PIERSON TO PERSON

Longtime documentary and non-fiction TV producer Brent Pierson talks with a variety of colorful people about everything from living in Los Angeles and working in the entertainment business and other interesting fields to creative expression, pursuing one's passion, and the many nuances of the human condition.

COP TALK 04/11/2020

FOOD FOR THOUGHT 11/18/2018

ORION THE ARTIST 06/22/2018

MENSCHES and MENTORS and BABY BEARS, OH MY! 05/19/2018

GOTTA HAVE FAITH 04/20/2018

MINDBODY AND SOUL 03/23/2018

WALK ON THE WILD SIDE 03/04/2018

WALK ON THE WILD SIDE JEFF COPELAND is an author, screenwriter and non-fiction television producer whose close friendship with Andy Warhol superstar HOLLY WOODLAWN (immortalized in Lou Reed's biggest hit song "Walk On the Wild Side") dramatically impacted his professional and personal life in ways he never expected. (46:40) EXPLICIT EPISODE NOTES: Andy Warhol made her famous. Lou Reed immortalized her in song. And JEFF COPELAND wrote the book that chronicles the extraordinary journey of a 15-year-old runaway who, as Reed croons, “shaved her legs and then he was a she.” As Jeff tells me in his PIERSON TO PERSON episode WALK ON THE WILD SIDE, he distinctly remembers the first time he laid eyes on the drag queen who would so dramatically impact his professional and personal life. JEFF: “I spotted this androgynous being, and I couldn’t figure out if this was a man or a woman. I turned to my friend and asked, ‘Who is that?’ And he said, ‘Oh, that’s Holly Woodlawn. She’s an Andy Warhol superstar. Don’t bother with her. She’s a mess!’ And I was intrigued. That night, as I tried to sleep, I couldn’t get Holly Woodlawn out of my mind. She just haunted me.” Jeff was a 25-year-old aspiring screenwriter at the time, and his fascination with Holly Woodlawn quickly turned into action. He found Holly, then 42, listed in the phone book, called her up and said he was writing a movie that she’d be perfect for. He invited her to dinner and the two hit it off immediately. (Jeff would later move into the apartment next to Holly’s.) JEFF: “We were extremely close. She told me her secrets. I told her mine. We shared the same insecurities. We were both misfits trying to fit in.” Jeff finished his script and started shopping it around with Holly Woodlawn attached. Nobody was interested. However, an intern at a literary agency fished the script out of the trashcan it had been thrown into – along with some biographical information and photos of Holly that Jeff had also submitted – and thought her story would make for a good book. The intern’s intuition proved to be right. A LOW LIFE IN HIGH HEELS: THE HOLLY WOODLAWN STORY was published in 1991 – a collaboration between Holly and Jeff, with Jeff doing the heavy lifting. Although Jeff didn’t really want to write a book, he agreed to do it with the understanding that if the movie rights were sold, he would write the screenplay. CUT TO: A year later, Jeff reads in Liz Smith’s gossip column that Madonna is going to star in a film based on Holly Woodlawn’s book and that actor/playwright Harvey Fierstein is going to write the screenplay. JEFF: “It was devastating. It was such a painful experience for me to have my best friend turn on me like that. She, essentially, stabbed me in the back. But I ended up thinking, ‘You know, Holly Woodlawn has only one story. Jeff Copeland has a million he can whip up. So, Holly, you take your story and go with Harvey Fierstein. Go with Columbia Pictures.’ I wasn’t going to stand in the way.” Eventually, the Madonna/Fierstein/Columbia deal fell through. And, despite the script being optioned a few more times by other producers, no movie about the life of Holly Woodlawn was ever made. But Holly never gave up hope that one day it would be – even on her deathbed. JEFF: “Holly was like Norma Desmond, clinging to that dream. And it was very tragic. Holly was an alcoholic and she just spiraled out of control. It really bothered me to see her decline physically because of her alcoholism. And when I saw her last, she was living in a convalescent home and I actually brought her some gingerbread from Starbucks, and tried to make peace. I never stopped caring about Holly or her wellbeing.” Holly Woodlawn died on December 6, 2015 at the age of 69. Jeff Copeland is now writing a new book about his many wild experiences with her called: Love You Madly, Holly Woodlawn. A LOW LIFE IN HIGH HEELS: THE HOLLY WOODLAWN STORY is available on Amazon: Many thanks to Poddington Bear for the opening music featured in this episode royalty free through Creative Commons licensing: "On a Wing" by Poddington Bear - soundofpicture.com /episode/index/show/piersontoperson/id/6325631

#ELIZABETHTOO 01/07/2018

#ELIZABETHTOO ELIZABETH COOPER SMOKLER has spent 40 years working as a Hollywood makeup artist, primarily on TV sitcoms such as Roseanne, The Ellen Show, Reba, Blossom, The Larry Sanders Show and Who’s the Boss? It’s been a wonderful career – except, that is, for all the sexual harassment she’s had to deal with in the process. (50:53) EPISODE NOTES: Not long before allegations surrounding Harvey Weinstein jump-started an ongoing dialogue on sexual harassment in Hollywood, I talked with veteran TV makeup artist ELIZABETH COOPER SMOKLER about her experience working with lecherous celebrities. ELIZABETH: “These are people with a lot of power that nobody ever says ‘no’ to. Or, very rarely. And they’re wealthy and entitled, and you’re in their personal space. You’re touching their face, touching their neck and so it can be a challenge at times because people take that as an opportunity to cross boundaries. That was a huge problem in my life.” Elizabeth has spent 40 years making actors up, primarily for sitcoms (e.g. Roseanne, The Ellen Show, Reba, The Larry Sanders Show, The Naked Truth, The Geena Davis Show, Three Sisters, Blossom, Nurses, Who’s the Boss?). And while she says most of the men who have sat in her makeup chair have been terrific, there are some men – and even a woman – she’ll never forget because they made things extremely uncomfortable and difficult for her. ELIZABETH: “You know, it’s progressive. People begin to harass you in a progressive way. It starts out light and joking, and then it segues slowly but surely into more pressure. And then when you turn them down, they start to get angry.” On one particular show, things got so bad that Elizabeth’s father came to a taping and sat in the makeup room while she made up the show’s star: ELIZABETH: “I was so bothered by this one person that I told him about it. And he came in like he was coming to see the show. It was an audience show. But my father was thinking if he introduced himself to this actor, that the actor would recognize that this is the daughter of another man and that he should treat me with respect.” Elizabeth and I also talk about the many positive aspects of her career, what she thinks the secret to her success is, as well as how her craft has changed over the years with the advent of high-definition television (HDTV). And be sure to check out the Bonus Material I’ve posted – a first for PIERSON TO PERSON. I recorded Elizabeth making me up as if I were going to appear on television (to better understand her craft) and, I have to admit, having all of one’s facial imperfections pointed out and covered up is a little humbling. Not that Elizabeth wasn’t nice about it. Quite the contrary. After all, she’s a pro. Many thanks to Lee Rosevere for the opening and closing music featured in this episode royalty free through Creative Commons licensing: 1. "Southside" by Lee Rosevere - leerosevere.bandcamp.com 2. "As I Was Saying" by Lee Rosevere - leerosevere.bandcamp.com /episode/index/show/piersontoperson/id/6122524

