Here’s the latest from the crossroads of faith, media & culture: 08/22/22

Going the distance. A young black man rises from his humble Mississippi origins to become a powerhouse force both within the boxing ring and at the movie box office. So goes the log line for The Unexpected Danny Green, a sweeping novel touching on racial issues, family values, sports, Hollywood, organized crime and romance by Paul R. Friedman, a former CBS Entertainment executive who worked on such hit shows as Big Brother, The Amazing Race and Survivor.

JWK: What inspired you to write this story?

Paul R. Friedman: I wanted to write about an American folk hero, somebody that’s physically gifted but also mentally strong. This character came to me and I thought “Alright, let’s try and work with him.” He’s a young man who’s born on the wrong side of the tracks in rural Mississippi – and to the right family. He’s a guy with a powerful motor. He strives to create opportunity for himself. He takes advantage of opportunities that present themselves to him.

JWK: Where’d you grow up?

 PRF: I grew up in Los Angeles. We traveled a lot in Europe and the Middle East when I was a child. and then moved to New York after college. I spent seven years in New York on the Upper West Side, primarily working for CBS – the entertainment and the news divisions.

JWK: So, that’s an interesting background – but very much different from this character. How did you key into this character?

PRF: I always loved watching boxing. I had a teacher and we used to sit together. He was an amateur boxer. He was a strong influence on me. He’d point things out as we watched matches. I started to decipher the code, if you will, when subtle changes would occur in a match – when he might falter and when the momentum would shift. So, boxing to me was just something I was very curious about. I watched a lot of matches through the years and I always found something unique about them. The ones that are in the book actually all have unique things that occur that affect Danny not only in his career but his path moving forward.

JWK: Beyond your interest in boxing, I guess one thing you share with Danny is interaction with Hollywood? Do you see similarities between boxing and show business?

PRF: I think you have to be tough in both. You have to show that you can be vulnerable but you have to that you have a tough skin as well. I think in most pursuits in life that I’ve experienced, you cannot falter. You can have setbacks. You can face obstacles but you have to believe in yourself. A boxer in the ring has only himself, his wits, his ability and his heart to rely on. In that regard it’s similar to the show business that I’ve experienced.

JWK: What do you hope people take from the book?

PRF: I hope that everyone who reads this might see a part of themself in Danny and they’ll look to unlock their potential (and) be inspired by his rise from humble beginnings to the pinnacle of success. As I said, he’s from a small Mississippi town. He’s from a good family (where) education was emphasized in the home. His mother’s a grade school teacher. His father runs a lawnmower repair shop out of the family garage but he has a journeyman’s search for knowledge. He goes to the library. He checks out books – biographies, historical novels – and he inculcates the kids with that. So, I would like people to feel like there’s opportunity out there. Go out and seek it. Go out and find it and don’t let anybody tell you you can’t be successful.

JWK: Does your past experience as a television executive at CBS influence your writing as a novelist?

PRF: Very much so. I think one of the main things that influenced me was working in the news division. I had an opportunity to work with Dan Rather on The CBS Evening News many years ago. I had to present copy to him every day. To me, it looked liked going to the gym and doing curls. So, the writing becomes more reflexive. You had to hit a deadline every day or the next day someone else would be there fulfilling your responsibilities. That’s what helped me in the writing, in the work that I’ve done.

JWK: I used to work at CBS and Fox News doing similar work. I know that kind of pressure. Is that how you started in the business?

PRF: I actually began studying political science at UCLA but I also was interested in the theater. So, like a lot of people I began as an actor and I turned to directing and writing theater pieces. I started at the bottom at CBS. I started as a page and then I made a lateral move to the mailroom and, subsequently, to the shipping and receiving department until somebody took an interest in me, fortunately, and took a look at my writing and gave me an opportunity.

I always felt that this was a business of who you know and timing. When that door opens up – and you’ve knocked on maybe a thousand of them – how well prepared you are or how well developed your talent is, (can help you) parlay that into success. I believe that. I don’t know why exactly but that was something I carried with me and it served me well.

JWK: What was the first big show you worked on?

PRF: After the news division, the biggest show I worked on was Survivor. I launched that in the year 2000. That was the Summer of Survivor. People might remember, we launched the show – myself and a team of people – (on) a Wednesday night and we did well…In 13 weeks that summer we grew to 55-million viewers by the finale…I can remember just the feeling of elation and the feeling of achievement that we had. It was a heady, heady time.

Also, I think working on The Grammys was extremely rewarding. I got a chance to go to The Grammys, be backstage, to work with all this talent and put promos on the air. Through Ken Ehrlich, who was the executive producer of the show, I was able – with my small team – to produce the opens for the show as well. That was extremely rewarding.

JWK: So, a lot of the TV shows you’ve worked on have dealt with competition – which is also sorta the theme of The Unexpected Danny Green. Do you have any thoughts on competition and the role it plays in life?

PRF: Yes, very much…I was told years ago that if you look at the situation (in) Hollywood, there’s a lot of room at the top. There are a few stars – there are a few people – who are extremely successful. So, there’s room up there. There are a lot of people in the middle but very few people who achieve the pinnacle of success. I felt – again, it was kind of an idealized thought process – (that) I could be tenacious and I could be persistent. I knew I wasn’t the smartest, I wasn’t the strongest but I felt like somehow, some way, I would make it work because I felt maybe I was the most ambitious.

JWK: Do you think, in our current environment in America, those are things we need to relearn – to be tough and to be persistent and to not expect things to be handed to you?

PRF: Yes, I think so. I got out of college thinking “Well, I’m going to put forth X amount of energy, I’m gonna send out X number of resumes. I’m gonna contact people and I’m gonna succeed.” Nothing could have been further from the truth. It was like speaking into an echo chamber. There was no response. I just was persistent and hustled – and was convinced somehow that through persistence and through drive I could be successful.

I don’t know. A lot of people maybe don’t have that kind of drive but I think we all have talent, we all have creativity and, for some reason, it kinda gets drummed out of us. We’re told you can’t succeed as an actor. You can’t succeed as a guitar player. Get a job. Learn to make money. Well, that’s great. That’s all well and good. Money is terrific but I think having some poetry in your life, having passion and pursuing your dream is very important. But it takes drive to do that. Things aren’t handed to people. They certainly weren’t handed to me.

JWK: So, it seems to me that, when all is said and done, you’re an optimist. Would you describe Danny as an optimist?

PRF: I think he’s an optimist, yes. I think he looks at the obstacles in front of him and sees how he can overcome them. So, in some ways maybe he’s an idealized character but I think he’s also very flesh and blood and very real.

JWK: I think maybe we need more characters like that in our culture – characters who see the obstacles but believe they can be overcome.

PRF: Yeah, he’s not gonna be deterred by them. I think that’s a really admirable quality. I believe that we all face disappointments, we all face frustration and we’re all told at one time or another that we’re not worth anything, we’re no good, we’re not capable. We have to have some inner resolve and, yes, I really believe that he’s the kind of person that we could aspire to.

It’s interesting because we don’t all have an opportunity to have physical, clear-cut decisions in our life. He does. He fights. He wins or he loses. I mean you can’t get any more basic than that. You can’t get any more primal than that – but every day in our life we have little successes or failures. I think we have to be more aware, more concerned and more focused on the successes – and have some amnesia about the failures.

John W. Kennedy is a writer, producer and media development consultant specializing in television and movie projects that uphold positive timeless values, including trust in God.