Don Mischer

Don Mischer
Born
Donald Leo Mischer

(1940-03-05) March 5, 1940 (age 84)
San Antonio, Texas[1]
Alma materUniversity of Texas
Occupation(s)Television producer and director
Years active1969–present
Spouses
Beverly J Mischer
​
​
(m. 1960⁠–⁠1984)​
Suzan Reed Mischer
​
(m. 1989)​
ChildrenJennifer Christine, Heather Mischer Godsey, Charles Donald, Lilly Ellison
Websitewww.donmischerproductions.com

Donald Leo Mischer[2] (born March 5, 1940)[3] is an American producer and director of television and live events and president of Don Mischer Productions.

Career

Mischer has been honored with fifteen Emmy Awards, a record ten Directors Guild of America Awards for Outstanding Directorial Achievement, two NAACP Image Awards, a Peabody Award for excellence in broadcasting, and the 2012 Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television from the Producers Guild of America and the 2019 Directors Guild of America Lifetime Achievement Award for Television.[4]

As a producer/director, his credits include the Oscars, We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial, the Kennedy Center Honors, the 100th anniversary of Carnegie Hall, Motown 25, the Super Bowl Halftime Shows (Michael Jackson, Prince, the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Tom Petty, and Bruce Springsteen), the Democratic National Convention, and the Opening Ceremonies of the 1996 Summer Olympics and 2002 Winter Olympics. Mischer has also produced specials with Beyoncé, Bono, Prince, Rihanna, Britney Spears, Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor, Taylor Swift, Stevie Wonder, Sting, Garth Brooks, Mary J. Blige, Elton John, Justin Timberlake, Barbra Streisand, Cher, Yo Yo Ma, and Morgan Freeman, among others. He also presided as director over the 1975 flop, Saturday Night Live With Howard Cosell, which he blamed on the inexperience and indifference of producer Roone Arledge.[5]

He has received the Governors Award from the National Association of Choreographers and is a member of the Event Industry Hall of Fame, the Producers Guild of America, the Directors Guild of America, and the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, where he has served two terms on the board of governors. As a member of the Directors Guild of America, he has served three terms on the National Board, and in 2019 received the DGA's Lifetime Achievement Award for Television, only the fourth such award ever given for television.[6] On December 11, 2014, Mischer received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[7]

In November of 2023, Mischer published his memoir “:10 Seconds to Air: My Life in the Director’s Chair,” recounting the entire span of his career.[8] Book review magazine Kirkus Reviews wrote “Mischer's writing style is in formal and charming – he creates an atmosphere of candor and intimacy without going out of his way to ingratiate himself to readers. As a result, his recollection is thoroughly entertaining, but also affecting and thoughtful. A frank, insightful recollection of an accomplished career."[9]

Personal life

Mischer was born in San Antonio, Texas, the son of Lillian and Elmer Mischer.[10] After graduating from Douglas MacArthur High School in San Antonio, Mischer completed his education at the University of Texas Austin. He graduated with a BA degree in 1961 and with a master's degree in sociology and political science in 1963. Mischer's work took him to Washington, D.C., where he worked with the US Information Agency and Oscar-winning documentarian Charles Guggenheim. With his first wife Beverly, he has two children, Jennifer Christine and Heather Mischer Godsey. After 10 years in New York, he relocated to Los Angeles, where he had two children, Charles Donald and Lilly Ellison, with his wife Suzan Reed Mischer, a former CBS executive and graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design.

Accolades

  • Mischer has 40 Primetime Emmy nominations, with 15 Emmy wins: 13 wins through The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and 2 wins through the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
  • 10 Directors Guild of America Awards for Outstanding Directorial Achievement.
  • George Foster Peabody Award for Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever.
  • Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television, from the Producers Guild of America (2012).
  • Directors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award (2019). Only the fourth such award given for Television Direction.
  • 2 NAACP Image Awards.[4]
  • Governors Award from the National Association of Choreographers.
  • Membership in the Event Industry Hall of Fame.
  • Received Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on December 11, 2014.[11]
  • Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Cinematographers Guild

2004 Democratic National Convention

In 2004, he produced the Democratic National Convention at the FleetCenter in Boston. After John Kerry's acceptance speech, balloons were supposed to drop from the ceiling onto the delegates below. However, the balloons got stuck in the ceiling and did not fall. Mischer subsequently lost his temper with his tech crew and his profanities were aired accidentally by CNN's live broadcast.[12][13]