DEMON DRUMMER FROM EAST LA 10/13/2017

DEMON DRUMMER FROM EAST LA MACEO HERNANDEZ is a professional Taiko drummer whose passion for the ancient Japanese form of percussion began in the 7th grade. Despite having no rhythm or musical experience, young Maceo was determined to play Taiko, leading him on a life-changing journey to Japan and inspiring a documentary film. (51:11) EPISODE NOTES: MACEO HERNANDEZ was in the 7th grade when he experienced an epiphany while listening to a Japanese Taiko group performing at a family friend’s wedding. MACEO: “You could really feel the impact and the vibration of these Taiko drums. And it just blew me away. I went up to them and helped them load these drums into their car. I just wanted to touch and feel these drums. I knew then I wanted to play these drums, even though I had no rhythm. I never drummed in my life. I never played an instrument. But the Taiko drum drew me to want to play it, even though I didn’t know anything about it.” Having a Mexican-American teenager dedicate himself to the ancient Japanese form of percussion made Maceo something of a curiosity to many in LA’s Japanese-American community, including documentary filmmaker John Esaki. John produced and directed a film called “Maceo: Demon Drummer From East LA.” JOHN: “Here was a young person who was not Japanese or Japanese-American and he was really so passionate about playing the Taiko drum. It just fascinated me that someone outside of the Japanese culture would have this interest. With Maceo, I always thought he was very genuine about following his interest. He found something that gave him great joy to participate in and he was going to follow that path to see where it led.” Where it led was to Japan. At the age of 15, Maceo was recruited by Ondekoza, a celebrated and highly athletic Taiko troupe that performs concerts around the world. MACEO: “One of the main things we did in Ondekoza was run. We were very famous for running a marathon and then performing Taiko afterwards. So running was a big part of our daily life. We’d wake up in the morning and we’d run. In the afternoon, we’d run again. Part of this training was to build up stamina for the shows that we would perform. One day, I was running and this truck was carrying metal pipes. They rolled off and landed on me. I woke up in the hospital after a seven-hour operation. A week later, they amputated my left leg. And there began a new journey.” The first steps of Maceo’s new journey began with long, dark nights far away from home in a Japanese hospital. He says it was difficult for him to reconcile his newly altered physical form with his intense desire to be a professional drummer. But over the next couple months, Maceo’s Taiko drum helped him find his way out of the darkness. MACEO: “It might sound strange, but I used to talk to my drum and try to have a communication with it on a different level than other members had. Hitting this drum, gave me all this energy back and gave me the will to continue on with my goals. It pretty much took over me and helped me not be sad all the time and not feel discouraged. This drum was my friend. It was my therapy.” Less than a year after his accident in Japan, Maceo Hernandez returned to the United States and ran the New York City Marathon on a prosthetic leg. Moments after crossing the finish line, fellow members of Ondekoza carried him to a nearby stage where he performed a 15-minute Taiko solo. The spectacular moment epitomized Ondekoza’s principle of Sogakuron – that running and drumming are one, and a reflection of the drama and energy of life. BP Many thanks to the Blue Dot Sessions for the opening and closing music featured in this episode royalty free through Creative Commons licensing: 1. "Cases for Rest" by Blue Dot Sessions - sessions.blue/sessions/ 2. "Thannoid" by Blue Dot Sessions - sessions.blue/sessions/ /episode/index/show/piersontoperson/id/5837824

YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU 09/22/2017

YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU LLOYD GORDON is one of the top estate liquidators in Los Angeles. Nearly 30 years in the business, Lloyd stages and presides over estate sales in some of the city’s most affluent neighborhoods. He says just because an item is valuable doesn’t mean it will sell. (50:26) EPISODE NOTES: Next year LLOYD GORDON will celebrate his 30th anniversary working as an estate liquidator in Los Angeles. It’s not something the exuberant song and dance man set out to do. But a funny thing happened to Lloyd on the way to a musical theater career – he made a real name for himself staging and managing estate sales in some of the city’s toniest neighborhoods. As Lloyd tells me in his PIERSON TO PERSON episode YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU, when he first started liquidating the earthly possessions of the recently departed he did not feel good about himself: LLOYD: “I felt a little bit like a creepy undertaker -- no offense to undertakers. But then a friend of mine said, ‘You know, what you’re doing is actually helping people when they’re in a difficult situation.’ And that never occurred to me, and the fact that he said that was great because then I didn’t feel like this sleazy undertaker guy anymore.” The success of an estate sale depends on several factors, including how well the sale is advertised, presentation, weather and, of course, the price of the items being sold. Lloyd says if prices are set too high, shoppers will turn around and leave without looking in any of the other rooms of the house. LLOYD: “Most people go to estate sales to get a fair price, and that’s my job – to sell things at a fair price. That’s the operative term: fair. It’s not a steal, because if it’s a steal then I am not doing my job. And in the middle, somewhere between retail and a steal, there’s a compromise where both parties are happy. And that’s what I aim for.” Crowd control is another important factor in running a successful estate sale -- and Lloyd runs a pretty tight, no-nonsense ship. In fact, he posts an armed guard at the front door to help maintain order throughout the day. LLOYD: “Typically, we’ll have 60 people or more at the door. I don’t like to make people wait because people get grumpy, but you have to. I went to an estate sale once where the guy let 40 people in and I hated it because the house was so crowded. Literally, people were fighting. Two people had their hands on the same thing and they were pulling it. It’s just ugly when there are too many people in the house. They get really abrasive, they get pushy and they, seriously, fight. You don’t want to create a situation that allows that to happen.” I recorded this episode with Lloyd at a house in LA’s Miracle Mile as he and his team worked feverishly to turn the 3,000-square-foot home into, essentially, a pop-up department store. Until seeing it for myself, I had no idea how much effort goes into liquidating an estate. As Lloyd reminded me: “It’s NOT a garage sale!” Many thanks to the composers of the music featured in this episode royalty free through Creative Commons licensing: 1. "As I Was Saying" by Lee Rosevere - leerosevere.bandcamp.com 2. "Farsical - Thematic" by Blue Dot Sessions - sessions.blue/sessions/ /episode/index/show/piersontoperson/id/5766871

VOCE FORTE 07/27/2017

VOCE FORTE KAY BESS is a veteran voice-over actor with hundreds of commercial, film/TV narration and video game credits to her name. Kay says technology has dramatically changed the way VO artists work. And while there are more voice-over jobs than ever before, they’re a whole lot harder to get than when she first began. (45:27) EPISODE NOTES: I’d like you to meet my new Bess friend, KAY BESS, a veteran voice-over actor with hundreds of commercial, film and TV narration, live show announcing, network promo and video game credits to her name. Kay is the voice of HGTV’s “Property Brothers” seasons 1-4 and plays Persephone Brimstone in the video game "Agents of Mayhem" and is Lara Croft’s nemesis, Ana, in the video game “Rise of the Tomb Raider.” She’s also pitched everything from Apple, Motel 6 and Hidden Valley Ranch to Toyota, Jergen’s and Kaiser Permanente on the radio. As Kay tells me in VOCE FORTE, technology has dramatically changed the way VO artists not only audition for jobs – which are harder and harder to come by these days – but the way in which they work when they do get a job. First, most everyone involved in voice-over now has a home studio, so it’s no longer necessary to live anywhere near a professional recording studio in order to read copy. Second, there’s VoiceBank.net: KAY: “It’s like a clearinghouse for copy. Advertising agencies used to either contact a casting director or contact talent agencies directly with copy and agents would call in their clients and read in the agency’s booth. Now with the advent of VoiceBank.net, all that copy is available to talent from coast to coast, and in Canada and European countries, too. So where I used to be reading against maybe 25 or 30 people locally, now it can be thousands. Back in the heyday, I’d book probably 1 out of 10 auditions. I’m nowhere near that now, because there’s just so many more people auditioning.” Having a home studio certainly makes recording copy convenient, but Kay says it’s also isolating. So, that’s why she now uses it to also record her own podcast, which she calls “The B-Hive.” All of Kay’s guests are women who work in the voice-over field in one way or another. And while there’s definitely plenty of VO shoptalk, the conversations she has with her guests invariably get deeply personal: KAY: “Really the crux of the podcast for me is the question that I ask, What is your biggest obstacle? What has tripped you up to the point where you thought you weren’t going to be able to carry on? And all of a sudden, everything gets really real. And the podcast becomes not about voice-over, but about the human condition. That’s what I love about my podcast more than anything else.” Exploring the human condition happens to also be what I like most about having a podcast. Like Kay, I really enjoy talking with people about the challenges in their lives and how they have or are working to overcome them. So when she revealed something extremely personal about her life, something that she’s never talked about publicly, not even on “The B-Hive,” I was definitely intrigued. And I think you will be, too. BP Many thanks to Lee Rosevere for the music featured in this episode royalty free through Creative Commons licensing: 1. "Try Anything Once" 2. "Vaping in LA" www.leerosevere.bandcamp.com /episode/index/show/piersontoperson/id/5582655

