Scott Emmer of Get Me Out Productions: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Became A Filmmaker

The path in this industry is never straight and isn’t always fair. Keep pushing even when it seems impossible and charge ahead. I’ve worked at every type of company for a number of different bosses and it’s provided me invaluable experience and guidance on the type of executive and the overall person I want to be.

As a part of our series called “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Became A Filmmaker”, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Scott Emmer.

Scott Emmer has worked in entertainment for over 10 years, specializing in television buying, selling, and development. Scott is responsible for sales and acquisitions at Get Me Out Productions, working to partner with multi-platform broadcasters including network, cable and digital outlets.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us a bit of the ‘backstory’ of how you grew up?

I grew up in Calabasas, CA and my parents were, and my father still is a part of the music industry which is where I got my first taste of this thing called “Entertainment.” We moved to Calabasas after the Northridge earthquake and I always loved movies and television. I gravitated towards it as a kid. I had a pretty “suburban” life playing sports and hanging out with friends, but always had a passion for entertainment and would participate in the school plays and loved that world.

Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?

I will never forget coming home from school and popping in a VHS tape, this is for Gen-Z, a VHS tape was a brick-looking thing that you popped into a VHS machine to watch movies hahaha. I would watch Ace Ventura Pet Detective or Billy Madison on repeat, hysterically laughing and glued to the TV. I was very close with my grandfather who loved movies and one day he showed me Some Like It Hot and I was hooked. I thought it was the greatest movie ever. That and Back to The Future much later hahaha. It got to the point where I could recite the entire movie to my family and friends. I thought people make careers out of pretending and making people laugh? I don’t want to be a doctor or a lawyer, I want to do that!

Can you share the funniest or most interesting story that occurred to you in the course of your filmmaking career?

I will never forget essentially my first job in this industry at a talent agency. I was green and new, hopeful, and that soon was slammed back to reality when I started working my first desk for an agent. I am grateful this has changed but at the time the constant yelling and unreasonable tasks to get accomplished were jaw-dropping. One night in particular my boss at around 9:00 pm decided he was done for the night, but just before he left, dropped the Cloud Atlas script on my desk and said he needed coverage by tomorrow morning. Now if you’re not familiar with this script, it was at the time almost 400 pages of very confusing dense material. And coverage included a full synopsis, analysis and comment of this script. I basically pulled an all-nighter not leaving for home to sleep until about 1:00 am. I then had to head back into the office at around 6:00 am to prepare for the morning. An absolute whirlwind blur of a day to say the least.

Who are some of the most interesting people you have interacted with? What was that like? Do you have any stories?

I’ve been fortunate to interact with a lot of incredibly creative and interesting people, everyone from Dennis Lehane and Jack Bender to Brendan Gleeson and Max Irons, to name a few. The one common thread I would say in meeting them amongst the many interesting and creative people is their passion for storytelling and care for their craft. They love what they do as much as I do and so we were able to connect on that level and collaborate. The openness to “jam” and collaborate and hear different ideas were common within them all.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

There truly are so many people who’ve helped me and been an inspiration along the way, too many to name here and I know it’s a bit cliché but it’s true and I am and will always be so grateful to them because it’s never something you accomplish alone. I will say though, without question, my wife has been my absolute rock and one of my biggest supporters. I wouldn’t be where I am or have a fraction of the modest success I’ve been able to attain so far without her by my side.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

My favorite life lesson quote would be “The same people you meet and pass on the way up are the same people you’ll meet again and come across on the way down, so be kind and appreciative to everyone.” For me specifically, this quote is near and dear to my heart because there have been countless times and there will be more in this industry and my career where I will get knocked down and really need the help and support from colleagues and people I’ve met. The way I’ve treated them in all phases will and does matter and we all need help.

I am very interested in diversity in the entertainment industry. Can you share three reasons with our readers about why you think it’s important to have diversity represented in film and television? How can that potentially affect our culture?

To start with, it’s important to have diversity in film and television because television and film tend to reflect our world, and our world is made up of very diverse and eclectic people. In order to express that properly and authentically, all voices need to be seen and heard otherwise we wouldn’t be doing this art justice. In Men of West Hollywood, we try to celebrate and showcase LGBTQI+ voices, not only the uniqueness of these stories, but also the universal threads and links to society as a whole, attempting to show we have more in common than people may think. I think by allowing and including these diverse stories and POVs we allow ourselves as a society to be more open and receptive to different cultures and communities and hopefully it can be a spark to unite and bring us together in commonalities.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?

