About this episode

Brian Grazer shares his journey from struggling with dyslexia to becoming a successful Hollywood producer, highlighting the influence of his grandmother and his determination to succeed.

Before Brian Grazer became one of Hollywood's most powerful producers — 43 Academy Award nominations, 320 Emmy nominations, more than $15 billion at the box office — he was a dyslexic kid in the San Fernando Valley getting straight F's, thought of as the boy who couldn't read. Then his grandmother, Sonja Schwartz, told him he was a genius with a gift for gab, and that not knowing an answer didn't make him dumb. It just made him more interested. In this unguarded conversation, the producer behind A Beautiful Mind, Apollo 13, Splash, 8 Mile, Friday Night Lights, 24, and Empire sits down with David Begnaud to talk about the woman who believed in him first. He describes turning an empty office at Warner Brothers into his own enterprise, cold-calling the twenty biggest filmmakers in the business with a single promise — he'd never ask them for anything — and getting stopped at the door by Lew Wasserman, who handed him a pencil and a legal pad and told him to come back with something of value. He started writing Splash that year. He also talks about the father who shook off his hand as a child and the father he chose to become instead; about his son Riley, whose Instagram bio reads I am…

People in this episode

Host: David Begnaud

Guest: Brian Grazer

Topics covered

• dyslexia
• Hollywood
• personal growth
• family influence
• storytelling
• overcoming adversity

Keywords

• dyslexia
• Hollywood producer
• Brian Grazer
• personal story
• family support
• Academy Awards
• Emmy nominations

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: A Beautiful Mind, Apollo 13, Splash, 8 Mile, Friday Night Lights, 24, Empire

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