what you do but about how you do it. He managed to make an ok movie with an interesting storyline turn into a blockbuster and have us swarming to the cinemas to get a peek-of a story that had already been told. Awesome! Then he made us go again for Oceans Twelve, and again for Oceans Thirteen! He actually made three movies out of one!! Three!! And all grossed huge amounts at the box office. Its’ not about what you do, it’s about how you do it. Now I understand why they call him a legend.
Lesson number two. Things happen. Things happen to the rich and famous, to the rich and not so famous, and to the not-so-rich and not-so-famous. Life will throw stuff at you regardless of what side of the divide you are on. Many people in Jerry’s shoes would have curled up and died. They would have patted themselves on the back and said, ‘Oh well, at least for a 51 year old I have overachieved anyway. I had the Karate Kid, and all those great movies to my credit and I had a great time in music, I should just give up’. But that wouldn't be Jerry now would it? This was an excerpt of an article in the LA times in 1989 when he was at the height of his troubles.
‘Wall Street doesn't have a serious stake in Weintraub's company, since its stock--over which he holds about 76% control--doesn't trade publicly, and his $80 million in bonds are closely held by a small group of investors. But Hollywood deal makers, usually quick to offer their projects when a troubled firm finds new money, are watching closely to see if Weintraub can salvage his fortunes.
"If he has one hit, everything changes. Then it's 'Jerry, how are you? Jerry, I need a little money for this charity I'm working on. Jerry, I've got a movie I want to show you,' " a producer who has worked closely with Weintraub said.’
Well he showed them! He went on to produce all the Oceans movies and even starred in them for good measure.
Lesson number three. Likeability gets you into the places you need to be a lot faster. You’ve just got to love the guy! I don’t know him personally but his charisma was unmistakeable. Love him or hate him, he was a likeable person and had a vibrant personality. I don’t know much about movie making but he made you want to listen and learn. I could understand how he got all the biggest players in the acting scene to star in one movie!
Lesson number four. Work like it’s all or nothing! Even though his tactics and way of doing things was sometimes called brash and a bit heavy handed, he went on the get the job done and always brought out a great result. The results are likely to have been alot different if he has done just enough to get a good picture, but no, he always worked at getting a great one. It was all or nothing with Jerry Weintraub. You were either in it for the long haul or you were out, there was no other way. It was the big guns or no one at all. As one of his close associates in the documentary aptly put it, ‘Only Jerry could pull that off’.
Lesson number five. You don’t have to be an inventor to make a ton of cash. You just need to know how to get your invention in front of the right people at the right time and make it worth their while even if it’s not yours. Like I said, he didn't write the story, but he took it from ok to fantastic! Then he pushed it hard until he got it on front of the people who mattered. That was his way all the time. There were no cutting corners. The fact that he didn't write the story made no difference.
All in all it was a hilarious, sometimes slightly bizarre but really, really informative piece of work. I hope you were able to learn a little from Jerry Weintraub’s life like I was. Be sure to share!
P.S. How long have you been churning out ‘good’ products? How quickly can you stop and churn out outstanding products instead?! Be a Jerry and make it count!!!
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