Episode 9244 - Breaking into Live TV: The Pressure and Payoff of Going Live

In this episode of Breaking the Biz, we dive into the fast-paced, high-pressure world of live television with Philip Dvorak, an accomplished associate director with 20 years of experience in TV production. Phil specializes in control room operations for live news and sports programming, ensuring all elements are perfectly timed and ready for directors to execute on-air.

From his nearly two-decade tenure with Access Hollywood to his Emmy-winning work on FOX NFL Sunday, Phil shares stories and insights from behind the scenes of some of TV’s most iconic moments. He discusses the intricacies of working in live broadcast environments, the rewarding (and sometimes stressful) nature of the job, and how his passion for storytelling has shaped his career.

Phil also opens up about balancing his thriving career with family life, his move from Southern California to Colorado, and the lessons he’s learned about perseverance and adaptability in a rapidly evolving industry. Whether you're curious about the demands of live television or looking for inspiration to break into the entertainment industry, this episode is packed with wisdom and practical advice.

Join our conversation on social media:

facebook.com/breakingthebiz
instagram.com/breakingthebiz
instagram.com/yic_unity
https://www.linkedin.com/company/18149713

Interested in being a guest speaker? blieberman@yicunity.org

Transcript

0:00

Hello everybody My name is Philip Dvorak I am an Associate Director in the television industry I've been working there for about 20 years or so and I'm here on the Breaking the Biz Podcast.[AI Narrator] - Stay tuned for today's episode of Breaking the Biz, an informative podcast where we dive into the world of entertainment by interviewing seasoned professionals who have made their mark in the industry. Gain invaluable insights as they share their personal journeys, offering advice on navigating the dynamic landscape of the entertainment industry. Whether you're an aspiring actor, musician, filmmaker, author, animator, or any creative soul, tune in for expert career guidance, insider tips and firsthand accounts on breaking into the entertainment industry. Get ready to unlock the secrets behind successful careers and fuel your own passion for the limelight. Please remember to like this video and to subscribe to our channels for more great conversations.[Host] - Greetings from Breaking the Biz brought to you by Yes I Can Unity Through Music and Education. I'm William Felber, your navigator through the intriguing universe of the entertainment industry as revealed by the visionaries and creators who bring it to life. Stay tuned as we delve into diverse insights from the forefront of entertainment. Hearing from pioneers, creators and agents of change. Prepare for a journey filled with tales of innovation, resilience and the undying quest for artistic brilliance.[Moderator] - Welcome everyone to Breaking the Biz. We have got a great guest. We have Mr. Phil Dvorak who is an associate director with 20 plus years of experience in television and production industry. Phil specializes and thrives in a control room setting for the production of news and sports programming as an Associate director. More commonly called as the "assistant director" in the film world, but in TV it's called an "Associate". Phil is responsible for getting all the right elements ready for the director to call for for when is needed. It's a stressful but rewarding situation, especially if the program is live on air. Phil has worked numerous different types of projects and programs over the years, but most consistently has worked for NBC Universal in Fox Sports. Phil worked at the show Access Hollywood for 19 plus years and still fills in from time to time. He continues to work at Fox Sports, namely for Fox NFL Sunday for the past 13 years, Fox College Saturday for six years and worked for Fox Deportes show for two years. Most notably, Phil has earned a Sports Emmy Award for his work at Fox NFL Sunday. Other recognitions include an NBC Universal Ovation Award for integrity and perseverance, 10 years of service as an NBC Fire and Safety Floor Warden, and a Safety Pass certification for the film and television industry Network. Phil was born and raised in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Phil graduated with a bachelor's in science from Florida Straight University and double majored in General Communications and History. Upon graduation, Phil moved to Southern California and immediately began pursuing a career in film and television. However, after meeting and marrying and having two wonderful boys, Phil and his wife Cynthia decided to move and raise the family in Colorado. Phil continues to work as coverage at Access Hollywood and will work for Fox Sports on weekends in the fall during football season. And we are right in the mix of football season, so I'm sure you are busy, but I do want to thank you for making time for us tonight. Of course, no problem. Glad to be here. I want to ask you, what was the dream job when you were a little boy? Was it like, "I want to be a fireman", "I want to be a doctor", "I want to be an actor"? What was that dream job? Yeah, well, my brother and I, when we, at a very young age, we loved movies and just right out of the gate and my brother's four years older than I am and so he kind of fell in love a little earlier than I did. But he kind of, you know, took me under his wing, so to speak, and we started making movies with my dad's video camera. And. Yeah, so the dream job was to actually to do that for a living, but I didn't really know that at the time. Being so young, it was like, oh, you could do this for a living, you know, like as something professional and yeah, so it was really a love of movies. You know, a child of the 80s who. A lot of great films of the 80s and early 90s that really shaped the trajectory of my career. I love it. Where does the love of sports come in? Did you play football? Yeah, I was watching football. Sports in general were, um, they weren't big in my family. Like my dad and my mother weren't like, you know, they, they weren't big into sports. But my brother and I were. It just happened, the football and the Miami Dolphins at the time was a big deal. Dan Marino and all of that in the 80s. And so we, we enjoyed going to the games. So that took a big thing. And of course just playing street ball in the front yard, you know, that was a big deal too. Like kids from down the street, we would play and I even remember we used to, we used to do like our own pre game, like pretending we were on tv. A pre game where we would sit in our living room and my brother would be, you know, like on the couch and we'd actually use my dad's video camera to record. Okay, you