I am currently working on an incredible reality series called Men of West Hollywood, following a group of six guys some straight and some part of the LGBTQI+ community, and how they interact with one another and the community. It’s highly entertaining and drama-filled, but it’s also a beautiful example of how we’re all human beings dealing with the same issues and relationships as anyone else, which universally connects us.

Which aspect of your work makes you most proud? Can you explain or give a story?

The aspect I’m most proud of regarding my work is the collaborative process and being part of a team on a project. I’m a big sports fan, so this idea of finding and putting together a group of diverse and talented people on a project, who are all heading towards the same goal and then creating something we are proud and seeing this piece of work transform, progress and evolve where everyone has chipped in and done their part is incredibly satisfying. It’s such camaraderie and a lot of fun to be a part of that.

Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.

1) Meet and interact with people outside of “entertainment” like VC funding people and lawyers. There is more to this industry than just creatives and creative executives and it takes a village of different people coming together to get things done.

2) The path in this industry is never straight and isn’t always fair. Keep pushing even when it seems impossible and charge ahead. I’ve worked at every type of company for a number of different bosses and it’s provided me invaluable experience and guidance on the type of executive and the overall person I want to be.

3) Be open to learning and understanding all the business aspects of this industry from legal to publicity to research and analysis. You don’t need to be an expert, but at least knowledgeable so you can walk into any room and understand “how the sausage is made” and what everyone does and appreciate them. I can remember vividly sitting in a large meeting at Audience Network and there was a conversation about rating numbers and analysis and I was a deer in headlights because it all sounded like gibberish to me. But these people and this analysis is important and simply another factor to consider in making and creating art, so I decided to reach out and learn.

4) Always make sure to reach back and thank the people along the way, it’s a small thing but it counts and matters, so make sure to tell people how much you appreciate them. Just last week I sent a general email to a colleague I had worked with a few years ago and it meant the world just to hear how much they meant to me and how appreciative I was for their guidance and friendship. There doesn’t always have to be an agenda and these small things “pay off” down the road when you least expect it.

5) HAVE FUN…we can get caught up in the grind and the stress of this business. It’s easy to do and there have been many sleepless nights or a non-stop working day where it feels like an absolute grind. However, remember to stop for a moment every week and take stock in what we’re doing and what we’re creating. This is the greatest industry in the world and how lucky are we to have a small part in it. Be appreciative and grateful we are where we are.

When you create a film, which stakeholders have the greatest impact on the artistic and cinematic choices you make? Is it the viewers, the critics, the financiers, or your own personal artistic vision? Can you share a story with us or give an example about what you mean?

This is a great question and the honest answer is everyone has an equal impact. Now that’s not to be wishy-washy and I think it’s important to have a strong vision and opinions and be firm in those beliefs and choices, but it takes a village to create something and all angles, aspects, voices, and opinions need to be considered and listened to when creating and developing art. I am only one voice, one perspective, and one opinion, but truly great content and art factors in multiple visions and points of view and most importantly is open to hearing them, whether they are adhered to or not, in order to make something truly special and elevated. It’s a tight-wire act that one must navigate deftly and with balance making sure all parties are heard and listened to at the very least.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

I would really love to see more doors and opportunities open for up-and-coming creatives who haven’t broken through yet. We seem fixated on existing IP and unwilling to take chances anymore as an industry and if I could bring that fearless creativity and allow more stories and people with something to say out into the world I would consider myself very fortunate. That sense of wonder in the unknown in creating entertainment I think is slightly missing currently. However, I think audiences and society are craving different and dare I say slightly dangerous instead of the same cookie-cutter content we’ve seen before.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might see this. :-)

Ted Sarandos is someone I would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with. Being able to dive into his background, find out what makes him tick, what he enjoys, and pick his brain about a number of things would be incredible and invaluable! I want to know what he enjoys and what brings him happiness outside of running Netflix.

How can our readers further follow you online?

You can follow me on Instagram @scottericemmer or on LinkedIn. Reach out as I am a firm believer that great ideas and collaboration can come from anywhere. Never be shut off to outside people or ideas ;)

This was very meaningful, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!