I'm so excited to share with you all that I had the amazing opportunity of interviewing someone who has worked with none other than Joseph Barbera! That man's name is Sandy Fries, who is a screenwriter that currently teaches Mass Communication at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, IL. He previously taught at Columbia University in New York and was an NBC Fellow. In addition to this, Sandy has had dozens of amazing experiences writing for popular television shows, including Star Trek: The Next Generation, Spider-Man: The Animated Series, The Tom & Jerry Kids Show, Droopy Dog: Master Detective, The Snorks, and The Smurfs. Sandy also worked quite a bit with Sam Simon, the creator of The Simpsons. In the past few years, Sandy has released a book detailing all of the amazing experiences he has had with scriptwriting, titled Secrets Your Textbook Will Not Tell You: About TV, Movies, and Life. While Sandy hasn't specifically worked on Scooby-Doo, he has so many amazing stories of working with Hanna-Barbera, and details them all in his book. I'm really excited for you all to hear these stories in my interview with Sandy below: 1. ScoobySnax.com: How did you get into screenwriting? Sandy Fries: Screenwriting was something that I always thought would be fun, and the biggest motivator in my career is enjoying myself. I believe that if you have the talent, and the communication skills, looking for fun things is always the way to go with your career. What's the alternative? Being boring and miserable? That's not something I'm interested in, so instead, I look for opportunities where I can have fun. 2. ScoobySnax.com: One chapter of your book goes into detail about how you worked with Joseph Barbera at the start of your career. Do you have any favorite memories or stories about working with Joe Barbera? Sandy Fries: Absolutely. Joseph Barbera was a wonderful person to work with, and he was brilliantly funny. I learned so much by working with him. One of the things I loved the most about working with Joseph Barbera was his office. He had the coolest office I have ever seen in my life. In one part of the office, he had several Emmy and Academy Awards that were all lined up. When you walked into that office, seeing those awards made you go, "Wow… this is amazing." The first time I ever went into his office for a story meeting, he said, "Sandy, have you ever held an Academy Award?" I meekly replied, "Uh, well…no, Mr. Barbera, I haven't". A big smile appeared on his face, "Well, would you like to…?" So, Mr. Barbera let me hold one of his Academy Awards, which was a memory that I'll never forget. 3. ScoobySnax.com: In addition to Hanna-Barbera, your book mentions how you have worked with creator of The Simpsons, Sam Simon. Do you have any favorite memories or stories of working with Sam? Sandy Fries: Sam Simon was a very, very, talented guy. I mean, obviously you must be to co-create The Simpsons. He and I wrote four projects together, and he was a brilliant, humorous, and profound writer. I knew him personally, and he helped me get my first big break in Hollywood. There's a dramatic, and really heavy, story about Sam Simon in my book, Secrets Your Textbook Will Not Tell You: About TV, Movies, and Life. It's a powerful, very moving, and a very sad story. This is a story I genuinely believe that everyone can learn a valuable life lesson from. The story is so poignant that I'd rather let whoever is interested in the story read about it in my book. I can't do the story justice by retelling it. It took me a long time to write that chapter, I edited it several times, and then I even rewrote it several times. The best way for that story to be told is the way it is told in the book, Secrets Your Textbook Will Not Tell You: About TV, Movies, and Life. I can't do it justice, but I promise that if you read it, you will learn something from it, and you will be moved by it. 4. ScoobySnax.com: How did getting your start writing at Hanna-Barbera influence how you approached the rest of your career as a writer? Sandy Fries: Hanna-Barbera was the studio that I had the most fun writing for. I wrote for Star Trek: The Next Generation, Quantum Leap, Spider-Man, and while they were enjoyable, they were not nearly as fun as writing for Hanna-Barbera. Star Trek: The Next Generation dealt with some heavy-duty subjects, which cannot be as enjoyable as writing for animation. Writing for Hanna-Barbera affected me because I learned I wanted to do animation more than most live-action shows. Usually when I was writing for another studio, I would say something to the effect of, "This is fun, and this is really great, but working at Hanna-Barbera, with Joseph Barbera, is the best". One of the things about me that other writers don't do, is that I've written for a lot of different genres. Drama, science fiction, comedy, animation, soap operas … most writers don't do that. However, I did that deliberately so that I could learn to write in a lot of different styles. Despite learning to write for all those genres, I always loved animation the most. When I was a writer at Hanna-Barbera, I said to myself, "This is as good as it gets for me. I love comedy, I love animation, and I have a great executive to work with." Hanna-Barbera was the best, and it always left me wanting to go back into that world. 5. ScoobySnax.com: You worked on a number of shows during your time at Hanna-Barbera. What was your favorite of those shows to work on, and why was it your favorite? Sandy Fries: My favorite show that I wrote for was called Droopy, Master Detective. I loved writing for that show because you could do anything with the animation. Whatever my mind could come up with, the animators were able to create, and I loved having that creative freedom with my writing. I also really loved the Droopy character, especially his dialogue. Droopy talked slowly with a deep toned, but quirky sounding, voice. For those of you who might not know, Droopy is the basset hound who worked as the elevator attendant in the Steven Spielberg movie, Who Framed Roger Rabbit. He started at MGM, but eventually was brought over to Hanna-Barbera. 