know, go. And Tom would say, okay, today we have the Dolphins playing the Bengals or whatever. And then we would go out into the street and we would pretend with our friends that Dolphins versus Bengals. And then we do like a. Like a highlight reel, like that type of thing. So even that early on, I'd say like 10, 11, 12, we were, you know, acting out that sports TV fantasy a little. A little foreshadowing into a career. So you graduate high school, you go to college, and you go to study communications. When you got there, to study communications and then also history. Still the game plan to get into radio, television, film, not so much radio, television. So I went to Florida State because they had a great film school. Well, they still do have a great film school. It was relatively young. I think it might have been only, you know, less than 10 years old, maybe five by the time I got there. And. But it was one of the best in the state, if not the best. It was like University of Miami was really good, a couple other ones. But Florida State had just started and they spent a lot of money and poured a lot of money into that film school. And so I was like, I would like to pursue that. I want to make movies. And that was why I got in there or why I went to Florida State. But I didn't get into the film school. That's a very hard. There's only like 15 or 20 at the time that they admit every year to go to the film school. So I didn't get into that. And so the next best thing was the communications department. And so that's where they had most of the. There's the theater department and the communications department. And that's where kind of the TV fell under the communications umbrella at Florida State. So I decided to pursue that and get a degree in general communications and then also in history, because I've been a big lover of history throughout my life. I love to study all. All types of history. My grandfather was a Civil War historian, so I get a lot of. A lot of that from him. And so I just. I went ahead and did a double major and then a minor in film studies, which you could still do, but just not part of the film school. So I did take quite a few film classes and. Yeah, and then got my degree. And as most. I don't know about most, but some people do. You have to go to LA to try to. To break in there. And so I. I moved to LA after school. Gotta. Gotta chase the dream, so to speak. So I love it. You know, you knew you by studying so many different things, you kind of kept options out there. Yes. So when you move to la. Scary. You gotta have strong growth mindset just to follow the dream and the passion. When you get to la, did you have something lined up or is it just out on a whim? I need to come to LA knowing this is where the entertainment is. Yeah, well, twofold. I didn't have anything lined up in the business. I had a job working for Zales, the jewelry company, you know, like in the mall. So when I was working at Zales while I was in Tallahassee, which is in Florida State, in Tallahassee, Florida, I was working for sales and I was like, you know what, I have this passion to move to Los Angeles. Would I be able to get a transfer? So I put in a request for a transfer to any stores in Southern California and I got one. So that way I knew I already had a job moving there. So I was like, I got that set and you know, my parents gave me a tiny bit of money and I was able to, you know, get, get a, an apartment and whatnot and had a job. So that was great. But in on my spare time. So this is all, so this is 2003. So you know, we're, you know, Internet is still, you know, dial up, it's still young. There's Craigslist, there's no YouTube, you know, I mean, so there's, there's no how to guide, you know, so it was very, it was, that was exciting but also daunting. And I, you know, I was like, okay, how am I going to do this? So I just, I went on Craigslist and I, I searched in, in their entertainment area of people who needed all sorts of different things from like a runner to a production assistant to a boom operator, second, second assistant director. All of these jobs mostly were non union, you know, they're just, you know, kind of, you know, barely. Some of them were just not even interns, like just volunteer work. But whatever I could do to kind of get in and meet as many people as possible. And then the other facet, the other second part, my friend Frank, who was my college roommate in my first year at Florida State, he also was interested in TV and film. So we hit it off right from the beginning. And he also wanted to move to la. And he actually, I moved out first in the summer and then about six to eight months later he came out when he got his degree. And so we were Able to meet up and kind of attack the same thing. So it's nice to have a friend. You know, I had a job and I had a friend coming, so it was nice to have those two support systems. So what is the first job that you land outside of Zales? What's the first job in entertainment? That or even internship or volunteer that you actually get involved in? It was, it was off Craigslist and his name was Rudy Zaslav. He was a sound mixer and editor and he needed somebody to help him with the sound mixing and the onset sound mixing and boom operator. So. And he was working for different types of commercials at the time. Real low budget stuff, you know, at friends houses. And like, it wasn't like big marketing type advertisement, but it was like, kind of like getting, you know, his reel together to do those things. And you know, he paid me like super. I don't remember what it was, but I was happy to do it. And, and I learned how the audio mixing worked a little bit and how the boom worked and capturing audio and that type of thing. And yeah, that was for about a weekend. It was just a couple of days. And then he also, you know, a couple of months later called me back up and said, hey, I got another thing. So that, that was good. And then you meet people while you're there on the set and you try to, you know, network a tiny bit. But that was the first job was boom operating. Okay, so you do you volunteer, so to speak? Yeah. I mean, you're getting paid very little. Yeah. What comes that. What comes next? So yeah, I was still hitting the Craigslist and then, gosh, I mean, I did. There was a small like horror company called Asylum Productions. And I got onto that through a friend as a second, second assistant director. So so far this has all been kind of film or commercials. I hadn't been in a TV yet or in a control room setting at all. This is all kind of all out, you know, on set or location shooting. And Asylum Productions was this low budget horror company. And I, I worked as a second second and then when the second ad couldn't come in, I fell in for that role, you know, so it was like, you know, a couple of roles