Relax! Life is beautiful!
David L. Wolper
There's a fine line between patriotism and corn.
The minute I went into business, I was a success, and I've done well ever since.
Sometimes if you tell me what a story is about in just a few sentences, I can tell you if it's going to be a success.
I make it happen. Who bought Alex Haley's book 'Roots' for TV? Me. I hired the director, hired the writer. I put them all together. I'm like the chef. If I mix all the ingredients right, it's going to taste terrific. If I don't, it's not going to come out good.
My initial goal for the 1984 opening ceremonies was a show that would be majestic, inspirational, and emotional - a 20 goosebump experience.
For a two-hour movie on a 20-day shooting schedule, it's O.K. to have an actor who's a pain in the neck.
I believe that religion and politics should not mix. Both should be a part of somebody's life - but not together.
My philosophy as a filmmaker is to inform and entertain at the same time. And when I went away from documentaries into miniseries like 'Roots,' I did the reverse. Instead of just entertaining, I want to inform at the same time.
If people perceive 'Roots' to be a black history show, nobody is going to watch it.
Motion pictures are a director's medium. Broadway is a writer's medium. Television is a producer's medium. I picked a medium I could control.
You have to say, 'We think it's going to work. Let's go with it.' Either you're going to kill the world, or you're going to fall on your rear end.
Why is it that if you hit a shot to within a tenth of an inch of the hole, it's a great shot, but if it goes in, it's luck?
I liked the clear morality of 1941, when you had no doubt about good and evil. There was a lot of idealism, people fighting for a cause. People are searching for morality today.
Somebody said something funny to me the other day. They said, 'Wolper, until two weeks ago, your tombstone was going to say, 'David Wolper, the man who produced 'Roots.' I think the tombstone now has a new inscription. It's going to be 'David Wolper, the man who produced the opening ceremony of the 1984 Olympics.'
I don't fall in love with inanimate objects. I don't bond with them. I only fall in love with people.
I did not intend for there to be an incisive historical lesson in 'North and South.' Basically, it's just a good, juicy story.
I can possibly say I have entertained and educated more people than anyone else in the world.
Some psychiatrist told me I was interested in sculpture because I dealt in flat surfaces and needed something with dimension.
I'm not a kid trying to make an impression in the business. I do have 600 films out there that are playing constantly.
I have to do popcorn for movies. I can do more important things for television. You're going down when you're making a movie, not going up.
My main contribution has been that I have educated and entertained people at the same time.
You need an actor who can maintain a character over a long period of time. If you have a weak actor, it won't be obvious in two hours, but you'll begin to see his weaknesses over four or five days.
I don't call four hours a miniseries.
'Roots' did show that the audience would be receptive to black talent and a black story.
What prevailed was that it was a family story, so it didn't matter what the color. It was also the perfect subject matter for a miniseries: A best-selling book, a generational story, a social problem - they all made 'Roots' what a miniseries should be.
Continuity is a wonderful thing, and it is a very rare thing in show business.
My definition of a producer is 'the man with the dream.'
I've asked every grammar schoolteacher in the nation to have their students write on the meaning of the Statue of Liberty. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the winning kid got up to the microphone and, in front of the world, had to dig into a pocket to pull out a crumpled sheet of paper containing the words that would move us all?
When they did the Olympics in Seoul - or elsewhere - didn't each host country try to show its greatness to the world viewing audience?
People don't buy and sell art based on the personality of the artist. Or there wouldn't be much art bought and sold.
We couldn't predict what would happen with 'Roots.' You knew there were powerful moments that were going to affect people. We were making the film while the book was being completed. We were fortunate because the hardcover book was out and on the best-seller list. The heat was still on.
I had been an independent entrepreneur from the beginning, and I felt I could do it myself. I didn't want to get a job.
I don't want to make an 'Animal House.' I'm not interested in making 'Ghost Busters.'
Television is like a library. There are a lot of library books in it, and you have to pick and choose what you take out of it.
I believe a mini-series has two audiences. The first is the media. Then I go for the television audience.
I couldn't get my first film on the air. The first film I did was called 'The Race For Space,' about the U.S.-Soviet space race. The networks had a policy that I found out about the hard way. I even had a sponsor for my program, but the networks wouldn't put it on because it was independently produced.
My roots are documentaries.
I was the first independent to walk in with a documentary.
I make the money, and I don't have to take the abuse some of the stars do, opening up their personal life. I can go into a restaurant, sit down, and have a nice meal without being harassed. Arnold Schwarzenegger can't do that.