STILL SWINGING 06/24/2017

STILL SWINGING BOB NIEMACK is the zealous executive producer of Discovery’s long-running docudrama medical series “Untold Stories of the ER.” Bob began his action-packed production career as an editor and won a national Emmy for editing the groundbreaking documentary “Scared Straight!” – a film he says came dangerously close to never being seen. (49:13) EXPLICIT EPISODE NOTES - Posted June 24, 2017: Tomorrow will mark my 25th appearance as the announcer at BOB NIEMACK’s mostly-annual softball game. Bob loves to celebrate his birthday by playing softball with friends, family and TV colleagues, and I’ve had the privilege of providing live, amplified commentary over the years at what he calls the BBBB: Bob’s Birthday Baseball Bash. But Bob’s PIERSON TO PERSON episode STILL SWINGING has nothing to do with baseball – or softball, for that matter. Although the title is certainly a nod to our summertime tradition, this episode is really a profile of one of my first production mentors who, after 45 action-packed years in the television business, is every bit as enthusiastic about the work he does as he ever was. I met Bob when he and his producing partner and wife, Ann Hassett, hired me as an associate producer in 1990. Bob and Ann had produced several award-winning documentaries for HBO and were just starting up a new one when I went to work for them at Niemack/Hassett Productions. NHP documentaries focused on a wide range of difficult human experience: alcoholism and drug addition, teen pregnancy, suicide, drunk driving, prostitution, mental illness, incarceration and parole, etc. As a former sociology major at UCLA, the topics that Bob and Ann covered were right up the darker part of my alley and learning how to make films about complex social issues, while assisting them in that process, was an amazing opportunity. The two years I spent working for Bob and Ann was like going to film school – albeit a very small, private one – and I “graduated” not only with invaluable production skills, but a filmmaking ethos that I’ve carried with me ever since. I’m talking about a compassionate and respectful approach to telling personal stories of real people, which Bob summed up beautifully when we sat down to record this podcast episode: “The job of a documentary filmmaker is very much akin to the role of a therapist. You open up with a question and then you patiently listen. And my guiding principle for the entire process is that when we’re dealing with people who are troubled, if we’re not part of the therapeutic process, we don’t deserve to be there. Those people are not our subjects, they are our collaborators. And if you portray them in a way that they can’t live with, you’ve done them a disservice and, I think, have done something that is irresponsible." For as long as I have known Bob, we’ve never really talked that much about his early days in production. I knew he began as an editor and that he’d edited Arnold Shapiro’s groundbreaking prison documentary “Scared Straight!” But I had no idea how enormously challenging that doc was for Bob to cut. “Many people don’t know that when the film came back to us in the edit room, all the footage covering the convicts who were ranting at the kids had been scratched by one of the two cameras. We thought we were going to have to abandon the project. So we were forced into a curious kind of filmmaking where most of the show had to shown on cutaways – the reverses on the action. So we lingered long and hard on these kids who were being terrified by these convicts who were screaming at them, and it turned out to be very effective. And it taught me a really important lesson, which is that the story is often where the silence is. Not where the noise is. You’re attracted to the commotion of the convicts in this thing, but seeing the impact on these kids as tears well up in their eyes was so powerful.” Necessity is, as the saying goes, the mother of invention. “Scared Straight!” went on to win the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature in 1978 and Bob won himself a national Emmy for outstanding individual achievement in editing. Bob and I also talk about his directorial debut on a documentary called “Shoot/Don’t Shoot,” which deals with a topic that’s as timely today as it was in 1982: the use of deadly force by police. He also recalls the humiliating moment when he and Ann were accused of lying at a public screening of their HBO film “Kids in Crisis.” And we discuss the Niemack/Hassett film that he and Ann are most proud of and that has, undoubtedly, helped save countless lives over the last 20 years. Bob is now wrapping up his 8th season as executive producer of Discovery’s “Untold Stories of the ER” and I’m honored to have him as my guest on the 25th episode and Season 1 finale of PIERSON TO PERSON. BP Many thanks to the composers of the music featured in this episode royalty free through Creative Commons licensing: 1. "Strings & Blips" by Adam Selzer - needledrop.co/artists/adam-selzer/ 2. "Slow Driver" by Blue Dot Sessions -sessions.blue/sessions/ 3. "I'm So Glad That You Exist" by Will Bangs - needledrop.co/artists/will-bangs/ 4. "Dry Air" by Podington Bear - soundofpicture.com 5. "Ringling" by Podington Bear - soundofpicture.com 6. "Don't Go" by Podington Bear - soundofpicture.com /episode/index/show/piersontoperson/id/5477085

THE DIVINE MRS. M 06/06/2017

THE DIVINE MRS. M CARRIE MORITA spent 36 years teaching in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Although she had several opportunities to work closer to home, Mrs. Morita endured a daily 75-mile, bumper-to-bumper roundtrip commute to teach at Eagle Rock Elementary School because of the cultural and socioeconomic diversity of its large student body. (45:58) EPISODE NOTES - Posted June 10, 2017: I cannot bring myself to call CARRIE MORITA by her first name. She was both my daughters Taite and Quinn’s kindergarten teacher at Eagle Rock Elementary School and has always been – and always will be – MRS. MORITA to me. PHOTO: Carrie Morita at her retirement party in June 2011. Hundreds of friends, colleagues, former students and their families came to wish her well. It does, as they say, “seem like only yesterday” that Jillian and I took our little 5-year-old Taite Rose Pierson to Mrs. Morita’s kindergarten classroom for her first day of school. Taite’s now 18 and, indeed, it was only yesterday that she graduated as one of Eagle Rock High School’s two valedictorians. And, true to faithful form, Mrs. Morita was there to hear Taite deliver her valedictory speech. Mrs. Morita has shown up to support Taite many times throughout her K-12 journey. Taite recently made her penultimate appearance with the Pasadena Civic Ballet as the flying-carpet-riding genie in “Aladdin” and, like so many of her past performances, Mrs. Morita was there with flowers in hand.PHOTOS: Carrie Morita with my daughter, Taite Pierson, on her last day of kindergarten in June 2005; and Mrs. Morita with Taite in February 2017 after her performance in "Aladdin." Mrs. Morita even helped Taite learn how to drive a car, which came about shortly after my second and last time in the passenger seat ended with me yelling: “When I say stop, I mean STOP!” Mrs. Morita’s Zen-like patience and affection for one of her long-ago kindergarten kiddos definitely contributed to Taite becoming the competent and confident driver she is today. Taite is not alone in receiving this kind of special treatment. After teaching for 36 years, Mrs. Morita is involved in the lives of many of her former students, and cheerfully attends their birthday parties, weddings and baby showers on a regular basis. PHOTO: Mrs. Morita's 2004/2005 kindergarten class at Eagle Rock Elementary School celebrating the 100th day of school and wearing Room 29's signature tie-dye T-shirts. But looking back at the beginning of her career teaching kindergarten, Mrs. Morita couldn’t possibly have imagined that she would develop lasting friendships with so many of the little people who would pass through her classroom. In fact, she tells me that teaching 5-year-olds was the last thing she ever thought she wanted to do: “I have to admit, I almost went kicking and screaming down to kindergarten. I have taught all the grades and I did say the one grade that I would never teach would be kindergarten, because I didn’t feel that I was capable of teaching it; that it would be a bigger challenge than I wanted to put myself through. But it did become a grade that I really did love.” PHOTO: Mrs. Morita's 2004/2005 kindergarten class presenting Room 29's Winter Performance. Mrs. Morita proved that she loved teaching kindergarten – and teaching it at Eagle Rock Elementary School, specifically – by enduring a daily 75-mile, bumper-to-bumper roundtrip commute to do so. And while she had several opportunities over the years to work at schools closer to home, ERES always held a special attraction for her: “Eagle Rock is really a very diverse community. And sometimes that word ‘diverse’ can be an over-played term, but Eagle Rock truly is a diverse community. I liked having families of different nationalities; families of different socioeconomic levels; and families that had many different experiences. One of the things that I did like to do was do a Student of the Week so the kids could show that there were many similarities, even though there were many differences between them.” PHOTO: Mrs. Morita's 2004/2005 kindergarten class celebrating Cinco de Mayo. The appeal of a diverse student body is deep-rooted in Mrs. Morita’s own personal history. Growing up in San Diego, she was the only Asian American in a high school graduating class of 1,000. Cal State Long Beach, however, provided her with a more heterogeneous academic experience. And it was there, as a college freshman, that she took an Asian American Studies class that changed her worldview in a profound and unexpected way. “I learned how, during World War II, Japanese and Japanese Americans were incarcerated in this country. This was the first time I heard about this injustice. I called home to tell my mother what had happened to so many people. And she hesitated. And then she said, ‘Dad and I were both in camps in Arizona.’ And it was like: ‘You never mentioned this to us?!?’ I feel it was, for many, a shameful, humiliating incident.” PHOTO: Mrs. Morita's mother, Takaye Tokimura (in foreground), and her sister, Ruth, at the Gila River War Relocation Center. Many years later, Mrs. Morita learned of her father being drafted into a segregated Army unit made up of Japanese American men, and the heroic efforts that he and his fellow soldiers quietly made in the latter part of WWII. George Furuya was awarded 2 Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star – but his daughter never heard a word about it from him. PHOTO: Mrs. Morita's father, George Furuya, was held at the Poston War Relocation Center in Yuma County for a year before being drafted into a US Army regimental combat team. Ironically, Mr. Furuya had tried to enlist right after the bombing of Pearl Harbor but, despite being born and raised in California, was rejected because he was considered an enemy alien. Mrs. Morita is, herself, not prone to such silence. As a matter of fact, she was quite vocal a few months ago about the attempted ban on immigration and marched in protest at LAX on 3 separate occasions: “I feel like it is my responsibility, and the responsibility of all Japanese Americans to stand up and speak out against what we see going on in our country right now. The fact that a Muslim registry was even brought up by our government; that there was an executive order on immigration; it is my responsibility to stand up and say: No! Never again!” PHOTO: Mrs. Morita at one of three protests at LAX she attended. She's standing with Hussar Ayloush, the executive director of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Although Mrs. Morita retired from teaching in 2011, she’s still every bit a teacher today. BP Many thanks to the composers of the music featured in this episode royalty free through Creative Commons licensing: 1. "Easy Lemon" by Kevin MacLeod - incompetech.com 2. "Wait for Me" by Aaron Mist - aaronomist.bandcamp.com/releases 3. "Micro" by the Blue Dot Sessions - sessions.blue/sessions/ 4. "Tranceless" by the Blue Dot Sessions - sessions.blue/sessions/ 5. "Isn't the Rain Nice Today" by Scott Currie/BBATV - bbatv.bancamp.com 6. "Pomp and Circumstance" loop by Miguel Flores -youtube.com/watch?v=Kw-_Ew5bVxs /episode/index/show/piersontoperson/id/5424071