that you can kind of do production assistant too, running around doing all sorts of different things. And so probably the first year, two years I'd say. So about 2005, I. My friend Frank, who I told you about, he actually started working as a page at NBC Studios for the Jay Leno show. And he told me about A job at Access Hollywood, where they're always looking for production assistance. And so Frank was like, hey, you should look into this. And so it was January 2005, and I went over there, and the really brief interview, it wasn't like anything super formal, and it was right during the Golden Globes, like, during award season. And the guy was like, well, hey, can you start this weekend? You know, and I'm still working at Zales. And I said, yeah, absolutely. Not even knowing my. My schedule. Really? And I was like, yeah, I could start on Saturday. He's like, great, because the award shows on, you know, Sunday night, we gotta get a bunch of stuff over there. Can we use your car? Or, like, you know, you use your car to transport stuff. And I was like, absolutely. And that's how my job at Access Hollywood started. I love it that right away, you just know, calling in sick to Zales, right? You know, like, this is. This is a foot in the door, and most definitely a very important one. So you. You are. You. You go there during a time when there's lots of chaos, the word shows right around the corner. They. They throw you into the fire, so to speak. So, yep, you. You do that. You do a great job. I. I imagine. Do they offer you full time? How does it work from there? Sure. So it was very. It was really nice, too, because everybody was super nice, and they just, you know, anytime you could offer your help, and I was like, yeah, I'll do this, I'll do that. Or if they said, you know, sweep out the. The. They, you know, they have rental trucks where they had. They put in all of their, like, equipment, like for tapes and camera equipment, and then they got to remove it because they got to put the. Sell the. Or they rent the trailer, and trailer's got to go back to base. So, you know, if there's something as easy as cleaning out a trailer, I'll be happy to do that. You know, if you need to take this box over to that guy, whatever the case is. So everybody's really nice, and I'm, you know, I. I liked it a lot. A lot of hard work. But then after award season kind of ended, which is usually around the last award is like Oscars. So, like, late February, March, you know, they. They were happy with me, and they're like, yeah, how about you just become a runner? You know, and. And I was like, absolutely. And so then I, you know, I told Zales, adios. I met, you know, Access. I'm employed by NBC. It was a real big deal. It's like NBC. This is great. And yeah, so it turned into a full time gig as a runner. And yeah, it was great. So let's talk. I want to point out some things to our listeners. A, you do whatever is needed. You don't say no to anything. You, you want to be that person where people see you're working hard and just taking on anything and everything. Nothing is below you. You just work hard and that's how you start moving up. And I know you've put in hard work and you've worked your way up. So from a runner, what, how do you, how do you pro, you know, do you share? Hey, these are my desires, these are my passions. I want to be in a control room. How do you, how do you continue, you know, the, the, the climb, so to speak, to where you are now? So I would say one of my biggest. What do I, what, how do I put this? Like, one of the biggest things that really helped me get not so much where I am, but to kind of help me focus on what I like about television or my career that I've chosen is starting off as a runner. That was a big deal because as a runner or production assistant, depending on the type of production you're on, I got access to all the different departments. Meaning when you're a runner, if somebody wants you to go to a coffee, but that you don't know who that coffee is coming from, meaning it could be the president of the company, or it could be, you know, just the production coordinator saying, hey, go out, get this for so and so. But at least I had an interaction with, with, with some other people that are different parts of the food chain, so to speak. Then you have, you know, wardrobe needs to return something here. So then I have to go to where's the wardrobe department? You find out where the wardrobe department is. You meet somebody new, you know, you talk about it, blah, blah, blah, you take it. You need to know where to go. They need help in the tape library. Okay, I don't know anything about tapes, but they need help there. So you go there and they're like, hey, this is what I need you to do. One of the things is called the Degaussian machine, which is, you know, you put in these old Beta tapes and basically it's just an erasing machine. So you just do that all day, you know, Then, you know, you interact with people on stage. When they need to have things, you know, any lighting equipment or any type of equipment that needs to get brought to stage, they say hey, is there a runner available? And I say, yeah, I'm available to do that. So you're able to. Oh, and there's like, you know, there's the research department, there's the talent office, there's hair and, you know, makeup and hair, camera department. And you get to see all these different aspects. And then the eye opening one was when the control room settings. So a couple of times as a runner, you work on the stage and they usually need somebody to work in the voiceover booth. And basically all you're doing in the voiceover booth is that you're listening to somebody in your ear and you're with your hands actually counting down how much time is left for the voiceover for them to use for editing. So the talent comes into the booth, they have to read it in a certain amount of time. And I'm just there so that they know how much time is left to get the read done. So that was a lot of fun because A, it was kind of simple, but B, I got to interact with some of the talent, which at that time was like Pat O'Brien and Nancy O'Dell and Billy Bush, et cetera. And so that was cool. And then if I'm down on set, then I can also see how the control room works. And that's where it really changed for me. Because in the control room, which is really where, you know, the, the decisions are made, where the shots are being called and all that good stuff, I really took a look at how the room was kind of laid out. And you know, in the front row you have, in the center is the director, and then you have the technical director to that person's right and to the left is the associate director. And then there was another person over in the corner who was the script supervisor. Then in the next row you have like the