When it comes to the complex relationships between fathers and daughters, filmmaker and LMU School of Film and Television faculty member Patricia “Patty” Meyer brings a uniquely personal perspective to the table. The granddaughter of Universal Studio head, Nathan J. Blumberg, and the daughter of famed “Dragnet” producer Stanley Meyer, Patty draws from both heartwarming and hard-earned experiences in her new podcast, “Daughters and Their Fathers: It’s Complicated.” The series features candid conversations with notable guests, including Academy Award-winning screenwriter Ernest Thompson (“On Golden Pond”), “SNL” writer and fellow Loyola Marymount University faculty member Margaret Oberman, and filmmaker Vicki Polon (“Girlfriends”), and she hopes it will encourage others to join in the conversation and share their personal accounts of their own nuanced family relationships.
After earning her B.A. in history and literature from Harvard and earning an M.F.A. in fiction writing from Boston University, Patty followed in her father’s footsteps as a producer, in addition to becoming a screenwriter in her own right. Over the years, she’s collaborated with legendary filmmakers including Martin Scorsese and produced the Emmy-nominated miniseries “The Women of Brewster Place” and Nora Ephron’s directorial debut, “This Is My Life.” Now in her 26th year of teaching, and her 10th at LMU, Patty was recognized by Variety as one of the nation’s top film educators in 2019. We spoke with her about carving her own path in Hollywood, working with industry icons, and creating her new podcast with a talented team of SFTV students and alumni.
LMU: How did you first break into the film and television industry?
Patty: My dad begged me to go to law school, but I really had it in my DNA to be a writer. I quickly realized that a literary life wasn’t affordable, so I came back to LA. I got my first job working for producers Andy Licht and Jeff Mueller at Warner Brothers. I dove in as their girl Friday and really got the producing bug. From there, I moved to Tristar, which had just opened its doors, to be an assistant for Neil Meron and Craig Zadan – who had a lot of success with the movie “Footloose.” They were young bucks with a deal, and I was allowed to sit in on phone calls and pitch meetings. I was a sponge, learning everything I could about development and how the business worked.
LMU: You made the leap from story editor to producer with the miniseries “The Women of Brewster Place.” What was it like collaborating at just 26 years old with Oprah Winfrey?
Patty: I got a story editor job at Witt/Thomas, who made “Dead Poets Society,” but just got really weary of working for “the man.” I went back East to visit my best friend and, as we were driving to the airport on my way home, we stopped at a bookstore, and she handed me “The Women of Brewster Place.” I read the whole novel on the flight. As I landed at LAX, I was having visions of Oprah Winfrey starring in this movie. I got an 18-month option and then found out another company called Phoenix Entertainment was also pursuing the rights. When they called Oprah, she said, “Wait a minute, I’m on the waitlist for that book!” Knowing I had the rights, she dialed me and said, “I don’t know who the heck you are, but we’ve got to partner on this book that I love.” After the two years it took to sell it, I was thrown into seven weeks of shooting and absolutely loved being on set and making the movie. I find creative producing incredibly satisfying. That launched my producing career and one of the more poignant moments was we ended up shooting “Brewster Place” at the Universal backlot, which my own grandfather ran from 1937 to 1960.
LMU: You also worked on several scripts with Martin Scorsese. What kind of stories did you two collaborate on and strive to tell?
Patty: After 10 years of producing, I finally started writing full-time. I sold two true crime stories as features with Marty, which unfortunately didn’t get made. One was a story I found in The New York Times about an Italian-American couple in Long Island that embezzled $38 million from their own armored trucking business. Because of legal issues surrounding getting the rights from these two criminals, Disney-Touchstone said let’s make it a father-daughter story. I loved writing it and we even got Mira and Paul Sorvino to star, but the studio lost interest after another film Mira appeared in didn’t perform well, following her Academy Award win. The other project I wrote for Marty was about a bookie in Boston who was one of the key witnesses against Whitey Bulger, who was on the lam at the time. It was a great story about the life of a Jewish bookie who was at the top of his game.
LMU: What inspired you to first embark on creating this podcast about fathers and daughters?
Patty: I listen to podcasts rabidly and love them. I also have friends who are passionate about telling their stories about their dads. My second episode features Ernest Thompson who wrote “On Golden Pond,” the seminal father-daughter play and film. In my podcast, I talk about how much gratitude I have despite the trauma I experienced with a difficult dad. He was a raconteur, a larger-than-life man, who was extremely generous and passionate about storytelling. Hollywood and stories were our love language. That’s how we connected. I’ve been fascinated by the father-daughter relationship since I was a little girl and how we are products of our parenting. I also have one son, with whom I’m very close, largely because I learned how not to repeat history.
LMU: How did LMU help bring your idea for this podcast to fruition, and what has been the most fulfilling aspect of mentoring SFTV students on this project?
Patty: I was fortunate to receive an SFTV Creative Grant, which allowed me to hire two LMU juniors in our SFTV recording arts program – Emily Ede and Abigail Castrogiovanni – to work as my sound engineers and editors. I was really impressed by how proficient they were and the level of technical skill they already had. I love that I was able to use the money in-house for undergraduates to learn as I was learning to make a podcast. It’s also such a privilege and a fantastic convenience to be able to record in LMU’s very own Communication Arts building in our state-of-the-art sound booth. Additionally, Anthony Huben, a Writing and Producing for Television M.F.A. graduate, finished editing all the episodes with me and designed my website. It’s a thrill to be able to hire our own students because we’re providing them with not only an education in the process, but also some of their first credits for their professional résumés.
LMU: What do you hope listeners ultimately take away from your podcast?
Patty: Launching the podcast has given me some anxiety because I’m quite candid and vulnerable when I talk about my upbringing. But I really hope it instills in people the excitement and courage to tell their stories – whether they are negative or positive. I’ve talked to some dads and daughters who have great relationships with each other, and it would be great for them to come on the podcast together and talk about how they have navigated their relationships over time. I would love people from all walks of life, from all around the world to reach out and share their family stories.
