The Kid Who Had to Be in Show Business: Julian Schlossberg — Part 1

Some people spend years trying to figure out what they want to do with their lives. Julian Schlossberg never had that problem.

Growing up in New York City, he was captivated by show business. Radio. Television. Movies. Theater. He went to live broadcasts whenever he could and found himself fascinated not just by what audiences saw and heard, but by the world behind it all.

He didn't necessarily know what his job would be. He just knew he had to find a way in.

More than six decades later, Schlossberg has built a remarkable career as a film and Broadway producer, movie distributor, television executive, talent representative, broadcaster and author. His journey has brought him into the orbit of some of the most influential figures in entertainment, including Elia Kazan, Elaine May, Mike Nichols, Alan Arkin, Carol Burnett and Orson Welles.

But the path from that show-business-obsessed kid to the career that followed was anything but predetermined.

In Part 1 of our conversation with Julian Schlossberg on No Wrong Choices, he takes us back to where it all began.

Finding His Way Into Show Business

Like many careers we explore on No Wrong Choices, Schlossberg's didn't begin with a perfectly constructed plan.

He tried acting and discovered fairly quickly that the rejection that came with it wasn't for him. He drove a cab. He worked as a pinboy. He studied at New York University. Eventually, he began finding his way into the television and film businesses, including jobs at ABC and the Walter Reade Organization.

His career eventually took him to Paramount Pictures, where he became Vice President of Worldwide Acquisition.

For many people, reaching an executive position at a major Hollywood studio would have represented the destination.

For Schlossberg, it helped him realize something else: he wasn't a corporate guy.

Walking away from the security and stature of Paramount meant taking a significant risk. But with encouragement from people including playwright Herb Gardner and Elaine May, Schlossberg decided to bet on himself.

That choice would define much of what followed.

Building Castle Hill Productions — Differently

When Schlossberg launched his own company, he needed filmmakers to trust him with their movies.

He found an extraordinarily simple way to differentiate himself.

He paid them.

More specifically, Schlossberg recognized that filmmakers and rights holders were accustomed to waiting months to receive money they were owed. His approach was different: when a check cleared, he paid the people who were entitled to their share.

It sounds obvious. At the time, it wasn't.

That reputation for treating people fairly helped Schlossberg build Castle Hill Productions and eventually assemble a library of roughly 500 films.

It's one of the recurring themes in Julian's story: relationships aren't something separate from the business. Relationships are the business.

And perhaps no story illustrates that better than the extraordinary way he met legendary filmmaker Elia Kazan.

How Julian Schlossberg Met Elia Kazan

Long before Google, LinkedIn or social media made virtually everyone searchable, Schlossberg wanted to meet Elia Kazan, the legendary director behind films including On the Waterfront and East of Eden.

So he looked him up in the Manhattan phone book.

Kazan was listed.

What happened next sounds more like the setup for a movie than a conventional business-development strategy.

Schlossberg began showing up near Kazan's home and following him around New York, hoping to find an opportunity to introduce himself. Eventually, Kazan noticed — and confronted him.

That unusual beginning ultimately grew into something remarkable: Schlossberg represented Kazan for approximately 40 years.

There was no elaborate contract governing their relationship.

They operated on a handshake.

It's a funny story when Julian tells it, but it's also revealing. His career has been built not simply on meeting famous people, but on creating relationships that lasted for decades.

Carol Burnett, Elaine May, Mike Nichols and a Lifetime of Stories

One of the pleasures of talking with Schlossberg is that names most people associate with entertainment history are woven naturally into the story of his life.

He recalls an early encounter with Carol Burnett. He talks about his relationships with Elaine May and Mike Nichols. He shares stories involving Alan Arkin and discusses his work restoring and reissuing Orson Welles' Othello.

These aren't stories being recited from a résumé. They're memories from a person who spent decades working alongside extraordinary creative people.

And they help explain why Julian Schlossberg is such a compelling storyteller himself.

He wasn't watching the history of modern entertainment from a distance.

He was there.

The Broadway Hits, the Flops — and the Myth of Knowing What Will Work

Schlossberg's career also includes producing for Broadway, where he experienced something familiar to virtually anyone who has spent enough time taking creative risks: some projects worked and some didn't.

That experience has given him an interesting perspective on instinct.

After more than 60 years in entertainment, you'd imagine Schlossberg might believe he has developed an almost infallible sense of what audiences will embrace.

He says essentially the opposite.

Nobody knows.

He discusses projects such as Bullets Over Broadway and the difficulty of predicting what will connect with an audience. Experience can sharpen judgment. It can inform decisions. But it doesn't eliminate uncertainty.

That's an especially interesting lesson coming from someone who has spent his life making those bets.

There is no formula that guarantees success.

Eventually, you have to make a choice and live with the outcome.

A Career Built on Passion, Relationships and Risk

There are plenty of remarkable names in Julian Schlossberg's story, but that's not ultimately what makes his journey so interesting.

It's the choices underneath them: recognizing that acting wasn't right for him, leaving the security of Paramount, starting his own company, finding a different way to do business, taking chances on films and Broadway productions without knowing whether audiences would respond, and building relationships that lasted decades.

And continuing to work in the business he fell in love with as a kid.

Julian's journey is a reminder that careers rarely unfold according to a perfectly designed plan. Sometimes the more important thing is knowing which world you want to be part of — and continuing to find ways to stay in it.

After more than six decades, Julian Schlossberg is still doing exactly that.

And this is only Part 1.

In Part 2 of our conversation, Julian reflects on his legacy, shares advice for those coming up behind him, and explains why, after a lifetime in show business, he still isn't slowing down.

Listen to Part 1 of our conversation with Julian Schlossberg on No Wrong Choices.