Steve McCarthy's family business for filmmaking

Apr 3, 2024

42:39

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Guest: Steve McCarthy

Steve McCarthy is an Emmy Award winning network TV news producer and documentary filmmaker. A former staff producer for 60 Minutes, Dateline and CNN, he formed McCarthy Productions, Inc in 2001 and produced projects for 60 Minutes, Dateline, Charlie Rose, MSNBC, PBS, BBC America, Reuters and others. In 2006 he directed an independent documentary film Finding Paddy, a documentary about 9/11 which aired in more than 20 countries. In 2016 he co-produced the documentary The One That Got Away which aired on PBS. In 2019 he co-directed and co-produced an HBO documentary about journalism through the life stories of Pete Hamill and Jimmy Breslin called Breslin and Hamill: Deadline Artists. (Winner 2019 National Emmy) In 2019 he also co-produced the documentary feature “Life with Layla” about a New Jersey family caught in the grips of the opioid epidemic. In 2022, he directed and co-produced Eva’s Promise, about a Holocaust survivor’s promise to her brother to share his art should he not survive the concentration camps. Eva’s Promise is being distributed on PBS stations in the spring of 2024 by American Public Television.

McCarthy teaches documentary film and journalism at Montclair State University.

Steve and Jothy met when Steve was the producer of a piece for the Today Show about Jonathan Alter’s dealing with a cancer diagnosis and deciding to join Jothy in doing the 192-mile Pan-Mass Challenge bike-a-thon for the Data Farber Cancer Institute. They have been friends since then and decided to create a TV show based on the Who Says I Can’t concept which they filmed 3 full episodes of and tried to sell to the major networks. They did not bite and those three episodes live on on YouTube.

In this conversation, Jothy Rosenberg interviews Steve, the founder of McCarthy Productions. They discuss Steve's love for the Grateful Dead, the positive atmosphere at Dead shows, and the involvement of Steve's children in the family business. They also talk about the production of Eva's Promise, the challenges of independent filmmaking, and the importance of authentic storytelling. The conversation touches on the difficulties of selling a show, the potential for reviving their previous show, and the significance of the Holocaust Museum. They also discuss the editing process and the importance of preparation in presentations and talks.

Sound Bites

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Personal Background

00:11 Steve's Love for the Grateful Dead

01:16 McCarthy Productions as a Family Business

03:22 The Production of Eva's Promise

04:12 Doing Corporate Videos

05:09 Passion for Journalism

06:29 Journalism Trip to the Border

08:01 Collaboration on Can Do Productions

08:58 Participating in the Sports of the Show's Subjects

09:07 The Fun and Challenges of Filming