ON LOCATION 05/15/2017

ON LOCATION JOHN GRANT is an award-winning location manager who knows the Greater Los Angeles Area like the back of his hand. From feature films to reality TV shows, John has a genuine love for finding real-world settings for producers and directors to use in creating make-believe worlds. (43:28) EPISODE NOTES: I’ve lived in the Eagle Rock area of Los Angeles for 20 years and in that time I’ve seen a lot of film and television shoots on my street and around the neighborhood. Clint Eastwood lived in the house behind me in “Million Dollar Baby.” The Italian Bakery at the end of my street had a recurring role in “Sons of Anarchy.” “The Office” shot at Pete’s Blue Chip Burgers, and Zooey Deschanel rode down Colorado Boulevard in a pedicab for her show “New Girl.” Pharrell Williams used Eagle Rock High School, our bowling alley All Star Lanes, and the local CVS for his “Happy” music video. HBO’s “Togetherness” was not only filmed in Eagle Rock, but actually set in Eagle Rock -- it usually passes for other places. The tidy Craftsman house they used for the series is just a few blocks over. And get this: the male lead character’s name is Brett Pierson. Talk about close to home. But no matter what part of the city you live in, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll see some Lights, Camera, Action! at one point or another. Like it or not, LA functions as a gigantic backlot for film and TV producers. And as longtime location manager JOHN GRANT tells me, there are plenty of people who don’t like it: “Managing the location is a lot about public relations. And when you’ve got a resident or merchant screaming at you about your presence there, I’ve got to remember that I’ve got to go back and shoot in that neighborhood again sometime. So, I’ve got to maintain a level of decorum in the neighborhood so that everybody feels that this wasn’t a production that screwed them over.” Of course, there are some people who aren’t satisfied unless they get something out of it for themselves. “Gratuities” is the line item in a production budget for dealing with persistent grumblers: “If there’s somebody who feels like they’re getting shafted, I’ll say ‘Let me pay you a thousand bucks and do catering on your lawn or in your backyard’ or ‘For 150 bucks a truck, can I park 3 trucks in your driveway?’” But John says pacifying a vocal local doesn’t always mean handing over a fistful of cash: “I remember on Fear Factor I could fix the problem just by giving people a hat. They’d say, ‘Hey, look. They gave me a hat!’” With over 30 years of experience in the field, John is a seasoned professional who’s been around the block – actually lots of blocks – many times: “In Los Angeles you can get knee-high in the tall grass if you’re not careful. You bring a large footprint of trucks and trailers and you don’t prep it right, you’re going to have trouble in the neighborhood. And I pride myself in the way that I prep things. I’m very thorough and leave no stone unturned." John’s serious attention to detail has not gone unnoticed. He’s been nominated for 8 California On Location Awards and won his first COLA in 2005 for his work on MTV’s reality show “The 70s House.” The win was a huge surprise for John because he was up against the location managers working on two major network episodics: CBS’s “NCIS” and NBC’s “ER.” John won a second COLA in 2013 for “Face Off” on the SyFy Channel. In talking with John it’s clear that he truly loves Los Angeles. He grew up here; went to Hollywood High; and knows the city like the back of his hand. He’s got a long list of spots around town he loves to shoot in – and a very short list of spots he hates shooting in. In fact, it’s just one place. And you might be surprised to hear where it is. (No, it’s not Eagle Rock.) BP Many thanks to the Blue Dot Sessions for the music featured in this episode royalty free through Creative Commons licensing: 1. "The Zeppelin" 2. "Anders" 3. "Faster, Faster, Brighter" 4. "Copper Halls" /episode/index/show/piersontoperson/id/5355683

