Barry Diller | Running Paramount at 32
Barry Diller was 23, a junior executive at ABC, when he was called into the chairman's office to meet the Austrian industrialist who had just bought Paramount. Charles Bluhdorn wanted to sell ABC a package of Paramount films. Diller told him the movies were no good and ABC wasn't buying. He had never stood up to anyone before and has no idea where it came from. Bluhdorn was impressed enough to keep calling for the next eight years.
Then, when Diller was 32, Bluhdorn told him he was going to run Paramount. Diller's response was that he was out of his mind — he'd never made a movie, only television. Bluhdorn's counter was that the only thing left to do was say yes, you dope. Paramount finished dead last among the six studios for the first two years. Diller offered to go. Bluhdorn refused, and then Saturday Night Fever came out, and the studio stayed in first place for seven straight years.
In this conversation with David Begnaud, Diller talks about that faith and what it buys a person — the room to fail without the rug being pulled. He also talks about the mother who wouldn't come get him from camp when he was seven, and what he calls cementing himself shut. About learning to fly a Cessna to cure a phobia, and losing the fear the moment he was airborne. About the guilt he still carries for not being louder during the AIDS crisis while he was running a studio. About being written up by People as a man failing upward, and now owning the magazine. And about Bluhdorn, who kept his leukemia secret for three years, crying in a helicopter over the Dominican Republic two months before he died.
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Thank you to Canva for believing in the power of storytelling and helping us bring this podcast to life: https://canva.com
Chapters ☀️
ABOUT THIS PODCAST:
The Person Who Believed In Me is hosted by David Begnaud, founder and CEO of Do Good Crew and often called "America's storyteller." In each episode, David sits down with world-class guests to ask one simple question: Who believed in you before the world did? Big names. Honest stories. Relatable takeaways. Different paths — same question.
David is also a CBS News contributor and host of the weekly segment Beg Knows America, which airs every Monday morning.
Host: David Begnaud
Guest: Barry Diller
Executive Producers: Ellen Rocamora, Olivier Delfosse
Associate Producer: Griffin Hamilton
Booker: Sully Bloch
Director of Photography: Foster Parks
Theme Music: Slipstream
Post-Production: Longwave Digital
CONNECT WITH US:
The Person Who Believed In Me:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/believedpodcast
More description
Barry Diller was 23, a junior executive at ABC, when he was called into the chairman's office to meet the Austrian industrialist who had just bought Paramount. Charles Bluhdorn wanted to sell ABC a package of Paramount films. Diller told him the movies were no good and ABC wasn't buying. He had never stood up to anyone before and has no idea where it came from. Bluhdorn was impressed enough to keep calling for the next eight years.
Then, when Diller was 32, Bluhdorn told him he was going to run Paramount. Diller's response was that he was out of his mind — he'd never made a movie, only television. Bluhdorn's counter was that the only thing left to do was say yes, you dope. Paramount finished dead last among the six studios for the first two years. Diller offered to go. Bluhdorn refused, and then Saturday Night Fever came out, and the studio stayed in first place for seven straight years.
In this conversation with David Begnaud, Diller talks about that faith and what it buys a person — the room to fail without the rug being pulled. He also talks about the mother who wouldn't come get him from camp when he was seven, and what he calls cementing himself shut. About learning to fly a Cessna to cure a phobia, and losing the fear the moment he was airborne. About the guilt he still carries for not being louder during the AIDS crisis while he was running a studio. About being written up by People as a man failing upward, and now owning the magazine. And about Bluhdorn, who kept his leukemia secret for three years, crying in a helicopter over the Dominican Republic two months before he died.
Get more stories that remind you the world is still good. Sign up for our free newsletter: www.thedogoodcrew.com
Thank you to Canva for believing in the power of storytelling and helping us bring this podcast to life: https://canva.com
Chapters ☀️
ABOUT THIS PODCAST:
The Person Who Believed In Me is hosted by David Begnaud, founder and CEO of Do Good Crew and often called "America's storyteller." In each episode, David sits down with world-class guests to ask one simple question: Who believed in you before the world did? Big names. Honest stories. Relatable takeaways. Different paths — same question.
David is also a CBS News contributor and host of the weekly segment Beg Knows America, which airs every Monday morning.
Host: David Begnaud
Guest: Barry Diller
Executive Producers: Ellen Rocamora, Olivier Delfosse
Associate Producer: Griffin Hamilton
Booker: Sully Bloch
Director of Photography: Foster Parks
Theme Music: Slipstream
Post-Production: Longwave Digital
CONNECT WITH US:
The Person Who Believed In Me:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/believedpodcast
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