If you’re a regular reader you may have noticed that I tend to get melancholy when people who once were a vital part of my professional life move on. This is most definitely one of those occasions.
Thankfully, the news that among others VARIETY’s Michael Schneider reported yesterday was merely a professional coda. But it still made me tear up with simultaneous warmth and regret:
John Solberg, FX’s longtime head of communications and the exec who helped turn what had been a nascent cable network into a powerhouse programming brand bursting with critically acclaimed and award-winning series, has decided to step down. Solberg announced in a memo to staff Wednesday that he would be leaving FX when his contract expires in January.
Solberg joined FX more than 28 years ago, back when the network was known mostly for repeats of primetime fare like “The X-Files.” He was hired in March 1997 as director of media relations, then had promotions to VP, SVP and ultimately, EVP of publicity.
He was there when the network first got into the premium scripted business – and was instrumental in the successful launch of “The Shield,” which led to a 2002 Emmy win for star Michael Chiklis. That repped repped the first time an actor had snagged a statuette for a basic-cable performance. “Thanks to my formerly small network,” Chiklis said in his acceptance speech, but perhaps most memorable was his shout-out to “SOLBERG!!”
Yes, we were colleagues, but as even Chiklis himself acknowledged yesterday on LinkedIn, we were far more than that:
This is difficult to impart. I love this man. This is my dear friend and colleague, John Solberg. We worked very closely together on the entire run of The Shield and in so doing, became family. Always will be. Hard to quantify what he has brought to FX and all of our lives. As this article cites, I’m quite sure, I was the first to yell his name on stage with an Emmy in my hand. Forever in his debt.
If you’ve ever had the joy of even rooting for a Cinderella story you might be able to appreciate the degree of pride and shock we all experienced on that memorable Emmy evening 23 summers ago. I was sitting two seats away from Solberg when Chiklis screamed his name. What was muffled on the broadcast was the amplitude of Solberg’s whooping acknowledgement. My ears rang for days afterwards, as did a few others’ who were in our vicinity. But none of us cared. We knew we were not only a witness to history, we were contributors to it. And the fact anyone at all besides us knew about it is mostly due to the efforts of John Solberg and the team he empowered to amplify his mission.
If you need any proof of how effective he was, take note of the personal touch the intrepid Nellie Andreeva added to her version of Solberg’s news which she contributed to DEADLINE yesterday:
Solberg was so invested in promoting his shows — especially early on when FX didn’t have the brand recognition for acclaimed originals — he came to our Hollywood Reporter offices in the lead-up to Rescue Me 2004 premiere and didn’t leave until we watched the pilot with him. That’s how much he believed in his series.
I remember that encounter vividly. He made that appointment shortly after we tested the revised ending that Denis Leary and Peter Tolan agreed to after the first version was unilaterally detested by the respondents who saw it. Solberg showed up at a lot of our test screenings–atypical for most PR executives–if for no other reason than to pick up some quotes from actual respondents that he’d appropriately pepper into his pitches–often at our premiere parties where the open bar was flowing and Solberg was far and away the gregarious master of ceremonies.
And he’d often beckon me over to join him when he was mid-spiel, often with reporters from local newspapers around the country that would happen to be in town. My team made a habit of reporting the network’s progress in local metered markets where our coverage and channel position was closer to those of our aspirational competition–something the fledgling FX wasn’t always capable of on a national scale. It seemed almost everyone I met was John’s personal friend–or he had plied them with enough alcohol for them to believe they were. The names Ed Bark, Bill Goodykoontz and Glenn Garvin may not mean much to you, but they were all prominent tastemakers in major markets where our shows were surprisingly competitive ratings-wise with HBO, TNT and at times even ABC and CBS. Most local reporters had no idea such information was even available, let alone so positive for FX. We educated them, and many of them later would reach out to me for background on other shows they were covering. John’s attitude was to share everything we could, even if at times it didn’t necessarily paint us in the best light. He strongly believed in the long-term play, and clearly he was correct with that approach.
John was a tireless promoter for all of us. Heck, he even got me a few headlines of my own.
