Thomas Schlamme
Often called Tommy Schlamme.
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- Studio 60 by BY NOEL HOLSTON Special to Newsday (October 15, 2006)
- “Thomas Schlamme, co-executive producer of ‘Studio 60′ with writer Sorkin and its primary director, observed that writers stick to what they know, and that in the TV business, what many if not most of them know best is rejection. When they write about television, he said, it often ‘has a cynicism and a kind of contempt to it. It’s like when you write in your diary. It’s easier when you’re depressed.’
“Schlamme said that even though network TV is far less restrictive with regard to content, language and artistic boldness than it once was, the tension between “the creatives” and the business side still exists and will continue to exist ‘as long as it costs money to do television.’
“But while ‘Studio 60′ characters such as producer Danny Tripp (Bradley Whitford) may express cynical attitudes about the television industry, Schlamme said, viewers can expect a more rounded portrayal of even executives like NBS chairman Jack Rudolph (Steven Weber), who initially seems pretty craven.
“‘For people like Aaron and myself who are just trying to do a good show, we can sometimes appear to be very naive about the idea that we’re spending somebody else’s money,’ Schlamme said.
“Creativity’s good, money’s better.
“In the long run, if your TV show doesn’t make money, as much as they [the network execs] would love to support your creativity, your intellect, your good spirit, you’re done. You have to figure out a way to justify people writing a big, fat check to you to go do what you’re passionate about doing.“‘They’re under a lot of pressure from Wall Street to make a profit,’ he said. ‘They can’t help but be making all their decisions with the idea of, if we do the show this way and produce it for this amount of money and we sell it for this amount of money overseas, our profit will be this and our shareholders will see a return of this. They’re coming from a completely different place. You’ve got to figure out a way that you’re not insensitive to their plight. At the same time, you don’t want it to overwhelm you so that your decisions become economic decisions and not creative decisions. And I think that’s the conflict.’”
The following information is from NBC:
Emmy Award winner Thomas Schlamme has executive-produced such shows as the hit primetime drama “The West Wing,” winner of 25 Emmys and the critically acclaimed “Sports Night” and “Jack & Bobby.” Last year, Schlamme directed and executive-produced the pilot episode of “Invasion.” He also produced and directed Tracey Ullman’s “Tracey Takes On…” series for which he received an Emmy. He continues to develop projects under his company, ShoeMoney Productions.
Schlamme has also directed episodes of hits series “Mad About You,” “Friends,” “The Larry Sanders Show,” “Ally McBeal,” “The Practice,” “Chicago Hope” and “ER,” the latter of which he received an Emmy nomination for direction of the live episode. In addition, Schlamme is credited with creating the look of such hit series as “Spin City,” “The Larry Sanders Show,” “Boston Public,” “Sports Night” and “The West Wing.”
Schlamme’s feature-film directing credits include “So I Married an Axe Murderer,” “You So Crazy,” and “Miss Firecracker.”
In 1999, Schlamme won an Emmy for directing the pilot of “Sports Night.” The next year, he received Emmy nominations for directing in both the drama and comedy categories. He won the Emmy for directing “The West Wing” that year, and again in 2001. In 1999, Schlamme became the first director to ever be nominated by the Directors Guild of America for directing in both categories, drama and comedy; he took home the Award for “Sports Night,” making it his second of three consecutive DGA Awards.
Other information:
Thomas Schlamme is the executive producer of two television series, “Sports Night” and “The West Wing,” for which he directed both pilots. He received a DGA Award for his direction of the “Sports Night” pilot, in which he created the show’s unique kinetic visual style. Most recently he was nominated for an Emmy Award for his work on “The West Wing.”
Schlamme has had a long and varied career as a director of television and films. Beginning his career directing cutting-edge music videos in the 1980s, Schlamme moved on to become one of the top directors of comedy specials for HBO, working with Whoopi Goldberg, Bette Midler, Robert Klein and John Leguizamo, among others. He produced and directed Tracey Ullman’s critically acclaimed series “Tracey Takes On,” for which he received an Emmy Award. He has also directed numerous episodes of such hit television series as “Mad About You,” “Friends” and “ER,” earning an Emmy nomination for his direction of the live episode. Additional directing credits include “The Larry Sanders Show,” “Ally McBeal” and “The “Practice.” Schlamme was also instrumental in creating the look of hit series such as “Spin City” and “The Larry Sanders Show.”
Schlamme directed the feature films “So I Married An Ax Murderer” starring Mike Myers, “You So Crazy” starring Martin Lawrence and “Miss Firecracker” starring Holly Hunter and Tim Robbins. His television movie credits include “Kingfish: A Story of Huey P. Long” starring John Goodman and “Crazy From the Heart” starring Christine Lahti.
His birthday is May 22.