6. ScoobySnax.com: What memorable responses or feedback have you received about your work at Hanna-Barbera (or in general for all the shows you've written for)? Sandy Fries: I had asked Joseph Barbera to autograph a Hanna-Barbera book about Tom & Jerry one time. What he wrote in the book was thoughtful, kindhearted, and something that I'll always remember for the rest of my life. He wrote in the book, "To Sandy… my top writer. - Joseph Barbera". You know, when you get that type of a compliment from a person like Mr. Barbera… it's just phenomenal. 7. ScoobySnax.com: What inspired you to write your book? Sandy Fries: It happened almost automatically. It sort of flowed out of me like a tidal wave. There are a couple big reasons why I wanted to write it. The first reason is that I've worked with brilliant people. I've been very fortunate in my life and with my career. I've been able to meet three presidents of the United States -- and even got to spend a decent amount of time with them. I knew the head of CBS News personally, and I am proud to call him a friend. I've been fortunate enough to work with some of the most creative people in history, like Stan Lee, Joseph Barbera, and Sam Simon. I've even worked with the creator of Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry, and the creator of The Big Bang Theory, Chuck Lorre. Each of these people are considered to be the top of the line in terms of brilliance and creativity in show business. I learned a lot about how to live a great life from each one of those people, so I almost felt like I had a responsibility to put their lessons into a book. My goal for anyone who reads the book is that you can hopefully find wisdom, or motivation, to have a better life. If you read it, I think it will help you improve your life in a lot of different ways. It's more than a book about writing, it's a book about how to live a fantastic life. You don't need to like show business to like this book. The second reason I wrote the book is that some of the stories are just too darn funny to not ever be told. Some of the things that happened to me in my life are really out there, and also really edgy. I remember when those things happened to me in real life, I said, "Whoa, this would be great for a book… or maybe even a movie!". Another story you can read about is the time I almost died at Warner Brothers. The place that I almost died in was a, well, very unusual place to die. I won't go into too many details, but I remember in the moment it was horrible. I was sure I was going to be dead. But in retrospect, it would've been a really, really, funny way to die. There are a lot of stories in the book that I felt compelled to put in there because they were funny, or they were a great learning experience. Ultimately, the main reason I wrote the book was that it was fun to write. I've written hundreds of scripts, articles, and advertisements -- but I would say the book is absolutely, without a doubt, my favorite thing that I've written in my whole life. I highly encourage everyone to give it a read, it could change your life. 8. ScoobySnax.com: What inspired you to get into teaching? In addition, do you have a favorite course to teach, and why is this course your favorite? Sandy Fries: One of the things that I always wanted to do was to be a professor at a college or a university. That just struck me as a very cool life. Reading and discussing things I was interested in was very appealing to me. I also am a firm believer that a person doesn't need to live just one life. A person should be able to live two or three lives in terms of what one does with a career. One of my lives is as a professor at a college in Illinois. I'm reading books about subjects that I love, I'm talking about them with intelligent people, and what I read is stuff I would read for fun anyways. Academic life is idyllic. The campus is beautiful. The nature around me is peaceful. I have a great office with an amazing view. I read about topics that fascinate me… and even get paid money to do it. How cool is that? My favorite class that I teach is a film class. As someone once said to me, "Sandy, you watch movies all day, and get paid for it?". It's certainly more than that, there's lectures, analysis, but I love watching movies. I love pulling them apart and putting them back together. I love being able to discuss movies in a multi-level way with students. It's fun. Before I was a professor I would go to the movies and the best part was, afterwards, when I would discuss the movie with friends. What did you think about this scene? What about that dialogue? How about that character? When I teach my film class, I'm doing all the stuff I would do for fun anyways, but it's even more fun to do that when you are getting paid for it. The other thing was, when I was an undergraduate at Clark University, I had to take a lot of tests. My collegiate experience would've been perfect if I could be at school and not have to take any tests. Well, now I'm in college again, and I don't have to take a single test! I've lived several lives. I've lived a New York City life, a Los Angeles life, and now I'm living my Midwestern life. Every one of my lives has had its challenges and luckily I've been able to get through them. Overall, each of the places I've lived have been fantastic. I prefer that I've had the New York life, the California life, and the Midwest life, because change is healthy and exciting. 