Episode 48: Brian Grazer

An interview with Brian Grazer about how face-to-face conversations have impacted him, how having dyslexia impacted his career, how he recovered from a poor connection, how technology can be a bridge to human connection and his best career advice.

Welcome to the 48th episode of 5 Questions with Dan Schawbel. As your host, my goal is to curate the best advice from the world’s smartest and most interesting people by asking them just 5 questions.

This episodes guest:

My guest today is film and TV producer and screenwriter, Brian Grazer. Born in Los Angeles, California, Brian graduated USC’s School of Cinema-Television in 1975 as a psychology major. After quitting USC’s Law School after one year, he pursued a career as a producer focused on TV projects for Paramount Pictures in the early 80s. There, he met friend and business partner Ron Howard, embarking on one of the longest running partnerships in Hollywood history. Together, their films and TV shows have been nominated for 43 Oscars and 195 Emmys and he won the Best Picture Oscar for A Beautiful Mind. In addition, Grazer produced hit films like American Gangster, Apollo 13, The Nutty Professor, 8 Mile, and Liar Liar. His films have generated more than $13.5 billion in worldwide theatrical, music, and video sales. His endless honors include having a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, being named one of TIME Magazine’s most influential people and a cameo on The Simpsons. His more recent projects include the Wu-Tang: An American Saga TV series and his new book Face to Face: The Art of Human Connection.

The 5 questions questions I ask in this episode:

1. Why did you decide to write your book and how have face-to-face conversations impacting you personally and professionally?
2. How did having dyslexia as a child affect you and put you on a new path to forming meaningful human connections?
3. Can you give us an example of a poor interaction you’ve had and how you corrected it using the power of a face-to-face conversation?
4. I always say, “Use technology as a bridge to human connection instead of letting it be a barrier between you and the relationships you seek.” How can we use technology to create more human relationships?
5. What is your best piece of career advice?

Follow Brian’s journey:

• Website
• Books
• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Instagram