And while for me that was practically a lifetime ago, it’s quite obvious he maintained that approach with my successors and just about everyone else who was along for the ride at any point. Read the heartfelt tribute he penned to them which Andreeva and Schneider eagerly shared with their readers:
Nick and Gina as Entertainment Presidents, and Steph as Marketing Chief are second to none. The intellectual and creative horsepower of every department leader leaves me in awe daily—Kate, Jonathan, Katcher, Chuck, Kelly, Karen, Julie P., Kim, Nick, Sally, Ethan, Steve, Lance, Kenna, Kenya, Michael, Jason and Shola. I know you and your teams will continue to do extraordinary work, ensuring that FX remains a standard bearer for excellence in this industry. To my peeps—Lauren, Roslyn, Lana, Susan, Adriana, Alana, Amanda, Jesse, John and team—you are the most supremely skilled publicity, trade comms, photo publicity, talent relations, events and awards teams on the planet. You elevate everything you touch. I have been the beneficiary of your immense talent and I’m so thankful for you all.
Many of those first names ring louder with me than most–some were my colleagues as well. I’ve met a few of the newer ones over the years and our mutual admiration society has always been an effective ice-breaker. I’m clearly far too distant in the past to matter much to any of them. But that doesn’t diminish the impact that was made on me when we were closer.
John and I became office neighbors when the network relocated to a newly constructed building on the FOX lot after years of being housed in the adjacent building better known as Nakatomi Plaza from DIE HARD. We all had oversized corner offices with dramatic views of Century City and the surrounding area from which I saw many gorgeous sunrises when I’d report for duty while it was still dark to process those precious overnight local ratings the moment they were released. Our new digs were by comparison drab and cheaply constructed; a majority of us felt diminshed. John was relentlessly upbeat and made it his business to stop by everyone’s office or desk to remind them we were still the same team and still doing incredible work. John Landgraf may be known as the Mayor of Hollywood–and Solberg’s efforts are a massive reason why that’s the case–but John Solberg was the Mayor of FXHQ. His booming voice and “I tell you WHUT” ultimately calmed and united us and we indeed became the family that has been referenced so frequently.
Solberg first relocated to Los Angeles from New York as the network began to evolve; he was part of a bi-coastal effort where his West Coast counterpart was especially popular. That counterpart’s career imploded via a self-inflicted series of incidents that ultimately involved restraining orders and investigations. I made the error of allowing myself to get personally close to that person at an exceptionally vulnerable time in my life–in hindsight, too close. A few of my other colleagues were even closer and saw their FX careers end even more prematurely than mine. Suffice to say he relocated in some difficult times; his wife was a CBS NEWS producer with strong ties to New York and they had young children to boot. He’d sometimes admit to those difficulties, and I would listen. He more than returned those efforts when my personal life became more challenged again, frequently providing that counsel late into the evenings as he waited for reporters to get back to him.
That’s perhaps why the last sentences of his staff letter stung me so much:
Finally, I simply could not have done this job without the love and encouragement of my sons Owen, Thomas and Nick, my daughter-in-law Annie, and most of all my wife, Maeve. As a communications executive, being married to an accomplished news producer and writer was a professional cheat code that made me better at my job. She was by my side throughout this journey and always gave me invaluable counsel. It’s not the same without her.
I learned of her untimely passing only recently. I truly can’t fathom what he must have been feeling. When he closed with the sentence, While this has been a difficult decision, the time is right, I have a pretty good idea what he was referencing. Obviously, I wasn’t on the invite list. But Schneider apparently was:
Solberg is beloved by FX staffers, and perhaps even more so by FX writers, producers and stars. Solberg’s beloved wife, Maeve, passed away last year, and at her memorial service, a number of FX talent past and present were there to pay their respect and support their pal Solberg.
I can only say with even more urgency than ever–I wish I had had the chance to do the same. I’ve been through nowhere near as much as he has, both positive and tragic, and I truly regret the numerous missed opportunities over the years to express my own appreciation in less frenetic times. His resolve then and now has been invaluable in my own recovery, such as it has been.
I’m going to do my best to amplify this message via whatever connections I may still have in the pious hope it will reach him directly. I’ll hope against hope for some sort of acknowledgement. And I’ll underscore that plea by echoing “Chicky”‘s sentiments:
I love this man…Okay Berg, next chapter!
Until next time…