JAIMIE FRANKLIN
Assistant News Editor
Don Ohlmeyer retired from television in 2000 after more than three decades in the sports entertainment business. After assembling a long resume of impressive feats and collecting 16 Emmys, he now inspires his Documentary in Television students to follow their dreams and make it in the business.
On April 30 he will be recognized once more for his life’s work with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 28th Annual Sports Emmy Awards.
Ohlmeyer landed his first job at a pool game while in college at the University of Notre Dame. He met an ABC producer who gave him a job on the weekends and after Ohlmeyer graduated in 1967, he was promoted to a full-time position.
Over the next 10 years, Ohlmeyer produced and directed five Olympic broadcasts, produced and developed the budding “Monday Night Football” program and “ABC’s Wide World of Sports.”
He became the executive producer of sports for NBC when he was only 32 years old and produced coverage of the Super Bowl and the World Series.
“When there are 100 million people watching for three to four hours on a Sunday afternoon, a lot of people forget about how maybe they hate their work, their families are driving them crazy, that they don’t know how to make the house payment,” Ohlmeyer said of sports on television. “Then, they get involved in something other than themselves, and that’s a hoot to be part of that.”
In 1982, however, he left the television industry and began his own advertising and marketing firm and production company, Ohlmeyer Communications Company. According to Ohlmeyer, the company grossed $400,000 during its first year and $96 million the second, with clients including the National Hockey League, National Football League and Major League Baseball. He also produced several made-for-television movies and specials during that time, including 1983 movie “Special Bulletin,” depicting nuclear terrorism, for which he won an Emmy.
But after 11 years of business, Ohlmeyer said he got bored.
“Making money never really interested me that much,” he said. “In that respect I’m the luckiest man in the world because people paid me for things I would have done for free.”
In 1993, he was offered to serve as president of NBC West Coast, which was in third place in ratings at the time. Under his leadership, NBC moved to first place in 26 months with new shows like “ER,” “Will and Grace,” “Frasier,” “Seinfeld” and “Late Night with Conan O’Brien.”
At age 55, he was ready to retire to pursue other interests he had, including teaching. He contacted Pepperdine and was offered an adjunct position in 2003, and was the keynote speaker at the dedication ceremony of the Center for Communication and Business. Ohlmeyer also lives in the Malibu area, and his son graduated Pepperdine a few years ago.
“As far as I’m concerned, he’s a very approachable, unassuming person,” said Dr. Milt Shatzer, professor of communication and the communication division chair when Ohlmeyer was hired. “He seems to have the best interest of the students at heart and he seems to want to pass on his knowledge to the next generation.”
Ohlymeyer said he teaches because he loves it and will continue as long as he enjoys it.
“[Teaching is] giving back to the business that was really, really good to me,” Ohlmeyer said. “I’m doing it because I love it and it’s great when you see the light bulb go off, when you see someone get it.”
Ohlmeyer describes his teaching style as “demanding” and added that he is not big on excuses.
“It’s a lot of work,” senior Whitney Oliver said of the class. “You can put as little or as much effort in as you want, but he has high expectations of us.”
Senior Clinton Loveness agreed and added that Ohlmeyer’s experience contributes a lot to the course.
“He comes with experience,” Loveness said. “He’s made it a standard to get to know us.”
Ohlymeyer said students have stepped up to the challenge of the course and have impressed him.
“Students here have really reaffirmed my faith in their generation,” he said. “What really impresses me is that with most students I have had the opportunity to work with, ethics and morals seem to be part of their core,” he said. “You don’t see that all the time in people.”
Ohlmeyer’s knowledge of the underpinnings of the entertainment world makes him a valuable resource to students. Perseverance, a strong work ethic, passion and an understanding of the audience are essential to success, he said.
“The most important thing is to find something that you can’t wait to get up to do the next morning,” he said.
“There isn’t anything more debilitating than a person dreading doing what they’ve set out to be their life’s work.”
04-05-2007