Bruckheimer Tenacity Saved Director's Job

Six years ago, when producer Jerry Bruckheimer pitched CSI to the networks, the producer had to fight hard for the show and his crew.

Bruckheimer knew he'd found his ideal CSI director in Danny Cannon, and when the network frowned upon his choice due to Cannon's lack of television experience, Bruckheimer insisted. "Jerry said, 'Trust me, this guy has an unbelievable vision,' " CBS head honcho Les Moonves told the LA Times. The network relented, and Cannon has been working on CSI ever since.

Bruckheimer will oversee the production of ten television shows this upcoming season, but that doesn't mean the producer will overlook anything. "I love working," he told the newspaper. "It's about working with really talented people. I'll read every script, I'll look at every episode. I'll be involved in the casting for the pilots."

Evidence of Bruckheimer's involvement in his work is in a story CSI: Miami executive producer Ann Donahue told the newspaper. When the producer saw the final cut of the show's first season finale, his only complaint was the fact that the very last scene didn't have enough cops. "He notices everything," said Donahue. "Making television shows used to be about recording conversations; now it really is filmmaking.... One of the first things Jerry said to me was, 'When people are flipping through channels, I want them to know there's a unique look and feel to a show.'"

But neither Cannon nor Donahue would be tied to the number one television show if Bruckheimer hadn't fought hard to get CSI on the air. His partner, Jonathan Littman, recalled, "When we sold CSI, everyone said, 'Mystery can't be done, [the audience will] skew too old, no network is going to buy it,'" he remembered. "[But] I've never known anyone to put down a good [mystery]."

For Bruckheimer, his success seems to be inconsequential, as the producer addressed it with a simple, "Can't complain." His recipe for success remains simple enough. "When somebody comes up with a great idea that we want to do, we're going to do it," the producer finished.

To read the rest of the article, which includes more quotes by Moonves and Littman, visit the LA Times.

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