PETER ANTHONY ANDREWS: CEO Of PACO GLOBAL & Former Vice President of NBC Entertainment to Receive The Riant Theatre's Pioneer Of The Arts Award For Outstanding Achievement In Television & Entertainment

PETER ANTHONY ANDREWS: The Business of Entertainment
By Fern Gillespie

For over 40 years, entertainment industry powerhouse Peter Anthony Andrews, CEO of Paco Global, has not only broken racial barriers in corporate boardrooms, but has been a key executive behind hit television and film productions that are part of American pop culture.

For his impact, Andrews is the 2015 recipient of the Riant Theatre’s Pioneer of the Arts Award for Outstanding Achievement in Television and Entertainment.

During the 1970s and 1980s, Andrews, a Jamaica, Queens native, was a triple threat executive. He was Vice President of NBC Entertainment, Senior Vice President Columbia Pictures and Executive Vice President of MGM Studios, where he directed all network television production and distribution. These leadership roles ranked the Wharton business school graduate as the first African American in the entertainment industry to have the corporate power to green-light mainstream productions.  

In 1971, fresh from Yale’s drama program, Andrews began his career with Harry Belafonte Enterprises in New York City as a writer/producer. His work with Belafonte evolved into developing the classic African American western film Buck and the Preacher starring Sidney Poitier and Harry Belafonte for Columbia Pictures.  Later, he became a segment producer and writer for “An Evening with Belafonte and Poitier” on PBS and associate producer of The Making of Buck and the Preacher. At this time, he also served as associate producer of the national theatrical tour of To Be Young, Gifted and Black, Lorraine Hansberry's award winning play.

The 1970s was an early era in diversity and the television industry took notice of this talented, savvy business executive. He was hired by NBC and became the Vice President of NBC Entertainment. From 1973 – 1979, he oversaw a budget of $80 million ($320 million today) and was responsible for developing programming resulting in some of NBC’s legendary Emmy Award winning shows. Landmark television shows under Andrews’ administration included: Emergency, Adam 12, Police Story, Police Woman Columbo, McCloud, Banacek, Quincy, Ironside, Rockford Files, Chico and the Man, Chips, Little House on the Prairie, Shogun and many more.

During the 1970s, Andrews launched his advocacy on African American-oriented television, theatre and film.  At NBC, he was the leading force behind the acclaimed television movie Sister, Sister, written by Maya Angelou starring Diahann Carroll, Rosalind Cash and Irene Cara.   He was the producer of Love Is Not Enough, a Movie of the Week pilot with Bernie Casey that was directed by Ivan Dixon. By 1983, he was the co-creator, producer and writer of the NAACP Image Awards, the first two-hour special broadcast from the Hollywood Palladium hosted by Robert Guillaume, Lena Horne, Cicely Tyson, Jayne Kennedy, Mister T, Sugar Ray Leonard, Curtis Blow and Lou Gossett, Jr.

With Columbia Pictures, he was also the production consultant of the Civil War drama Glory, which earned Denzel Washington his first Oscar. He was producer of the play Color Me Dorothy, an Off Broadway show at the Walnut Theatre in Philadelphia. As an executive producer and writer, he created the syndicated television special Celebrity Showboat, hosted by Jayne Kennedy that starred Cab Calloway and Della Reese. From 1990 – 2000,  under Paco Global, Andrew was the executive producer and director of Story of a People, a prime time syndicated Black History Month show hosted by Robert Guillaume.  

Today, Andrews’ legacy in diversity continues as the founder and former director of the Warner Bros Women and Minority Writers Workshop. Established in 1976, it is the longest running and the most successful writers workshop in Hollywood.

From 2000 – 2010, at Paco Global, he developed a variety of television productions. Under Andrews, the company developed the CBS pilot The Sting Sisters, in association with Fred Weintraub. Andrews was the executive producer-writer of “Importance of Being Earnest; independent writer- producer of Are You Protected?, an one-hour PBS pilot. He was producer- writer of Art of Making Money, a two-hour documentary (home video) and expose on the two top wedding portrait photographers in the business. Andrews was producer-writer-director of World of Art Leather, a one half hour documentary on leading company in the world producing handmade wedding albums.