Selected television credits

Year Show Role Awards
1970-71 Great American Dream Machine – PBS Director
1973-1975 In Concert – ABC Director
1976 Twyla Tharp: Making Television Dance – PBS Director
1978-1986 The Kennedy Center Honors – CBS Director 3 Primetime Emmy Awards, 3 Directors Guild Awards
1978 Omnibus: Meryl Streep – ABC Director
1981 Goldie & Lisa Together – CBS Producer / director
1982 Shirley McLlain Illusions – NBC Producer / director Directors Guild Award
1982 Baryshnikov in Hollywood – CBS Director 2 Primetime Emmy nominations
1983 Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever – NBC Producer / director Primetime Emmy Award, Peabody Award, Director's Guild Award
1984 Baryshnikov by Tharp – Great Performances PBS Producer / director Primetime Emmy Award, Director's Guild Award (with co Director Twayla Thwarp)
1985 Motown Returns to The Apollo – NBC Producer / director Primetime Emmy Award, Emmy nomination, Director's Guild Award
1985 Carnegie Hall: Grand Reopening – CBS Producer
1989 Willie Nelson: Texas Style – CBS Producer, director, writer
1987 The Tony Awards – CBS Executive producer Primetime Emmy Award
1988 The Tony Awards – CBS Executive producer Primetime Emmy nomination
1989 The Tony Awards – CBS Executive producer Primetime Emmy Award
1988 Irving Berlin's 100th Birthday at Carnegie Hall – CBS Executive producer Primetime Emmy Award
1991 Gregory Hines: Tap Dance in America – Great Performances PBS Producer / director Primetime Emmy Award, Directors Guild Award
1992-2005 The Kennedy Center Honors – CBS Producer 2 Primetime Emmy Awards
1991 Carnegie Hall Live at 100 – PBS Executive producer Emmy nomination
1992 Bob Hope: The First 90 Years – NBC Producer Emmy Award
1993 Michael Jackson Super Bowl 27 Halftime – NBC Producer / director
1996 Atlanta Cenntenial Olympic Games Opening Ceremonies – Worldwide Feed Producer / director Emmy Award, Directors Guild Award
1998 Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson – CBS Producer / director Emmy nomination
1998 To Life: Israel's 50th Anniversary Celebration – ABC Producer
1999 Sonny + Cher: Cher Remembers – CBS Producer / director
2000 Barbra Streisand: Timeless – FOX Producer / director Directors Guild Award Nomination (with c/o director Barbra Streisand)
2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games Opening Ceremonies – Worldworld Feed Executive producer Academy of Television Arts and Sciences National Sports Emmy Award
2004 Democratic National Convention 2004 Producer
2005 McCarney Super Bowl 39 Halftime – FOX Producer / director
2006 Rolling Stones Super Bowl 40 Halftime- ABC Producer / director
2007 James Taylor: One Man Band – PBS Producer / director Emmy nomination
2007 Shanghai Special Olympics – CCTV, BBC Producer
2007 Prince Super Bowl 41 Halftime – CBS Producer / director Emmy nomination
Multiple years Emmy Awards – ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX Executive producer
2007 Movies Rock – CBS Executive producer / director
2008 Tom Petty Super Bowl 42 Halftime – NBC Executive producer / director
2008 Fashion Rocks Producer + Director
2009 We Are One: Obama Inaugural Concert at The Lincoln Memorial – HBO Producer / director Directors Guild Award
2009 Springsteen Super Bowl 43 Halftime – NBC Executive producer / director Emmy nomination
2011 The 83rd Oscars Producer / director Emmy nomination
2012 The 84th Oscars Producer / director Emmy nomination
2013 The 85th Oscars Director Emmy nomination
2012 One Night Only: Eddie Murphy – SPIKE Producer / director
2016 Jazz at The White House – ABC Producer / director
2012-2019 The Breakthrough Prize – FOX, NatGeo Producer / director
2014 One Night Only: Don Rickles – SPIKE Producer
2011 – 2013 Billboard Music Awards – ABC Executive producer
2014 9/11 Memorial Museum Dedication Producer / director
2016 Taking The Stage: African American Music and Stories that Changed America – ABC Executive producer / writer

References

  1. ^ Jack Kuney (1 February 1990). Take one: television directors on directing. Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-313-26384-2.
  2. ^ "Donald Leo Mischer - television director, producer - Marquis Who's Who Biography". Archived from the original on 2013-01-28. Retrieved 2012-09-15.
  3. ^ Broadcasting & Cable. Cahners Publishing Company. October 2009.
  4. ^ a b "Directors Guild to Honor Don Mischer With Lifetime Achievement Award". The Hollywood Reporter. 27 November 2018.
  5. ^ Gunther, Marc (1988). Monday night mayhem : the inside story of ABC's Monday night football. Bill Carter (1st ed.). New York: Beech Tree Books. pp. 186–9. ISBN 0-688-07553-3. OCLC 18069619.
  6. ^ "Live TV Directing Legend Don Mischer to Receive DGA Lifetime Achievement Award in Television -". Dga.org.
  7. ^ "Don Mischer Receives His Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame". Variety. 17 December 2014. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  8. ^ Schneider, Michael (2023-11-15). "Producer Don Mischer's New Memoir Shares Stories From Some of Live TV's Greatest Moments". Variety. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  9. ^ 10 SECONDS TO AIR | Kirkus Reviews.
  10. ^ "The Victoria Advocate - Google News Archive Search".
  11. ^ "Don Mischer receives star on Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles". UPI.
  12. ^ "100,000 balloons a trial for producer". Los Angeles Times. 31 July 2004.
  13. ^ Balloon Drop Failure at 2004 DNC – CNN Snafu on YouTube