[John Callaway and Studs Terkel on Tom Weinberg]

Raw interviews with John Callaway and Studs Terkel about Tom Weinberg for his Silver Circle Award presentation. Also includes miscellaneous footage scattered throughout the tape.

00:00Copy video clip URL The video begins with a shot of the corner of Grand and Ogden in Chicago.

01:20Copy video clip URL Black.

01:47Copy video clip URL Cut to shot of John Callaway. While waiting for lunch at the North Coast Restaurant, Callaway says a few words and shares some stories about Tom Weinberg. Callaway labels Weinberg as the “true father of reality television.” “Tom Weinberg wanted to do and did and does television without getting in the way. In a certain sort of way he was the father in this country of the true reality television.” Callaway continues to talk about Weinberg’s talent as a producer and his “not getting in the way.”

04:17Copy video clip URL Callaway begins to talk about Weinberg’s work as an intermediary for independent producers into public television. “Weinberg’s great contribution to American television and to world television, global television, is that he was able to create a family of independent producers. And I use the word ‘family’ deliberately because these are people who weren’t just contacts for Tom. These are people he’s in touch with all of the time. These are his family members, and because of him, we have been able to see their work, and that’s very important.”

06:13Copy video clip URL Callaway then talks about Weinberg’s sense of humor and integrity in his work. “He never has lost his sense of humor and his integrity and he’s a wonderful person to work with and I value him as a friend every bit as much as a colleague. He is a priceless, priceless contribution to American and world television.” Callaway then goes on to talk about his working with Weinberg on “None of the Above.” This lasts for several minutes.

09:23Copy video clip URL Callaway talks about some of the other work Weinberg has done over the years, specifically citing his groundbreaking work with TVTV covering the 1972 Republican and Democratic National Conventions. Callaway goes on to comment on Weinberg’s producing style and his ability to listen. “If I had to summarize him I would say he was a great deconstructionist of politics and television. He is a great lifelong teacher because he is learning himself; all the great teachers are people who are themselves learning, and all of that is fueled by his great innate ability to listen.”

12:47Copy video clip URL Cut to a shot of Studs Terkel in his home. Terkel talks about Weinberg’s contribution to television. “But of all those involved with television, especially making something that is documentary in nature, I know of nobody with the imagination and the sort of empathy as Tom Weinberg has.” Terkel then talks in detail about Weinberg’s adaptation of Terkel’s book “Working.” Terkel also comments on Weinberg creating “Image Union.” The big thing is imagination was there, but a certain feeling for the human was always there. It wasn’t just for sensational sake. It was for understanding how people are, what they do, how they work, how they think. … So I think Tom’s a natural for whatever Academy Award there is and I consider him one of the imaginative humanists, I think the word is humanist, in the story of television.”

15:54Copy video clip URL Terkel talks about his friendship with Weinberg. “I think we became friends because of the fact that, I trust on similar wavelengths you know? And I think I became friends with him because I think he understood not just the medium, you know? Somebody can do a technical, great technical job, and some are proud of a technical job. That’s not what I know Tom Weinberg for. I know him for the fact that the human being is the key in it and someone capturing that human.”

17:18Copy video clip URL Cut to footage of farm animals. This lasts for only a few seconds.

17:32Copy video clip URL Cut to footage of the 1975 Ant Farm art piece “Media Burn.” This lasts for several minutes.

25:27Copy video clip URL Cut to an interview with George Lois of Lois, Holland, and Callaway from TVTV’s “Adland,” followed by a commercial for Marine World, also from the documentary.

26:13Copy video clip URL Cut to footage of exteriors of a number of dining establishments in the town of Wheeling, IL. This lasts for the reminder of the tape.

31:01Copy video clip URL Tape ends.