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John Green - ABC News Award-Winning Producer
04/26/2010 - By Gayle Davis
Photo: McKay Imaging (mckayimaging.com)
One Lucky Producer
John Green takes us Behind the Headlines and around the Globe
As the Executive Producer of Special Programming and Development for ABC News, John R. Green has seen it all – literally. He’s been perched on top of a building with Charlie Gibson on Saint Peter’s Square in Vatican City covering Pope John Paul II’s funeral. He was in the control booth as the horrific terrorist attack on September 11, 2001 unfolded live during Good Morning America – and then covered the story with Gibson from Ground Zero. To report on the 2008 campaign and elections, he hopped on a train and launched “50 States in 50 Days.” Lighter moments have been spent dreaming up specials to accompany ABC’s Academy Awards® telecast.
During the past two decades John Green has helped to bring countless news stories and events to millions of television viewers, about people from all over the world. Some have been famous, and some not so famous. He has met presidents, athletes and celebrities, but says it’s the “average” people who overcome real hardships or achieve honors that touch him the most.
When John was only ten years old, he found himself often intrigued while watching Good Morning America. In his heart of hearts he always knew he would one day work in some capacity for thatnews program - and he did. Green eventually served as a producer for that show for 14 years after first gaining invaluable experience by interning and working for local news stations in his hometown of St. Louis, Missouri and later in Boston, Massachusetts…and he hasn’t looked back.
If you’ve watched several breaking news editions of 20/20, Good Morning America’s “2008 Whistle Stop Tour,” Diane Sawyer’s coverage of the recent earthquakes in Haiti or Barbara Walters’ reporting on the death of Michael Jackson, then you have been fortunate enough to see some of John’s proudest work. But he is careful not to take all the credit, as he knows he cannot do it without the dedication and hard work by the entire ABC News Team.
This three-time Emmy® and prestigious Peabody Award winner was kind enough to take time out of his very busy schedule to sit down with Living In Holmdel to let us get to know him. He “briefed us” on what it’s like to have this significant job in the realm of television news programming for one of the biggest networks in the world, and what prompted his decision to make Holmdel the place he calls home.
LIH: As the Executive Producer of Special Programming and Development for ABC News, your role encompasses many facets. Can you please share with our readers what your general responsibilities are?
JG: I work to create new programming that airs on ABC News. That means that I dream up new programs and one hour specials that you might see on prime time on ABC. Most of them have a news angle, but occasionally I also do special programming that is entertainment oriented. Just in the last couple of months we had breaking news out of Haiti, and they asked me to, in less than 12 hours, co-produce a special about the earthquake there. We pulled it together…we had a team of people who flew down there, including Diane Sawyer, the anchor of the show. My role, as co-executive producer, was to manage that broadcast from soup to nuts…deciding what reports we were going to follow, overseeing the writing, the staffing, and to run the control room live, because that was a live production.
LIH: What was the name of that program?
JG: “Earthquake Haiti.” It was such a big story, the next day we were asked for another hour inprime time on ABC. And we said we could. On the flip side, I had another special for 20/20 air, which was Oscar® related, called “Before They Were Famous.” We looked at all of the nominees from this year’s Oscars® and brought viewers into the sometimes embarrassing world of their [the nominees] childhoods and early careers by showing clips of them before they were famous… when they were just breaking into the business.
LIH: Do you help in “digging up” the background information, or do you have producers who do that?
JG: I have producers for each project that I’m assigned. I have producers, associate producers and writers who work under me, but I like to be very hands on in all the projects that I do, whether it’s for news or for entertainment. That means that I will often do a lot of the research myself. I’ll really “dig in” and do a lot of the writing myself, and will often go out on the shoots as well. My role is also to help create initiatives for the ABC News Division that cover many different areas. For instance, during the election seasons, when we are looking for a way to brand and promote our election coverage, it’s my job to help create a vision or plan for that.
In 2008 I created an initiative called “50 States in 50 Days.” That basically meant that the 50 days leading up to Election Day in 2008, ABC News broadcast the flagship shows like Good Morning America, World News and Nightline, and would travel to all fifty states on consecutive days. At the time I felt there was so much focus on so-called “swing states” like Ohio and Florida that carried so many electoral votes. I felt for our coverage we wanted to send a message that this election was about everyone in the U.S. from all fifty states. As part of that coverage, I also conceived of a very special broadcast that aired on Good Morning America, which was a weeklong whistle stop train trip. What I wanted to do, that had never been done on network television before, was to create a live broadcast on a moving train that was crisscrossing thru the United States. It was a very difficult thing to do, technically and logistically, but the company was behind me and the vision I had. With a lot of help from the people at ABC and Amtrak, we pulled it off! It was a very successful trip.