An education advocate, Andrews studied in the Master of Fine Arts’ Theatre Management program at Columbia University and was part of legendary novelist John Oliver Killens Writers Workshop.  He has been an adjunct Professor of Drama at Yale University and the University of Southern California. Also, he’s been a guest lecturer at Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania and the University of Alberta in Edmonton Canada.

Andrews continues to represent major clients in finance, distribution, marketing and packaging content for global exploitation in all markets and media. He has worked as a producers rep and head of acquisitions for Ferretina Studios in Toronto, Canada, a leading producer of 3D-CGI animation. As an executive producer at Ferretina Studios, he’s worked on plans to complete and arrange worldwide theatrical exhibition for projects now in production and post production.  In 2013, he was the creator, writer and producer of Guts and Glory, a syndicated television reality series about the San Antonio Talons football team. Andrews remains a founding partner to Sparkle Entertainment, a film and television production. For over 40 years, Andrews has utilized his business acumen and artistic expertise to develop entertainment programming that has made an imprint on American culture.

For tickets to the Riant Theatre's PIONEER OF THE ARTS AWARDS, Sunday, July 26, 2015 at 3PM at THE POET'S DEN THEATRE & GALLERY, 309 East 108th Street, NYC, go to www.therianttheatre.com or call the Box Office at 646-623-3488.

The event will also feature a screening of the Video Diaries Project, A Series of Short Films about the Artists in the Strawberry One-Act Festival.  A reception will follow the Awards Presentation.

The Strawberry One-Act Festival will be at the TATO LAVIERA THEATRE, 240 East 123rd Street, NYC from August 5th through August 23, 2015. For tickets click here.

The Awards Ceremony & Performance for the Strawberry One-Act Festival will be on August 24, 2015 at 7:30pm at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, NYC. For tickets go to www.symphonyspace.org

DOWN with Misguided Stigmas, UP with Realism and Complex Characters! Celebrating Progress in Cinematic and Literary Interpretations of Mental Illness By Shelby Tansil

By Shelby Tansil

DR. BAYLOR: I’m sorry, I didn’t bring milk. How do you take your coffee?

ANITA: I wait ‘til the Starbucks guy’s back is turned – then I take it.

 -From Ellen Orchid’s play, Prescriptions

 For years, negative portrayals of people with mental illnesses in films and literature have contributed to the stigma of mental illness. Many horror and thriller stories, such as the movie Gothika and the book-turned-movie Shutter Island, have been set in mental health institutions. A fair portion of these stories also feature patients as villains or other threatening figures. By associating mental disorders with violence and fear, these films and works of literature portray mental illness in a negative light. Yet, as Dr. Danny Wedding points out:   

 Perhaps the most common myth is that people with mental illness are dangerous and violent, and the evidence is very clear that somebody with a disease like schizophrenia is far more likely to be the victim of violence than to be the perpetrator of violence. People with mental illness, homeless people who you see on the street typically, they are victims. (“We”)

Some individuals dealing with these illnesses may act violently in real life, but this is not true for the majority of people dealing with them. It’s not just a negative depiction of mental illness; it’s also an inaccurate depiction.

            Other films and literary works have used characters with mental illnesses as cheap comedic relief. We’ve seen the crazy street person shouting amusing profanities at our just-moved-

to-the-big-city-from-a-small-southern-town protagonist a thousand times. Another classic is the funny grandfather with dementia who keeps forgetting where he is to the annoyance of his family. In these characters, the sad and serious sides of mental illness are often ignored. These characters function primarily to make people laugh. When film directors or authors choose to put these characters in their works, they simplify mental illness and exploit it for the sake of entertainment. I’m not saying I don’t see the humor in some of these characters. I do. That grandfather from Freaky Friday (pictured above) is in most of my favorite scenes from that movie. But I also recognize how these characters contribute to the stigma of mental illness in our society. 

Traditionally, films and literature have also focused disproportionately on individuals with severe mental illnesses. Instead of examining a diverse range of people on the mental health spectrum, these stories have emphasized the extreme ends of the spectrum. Until relatively recent times, there have been many movies and books about serial killers, pedophiles and insane individuals who commit crimes but far fewer about people who have milder forms of mental illnesses and live relatively “ordinary” lives.  

