In asking others to reflect on the career and contributions of production veteran Chuck Sloan, who passed away last month at the age of 71, I found myself hearkening back to when I first got to know Chuck in 1981 when he and director/cameraman Eric Saarinen teamed to form Plum Productions, beginning what was to be a successful 26-year company run.
I knew Chuck only by reputation at his previous roosts, The Film Consortium and prior to that Wakeford/Orloff. I remember finding it curious that after serving at these two major companies with full-service operations, Chuck was opening a small boutique in rather modest trappings, a converted garage space in Los Angeles.
Yet that initial impression melted away when I saw the enthusiasm he had for the venture and the promising early spotmaking exploits of Saarinen. Yes, the production house ambience was unassuming, but you couldn’t help walking away with the feeling that Plum was destined to be a player and that Chuck would help steer Saarinen to stardom. Over the years, I’ve been at countless interview sessions with execs launching companies but I can only recall a handful of times knowing for sure that an upstart shop would go on to prominence. It’s a feeling that goes beyond educated guesswork and analytical insight. Plum was one of those instances.
It was good for a chuckle when Plum was deemed an overnight success by some when the classic Saarinen-directed Jeep “Snow Covered” commercial won the Grand Prix at the Cannes International Advertising Festival in ’94. By this time, Plum was ensconced in much nicer Santa Monica quarters but Chuck struck me as remarkably the same as when I first met him in that quasi-office garage space. He was straight forward, unassuming yet opinionated and forceful when certain issues both in and outside the scope of the commercialmaking business arose. He was unpretentious, had a self-deprecating sense of humor and was a dynamic positive influence on others, qualities that reminded me of the late Frank Tuttle, an exec who was a professional mentor to me and best known for his tenures at Wakeford/Orloff and The Film Tree. I didn’t know until later that Chuck regarded Frank as his mentor, describing him as “a great executive, a man of personal and professional integrity, and he taught me so much.”
That description is strikingly similar to those used to characterize Chuck by his colleagues upon his recent passing (SHOOT, 4/15). It’s amazing to look back to see how many careers he positively influenced both within Plum and for assorted others outside of the company.
Shelby Sexton, partner/executive producer at Wild Plum, a production house that emerged after Plum’s closure in ’07, may have summed up Chuck’s sense of people best as she looked back at her big career break. Sexton had started in the business right out of college as a receptionist at Plum. “A year later one of the executive producers was leaving the company,” she recalled. “Chuck said ‘I’m going to make you the next executive producer.’ Chuck was the kind of guy who saw things in people. He saw something in me that I didn’t even see in myself at the time.”
Trump Asks Supreme Court To Delay TikTok Ban
President-elect Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court on Friday to pause the potential TikTok ban from going into effect until his administration can pursue a "political resolution" to the issue.
The request came as TikTok and the Biden administration filed opposing briefs to the court, in which the company argued the court should strike down a law that could ban the platform by Jan. 19 while the government emphasized its position that the statute is needed to eliminate a national security risk.
"President Trump takes no position on the underlying merits of this dispute. Instead, he respectfully requests that the Court consider staying the Act's deadline for divestment of January 19, 2025, while it considers the merits of this case," said Trump's amicus brief, which supported neither party in the case and was written by D. John Sauer, Trump's choice for solicitor general.
The argument submitted to the court is the latest example of Trump inserting himself in national issues before he takes office. The Republican president-elect has already begun negotiating with other countries over his plans to impose tariffs, and he intervened earlier this month in a plan to fund the federal government, calling for a bipartisan plan to be rejected and sending Republicans back to the negotiating table.
He has been holding meetings with foreign leaders and business officials at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida while he assembles his administration, including a meeting last week with TikTok CEO Shou Chew.
Trump has reversed his position on the popular app, having tried to ban it during his first term in office over national security concerns. He joined the TikTok during his 2024 presidential campaign and his team used it to connect with younger... Read More