Video Age International December 2016

June/July 2016 V I D E O A G E 14 By Dom Serafini Larry Gershman: Creating The Basis For Innovating U.S., Int’l TV Distribution Dec mber 2016 (Continued on Page 16) A mong former U.S. studios’ TV distribution presidents, there were three executives who were larger than life, and Lawrence (Larry) Eugene Gershman is one. After almost 60 years in the TV business, he’s still going strong. Brooklyn, New York-born Gershman has long been a man of strong convictions. With a no- nonsense attitude, the former president of MGM/ UA Television Group and co-founder of World International Network (WIN) has been described as “a businessman with the aggressiveness and physique of a rodeo cowboy.” But, he is also a refined wine expert, a cuisine connoisseur and a raconteur. Hollywood producer Pierre David, concurred: “I’ve known Larry for many years and worked with him for four years producing movies for WIN. He’s quite an extraordinary human being. Negotiating my deal with him was grueling. But then once trust was gained, our collaboration was great and we never referred to our agreement! And he’s so funny ... One of the best raconteurs I’ve ever met.” Joseph C. Tirinato, who was Gershman’s head of domestic TV distribution at MGM/UA, confirmed: “Larry is a larger-than-life character who always commands attention in any given situation be it personal or professional.” Perhaps, due to this image, just mentioning the name “Gershman” to his industry peers increased their blood pressure, visible through reddened faces. However, his bark was bigger than his bite and in effect, he still is a gentle, very generous and honest man. U.S. Justice Department, Gershman went back to CBS. He attended Fordham University School of Law in the evening and was admitted into the New York State Bar and the National Bar in 1968. “I had promised my father before he died in 1950 that I would go to law school,” he later said. Gershman recalled, “when I was living in Brooklyn, my father owned several gas stations and he would be running from one to the other. I don’t remember seeing him at home when the sun was out, including weekends. After he had his first heart attack, we moved to Philadelphia. He bought a neighborhood grocery store and we lived above it.” After NTA, Gershman’s work covered every aspect of television: from station manager at NBC-TV (1969) to productions at Don King Productions (1975) to international program distribution at Viacom. “Viacom was my introduction into the international business in 1976. This was my first real exposure to the international side and I was very fortunate,” he commented. Veteran TV executive Ave Butensky offered some insight: “I’ve known and worked with Larry Gershman for 60 years. We both were immersed in the business of local television. He sold! I bought! But, it wasn’t simple. In those early days WCBS-TV’s The Late Show was where every advertiser wanted to be, [but] to get one Late Show spot, you were coerced to buy a bunch of other spots that you did not want. Larry wanted to sell me as many Late Show spots as possible, and I wanted to buy as many as possible. “There came a time when we did have a CBS confirmation for a schedule we just purchased, that did include a few spots in The Late Show , but CBS decided to unconfirm that which they earlier confirmed, and that’s when it hit the fan. Larry phoned me. He was on the warpath [and] offered a new plan: He said, ‘forget about The Late Show , instead, put your money on [NBC’s] The Tonight Show !’ The Tonight Show ? Larry exited CBS, and went to work across the street at WNBC-TV. Goodbye Late Show . Hello Tonight Show ,” said Butensky. Subsequently Gershman explained how he joined MGM: “David Begelman was hired by [MGM owner] Kirk Kerkorian to rebuild MGM. Begelman hired me to run worldwide sales. It was a bigger opportunity and I went there in June of 1980. Their annual total sales for domestic and foreign were $33 million. “In my first full year there, we brought in $102 million ($270 million in today’s dollars). At that time, foreign sales were done by CIC, which was owned by Universal and Paramount. “In the second year, we took out CIC and formed UIP, the international distribution company owned by Paramount, MGM and Universal. That was just for theatrical and video. Television was handled separately. The next year, we bought United Artists.” This writer discovered that, while president of MGM/UA, he refused a gold Rolex watch as gift from a then-prominent European broadcaster, which he considered a bribe. And, as a full disclosure, in 1981 Gershman prepaid $20,000 ($52,000 in today’s dollars) against future ad pages in order to contribute to the launching of VideoAge . A lifelong industry man very active in television affairs and many other organizations, Gershman was chairman of the International Emmy Awards when the event was at the peak of its prestige. He began his career with National Television Associates (NTA), a U.S. syndicator based in New York City that also distributed 20th Century Fox movies. He joined NTA in 1957, just after getting his masters degree from Penn State University and before entering Temple Law School in Philadelphia: an action prompted by the fact that his first wife was having a baby and he needed a job. The offer came from the chairman of NTA, whom Gershman met while counseling his children at a basketball summer camp. The following year, NTA bought Channel 13 TV in New York and another TV station in Minneapolis and he became part of the management team. In 1961, Gershmanmoved to TV ad sales at CBS- TV and, in 1964 he joined RKO General. About that period Dennis F. Holt Chairman and CEO of U.S. International Media, a media buying service, recalled: “Larry and I have been great friends since the ’60s. We were both young salesmen for RKO, then the largest independent broadcast company in America. Besides making our calls and visits to the media buyers throughout Manhattan, we also found time to party. We all called Larry ‘Super Jew’ because he was movie star good looking. When Larry and I were in a bar, girls would come over to him and more than once they would slip their phone number into his pocket,” he said. Gershman joined RKO with the hope of returning to Philadelphia where the company was to exchange TV stations with NBC- Westinghouse. When the deal was killed by the Larry Gershman (center) with Pope John Paul II in Vatican City in 1986 Gershman’s autobiography, A Kid From Brooklyn: Lessons Learned is available on Amazon Int’ l TV Distribut ion Hal l of Fame