Investor's Business Daily, June 7th, 2007
Whether on the big or small screen, producer Jerry Bruckheimer's films have reeled in smash hits.
The first-generation American ascended from working-class Detroit and persevered through the downfall of his producing partner with whom he had hit box office gold in the 1980s and early '90s. On his own, he has continued his ascent to where his name is practically synonymous with blockbuster.
His films have amassed a remarkable $14.5 billion in box office, home video and soundtrack recording receipts.
On TV he has been nearly as prolific -- and in 2005 he had a record 10 series airing in the fall season.
Time magazine had Bruckheimer on its list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2004. Two years later, the Hollywood trade publication Variety named him Showman of the Year.
Due to his string of hit series on CBS, including the "CSI" franchise, network head Les Moonves once said the B in CBS could stand for Bruckheimer.
The Los Angeles Daily News in 2004 called Bruckheimer "the man with the 'golden gut'" for his risk-taking savvy. Success in Hollywood can be measured by Academy Awards and other such honors, but the business' biggest players reach the masses through box office tallies. Bruckheimer's gambles have put him at the top of that list.
As the producer, Bruckheimer sees projects through from conception to completion. He's responsible for securing funding, hiring talent and keeping everything within a budget. With so much riding on his patented high-concept productions, success is the only option. That means he must have a finger on the pulse of moviegoers' tastes and must work with talent to deliver the right movie to that audience.
Build A Winning Team
While promoting the film "King Arthur" in 2004, Bruckheimer said his key to success is surrounding himself with the right people. Those who have worked with him agree.
"Jerry is like a great NBA coach," said Mike Stenson, president of Jerry Bruckheimer Films. "He puts an all-star team together, pushes for the best from everybody and calls the plays. Jerry tends to be more hands-on than most producers, which is why, when you look at his body of work over a 25-year period, there is a certain sensibility to it all."
It has been an amazing run for a man born on the mean streets of Detroit in 1945, a few blocks from the infamous 8 Mile section of town. His parents had immigrated from Germany. His father was a clothing retailer; his mother was a bookkeeper and homemaker.
Bruckheimer's parents hoped their son would become a doctor or a lawyer, but he saw in school that he wasn't cut out for either career. Eventually he graduated from the University of Arizona with a degree in psychology, but a love of movies and photography led him toward mass media.
He started as a TV commercial producer in the Midwest. By the time he was 23, he was working for a prestigious ad agency on New York's Madison Avenue. Four years later, Bruckheimer bolted for Los Angeles to give Hollywood a shot.
In 1983, he and producing partner Don Simpson made "Flashdance," a film that went on to gross almost $100 million, a huge sum at that time. It was the start of a run of films they put together that included "Top Gun," "Beverly Hills Cop," "Bad Boys" and "Crimson Tide."
The string of hits, though, masked a problem. Simpson was legendary in Hollywood circles for his hard-partying ways, and that behavior was hurting the duo's working relationship. The straight-laced, all-business Bruckheimer grew tired of the volatile Simpson and his increasingly unpredictable behavior.
In 1995, Bruckheimer decided to sever the partnership. It was a tough call, since he felt Simpson was "like a brother." The move would become official once their slate of films in production were completed.
Then tragedy struck. Simpson died of a drug overdose in January 1996 during the production of "The Rock," starring Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage.
"Many people warned Don," Bruckheimer told Playboy magazine last year. "I talked with doctors and told him that when this was over, when he got his life back together, we could get back together. ... He didn't think he was going to die. I felt I did what I could do."
Despite the blow, Bruckheimer kept producing. Soon he came out with "Con Air," "Armageddon" and "Enemy of the State," hits that elevated his place in Hollywood.
His movies in the new century continued raking in cash. World War II epic "Pearl Harbor" gobbled up more than $450 million worldwide. Then his "Pirates of the Caribbean" set sail on the way to smashing the box office.
Bruckheimer and Cage teamed up again, this time for the family adventure "National Treasure" in 2004. Its success has led to the production of a sequel set for release this year.
Also this decade, Bruckheimer has put his stamp on the small screen. His "CSI," "Without a Trace," "Cold Case" and "The Amazing Race" are prime-time fixtures.
But while TV has proved to be a money winner, most of his energy goes into his pipeline of feature films. Bruckheimer shepherds these movies through all phases of production in a hands-on manner, whereas he works the TV side from a distance.
Most of Bruckheimer's films rarely draw praise from critics, who typically look at his movies as heavy on pyrotechnics and light on substance.
Yet he has tackled true-life tales over the years that have managed to earn some support in critics' circles.
"Remember the Titans" and "Glory Road," movies about football and basketball coaches tackling racism in the 1960s and '70s, entertained and inspired audiences.
In 2001, Bruckheimer landed critical praise and Academy Award consideration for "Black Hawk Down," which involved the battle in Mogadishu where U.S. Army Rangers fought hundreds of Somalis in 1993.
Thanks partly to that movie, in 2006 he won the Navy SEAL Patriot Award, which the special operations group's Web site said is "presented to an individual who has contributed greatly to our country and/or who upholds the values that epitomize the SEAL community."
Patriot And Pirates
The SEALs' site said Bruckheimer was singled out for films "that have brought honor and recognition to those who have served and sacrificed in the defense of our country."
Bruckheimer, 61, is reluctant to revel in his accomplishments.
"I try to never look back (but to look ahead)," he said on the eve of the release of his most recent film, "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End." "(Right now) I'm worried about 'National Treasure: Book of Secrets' and the other films we have coming down the line."
The latest tale in the adventures of pirate captain Jack Sparrow, played by Johnny Depp, opened on May 18 and went on to gross more than $400 million worldwide in its first six days in release.