LIH: How long did it take to produce the tour from start to finish?
JG: Well, it was a week-long train ride, but it took months and months to actually pull that project together. I actually had to survey the route several times. I surveyed it by train, by car and believe it or not, by helicopter. One of the challenges of that broadcast was to try and get a viable signal or transmission from the moving train to a satellite. In order to do that we needed to find stretches of railway without obstructions - like buildings, trees with large overhangs or bridges. We had to carefully map out every single second of those 2-hour broadcasts so that we wouldn’t lose our signal. It really was a monumental project, but very satisfying in the end.
LIH: Were there any glitches?
JG: Oh, yes! There were glitches! There are always glitches in live television! We just hope the audience doesn’t see them as closely as we do! We had a problem in Niagara Falls and believe itor not it had nothing to do with the train. We lost our audio because one of the microphones got wet because of the spray from the waterfalls. With all of the hoops that we were jumping through to make the broadcast work on the train, we forgot we needed to waterproof the microphone!
LIH: After producing such a monumental program, can we look to see broadcasts like this leading up to future elections?
JG: We are just now talking about initiatives regarding coverage of the midterm elections in 2010 - that are very important in deciding the balance of power in congress. A few people have stepped forward and said they would like to see another “Whistle Stop Tour.” If we do another one, we will be even more ambitious!
LIH: You spent several years producing and managing at Good Morning America, working with Diane Sawyer and Charlie Gibson…can you point out a few of your most memorable stories that you covered and/or produced during that time?
JG: Absolutely! I have a very long and intense love affair with Good Morning America, which is a show that I watched as a kid growing up in Missouri. I remember being fascinated by that broadcast when I was about ten or eleven years old. I guess ten years after that, when I was graduating with a communications degree, in the back of my mind I was thinking one day I’ll getto Good Morning America. I did, and eventually got to produce Diane Sawyer and Charlie Gibson, which was a great pleasure because I don’t know if many people have opportunities to work with anchors of that caliber.
Particular stories…I think one of the biggest and probably the most important is September 11th. I was producing Good Morning America, running the control room that morning. You’ll remember the first plane struck between 8:30 and 9 a.m. We were still on the air live and it was my job to tell Diane and Charlie in their ears what was going on. That was a very intense experience for them and for me. We all had to pull it together for the sake of our audience. The information at the very beginning was very sketchy…we weren’t sure what it was but then when we went to a network-wide breaking news bulletin to report on fire raging at the World Trade Center; a second plane hit. That’s the moment at which we all knew it was a terror attack and our lives would never be the same. After many hours on the air, I had a chance to go down to Ground Zero with Charlie and cover the story from there. We all at ABC News pitched in to cover the story for days, weeks, even months. It’s the most profound, intense experience I have ever had in my professional career.
Another story that comes to mind is when Pope John Paul II died. I was sent to Rome, with Charlie Gibson, to cover that story for the network and I remember we had a broadcast position on top of a roof overlooking Saint Peter’s Square. We were on the air live as they were mourning the Pope and bringing his body into the Basilica. From that position, seeing the thousands upon thousands of mourners and hearing the wails of despair, I really understood how powerful one person can be in this world and realized Pope John Paul II really did have a rare ability to move and inspire millions of people. I felt very fortunate to be there at that moment.
LIH: You have made reference that you “cover” the stories as a producer… please explain.
JG: As a producer, we wear many hats. We will often go out and actually report the storywithout a reporter or anchor on location and we’ll do the interviews off camera and bring the material back and write it up and have an anchor or correspondent put their voice to the story. Often we are also out there in the field with a correspondent and we work in tandem, but, as a producer you are responsible for the editorial content of your story, for the look of your story, and for getting your story right. The pressure is really on the producer to make sure the reporting represents the best journalism that we can get from the story.
LIH: What helps you in the creative process when coming up with unique programming ideas?
JG: I think that when you cover natural disasters for many years, from earthquakes to floods to hurricanes to tornadoes, you have an instinct about the human stories that are going to resonate, the survival stories. Obviously as a news organization we want to report what’s needed at the location. But the creativity and those very special ideas usually come from talking to people… hearing what they’re experiencing on the ground.
LIH: Three Emmy® Awards, a Peabody, DuPont, and a National Headliner Award...it’s obvious that you are at the top of your game. Is there ever a day that you secretly second-guess yourself when making an important decision?
