Legends Behind the Lens: Michael Weisman

Legends Behind the Lens: Michael Weisman One of the industrys greatest producers had an unrivaled knack for storytelling By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital

Monday, July 13, 2020 - 12:00 pm

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Story Highlights

The story of American sports television is engrained in the history of this nation, rising on the achievements of countless incredible men and women who never once appeared on our screens. During this pause in live sports, SVG is proud to present a celebration of this great industry. Legends Behind the Lens is a look at how we got here seen through the people who willed it to be. Each weekday, we will share with you the story of a person whose impact on the sports-television industry is indelible.

Legends Behind the Lens is presented in association with the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame and the SVG Sports Broadcasting Fund. In these trying times - with so many video-production professionals out of work - we hope that you will consider (if you are able) donating to the Sports Broadcasting Fund. Do so by visiting sportsbroadcastfund.org.

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By Ken Kerschbaumer

For most youngsters, the glamour of TV is theoretical. But, for Michael Weisman, whose father, Edward, was a publicist at ABC and then at NBC Sports, it was reality. He wasn't growing up on TV sets, but he did have the chance to be part of publicity shots for TV stars and even a publicity stunt at Madison Square Garden for Batman (along with his little brother, who played Robin).

I knew from my early ages that being in television was glamorous and exciting, he recalls. That was something that appealed to me.

It may have appealed to him, but it didn't stop him from leaving a home within shouting distance of that glamour to head to the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and find out what he wanted to do with his life. During his sophomore year, though, his life course changed abruptly: his father died of a massive heart attack at the age of 44, and Weisman returned home immediately and stayed there to be with his mother.

I told her I decided that I'm not going back to college, he recalls. I'll transfer to Queens College so I can be here with you and help you.' My mother started crying. I said, What are you upset for, Mom?' And she said, Because your brother came to me yesterday and he said the same thing.' And then we decided, between the three of us, that my brother should have the experience of going away; since I'd been a way a couple years, I'd come home.

Back home, Weisman had a couple of part-time jobs and finished his education at Queens College. Wondering what to do next he called up some of the people at NBC who knew his father. Their advice? Try the guest-relations program.

I didn't realize it at the time, but somebody said guest relations at NBC is harder to get into than Harvard, he says. So, instead of being in Carolina, I was in New York and able to get the job at 30 Rock.

It was there that his education in TV began: if he wasn't assigned to do anything as a page, he could sit in the audience at the Tonight Show With Johnny Carson, watch the musical acts rehearse, and more.

As a page, you wore a uniform, and you were invisible to most of the executives at NBC, he recalls. But the producer, Fred de Cordova, would see you, look at your name tag, and say, Hello, Mr. Weisman, and how are you today?' He treated us with respect and dignity, and, of course, I felt, like many others at the time, if I ever get into a position of import, I'm gonna be like this guy.

With his 13 months as a page ending, he planned to attend St. John's University and take courses to become a teacher. TV was simply not in the plan.

But, before leaving NBC, he stopped by to see Chet Simmons, who had hired his father to be publicist. His mother had told him that stopping by to say hello was the right thing to do.

I said he doesn't know me from Adam, Weisman recalls. I'll go up to his office and just say, Hey, I've been a page here, I just want to say goodbye, you knew my dad, whatever. I go up to the fifth floor, and Chet Simmons, who I recognized from pictures, is standing by the elevator on a Friday at 5:00 with his luggage. And I said, Mr. Simmons, I'm Mike Weisman, Eddie Weisman's son.' He said, I heard you were working here. How's it going?' I said, Well, frankly, I've been here 13 months; there's nothing going on. I'm gonna start on Monday at St. John's to get a teaching license, take a few credits.

The elevator came, but Simmons didn't get on. He asked Weisman what he wanted to do.

I said, Sports has always appealed to me,' and he said, Would you be interested in working in sports? We're getting ready to expand. Call [Executive Producer] Scotty [Connal] on Monday and tell him I told you to call.' Fast forward, I got the job and became the first assistant producer at NBC Sports.

In at the Beginning

Now, Weisman might have been drawn to the glamour of TV, but he is also the first to admit that he was not a sophisticated kid and was intimidated by his new role. He had flown on a plane only twice: going to North Carolina as a freshman and then flying home in 1969.

And now, as the first assistant to the producer, I am assigned to every telecast on every game: Saturday baseball, Sunday football, and Monday Night Baseball, he says. I'm working with all these producers and I watched, I learned. That was the start.

It's important to note that he was not the assistant to the producer. He was assistant to the producers - plural, three of them.

I learned different things from different people, he notes of that time. Roy Hammerman had such an engaging personality, and he was so warm, he made his mee

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2020/07/13/legends-behind-the-lens-michael...
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