DOUBLE AGENT 04/29/2017

DOUBLE AGENT RICHARD KONIGSBERG was one of the youngest agent trainees to ever be promoted at ICM. But Richard ditched the powerhouse talent agency to become an actor himself. Five years later, he returned and was made an agent for a second time -- but not before having to serve another tour of duty as assistant to one of the most demanding agents in the biz. EXPLICIT (45:56) EPISODE NOTES: My first job in the entertainment business was at the powerhouse talent agency International Creative Management. I started in January 1988 and in the two-plus years I was there, I assisted agents in both the motion picture and television departments. And despite witnessing a lot of ego and pressure-driven theatrics and bad behavior, I was very glad to be at ICM because at that time it was one of “the” places to work in Hollywood. From the Los Angeles Times (Column One – By Amy Wallce – Dec. 11, 1998): "In the '80s and early '90s, talent agents ruled the industry. Movie studios and television networks found themselves beholden to International Creative Management, the Creative Artists Agency and the time-tested William Morris Agency, the "big three" agencies that had a lock on most A-list stars. Agents made big money for both their clients and themselves, charging the TV networks, for example, huge so-called packaging fees to assemble talent for shows. Even for the most famous actors, it was often unclear who needed whom more: agent or client?" And as far as agents and clients go, they didn’t come any bigger than ED LIMATO and his megawatt roster, including: Richard Gere, Mel Gibson, Michelle Pfeiffer, Denzel Washington, Nicholas Cage, Steve Martin, Matthew Modine and Diana Ross. As RICHARD KONIGSBERG tells me: “Mike Ovitz’s company CAA might have had more stars, but as individual agents go, Ed Limato had the best client list of any agent in town.” Richard was one of the youngest agent trainees to ever be promoted at ICM, which came after spending two very intense years working as one of two assistants to the notoriously demanding Limato: “I was putting in at least 11-hour days. I was there at 7:30 in the morning. We took no lunch. We assistants worked through lunch, and we did not leave the office until he was actually seated at dinner. He used to eat dinner 5 nights a week at a restaurant called Morton’s. When his guests arrived, we were allowed to leave. But there were many, many times dinner would be over and he would be calling the office and we were still there.” But the stress and sacrifice that came with the job paid off for Richard. At the age of 23, he became a bona fide agent in ICM’s motion picture department. However, shortly after his promotion was announced, Richard had a surprising announcement of his own – he was leaving the agency: “I was scared. I was insecure. I wasn’t prepared for what was being put in front of me. So, I left and I thought maybe I should be an actor. I said, ‘Look. We represent a lot of people and they’re making a good living. And they’re not that talented.’” Richard got a job as a waiter, started taking acting classes, and began going on auditions. But fairly quickly, he realized that becoming a working actor wasn’t going to be as easy as he thought – or at least hoped – it would be. “I realized that I was not built for that kind of rejection. But then I had to figure out how to get back into the business.” And that would take Richard quite a while. He was eventually hired back at ICM. Not as an agent – at least not right away. No, in order to get back on track for promotion he was required to work again as Ed Limato’s assistant for nearly a year. “That was a hard pill to swallow. Here I am showing back up with my tail between my legs. That was tough. Not because of my age. That was never an issue. But explaining to people that I had to work for a guy that I worked for 5 years ago and go back and be his assistant again.” But, once again, it paid off. “I was made an agent at 23, then I was made an agent again like at 28. And I worked as an agent until 2007 when I was fired.” But that’s just the half of it, because ultimately this episode is the candid, firsthand telling of an unexpected love story. It’s a touching tale of a deep and life-changing friendship that Richard formed with Ed Limato – a friendship that ended up transcending and outliving the power, prestige and pressures of making multi-million-dollar movie deals. BP Many thanks to the composers of the music featured in this episode royalty free through Creative Commons licensing: 1. "Jazzy Funky" by TA2MI - blocsonic.com/releases/bsmx0154 2. "Nesting" by Blue Dot Sessions - sessions.blue/sessions/ 3. "Slider" by Blue Dot Sessions - sessions.blue/sessions/ 4. "Sunset Stroll" by Poddington Bear - soundofpicture.com 5. "Chill Wave" by Kevin MacLeod - incompetech.com 6. "Pensacola Twilight" by Lee Rosevere - leerosevere.bandcamp.com 7. "Tranceless" by Blue Dot Sessions - sessions.blue/sessions/ 8. "Parade Shoes" by Blue Dot Sessions - sessions.blue/sessions/ /episode/index/show/piersontoperson/id/5310401

THE BEAT OF A DIFFERENT DRUM 04/09/2017

THE BEAT OF A DIFFERENT DRUM IFUNANYA “NODDY” NWEKE is the founder and executive director of Jazz Hands for Autism (JHFA). The non-profit organization provides platforms for musically inclined individuals on the autism spectrum to explore and express their talent, and helps many of its gifted musicians find steady paying gigs. (35:27) EPISODE NOTES: There’s no choosing the talents any one of us are born with – nor the challenges. I would love to have a natural talent for music. I don’t. But I also don’t have autism. IFUNANYA NWEKE knows plenty of people who have both. Ifunanya is the founder and executive director of JAZZ HANDS FOR AUTISM (JHFA), a non-profit organization that provides platforms and seeks avenues for musically inclined individuals who are on the autism spectrum to explore and express their talent. As she tells me on her PIERSON TO PERSON episode THE BEAT OF A DIFFERENT DRUM: “Music is processed differently than speech. It’s processed using almost every single structure in the brain. That kind of processing helps bypass many different challenges that people with autism have. There are people with autism who can sing, but cannot speak. That’s amazing to me.” Ifunanya (known to friends and colleagues as Noddy) was born in Nigeria and studied anthropology at UCLA with an emphasis in psychology. She went on to become one of the first graduates of USC’s Master of Nonprofit Leadership and Management program. Add to that Ifunanya’s background as a musician, a vocal and piano coach for young children with autism and an ABA trained behavior interventionist and it’s not hard to see how she might create an organization like JHFA. But WHY did she do it? Her answer was matter-of-fact: “Ruben.” Ifunanya first met Ruben J. while observing a mainstream high school music class – he was the only autistic student in the class. Just 15 at the time, Ifunanya was blown away by his singing and piano playing abilities (he also plays drums, guitar, and trumpet). “In that moment I was like, Why is there no place where he can really express this often? Why is there no place he can go and just be Ruben in his musical essence? And so, from that day, I started drafting a preliminary program.” In addition to its regular concert series, JHFA offers autistic musicians a comprehensive job training program to help them become contributing members of society by using their talents and newfound skills to land jobs as working musicians. “They’re learning how to be better performers, learning how to make eye-contact, how to be aware of what their bodies are doing on stage, and learning how to interact with their audience.” They also receive valuable work readiness training. “Not only do you have to be a good performer, you also have to know how to get there on time and how to dress for that setting.” But JHFA’s approach is more than theoretical – there’s a job placement piece to it, as well. “We’re going out and really helping them find gigs in the community where they’re performing and making money. Our goal is to find them consistent work, like being a session musician, playing at retirement homes, or playing at a church. Playing at a church is one of the most consistent gigs there is.” I recently sat in on one of JHFA’s Saturday afternoon jam sessions and had the pleasure of meeting both Ruben J. and his mother, Lili. I asked her what the program has meant for her son: “Meeting Noddy was a godsend. She’s provided a platform for him to express what comes naturally to him. It’s in his wheelhouse. What a wonderful gift it’s been that there’s one area in his life where he feels really confident. And he’s able to express that in a way that seems natural to him. He feels good about himself. He feels successful. As a parent, that’s what we all want for our children.” BP /episode/index/show/piersontoperson/id/5249434

DOWN TO CLOWN 03/19/2017

DOWN TO CLOWN DON COLLIVER was working as a non-fiction TV producer when he decided to make a highly unconventional career change and became a professional clown. This episode was recorded three days before Don flew to New York to join the award-winning performance art company Blue Man Group. (44:36) EXPLICIT EPISODE NOTES: Several of my TV producer friends and colleagues have exited the business, but nobody’s exit strategy has been nearly as unconventional as the switch DON COLLIVER made by becoming a professional clown. Now, if you’re imagining Don wearing big floppy shoes and making balloon animals at children’s birthday parties, stop right there. As Don explains in his PIERSON TO PERSON episode DOWN TO CLOWN, his style of clowning is a theatrical art form that allows him to explore a wide-range of human emotions and express himself in a way that is cathartic for the audience: “When I feel an emotion I share it with the audience completely, right into their eyes. Not to be angry at the audience, but to show I’m angry and I know you’ve been angry, too.” The purpose of this expression, Don says, is to make people feel less alone in the world. “People are relating to it, so we’re kind of all in it together. We’re all lonely together, or we’re all sad together, or we’re all transcending together. It’s very personal up there, and the fact that it works is just a miracle.” But clown shows like the ones Don performs in don’t work for everybody: “Some people are really uncomfortable with someone sharing emotion because we spend a lot of time not acknowledging what we’re feeling.” Don remembers one friend who came to see him perform and told him afterwards it really wasn’t her thing: “She was like, ‘I didn’t like your show. My family doesn’t like to feel emotions.’” This is not to say that feeling emotions comes easier or more naturally for Don than it does for anyone else. “In this work, the things that block you are the things that block humans period. What am I not dealing with? What’s my childhood baggage that I’m lugging around? It just comes right into your face the moment you start doing this work, and you are forced to deal with it. Like uncomfortableness with fear. How do I handle fear? How do I handle intimacy? All these things that everybody wrestles with in their own way. And the goal with this is to be completely vulnerable." The vulnerability and intimate truths that Don conveys on stage aren’t limited to his performing self. He now makes a conscious effort to be as open and present as he can be in his everyday life: “I really can’t deal with sarcasm anymore. I don’t want to be sarcastic. I don’t want to be around people who are sarcastic. I just want to be in relationships where I can be honest, and they can be honest. And it’s painful a lot. But it’s more true. Just the ability to feel sad or feel joy and be in it, and ride it through to the other end of it, without making a snarky remark to kind of push it down. And it’s taken some work to develop a piece of myself that is okay no matter what’s going on.” BP Many thanks to the composers of the music featured in this episode royalty free through Creative Commons licensing: 1. "Saunter" by Poddington Bear - soundofpicture.com 2. "Curiosity" by Lee Rosevere - leerosevere.bandcamp.com 3. "Second" by Paolo Pavan - /episode/index/show/piersontoperson/id/5182645

