This is the man who changed my life.
I first met Jamie Kellner on my second day at Fox — in May of 1987. I’d come from CBS. It was a really stiff environment and I was not a good fit. It wasn’t going well.
Also Read: TV Business Pioneer Jamie Kellner, Creator of the Fox and WB Networks, Dead at 77
I started two days before the big annual programming presentation (the upfront) to advertisers showing what programs they could buy ad time in for the coming year. Our presentation was at the Boathouse in Central Park. On brand for Fox … different, cool, unique. We are kind of outdoors, and it’s pouring rain. Pouring. As I am milling about, waiting for clients to show up I see this guy in a suit bending down and wiping the floor with napkins. He pops up and Dave Cassaro says, “Jed, meet Jamie Kellner.” The network president is wiping the floor. Clearly this isn't CBS. I knew right away that Fox was a network I could thrive in.
Jamie built a free-wheeling environment. Contribute more where you can. So I did. I asked if I could chase the NFL’s upcoming TV contract. “Sure,” he said, “just let me know how it’s going.” Just like that. Go ahead. I wrote a script for the Fox comedy Get a Life. They offered me a job in programming! That doesn’t happen at CBS! Or NBC! Or ABC! (I didn’t do it.) That’s the company Jamie built.
He left Fox. I saw a Wall Street Journal story that Warner Bros. was starting a network run by … Jamie Kellner. He hired Fox veterans in programming and marketing. “Please Jamie … call me.” Two months went by. I walked in after a long day and my wife Patty said: ”Carmella [Jamie’s asst.] called. She asked you to call Jamie.”
Jamie said: “I’m getting the Fox band back together. Come and build the sales department for us.”
He had only two rules: “Don’t ever be afraid to tell me the truth, no matter how bad it is,” and, “I will entertain where you need me but I am not staying out all night. I’m too old.”
Our ad-buying customers loved him. They genuinely rooted for him to succeed. He respected them and their role in our future. He had fun with them, too. We attended a luncheon hosted by the Detroit Ad Club. Jamie was the featured speaker. The host was an attractive woman with a big job in the auto industry. When she introduced Jamie to the crowd she touched on his accomplishments and finished by saying, somewhat flirtatiously, “all that … and he’s quite charming too!” Jamie got to the mic: “Aw, you're easy!” Classic Jamie.
After I left The WB, I wrote him one or two times a year to touch base. He asked about work, recommended me for a few jobs. He cared. I saw him one last time in Montecito, maybe three years ago, at lunch with my WB buddies Bob Bibb and Lew Goldstein. He was a little slower but he still had that easy laugh. We talked about our old TV business and the three of us just listened to him. It was a pleasant time that we wished had gone on longer but he tired out so we drove him home and said goodbye.
Many of us in the industry over the years owe Jamie thanks. By starting two different networks, he created a slew of jobs and started a ton of careers — not just at the respective networks but studio jobs for showrunners, writers, producers, directors, casting execs … the whole programming drill. And TV stations … so many created during Fox's growth … that needed news divisions and staffing … and also created vast fortunes for those enterprising few who built groups and then sold them. So give Jamie a nod of thanks today.
Jamie left a big imprint on my life. A fun, smart, really good guy. I will miss him.
