Who is Jeff Zucker?
He’s the model of a modern media general. “He’s fun to work for, a decent bloke and a consummate optimist,” says Smith. “He comes at issues assuming things will work out well, rather than assuming everything is going to go wrong.” “He has a very open, egalitarian vibe, not hierarchical at all,” adds another senior Universal exec. “He certainly understands the creative process, because he’s been through the TV pilot season, he understands the idea that you make a bunch of stuff and not everything’s going to work, but then you chase the hits.” “Jeff’s been on the line himself, so he understands what we go through,” comments Universal Studios’ president and COO Ron Meyer. “He understands that success is not the time when you need support, it’s when things are not perfect.” As a kid growing up in Florida, Zucker was editor of the school paper, president of every class he was in and a local tennis champ. He campaigned for student office under the slogan: “The little man with the big ideas”
Jeff Zucker is President and Chief Executive Officer of NBC Universal. As Sunday approached, a neighbor volunteered a home. Production wizards got wind of the project and offered their help in recordingit. The likes of Jeff Zucker, Holly Schiffer, Peter Rosenfeld, Darin Moran, Jean Martin, Andy Blumenthal, and Nick Phoenix rearranged schedules to participate. Holly Schiffer was able to get three High Definition cameras (Panasonic HVX250s), and an AVID editing facility. When Jeff Zucker went to pick up the camera package, Ted Schilowitz happened to be there and offered a RED camera set up on a SteadiCam. What we accomplished in a few hours on a Sunday afternoon embodies the nature of the Obama campaign: its grassroots inspiration, its inclusiveness, its community building. People pitched in quickly for a cause that resonated with them. There were not many conditions: Think this is a good idea? Want to help? Great. Sunday at 12:00. At the heart of the project were 22 children and their m