THE PENNY-WISEGUY 02/26/2017

THE PENNY-WISEGUY JONATHAN DOWDELL is a senior producer at TV home shopping giant QVC. Jonathan identifies with the legions of loyal viewers who tune into the network 24/7 searching for good deals because at the age of 50 he is – as he’s always been – compulsively conscious of every dollar he spends. (34:26) EXPLICIT EPISODE NOTES: Some of my very best friends in life are people I’ve met while working on various television shows. JONATHAN DOWDELL is one of them. I met Jonathan on a series in 1993 and, despite his moving to the east coast 15 years ago to take a producing job with TV home shopping giant QVC, we’ve managed to stay close. When I turned 50, Jonathan and I met up in Clarksdale, Mississippi to celebrate with another relocated TV buddy. Recently, Jonathan turned 50 and this time the celebration was in Louisville, Kentucky. I packed my portable digital recorder thinking I might, on the occasion of his milestone birthday, convince him to sit down and record an episode of PIERSON TO PERSON. I wasn’t sure what we would talk about – there are several topics we could have covered – but as you’ll hear in THE PENNY-WISEGUY, Jonathan was feeling introspective. As we enjoyed a pre-dinner drink in our room at the trendy 21C Museum Hotel, he was remarkably candid about aspects of his personality that he believes have stood in his way over the years, including his deep-rooted frugality: “I’m very measured when it comes to spending money. It’s very hard for me to spend top dollar for anything. I do sometimes wonder if I was freer would I be happier. Not that I’m unhappy. But why can’t I have the nice dinner? Why can’t I buy the better bottle of wine? Why can’t I drive a nicer car? I don’t need to drive a 19-year-old car. I can afford a new car. Sometimes I wonder if I feel like I don’t deserve a new car. That it isn’t just about the money, or saving the money or not spending the money. Do I deserve nice things? I’m not sure I feel that I do deserve nice things.” Being overly concerned about other people's opinions is another obstacle that Jonathan feels has hindered him over the years: “I have felt that I can’t achieve certain things because I can’t get over the hump of being judged. Maybe I would be more successful if I didn’t care about how other people felt. There are a lot of things in my life that I have been reluctant to do because I’m worried about being judged or failing, and I think that that is something I’m striving to get over. How do I push that aside so that I can have some other achievements in my life that will ultimately make me more fulfilled, more happy, make my life better?” This episode may, at times, sound more like a therapy session than Kentucky cocktail conversation. But in the 23 years I’ve known Jonathan, this is the most self-reflective I’ve ever heard him be. Maybe there’s something about hitting the half-century mark that inspired him to look inward. (That, and being sequestered in a hotel room, having me clip a mic on his shirt and asking him a bunch of personal questions.) As I do with all my podcast guests, I sent the finished episode to Jonathan to make sure he was okay with me releasing it. He called a few days ago to say it definitely was weird to hear himself talking about “all that stuff.” Even so, he didn’t ask me to change a thing and gave the green-light to share it with you as is. BP Many thanks to the composers of the music featured in this episode royalty free through Creative Commons licensing: 1. "Grab a Bargain" by Scott Holmes - Facebook: Scott Holmes Music 2. "Nature Kid" by Podington Bear - soundofpicture.com 3. "Chill Wave" by Kevin MacLeod - incompetech.com /episode/index/show/piersontoperson/id/5117753

MY FAVORITE MEDIUM 02/05/2017

MY FAVORITE MEDIUM HOLLISTER RAND was a young child when she first realized she could see and talk with dead people. Frightened and feeling freakish, Hollister kept her unusual talent a secret until she was nearly killed at the age of 18. Today, she fully embraces her life as a medium and finds great purpose in helping people connect with their loved ones in spirit. (46:31) EXPLICIT EPISODE NOTES: Ask me what my oddest TV job was and I won’t hesitate: line producer on the Psychic Friends Network infomercials. Hosted by singer Dionne Warwick, the talk show-like program hawked a 900-number to call for a live $3.99-per-minute psychic reading over the phone. As part of my job, I once auditioned a dozen psychics who read me back-to-back. Although the task was to see how each of them looked and sounded giving a reading on camera, I saw it as an opportunity to put the concept of psychic ability to the test. And while I did find a couple of people who were suitable for an appearance on PFN, I didn’t experience anything that I felt was authentically transcendental with any of these folks. My skepticism about all things metaphysical continued unchallenged for another 20 years until I met HOLLISTER RAND – a world-renowned medium and author of "I’m Not Dead, I’m Different." Hollister tells me that she didn’t mind the barrage of questions I peppered her with as soon as we were introduced: “I like people who are curious about what I do. Mostly because I had the same kind of questions.” Hollister discovered she had the ability to see and talk with the dead when her deceased grandfather appeared at the foot of her bed. She was just five years old. Soon after, spirits she didn’t know or recognize began visiting her at night: “I was so terrified because I had no control over what was showing up. Can you imagine waking up and you’ve got strangers in your bedroom?” After sharing her experiences with family members and friends, Hollister quickly realized that not everyone was open to visits from the dead – and many were afraid to even discuss the subject. Consequently, she decided to stop talking about her nighttime visits: “I realized there’s something very different about me. I did not like that at all. I mean, what kid wants to be different?” Hollister did her best to ignore her sixth sense and managed to keep it a secret until she was nearly killed in a car accident at the age of 18. After that near-death experience, there was no denying her ability to communicate with spirits any longer. Today, Hollister fully embraces her work as a medium and finds great purpose in helping people connect with loved ones whose earthly lives have ended. I have attended several of her spirit circles (a modernized version of an old-fashioned séance) and have witnessed some truly extraordinary things. The specificity with which Hollister describes the spirits who show up for the people in the room is absolutely remarkable. The astonished reactions I’ve seen from the “sitters” speak volumes. How could she possibly know the kind of details she does unless she is truly making contact with a dimension that’s imperceivable to me and most other people? As for doubters, Hollister spends no time whatsoever defending or debating the veracity of mediumship: “I don’t see myself out there trying to convince anybody. I see myself as someone who is here if someone wants the healing that this brings. People will come to it or they won’t.” So, then, where does this put me? Well, I remain agnostic on the subject – I neither believe nor disbelieve. But having seen her in action in several small groups and large events, and having had a number of long conversations with her about what I’ve observed, I can say with certitude that if it is, in fact, possible to communicate with the dead, Hollister Rand is the real deal. BP Many thanks to the composers of the music featured in this episode royalty free through Creative Commons licensing: 1. "Love Wins" by Lee Rosevere - leerosevere.bandcamp.com 2. "Curiosity" by Lee Rosevere - leerosevere.bandcamp.com 3. "Just Watching" by Podington Bear - soundofpicture.com /episode/index/show/piersontoperson/id/5056550

