Anytime smart people can stick it to exploitative reality programming Im all for it. But then I read this and saw the name Matti Leshem was the cause of the strife and was thrown back to my first job in LA where I was a PA on a game show where he was the Show Runner. I say this fully acknowledging that he actually liked me. (I think) My experience working under him was invaluable because I learned that those crazy, Kevin Spacey Swimming with Sharks, yelling, megalomaniacs that I thought were not just constructs of screenwriters, but real people that you had to watch out for. My first real week of work in LA had me working a 38 hour weekend, during which, at 2 in the morning on Sat night he screamingly fired the post supervisor in front of everyone, telling him that he should be glad it was the only thing he did to him. I was floored. But, on the flip side, the post sup had lost the DAT tapes of the audio for the show, so really it was the right thing to do, but maybe the wrong way to do it. But, after a hellish weekend of similar events of yelling, berating, and fear where I kept my head down, did my job (including many runs in a town where I had NO IDEA where anything was) we were all leaving the post house and Matti came up to me and said good job this weekend, youre going to do well. go Figure. But that said, I would believe everything Ive read in these accounts, haha. I wont defend him, he was a yeller and an ass, but in a weird way I respect him because my experience with that guy out of the gate prepared me for just about everything.
Posted on: Fri, 04 Apr 2014 01:40:54 +0000