show, the showrunner, and in the back row is kind of all the operators for like the graphics machines, the lighting rig, etc. Etc. And after, you know, a couple of months of being in there and seeing how those things work to put a show on the air, it was like, oh, this is really cool. Like, I, you know, I'd like to try to get my foot in the door in, in this type of setting. And, and yeah, so that, yeah, I want to point out what, I want to point out something amazing that you said. We've had amazing guest speakers and they have shared something that you just mentioned. It's a lot easier to find out exactly what you want to do by experiencing all of the different Departments to go. Ah, that's not for me. Not really too excited. Oh, wait a minute. Control room. This is live. You know, it's, you know, fast pace. This is where I want to be. So we've had people in production who have said starting off as a PA, A runner is great because you do get to see how all the departments work. And when indeed you find exactly what it is you want to do, you have to advocate for yourself and let somebody know. This is where my interests are. This is where my skill set would flourish and I could be an asset. So how do you have that conversation and who do you speak with in order to get that foot in the door? Great question, because I remember this like it was yesterday. So my supervisor of the runners, his name was Rob, and great guy still, he's still at Access Hollywood. He's one of my good friends. And he. He and I were talking and see, I was probably a runner for about, I'd say, going on a year. It was like almost a year. And that last month before I got into my next step, which was the script department, so I had a conversation with him and that last month before I moved on, they had me fill in for one of the graphic coordinators on the stage. And so I was actually able to shadow this person because they're like, they were going to be sick, and there was nobody that was going to be able to or not sick, but they were going to be out and they needed some coverage. So I was like, yeah, I'd love to learn it. So they gave me the brief overview. So I got one day to shadow with the person, and the next day I had to do it. And I did it, and everybody liked the way I did it. And then I would fill in. So that happened for about a month, and that got me into the control room, which was great. And so then I was talking with Rob and I was like, hey, I basically just approached him by saying, I love, you know, working with Access Hollywood, but I know I'm. I can do more than just be a runner, not to disparage runners, but to just be like, hey, I know my. My skill set, like you were saying, is best suited for this area. And. And I had filled in for other people as well. Like I was saying, either in the tape library or what was this tape library? And. And, oh, up in the graphics department as a graphics coordinator. It In a whole different department where they actually editors, graphic editors, create the graphics. So that was cool and all, but I liked being in the control room. I Wanted to be as close to the director as I possibly could. Because I think by then, even then, I knew it was like, you know, I'd like to be calling those shots, but how do I get to that step? I'm not going to just immediately get there, but if I can be in the room, then the director sees my face, a little bit of interaction, blah, blah, blah. And so I was telling Rob, I, you know, there wasn't. There wasn't an opening in the graphics department or the script department at the time. I was just telling him, I think I need to do something other than just make runs to, you know, Costco, you know, like, you know, and he's like, oh, I hear you. I totally understand that. And, you know, so he kind of put my work, my name out to a couple of department heads. One was at the script department and one in the graphics department. And then, you know, what do you know? Less than a month later, somebody was leaving for script department to be an editor. And so a position opened up and I got it. Love it. So you, you get the, you get the dream job, so to speak. And we're going to get obviously to NFL Sunday, which I think is for sure the. The dream job. So you get in there, and I love that you put in a year. I mean, it's not like you're there for a month and then going, all right, I need something else. You do whatever you need to do to get the foot in the door and then to take it to the next level. And as you, you know, you mentioned, you advocated for yourself where you thought you would be best. So you get in there and obviously work hard and do a great job because you're obviously still working for Access Hollywood. When do you make the transition to NFL Sunday? Okay, so, um, so let's see. So we're talking about 2006. Ish. I start working in the script department at Access Hollywood. And one of the things that I had noticed even from the first time I'd set foot in the control room at Access, like I was telling you about the front row director, td, the AD and a script supervisor. Well, what I learned was is that in that front row, everybody's in a union except for the guy over in the far left who's the script supervisor. And so if I wanted to be the director of this particular show, and a lot of shows, you know, there's a union to join. You know, Hollywood is full of unions, so you kind of have to do that at some point. And so I was like, well, if that one guy over there is not in the union, how do I get that guy's job? Like, how do I get in that seat? At some point, not necessarily him, but like, maybe someplace else. Like, how do I work to that. That lane? And basically, I just. I worked really hard and I was really good at what I did in the script department. And then I became that person's assistant. His name was Chris Still, a very good friend of mine. He works at Fox Sports too, still. And he moved on to be an associate director. He joined the union and he actually started working over at Fox. So that left his position open. And so I threw my name in that hat and then I got that job. And so now I'm in the front row. So I'm in the front row next to the associate director. And in the amount of time that I was the script supervisor, who's basically in charge of, as you can tell, the script, but is in charge more of, like the rundown and timing the show, at least for Access. While I'm there, I could really in the front row, see what the director does and what the associate director does and just learn as much as I can about it sitting. Like, one of the biggest things that I could try to tell everybody who's listening is, you know, always try to. Always try to listen and watch more so than talk, because you're going to learn so much more than you would if you're just, you know, reading in a book or, or watching it on YouTube