HOOSIER BY CHOICE 01/15/2017

HOOSIER BY CHOICE BRIAN PAYNE is the president and CEO of the $750 million Central Indiana Community Foundation and the founder of the internationally-recognized Indianapolis Cultural Trail. Brian was recently named an Indiana Living Legend -- not something the California native with two degrees in theater arts from UCLA ever imagined being. (42:28) EPISODE NOTES: Who in their right mind moves from the beautiful, hippy-dippy seaside city of Santa Cruz to landlocked Indianapolis? I mean, what sort of self-respecting native Californian heads Midwest to live in Indiana? That’s what I thought 23 years ago when BRIAN PAYNE told me that he’d decided to do just that – a decision that I didn’t fully understand or appreciate until my 5th and most recent trip to Indy when Brian and I sat down for a heartland heart-to-heart. HOOSIER BY CHOICE is the 17th episode of PIERSON TO PERSON, but the first episode in which I’m the one who gets a little choked up during the interview. I met Brian when he was a graduate student at UCLA. He was my TA in a theater management class that I was taking. I had no way of knowing it then, but Brian would become one of my closest friends. The foundation of our now time-tested friendship was built while I was working for him at the 1984 Olympic Arts Festival in LA; and then again for two seasons up in Santa Cruz at what was then a wildly popular summer Shakespeare festival. After spending 8 years as the festival’s managing director, Brian felt he had made a strategic career mistake: “I actually felt that I stayed too long, and that maybe I’d missed my chance. I should have pushed out of that arena a couple years earlier … and I desperately needed to move on.” Moving on for Brian meant making a new life for himself in Indianapolis where he became the managing director of the Indiana Repertory Theater. Brian loved his experience at the IRT, but after 7 years he found his interests becoming less artistically oriented and more civically minded. Then, unexpectedly, professional providence intervened and Brian was hired as the president and CEO of the Central Indiana Community Foundation, a $750 million charitable funding organization. “I knew at that moment that it was life-changing. That my world could now be bigger.” And Brian was right. His world did get bigger. A lot bigger. In fact, the reason for my latest visit to Indianapolis was to attend a black-tie ceremony and witness his induction as an Indiana Living Legend by the Indiana Historical Society. The 5-minute introductory film that was shown before Brian was brought to the stage celebrated his many contributions to improving the quality of life in Indianapolis, including a $63 million, 8-mile bike and walking trail that connects all six of the city’s cultural districts. Brian conceived of the project and championed it to completion, resulting in an urban pathway that has attracted considerable national and international attention making him, as the evening’s glossy program proclaimed: one of the world’s most influential Hoosiers. “Not bad for a Californian, huh?” Not bad at all, Brian. BP Many thanks to the composer of the music featured in this episode royalty free through Creative Commons licensing: 1. "Midday Dance" by Kevin MacLeod 2. "Luminous Rain" by Kevin MacLeod 3. "Thinking Music" by Kevin MacLeod 4. "Memory Lane" by Kevin MacLeod 5. "Easy Lemon" by Kevin MacLeod Visit Kevin MacLeod's website at: incompetech.com /episode/index/show/piersontoperson/id/4992088

THE PARTY GURU 12/25/2016

THE PARTY GURU ERIC WELCH has been delighting the birthday boys and girls of celebrity clients such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Larry King and Ben Affleck for the last 15 years. When it comes to throwing awesome children's birthday parties for LA's junior well-to-do, Eric's AMAZING KID COMPANY is in a class all by itself. (39:41) EPISODE NOTES: There are all kinds of businesses in LA that cater to the rich and famous. And when it comes to the business of throwing awesome children’s birthday parties for the junior well-to-do, THE AMAZING KID COMPANY is in a class by itself. For the last 15 years, ERIC WELCH has been delighting the birthday boys and girls of celebrity clients such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Larry King and, more recently, Ben Affleck. As Eric reveals in THE PARTY GURU, it was difficult in the beginning for him to go to work in the homes of famous actors because, for a long time, he aspired to be a famous actor himself. (Eric had a recurring role as Corky’s bully, Brian Russo, on the ABC series “Life Goes On.”) “To be completely honest, it was a jealousy kind of thing. It was like, you know, here I am kid party entertainer guy going to the celebrity’s house.” But as Eric continued to mastermind more and more birthday parties he began to genuinely embrace his new craft. And, in doing so, he developed a philosophy that guides him and his staff of 21 to this day. Eric says the foundation of that philosophy is, quite simply, love: “It’s looking at a kid in the eyes and really having love for this fellow human being. When you come from the heart, it’s much easier to make their birthday party the best day of their life.” Occasionally, that means showing a little tough love. Some of the kids Eric works with are used to getting whatever they want. “We don’t necessarily give them everything they want. We may be the only people in their lives that tell them ‘no’. But we know how to say ‘no’ in a way that they’re not going to rebel. They’re not going to hate us. That’s because they know that when we say ‘no’ it’s coming from a place of love.” Eric may only see these privileged kids once a year, but he sees them year after year, so he wants his contact with them to make a positive difference in their lives. “Children like this have money and they’re always going to have money, so they’re always going to have some sort of influence. So if that’s the case, I want to have some influence on this person who’s going to have influence.” Because The Amazing Kid Company creates parties for children of all ages, Eric has developed an uncommon ability to communicate with young people. “There’s a key to every kid. It’s just a matter of finding it.” And that includes toddlers who don’t yet have the power of speech. “There are ways to communicate with them without words and you can see God. Or spirit. Or the universe. Whatever you want to call it, you can see where this little person came from. Not just birthday parties is it, Brent?” You got that right, Eric. BP Many thanks to the composers of the music featured in this episode royalty free through Creative Commons licensing: 1. "Good Times" by Podington Bear - soundofpicture.com 2. "Revved Up" by Adam Selzer - incompetech.com 3. "Curiosity" by Lee Rosevere - leerosevere.bandcamp.com 4. "Kitten" by Podington Bear - soundofpicture.com 5. "Buddy Guy" by Poddington Bear - soundofpicture.com /episode/index/show/piersontoperson/id/4941068

DRAMATIC EFFECTS 12/04/2016

DRAMATIC EFFECTS ASHER HARTMAN is a transgender playwright, director and respected practitioner in LA's experimental theater scene. His provocative play The Silver, the Black, the Wicked Dance was commissioned by LACMA and explores alienation, violence and the pervasive feelings of shame, anxiety and fear in American culture. (47:38) EXPLICIT EPISODE NOTES: A friend had an extra ticket to a play at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and asked if I wanted to go. I must confess, I didn’t know much about museums commissioning performance art, as LACMA had with “The Silver, the Black, the Wicked Dance.” The dark comedic play was written and directed by ASHER HARTMAN and it was, at least for me, a real mind bender. But then, I don’t have a whole lot of experience with experimental theater. My friend knows Asher, so once the house lights in the 600-seat Bing Theater came up, I suggested we go back stage and talk to him about what we’d just seen. I had questions – a lot of them. But, as it turns out, being back stage immediately after a show isn’t the best place and time for a PIERSON TO PERSON-style Q&A. Fortunately, Asher agreed to be my guest. In DRAMATIC EFFECTS, Asher talks about the running themes in much of his theatrical work, such as racism and gender inequality, and what he was exploring specifically in “The Silver, the Black, the Wicked Dance”: alienation, predation, violence and the pervasive feelings of shame, anxiety and anger in American culture. Pretty over-my-heady stuff, but Asher didn’t flinch when I told him I didn’t really “get” a lot of what I experienced. Compared to what others say, I was being polite. Asher tells me some people “loathe” his work: “I’ve even had friends say, ‘Wow, I really, really hated that.’” Harsh criticism like that can still sting, but Asher accepts it as something that comes with the territory for practitioners of experimental theater: “We do put people through a lot … but I don’t think you, as an artist, really should be in the business of pleasing everyone.” Asher is an artist that strives to be his most authentic self – not only in his work, but in every aspect of his life. Not always an easy path. It means taking risks; like coming to terms with, albeit later in life, the realization that he was not the “she” the world knew him to be. Asher is quite candid about being transgender and I was fascinated to hear his view that humans are changing as a species: “I can’t say we’re evolving, because that implies a certain kind of progression. But we’re definitely augmenting ourselves in many ways.” This episode includes a few clips from “The Silver, the Black, the Wicked Dance,” but be warned: Asher’s dialogue is, at times, quite coarse. However, don’t get the wrong idea. That’s not the way Asher talks in real life. In fact, throughout our conversation I found him to be a real gentleman. BP Many thanks to the composers of the music featured in this episode royalty free through Creative Commons licensing: 1. "Ray Gun -- Faster, Faster, Brighter" by Blue Dot Sessions - sessions.blue/sessions/ 2. "Dolce Beat" by Podington Bear - soundofpicture.com 3. "Strings & Blips" by Adam Selzer /episode/index/show/piersontoperson/id/4884428

