Rows of current and soon-to-be actors, writers and producers restlessly face the front of the classroom in the Joan H. Gillings Center for Dramatic Art. Chit-chat echoes on the high ceilings until something makes it abruptly come to silence.
It's laughter.
But not just any laughter. It’s the laughter of Hollywood producer, Glendon Palmer. He walks to the chair awaiting him at the front of the room. On his right side, assistant professor of dramatic art Samuel Ray Gates jokingly refuses to introduce Palmer.
“Guys, we’ve been friends since high school,” Palmer explains, laughing again.
His chuckling continued to light up the mood for the rest of the afternoon as he shared his advice on and experiences from producing films like “Southside with You,” “Jumping the Broom” and “Fifty Shades of Black.”
While Palmer’s jubilance and jokes are what lit up the conversation in the room, it was his ability to be personable and honest about the realities and hardships of the film and TV industry that really made an impact. Especially when the business pushes one to feed off the validation of others, it can sometimes be difficult to keep an even keel.
“You have to enjoy what you’re doing,” Palmer said. “When I was unemployed and trying to create my own material as a producer, it was more difficult. It’s much easier having a paycheck running against walls than not having a paycheck running against walls. You have really have to believe in what you do.”
He revealed that acting and writing are just as hard as producing, if not equally as hard, especially since acting puts such a large emphasis on personal appearances. For example, Palmer explained how an actor can have all the talent but not the looks — "not tall enough, not short enough, not good looking enough, too fat, too skinny, too athletic."
Gates, who is also an actor, often helped release that tension by smirking at the audience and teasing Palmer that he's more likely to hire his actors from London — referencing how Palmer cast a British actor that he had never even met.