if you're physically there and watching somebody else do it and you can ask them questions, but, like, you know, you don't want to bother them, but, like, you can just you so much. Through osmosis, I was able to learn about what the AD and the directors do. And I was like, yeah, I could, you know, do this. And this wasn't live at the time. Like, we're still. This is all on tape. Like, you know, you record it and then it gets, you know, aired out later. Yeah, so I was a script supervisor for a couple of years. And then right around 2008, 2009, Access Hollywood started another show called Access Hollywood Live. So I had to do two shows for the price of one. So that kind of sucked. It was like right around the Great Recession, there was a ton of, you know, everybody's losing jobs and NBC was paring down and cutting cost and et cetera, et cetera. And in order way to make more money, they decided to add another show, but they couldn't pay their employees anymore. So it was like, double the work for the same amount of pay. So that was, you know, that was tough, but, you know, it was better than alternatives of, what am I going to do, leave? No, I want to. I have a passion and a dream to be the AD or the director of a television show. Not necessarily Access, but we'll see. But gotta, you know, you gotta do it. So I did it. And eventually about, I don't know, a year into that, the director of that show just really kind of took me under her wing and was like, are you interested in actually assistant directing or directing? Because her assistant director was thinking about leaving and moving on to a different show. And I was like, yeah, absolutely. And that's how getting into the union started. So she kind of like helped me get into the union. She got, you know, I had to get signatures and stuff, and you had to do a certain amount of hours for coverage so that, you know, you could get in and all that stuff. And super nice. And, you know, she. I know her to this day. She's great. And. Yeah, so then I started filling in. And when that AD left, I became the AD for Access Hollywood Live. And that person, her name is Stephanie. She's still at Fox. She's the director of Fox NFL Sunday. She was the assistant director at Fox Interval Sunday when I met her. And the director at Fox Info Sunday, he retired. And so she moved over and she was like, hey, I need somebody to AD up in the highlights department. It'd be nice to know somebody that I know, you know, etc. And I was like, absolutely, I would love to do that. So 2011, I guess so 13 years. I started as an associate director in the highlights room at Fox Anvil Sunday because of her. Love it. So talk me through real quickly the pros of being in a union. You mentioned Hollywood is filled with unions. We had somebody a few months ago who named off, honestly, like, 13 different unions. And he mentioned the same thing. You have to do a certain amount of hours. Once you do that, you know, you do have to pay to get into the union. But once you're part of the union, he said it was quite beneficial. So just kind of talk us through the benefits of joining and being part of a union in Hollywood. Sure. I mean, my job's. My experience is pretty specific because it's. I haven't dealt with any other union really, besides the Directors Guild of America. So Directors Guild, they operate in both film and television, and their members are directors, assistant directors, associate directors, stage managers, production. I don't think they're called production coordinators. But some. Something like associate producers or something are under their wing as well. And so basically, certain productions, NBC is one of them. Fox as well, abc, most of the broadcast networks, some of the others. If a show is aired on broadcast tv, that company has to have a DGA person directing the show. And so in order to be in that position, I would need to get in the union. And that was my goal, was to be the director. I was like, I guess I am going to, you know, join the union. And so it is a tiny bit of a process, because what I had to do was you had to show a certain amount of hours. I can't remember the exact number so many years ago. Certain amount of hours and three signatures from people who are already in the union to get in. And that's just the application process. And then they actually say, okay, you can, you know, or there's some other, you know, requirement that they needed. But so I got in under the basis of filling in. So even though I wasn't in a union, I was able to fill in. I had to let them know I'm filling in as the associate director for Access Hollywood Live. And so the executive in charge of production, he writes a note to the union, says, hey, Phil Dvorak is filling in for Crystal Sanchez, who's the. The DGA ad to fill in to get, you know, hours and whatnot. And then I also had hours from. As a script supervisor, because I was timing the show. So in television, I don't know about film, but in television, the associate directors are in charge of the timing of a show. So whenever time is involved, whether it's live or tape, the. That's kind of what the ad is one of their main responsibilities. And that's why, you know, in somewhere in the union jargon and in their framework was like, this is what associate directors do for television and have to do timing, and you have to have a DGA person do the timing of the show. And since some of my timing as a script supervisor, you know, revolved around timing, I was able to put those hours towards the union as well. And so they were like, okay, that makes sense. We'll allow that. And I got my three signatures and I'm. And I got in. And the benefits of it are, you know, it as being part of a union, they negotiate my wage for me. So there's this particular amount that as the ad of said production, you get paid this amount of money. And at that point, and, I mean, it was way more than what I was getting as the script supervisor like exponentially. And then my benefits, health benefits and, and that type of thing, 401ks and all that is through the union as well. So instead of being my health benefits from the company of NBC, they're actually from the union itself. So that was great. So. And it's great. It's good coverage and so it's a good benefit to, to joining the union. I love it. So let's talk about being adaptable and pivoting. You go from almost like a pre recorded show to now technology is a little more advanced and now you're in a live setting running and calling a live show. Yep. Extremely more stressful. You know, there's no room for error. If there is, you have to kind of work your way through. Yeah. What was the pivot from pre filming to a live show? So Access Hollywood at the time, you know, or still is, it's a half hour nighttime show, it's syndicated, so it goes airs at any time of the day.