JG: Everyday. I think if you make a decision and you never second-guess it you are notnecessarily striving for perfection. I think it’s a very rare moment in time and circumstance when you truly get it right the very first time. I second-guess my decisions when I have more time to second-guess them, like when I am working on long term projects. What I will say is that when I am producing live television, I make the decision and I stick with it, because there is not enough time. If you show, especially in a live control room, a lack of confidence in your decision it creates chaos. People around you in the in the control room and on the set will lose confidence in what you are doing.
LIH: Your career has afforded you the opportunity to see the world and meet many celebrities and notables…does any one place or person stand out in your mind and why?
JG: Gosh there are so many. I have always been inspired by survival stories. And even though I have had a chance to interview presidents and celebrities, and great athletes, it’s average people who triumph over incredible adversity that really inspire me. One story in particular comes to mind. I produced a story about 10 years ago about a woman from Wisconsin who was in the advanced stages of breast cancer and pregnant at the same time. Her HMO decided that it wouldnot pay for experimental treatment that would potentially help her recover from breast cancer. It was such a damming diagnosis for her medically, but also so damming for her when her insurance denied coverage for the experimental treatment. In telling the story we got the HMO to reverse its decision to treat this woman. She survived and was able to be a mother to that child who was born healthy. I feel that every once in a while when you get to do a story like that - and meet a woman like that, who fights in spite of all of these challenges - that there is a lot of power in journalism. She really inspired me.
LIH: What advice would you give to someone who wants to “break-in” to the television news business?
JG: Internships, internships, and more internships! You go no matter where it is and intern somewhere. Whether it’s at a radio station, a local newspaper, at a network if you can get in…be the intern that comes in early and stays late, the one who volunteers to anything at anytime and never look at your watch!
LIH: What do you think it was that attracted you to the business years ago (besides watching Good Morning America as a young guy) and how did you get to where you are today?
JG: I think growing up in the Midwest and not really being exposed to a lot of different people from different areas of the world, I was always interested in what was going on in other parts of the United States and around the world. I just gravitated to any environment where I would have contact with all different types of people. Journalism, to me, represented an opportunity to hear all different points of view and to meet people who spoke different languages and people who lived under different governmental systems. It was a way to immerse myself in all of that.
LIH: If you weren’t producing, what other career path do you think you would have pursued?
JG: Teaching.
LIH: Really? What grade?
JG: (Laughs) I would teach any grade really, but I think that I would probably have liked to have an alternate career as a college professor.
LIH: In journalism?
JG: I would teach journalism or foreign language.
LIH: You speak a couple foreign languages right?
JG: I do. French and Spanish. I used to do a lot of tutoring on the side to help make some extra money. I taught myself some Italian and some Russian to get by.
LIH: Pardon the pun, but let’s bring it home…how long have you lived in Holmdel?
JG: This is great…I love Holmdel…we have lived here for three years.
LIH: What influenced your decision to live here?
JG: Oh my God, I love Holmdel. I am so crazy for Holmdel! Here’s how I got to Holmdel. We had been living in New York City for several years, and I wanted to have a vacation home to go to on the weekends to get away from the concrete and the noise. We found a nice place in Manahawkin in Ocean County and spent several years there on the weekends, loving it, loving New Jersey. I said to myself, “I can really see myself living full time in New Jersey, if only we can pick this house up and move it closer to New York City where my office is.” As we would head back on the Garden State Parkway back to the city, we’d pass these signs with all the names of the towns…Toms River, Forked River, Red Bank…and Holmdel! In my head I wanted to learn more about Holmdel after seeing how lush it was off to the side of the parkway. I also thought the PNC Arts Center was really cool; I had gone to a concert there. So when I got back home I started looking online at real estate in Holmdel and became so excited…that led to buying a house here!
LIH: You love it!
JG: Love it! Love the people, the beauty and the fact that there are so many trees and hills and I especially love the quiet. I love the nature, the animals that you see…even the deer!
LIH: When you aren’t helping to shape the world in the realm of television news production what is it that you like to do?
JG: I am a big sports fanatic! I love football, baseball, tennis…I don’t play them as much as I did when I was young, but I try to get out to see as many games or matches as I can.
LIH: Cardinals, Yankees, or Mets fan?
JG: At the risk of offending everyone in Holmdel, New Jersey and New York…I have to say I am a die-hard Cardinals fan and always will be!
LIH: If a television special were to be produced about John Green, what would the title be?
JG: That’s a really good question! (Pause) “One Lucky Guy!”
Favorite Restaurant:
Salt Creek Grille
Favorite Music:
James Taylor
Favorite Movie:
Schindler’s List
Pet Peeve:
People who drive too slow
Three people you would like to dine with:
William Shakespeare, John F. Kennedy, Lucille Ball
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