 

In spite of these stigmatizing traditions, certain films and works of literature in recent years have ushered in a new era of more accurate, multifaceted portrayals of mental illness. Ellen Orchid’s play, Prescriptions, well represents this era. The play focuses on psychiatrist Dr. Renee Baylor and her patient, Anita Vitale, who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and attention-deficit disorder. When Anita arrives at Dr. Baylor’s home to house sit for her, she discovers that she has been given the chance to help Dr. Baylor in more ways than one. Orchid uses humor and clever dialogue to create relatable characters and combat stereotypes of mental illnesses. Prescriptions breaks down barriers between those with diagnosed disorders and those without them. It questions where we draw the line between so-called “normal” emotional responses and mental illness. Orchid’s medical background (MD with a concentration in psychiatry) gives her a unique, well-informed perspective on the subject.      

This changing portrayal of mental illness is not limited to the realm of live theater. Many movies also reflect the new movement. The two protagonists of the Academy Award-winning Silver Linings

Playbook (2012) speak openly about having bipolar disorder and depression. Yet while these characters both deal with mental illnesses, the film emphasizes that this is just a small part of who they are as human beings. They also fight for their dreams, have romantic relationships, cheer for their favorite football teams and get angry at crappy book endings. Just like people living without mental illnesses. Silver Linings Playbook presents its characters with mental illnesses as lovable and relatable people. It invites audience members to connect with them, rather than distance themselves from them. Although medical professionals have argued over the accuracy of the characters’ diagnoses and actions, the film succeeds in promoting positive attitudes surrounding people with mental illnesses.  

   

Realistic portrayals of teens dealing with psychological disorders, especially depression, are now a popular theme in Young Adult literature. The Perks of Being a Wallflower and It’s Kind of a Funny Story are two great books about young people dealing with depression. The increased prevalence of characters with mental

illness in Young Adult fiction helps normalize it. This is very important. If young people see the heroes and heroines in their books facing mental illnesses that they themselves are struggling with, they will be less likely to feel ashamed about them and more likely to seek assistance. Perhaps these books could even help decrease the rate of teen suicide. According to a 2012 article in the New York Daily News, “The attempted suicide rate for high school students has risen from 6.3% to 7.8% in the last three years” (Neal). As suicides are often connected to depression and other mental illnesses, the de-stigmatization of mental illness in Young Adult literature could be life-saving.  

There are still a lot of movies and literary stories that promote negative attitudes toward people with mental illnesses. Heck, most of the films movies referenced in the first section of this article (i.e. Shutter Island and Freaky Friday) came out within the past decade or so. And there is no shortage of psychopathic villains in popular fiction either. My mother’s bottomless collection of murder mystery novels can attest to that. Some people might argue that not much has changed. However, works like Silver Linings Playbook and Prescriptions demonstrate there has been undeniable progress toward the de-stigmatization of mental illness in cinema and literature. People with mental illnesses have become further humanized and more relatable. This progress brings us that much closer to the de-stigmatization of mental illness in the real world.

And that is something worth celebrating.

Join me on the train that is now embarking from Celebration Station (it’s a real joy ride!) by watching this hilarious clip from The Perks of Being a Wallflower:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQgMLaqlRMk  

 

What are your favorite movies and/or books that feature characters with mental illnesses? Do you think they accurately portray mental illness? Why or why not? We would love to hear your responses! Comment below and tweet us at @Rianttheatre! Follow the conversation at #strawberryoneactfestival.

  

PRESCRIPTIONS will be performed in the Riant Theatre’s night of one- act plays titled, LOVERS, STRANGERS & WHAT SOME PEOPLE CALL FAMILY on the following dates:

August 13th (Thursday) at 8:30pm

August 18th (Tuesday) at 8:30pm

August 23rd (Sunday) at 8:30pm

For tickets go to http://www.therianttheatre.com/item.php?id=236

You can also purchase PRESCRIPTIONS in the anthology, THE BEST PLAYS FROM THE STRAWBERRY ONE-ACT FESTIVAL: VOLUME SEVEN, which can be found online at:

 

https://www.therianttheatre.com/index.php?n=books

Works Cited

Neal, Meghan. "1 in 12 Teens Have Attempted Suicide: Report." New York Daily News. N.p., 9

June 2012. Web.

"We Spoke to a Psychologist About Hollywood's Depictions of Mental Illness." Interview by Jules

Suzdaltsev. VICE Magazine. N.p., 21 Oct. 2014. Web.