But most of the time is a prime 7:30 slot, 7: 35:33

00 slot. Something about that east coast time and all of that is actually that pre recorded. But the Access Hollywood live show was a morning show that we did live on the west coast that aired on the east coast. So it was 8am our time and then would air at 11 in New York and Philly and Miami and whatnot. And that was a lot of fun. And I would say it was, it was definitely. It was more exciting and fun than the pre tape show because something with like being live is like you kind of were saying you kind of have to roll with just what is happening. So it's more spontaneous and it was more fast paced. Even if the segment is slow, if it's just an interview segment, there's still that extra, you know, like oh, what's the person gonna say next? And which camera am I gonna take? Like what kind of reaction should I get? Should I stay on the interviewer or do I go to the interviewee? You know, and all those things. And we had gags and all different types, like cooking segments and stuff like that. So it was all, you know, always kind of up in the air still scripted to like so we know what we're doing. We still have to follow a script but like what's happening on camera is live. And it just, it was definitely more fun and it was more exhilarating as the 80 to time the show as well because you know, you only have a certain amount of time and then the showrunner behind you. He's like saying, how much time do we have? And you got to give them the right answer in a very quick time. You know, quick response. Yeah. So. And it was great. So I liked it. And I was. Worked on that show for five, six years. Yeah. So let's talk about mentors. When I say mentor, who comes to mind for you for someone who impacted your career? There's two. The first, I would say I mentioned earlier was her name is Stephanie, Stephanie Medina. She's the director of FOX NFL Sunday, and she was the director of Access Hollywood Live. So I met her when she came on board. I had, you know, already been working with AD Access for, you know, five years or so, and she came on board to launch that live show. And, you know, we hit it off, you know, right away because I was the script supervisor. She had her own ad, and she's directing the show. And as a script supervisor, you know, I'm in charge of the script. She's so she and I are always in constant contact about what updates or changes happen to the script for that day show, etc. Etc. And she's just really nice, really outgoing, very welcoming. And then, you know, through my hard work and through kind of, you know, helping her do her job, she took a notice that, like, yeah, this guy could be kind of good as an ad. And so that's why she mentioned my name, which was kind of out of the blue. Like, I mean, I hadn't really come to her and said, hey, I want to do this. She actually kind of came to me, which was really nice. And I was like, oh. And as soon as she said I was, I was like, absolutely. I would totally love to fill in for. For your ad. And she's like, yeah, she might be leaving, so it'd be great to put you in the mix. And then. And that was before. And I didn't know at the time that she even worked at Fox, you know, so I didn't know she had the Fox Sports angle yet. So then as I AD for her and we got to know each other better, she's like, oh, yeah, I work over at Fox Sports. I was like, oh, what do you do? And she said, I'm the associate director for FOX NFL Sunday. And I was like, oh, that's really great. And she offered. She's like, hey, would you like to come over one weekend and just come in and see what I do? And I said, absolutely. And so I went. And so I just, you know, just shadowed her. I just, you know, got on the lot, you know, and, you know, she just said, hey, this is what I do. And she kind of just ran through the things quickly as she was working. And then two years later, the director of Fox and Phil Sunday retired, and so she moved over and she was like, hey, she already had another ad in mind to do that show. So that's why she offered me the highlights position, which was great, because working five days a week during the week as the ad frax is Hollywood, and then also do that job is. I don't know how she does it. Like, oh, my God, she's a workaholic. I wouldn't be able to do. Do all of that. So I was like, yeah, let me do the highlights part. I think that'll be fun. And I've been doing that ever since, and it's been great. It's one of the jobs ever had. So. So speaking of what you just talked about, you know, burnout and doing too much, having a lot on your plate, how do you balance, you know, your beautiful family and having kids and, you know, more or less working two jobs? Yeah. So let's. Tough question now because I've made such a giant move, you know, literal move in my life to Colorado. But speaking of, back then, when I was really at Access, during football season, I worked six days. And then starting in 2018, I worked seven days during football season. And that is a tremendous strain, not only on me, but really on my wife and on the kids. And so you really have to have a strong and understanding support system. My wife has been, you know, very flexible with that and, you know, to be practical. It's also, you know, I made good money during that amount of time, too. So, you know, there are rewards and benefits to it in that regard. So. But, yeah, seven days is certainly a lot. But, yeah, I just. You just persevere, and if you like the job enough, you know, you do it. I mean, the. I certainly, you know, I have it more. I like sports a whole lot more than the content of Access Hollywood, shall we say? So going to work on the weekends was not like, oh, God, I gotta go to work. Like, it was football and people that I knew and great camaraderie, too. That's the other thing that I should point out at both places I've worked is the people that I worked with were fantastic. A lot of good friends. Heck, that's where I met my wife was at Access Hollywood. So, you know, it just. There was never a time in which I was like, oh, no, I gotta go to Work like it was always, you know, I was kind of looking forward to it or, you know, definitely not dreading it, you know, at all. So yeah, well, give me the biggest highlight or, you know, just the most exciting moment working at Fox. Let's see. At Fox. Geez, it most exciting, to be honest. It's not, it's not the. I can't really put pinpoint one exciting moment because most of it just really revolves around what happens in the games and what you decide to put in the highlight. I don't actually make the call really of what goes in it because I'm more responsible for making sure what is in it and how long it is and it's the correct one that's getting played. But there are because I'm in a room with the editors and the writers and the producers and you do, you know, voice your opinion and stuff. And so there's always something like one Sunday or Saturday where I'm like, oh no, I think that that's a better player. Like, like, you know, for example, a couple of weeks ago, like, I don't know how many people follow football, but Florida State is not off to a good football season. They were, oh, they're one in three, not good. So like two Saturdays ago, there was a great shot of two guys in the stands with paper bags over their heads, right? And I had seen it. And