Book excerpt: "Who Knew" by Barry Diller

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TV, movie and media enforcement Barry Diller spent a decennary astatine ABC, wherever helium helped popularize the made-for-TV "Movie of the Week." In his caller memoir, "Who Knew" (to beryllium published connected May 20 by Simon & Schuster), Diller writes astir his career, including a acquisition astir the limitations of excessively overmuch accusation – erstwhile instinct (for, like, what makes an intriguing Movie of the Week?) whitethorn beryllium a amended predictor of success.

Read an excerpt below, and don't miss Tracy Smith's interrogation with Barry Diller connected "CBS Sunday Morning" May 11!

"Who Knew" by Barry Diller

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We were bully connected titles successful the aboriginal days

Women successful Chains was 1 of my favorites; it was a horrible movie, but what a promotable title.

Scream, Pretty Peggy wasn't bad, either.

Sometimes the unit would ask, "Is it commercial?" and I would brutalize them, due to the fact that alternatively than utilizing their instincts, they were trying to foretell the public's appetite, which I said past and accidental now, implicit and implicit again, simply isn't possible. Neither is utilizing probe to assistance marque decisions. No magnitude of probe connected ideas is worthy the insubstantial (or machine screen) it's printed on. Data tin archer you what has happened, not what can oregon volition happen. Data is often harmful to instinct, and I judge this to beryllium existent for making not lone originative decisions but galore concern decisions. PowerPoint tin beryllium the enemy; structured accusation often narrows the sieve conscionable erstwhile you request to broaden it retired successful the spaces betwixt accusation and existent understanding. Overtraining our brains connected information unsocial doesn't confer an advantage, and it tin beryllium a deterrent if it's the lone decision-making component. That's often the occupation with MBA students, who travel equipped with each the concern tools and lawsuit studies but small elemental quality instinct. I bash not judge that utilizing instinct alternatively than deep, hard numerical oregon fact-based information to assistance with decision-making is the lazier process. Too overmuch accusation tin overload, overcomplicate, and obscure what is astatine the essence of immoderate proposal: Is it a bully idea, and does it marque immoderate communal sense?

You seldom get the cleanable task oregon the cleanable script. In each my acquisition I astir apt haven't work 10 scripts retired of a 1000 that are truthful afloat realized, truthful utterly and incontrovertibly large that you conscionable scream, "Make it!" One of those, though, was the time successful 1970 that Leonard Goldberg, who had precocious moved connected from ABC to tally a ample tv accumulation company, called up and said, "You indispensable work this publication close now." It was called Brian's Song, the communicative of the heavy enslaved betwixt a Black and a achromatic pro shot player, 1 who volition dice of cancer. I wept arsenic I work it. I called him up and said, "We tin lone screw it up from here—it's perfect—let's go." Often referred to arsenic 1 of the finest tv films ever made—and 1 of the top sports films arsenic well—it was nominated for 9 Emmys and won five. Another of those fewer times, Dan Curtis, a starring ABC daytime producer, sent maine a manuscript of an as-yet-unpublished caller called The Kolchak Papers. I work it successful 2 oregon 3 hours—it was the modern communicative of a vampire successful Las Vegas—and I told Dan, "This is arsenic bully a communicative arsenic I've ever read." And what a large idea: Las Vegas, a metropolis astir live astatine night—the cleanable spot for a vampire to live.

Out of that caller we made The Night Stalker, which turned retired to beryllium truthful bully that we held a screening for the elder ABC management, who each said, "That's a large movie. We should merchandise it theatrically!" I fought against that, saying, "Yes, it's a large movie, but it's a Movie of the Week, and that's wherever it belongs." We aired the movie successful aboriginal January 1972, and it became ABC's highest-rated Movie of the Week, drafting astir 50 cardinal people, a record. The Night Stalker spawned a sequel (The Night Strangler) and a tv bid (Kolchak: The Night Stalker), and it was followed by 2 much made-for-TV movies and a consequent remake of the series. All that from 1 bully idea!

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"Who Knew" by Barry Diller

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