VENEZUELAN-AMERICAN ME 10/23/2016

VENEZUELAN-AMERICAN ME STEVE WILCOX is a Venezuelan born actor who had early success in American Me. It was rap icon Tupac Shakur's favorite movie and he sampled one of Steve's lines in Death Around the Corner. Working on the film was a watershed experience that still keeps Steve pursuing his dream 25 years later. (36:35) EPISODE NOTES: The 1992 film “American Me” was Edward James Olmos’ directorial debut. But the movie also marked the professional acting debut for STEVE WILCOX who played teenaged J.D., the white kid who becomes a member of a Chicano gang in 1950s East LA. William Forsythe was cast as the adult J.D. and Steve had to adopt some of Forsythe’s mannerisms and physical attributes. As Steve tells me in VENEZUELAN-AMERICAN ME, he was fitted with an unwieldy dental prosthetic that gave him an unintended lisp, which he had to learn to speak without. A few years later, Steve worked with rap icon Tupac Shakur in “Gang Related” who told him that he’d actually – unbeknownst to Steve -- sampled some of his dialogue from “American Me” on his track “Death Around the Corner.” Tupac promised to give Steve a copy of it the next time he saw him, but was shot and killed a few weeks later. Playing a white kid in a Latin culture came naturally to Steve. Born and raised in Venezuela to a Canadian father and a Venezuelan mother, Steve says he was always the whitest kid he knew. To make matters worse, his mother dressed him in nothing but white clothing (shoes and boots, too) for five years as part of a pact she’d made with patron saint Jose Gregorio Hernandez who, she believed, answered her prayers to save her young son who was dying of spinal meningitis. Steve is a survivor, and for 25 years has been a mostly-working Hollywood actor. Given his particular look (he’s been compared to Tom Waits, Nick Nolte and Ron Perlman) he often plays bad guys, which he loves to do. Thanks to his connections in LA’s growing Venezuelan artistic community, Steve has recently appeared in a number of Venezuelan movies, including “La Hora Cero” and “Libertador.” BTW: Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel, music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, is a friend. The charismatic maestro used to call Steve “Gringo” but now has a new nickname for him: “Creepy.” And it has nothing to do with the kind of roles he plays. BP Many thanks to the composers of the music featured in this episode royalty free through Creative Commons licensing: 1. "I'm Going for a Coffee" by Lee Rosevere - leerosevere.bandcamp.com 2. "Anders" by Blue Dot Sessions - sessions.blue/sessions/ 3. "Liquor Files" by Blue Dot Sessions - sessions.blue/sessions/ 4. Latin Rhythm by Sunsearcher /episode/index/show/piersontoperson/id/4766855

TWIRLYGIRL 10/02/2016

TWIRLYGIRL CYNTHIA JAMIN is a former sitcom actress who had recurring roles on Friends and Veronica's Closet as well as other NBC "Must See TV" shows. Cynthia now designs whimsical clothes for girls and the joy they bring to those who wear them helps ease the pain of her own abusive childhood. (43:09) EXPLICIT EPISODE NOTES: Remember the "Must See TV" sitcoms of the 1990s? CYNTHIA JAMIN certainly does. She was a working actress who had roles on several NBC shows back in the network's comedy block heyday, including "Friends." In fact, as Cynthia tells me in TWIRLYGIRL she was invited to audition for one of the principal characters on "Friends" (originally called "Six of One") after series co-creator Marta Kauffman saw her perform at a small LA theater. She read for the part of Rachel. So did Jennifer Aniston. And the rest is TV history. But Marta K. really liked Cynthia and asked her to play a waitress on the pilot. After the show got picked up, she was given the recurring role of Jasmine -- Phoebe's co-worker at the massage parlor. As Cynthia says, she ended up being a "friend of a Friend." But she was also an eyewitness to the explosion of one of television's Top 10 sitcoms of all time, and saw first-hand the impact the show's meteoric rise had on the 6 mostly unknown leads. Today, Cynthia designs and manufactures fantastical clothing for young girls and tweens. But her popular TwirlyGirl line is an unexpected success story. It all started after taking a sewing class when she began making her now-signature "twirly dresses" for her 2 young daughters. Pretty soon parents were stopping Cynthia and asking her where she bought the colorful dresses with the dramatic twirl. "You made them? Can you make one for my daughter? I'll pay you!" One dress led to another and before she knew it, Cynthia had more orders than she could handle from home. So she set up shop in DTLA's garment district and now, nearly 10 years later, is proud to say that every stitch of the groovy-juvie fashion she sells is Made in America. But Cynthia's experience with TwirlyGirl has been about much more than growing a business in a highly competitive industry. It's also been a deeply personal journey of coming to terms with the darkness of her abusive childhood, stepping into the light and finding her own way to twirl. BP Many thanks to the composer of the music featured in this episode royalty free through Creative Commons licensing: 1. "A New Day" by Scott Holmes 2. "Inspiring Corporate" by Scott Holmes 3. "Duck Pond" by Scott Holmes 4. "Childrens TV" by Scott Holmes Visit Scott Holmes Music on Facebook /episode/index/show/piersontoperson/id/4712563

THE FLACK 09/11/2016

FROM BORDER TO BUDDHA 08/19/2016

SPOTLIGHTING JIM 08/19/2016

WINE BY THE GLASS 08/19/2016

THE SNAKE CHARMER 08/19/2016

THE SNAKE CHARMER JULES SYLVESTER is Hollywood’s go-to guy for camera-ready reptiles, spiders and creepy crawlies of all kinds. Raised in Africa, Jules moved to America while in his twenties and joined a traveling circus before landing an animal training job that led to his working on hundreds of movies, including Snakes on a Plane. (40:29) EXPLICIT EPISODE NOTES: If you’ve been a Southern California moviegoer long enough you may remember the entertaining trailers the Los Angeles Times used to present as part of the Coming Attractions. These minute-docs profiled industry professionals working interesting behind-the-scenes jobs on movie sets. And one of them featured my favorite Hollywood animal trainer and wildlife expert, JULES SYLVESTER. Check out “The Bug Wrangler” In THE SNAKE CHARMER, Jules tells me the silver screen exposure led directly to his stepping in front of the camera to host three television series – two of which took him on exciting adventures around the world. Today, Jules is busier than ever supplying everything from alligators and pythons to scorpions and tarantulas for film, TV and commercial productions. BTW: It’s been 10 years since the release of “Snakes on a Plane.” Jules had a blast working on that “big, silly picture” and says Samuel L. Jackson loved hanging out with him and his snakes in between scenes. As for me, I love hanging out with Jules -- with or without his snakes -- because he’s larger than life, a first-rate raconteur, funny as heck and a truly decent human being. Have a listen to our kitchen table conversation and you’ll hear what I mean. Many thanks to the composers of the music featured in this episode royalty free through Creative Commons licensing: 1. "The Shoes They Wear" by Blue Dot Sessions - sessions.blue/sessions/ 2. "Artifact" by Kevin MacLeod - incompetech.com 3. "Try Anything Once" by Lee Rosevere - leerosevere.bandcamp.com 4. "Grand Caravan" by Blue Dot Sessions - sessions.blue/sessions/ 5. "Stale Case" by Blue Dot Sessions - sessions.blue/sessions/ 6. "Digya" by Kevin MacLeod - incompetech.com /episode/index/show/piersontoperson/id/4603712

GREEN'S TREES 08/19/2016

PIERSON TO PERSON

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