so I told one of the, the producers like, hey, check this out. And so they rolled the tape bag. They're like, oh, that's great. Let's put that at the end of the highlight. You know, so like there's very little things that happens a lot, like little things that happen that really make it a fun environment to work. Now one of the, I would say at Access Hollywood, I think my, the biggest or the most exciting thing that happened was is that Tom Cruise told me that he loved me. So I met Tom Cruise. This was, gosh, I don't know, 2007 ish. It was right around the time that he jumped on the couch on Oprah. And so we had interviewed him for Access Hollywood and it was a sit down interview with Billy Bush. And I'm in a room with a couple producers and cameramen and I'm wrangling cable for the camera guys. And they're. During the interview, Tom was very animated about what he was talking about. He said, billy, I love people. And he says, I love everybody in this room. And he went around, he looked at everybody in the room and he looked at me and he pointed and he said, I even love him, you know, looking at me and I was like, oh, my God, Tom Cruise said he loved me. This is great. You know, so definite. Definite that that's a highlight for sure. Yeah. Let me ask you, is there a mantra that you find yourself saying just to keep you focused, inspired, maybe something passed down from family, parents, anything that's, gosh, not really a mantra. But what's funny is, is when I was kind of going through some of those questions, Brett, that you had sent me earlier, and I was just kind of one of them, like, because I think I had said it earlier when I was like, you always say yes to things. So when even now, even, I mean, not only just as a runner, just say yes, whatever, but, like, even now, try to say yes as much as you can. But I, I, I wrote down because, and my, my brother might get a laugh out of this because this is kind of his saying is that he said a long time ago, he was like, do whatever you got to do to get the job done. And so that's kind of a mantra, I guess, is, you know, persevere and do what you got to do to get the job done. I love that. You know, and it, and it's very true. Right. The opportunities. When you do say yes, you need to know when to say no. But saying yes most definitely can lead to more opportunities. And even in, you know, the examples you gave, even if you're not necessarily ready or you haven't done it yet. Right. I mean, like, when the opportunity to fill in for when the yeah. Was leaving as the ad director, you're like, yeah, throw me in. Yeah, I would love to do, like, you have to say yes, because you open a door which could open another door to another door. And so saying yes, I love that you mentioned that. My last question. And then I'm going to turn it over to anyone who has questions. What's the biggest piece of advice you would give to a younger Phil with all that you've experienced in this industry? Yeah. I think one of the biggest things would be don't get discouraged. Because life in general is one thing, but, like, work and career path is a, is another thing that, like, so a lot can, a lot of obstacles, a lot can kind of derail you, so to speak. Just do your best not to be discouraged and don't be afraid to reach out to somebody if you need some help. So as a quick example, like, I remember it kind of what you're saying about when I was saying, but saying yes, I wanted to be the ad. But I had only really been watching what they do. I hadn't actually done it. And what was really nice is what, because we're doing two shows, I was able to talk to. So another person that helped me was. Her name was Rudy, and she was the associate director for the Access Hollywood nighttime show, not the live one. And I was able to come to her and be like, hey, I'm really excited about this, but I'm also really scared. So that was like a discouraging moment. Like, oh, did I say this too quickly? Did I say yes to this? And now I'm. Now I'm, you know, in over my head. And then she was able to kind of calm me down and give me the kind of. The, you know, a quick overview of kind of what to do. And so it was. It was. That kind of resettled me. And. And, you know, so I just don't get discouraged because there's going to be plenty of obstacles, and don't be afraid to reach out, you know, And I love that, too. You mentioned earlier it's okay to ask questions. No one expects you to know everything. And you mentioned, like, don't do it to where it's. It's an annoyance or it. You know, but when it's the right time and you need support, it's okay to collaborate to for sure, you know, to ask somebody what you need in order for that reassurance. So I love that. Sorry to interrupt, but you're going to notice, too, that sometimes, you know, in general, like, people like talking about themselves or, like, talking about what they do. And so, like, when I do ask the ad, but, like, how do you. Very simply, like, they have. There's a specific type of calculator, timing calculator. I mean, you could. You have apps now, too, but this is, you know, we're talking a long time ago that, like, we. There's a timing calculator. I don't know what they are. I don't know how to use it. And so I asked the ad about how do I use this? And she just, you know, Del, you know, dove right into it and told me how all the whatever to do. And it was like she enjoyed passing that type of knowledge on. So just, you know, don't be afraid to ask those questions because sometimes people really do. They like talking about that stuff, you know. Perfect. That's a. It's a great, great example. I'm gonna go to the first question. Louis, go for it. Hi, Phil. Hi, Louis. Wonderful to meet you. Big shout out when you mentioned that you're, that you're a child of the 80s with the films. Amazing stuff came out from that decade. RoboCop, an American Werewolf in London, Beverly Hills Cop, Raging Bull, phenomenal films from that. So big shout out on calling out that decade when it comes to television broadcasts. Setting up the design and setting up, you know, the, what's the game plan? What's the game plan before every taping and getting the guests on the stage, you know, you know, getting, getting ready to tape. But you got, is there like a mantra, a game plan, like a mentality set before a taping? Like, like. Yeah, yeah, good question. So everything kind of revolves around the objective of the show. So if the objective of the show is to be, you know, light hearted and fun, is it a hard hitting type of news segment? Is it sports, Is it, you know, so it's always got to kind of the, the content's going to guide, you know, the feeling and how you go about executing that and once you kind of have that feeling. So for instance, as an example, when I worked on Access Hollywood Live, it's a fun, light hearted show. And so, you know, we interview celebrities and we have fun guests and cooking segments and et cetera. And there's always a game plan, there's a rundown for the show. We have a meeting before the show starts and then a prep meeting when the show is over about the next day show. And yeah, a lot of it is, is, you know, pre, you know, you, you know, before going into it, what, what to expect. But since it's live, you sometimes don't know what to expect and you just have to capture those moments. I like that. One more question I would like to ask though is between streaming and the traditional television broadcast, do you feel that streaming shows and you know, a stream, a streaming broadcast will eventually take away the tradition of an old school television broadcast with everything, with everything being on streaming now, etc. Right, yeah. So right now the industry is certainly really disconnected and streaming is certainly here to stay. It's definitely where it's going to go. But streaming or broadcast, that's just a matter of distribution to the audience. Audience. So the audience is still going, there's still going to be a market, there's still going to be an audience for wanting entertainment. It's just a matter of how are we going to deliver that content to the audience and what type of content is going to be. You've probably noticed now, like live sports is, live sports and news are really the big things that drive TV Broadcast and they will eventually drive streamers as well. They just have to figure out exactly how to do that, per se. They already are a little bit with, with sports. You know, Amazon and Peacock have gotten, they have gotten the NFL. Exactly. And you know, so. Right. You know, wrestling and, and NBA. They just signed their new deal, so they're gonna get some games as well on streaming. So it's just going to take a lot of time. I don't think broadcast is going to go away, per se. You know, that'll always be there. It's just a matter of how they're really going to compete with the big streamers and tech companies. Love that. Thank you so much for your insight. Sure. Great, great, great questions. Yeah, you know, and, and after you bring that up, I'm thinking about Netflix and the big, you know, Mike Tyson fight. And I'm thinking about how Netflix was bidding on taking, you know, the NBA and getting some shows there. Amazon as well, so kind of spreading it. And then obviously the WNBA with Caitlin Clark is sure really, you know, creating excitement that we have not seen yet. So great, great question. I'm going to turn it over to Presley. Speaking of streaming companies and Netflix, Phil, I like to ask you a question. If you had to work on a company for a television series, what would it be? Oh, so I, Well, I love what I currently do at FOX NFL Sunday and working for sports. So I love that angle. But there's also the part of it is that I love sports so much. In football in general or specifically? I mean, it's kind of my leisure time. Like, I, I would enjoy just sitting back and watching football. So I kind of don't want that to be my job, if you know what I mean. Even though I kind of do it, it's like, you know, kind of don't want to mix the two. But to answer your other, your, your questions, more specifically, what show? Let's see. Well, I love, I love scripted dramas. You know, some of my favorite movies are action adventure drama movies, you know, like Godfather and Raiders, the Lost Ark and stuff like that. But sure, right now my, my favorite show that, that I'm currently watching is Catching up on His Shogun. And I thought that, that, that that's a great because I also like history. If I mentioned that earlier, I'm a double major in history, so any type of historical drama, I'd be all over. Yeah, sure, I can take it. Great, great question. I have one last one for you, Phil. Talk me through winning an Emmy award. Oh, so Fox and a Full Sunday has always been in this category for gosh, I think it's, you know, just live sports, pre game show or something like that, or live. Live studio sports show. That's what it is. And ever since they've been on and they've never won, they've never won this award. They've been nominated for 20 plus years in a row and they. The last 10 to 15 times they've been losing to inside. Inside the NBA with Shaq and Charles. They always win. I mean, I gotta hand it to them because it is a great show. Like they're, they're the best. Inside the NBA is the best. So I get it why they're winning. But finally it just so happened in 2023 or. Yeah, 2022 actually they were able to sneak out enough votes for that, for that win. And so that as part of the Emmys, the part of the crew gets it, so the directing team gets it and you know, the camera people lighting the producers. And so I was fortunate enough to be part of the directing team to win. So that's quite exciting. And I have to agree with you, Charles and Shaq and Kenny Smith, I mean, like it just absolute laughs after laughs and it's a very well produced. Yeah. No, no filters. And I was, I was. It's crazy to think that they were gonna lose that on tnt. Did I know, did they get that back or did that go to Amazon? Who, who picked up the show? You know, that's a good question. I don't remember the fallout of that. I don't think Warner Brothers, because I think Warner Brothers Discovery owns tnt and I don't think they, they won out on it. But, but no matter who picks it up, it's up to them whether or not they still want to have Shaq. And, but at that point, it's all about contracts and who's under whose umbrella. That's where it can get kind of messy. But I don't remember. I'm not sure. It's a no brainer. Whoever does land that show, you just have to pay them because they are phenomenal. So I love that you are able to sneak, sneak an Emmy away from them, though. That's. That's fantastic. Yeah. Bill, I want to thank you once again for making time for us. I think you are by far a great example of what happens when you work hard, you pursue your dreams and your passions, and you don't just wait for a job to fall on your lap. Moving to LA, coming to the mecca of entertainment, networking and putting yourself in a position having a strong growth mindset to say, yep, I'll take on a new responsibility. The fact of working hard, collaborating. You are a by far a perfect example of what happens in this industry if you are willing to put in the time and say yes to opportunities and work hard. And obviously you continue to work for these big media companies. So just want to wish you continued success, good health and thank you once again for joining us tonight on Breaking the Biz. You got it. I'm really glad to be here. Thank you so much, man.[Host] - As we conclude another enriching episode, we hope you've found inspiration in the stories shared today. Let's take a moment to Honor Yes I Can's role in bringing Breaking The Biz to life. Yes I Can's commitment to empowering young people with disabilities through education, advocacy, and mentorship shines brightly, paving paths of opportunity and dialogue. This podcast celebrates the organization's dedication to nurturing talent and facilitating impactful discussions. Breaking the Biz is more than a podcast. It's a part of Yes I Can's broader mission to amplify voices, dismantle barriers, and craft a world that's more inclusive and accessible for everyone. Each episode is a chapter in our shared narrative of progress, education, and empowerment, driven by the spirit of Yes I Can. Thank you for spending your time with us on Breaking the Biz. Continue to challenge the status quo and share stories that resonate until our paths cross again. Let's keep transforming aspirations into achievements and infuse every endeavor with optimism. Here's to advancing the landscape of the entertainment industry one episode at a time. I'm your host, William Felber. See you next time.