9. ScoobySnax.com: Besides teaching, do you have any plans of writing for more shows or films in the future? Sandy Fries: My attitude is that I've done it, and I've done it as well as I can do. I might want to write for Family Guy, and probably could if I really wanted to. I think the characters are really funny, the writing overall is really tight, and there's a lot of creative freedom on that show. However, for right now, my key focus is on enjoying myself and being a great professor. The rest of the time I enjoy watching TV, reading books, eating good food, and sleeping. I remember one time Sam Simon said to me, "You know Sandy, I like working, but not as much as I like not-working." Similar to Sam, I like working, but I also enjoy not-working just as much. So, the very long-winded answer to that is that I might like to write an episode of Family Guy, but there's no internal pressure on myself to do that. 10. ScoobySnax.com: If you could work on any show or movie in the world, what would it be? Sandy Fries: There was a phenomenal show that I loved, called St. Elsewhere. I almost became a writer on that show, but unfortunately, I did not get the job. It was a brilliant show in terms of writing, acting, directing, -- every element of St. Elsewhere was exceptional. I almost wrote for it because a producer on the show really liked the script that I had submitted, but it never happened. Mark Harmon, Denzel Washington, and Howie Mandell all debuted on that show. Despite the great acting, what I liked the most was how diverse the writing could be. There were episodes where a scene would include heavy drama, but then in the next it would be heavily filled with comedic relief. Sometimes they even worked in the fantasy genre, and it was still well-written. If anyone wants to watch a really good television show, stream St. Elsewhere. It went from heavy scenes to hilarious scenes, and it all worked brilliantly. Somebody should revive St. Elsewhere. 11. ScoobySnax.com: Do you have any advice for anyone who is looking to go into the world of scriptwriting? Sandy Fries: Well, this is going to sound like a shameless, self-promoting, plug -- but read my book Secrets Your Textbook Will Not Tell You: About TV, Movies, and Life. It's on Amazon for $5.95, and it has really great reviews. People love the book, and I really love the book. If you are looking to break into Hollywood, or writing in general, reading my book will be exorbitantly helpful in bringing your career to the next level. Another helpful hint is that if you have talent, go after that goal. Don't worry about the competition, because I can tell you that there aren't many good writers in Hollywood. There are many people who think they are good writers, but they are not. And if you have talent, go for whatever you would enjoy. If you worry about the money, do not. If you are talented, in the right career, and you enjoy your work, the money will come automatically. If you're talented, and if you have a good work ethic, you will accomplish your goals. And if you don't go for it, when the time comes for you to drop dead, you'll probably be bitter and dislike yourself. Oh, and I'm not sure if I mentioned this yet, but you should also read my book, Secrets Your Textbook Will Not Tell You: About TV, Movies, and Life. 12. ScoobySnax.com: Is there anything else you would like to share that I have not asked about? Sandy Fries: Joseph Barbera had great taste in restaurants. JB would frequently take the writers and I out to lunch at a variety of different places. We went to a Chinese place called Fung Lum, and often visited Musso & Frank's - which appeared in Tarantino's most recent film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Everywhere we'd go, people loved Mr. Barbera. Not because of who he was, or what he accomplished, but solely because of his demeanor and his personality. And he also always picked up the check. Another thing about Joseph Barbera was that he was very quick, in a creative sense. One time when I was in a story meeting with him, inspiration struck. He immediately began explaining a gag for the Tom and Jerry Kids Show to me, but he was talking as fast as his thoughts entered his head. It sounded something like this: He went, "So Tom [unintelligible] and then Jerry [unintelligible], so then Tom [unintelligible]." I just stared blankly back at him, and JB responded, "You didn't understand any of that did you?" He began to act out and sketch the gag so that I was able to understand it. It was a very good gag. But the very first time he explained it, his mind was running so quickly that he couldn't communicate it properly. When Joseph Barbera would explain his ideas, he would act out characters, and do their voices as well. This helped him communicate many of his thoughts to the writers and animators in an understandable way. It was great to see him do sketches and gags that we were discussing. I would come in with a script, he'd read it through, he'd edit it, and then add his ideas. Any idea he added made the scene, or a gag, or even the dialogue, better. There were times my script was passed through with very little changes made. Being able to write a script that Joseph Barbera put through with very little edits was very fulfilling. One day we were in the studio watching one of my scripts being recorded by the voice artists. At the beginning of the interview, you asked me how I got into screenwriting, and I said that it was because I wanted to have fun. Well, I cannot emphasize how fun it was to see these incredible voice actors performing my dialogue during a recording session. There's a picture of me and the voice actors -- along with Mr. Barbera -- and in the photo every single person is smiling and having a fun time. That's my kind of job. That's what I like to do. I've learned a lot over the course of my life, from many different talented people. Stan Lee taught me the relevance of responding. Gene Roddenberry taught me how to overcome overbearing obstacles. Joseph Barbera taught me how to work hard with a smile on my face. Big Bang Theory creator, Chuck Lorre, taught me to never give up even when the work seemed worthless. Those tips, and other stories on how to achieve a good life, are filling up my book, Secrets Your Textbook Will Not Tell You: About TV, Movies, and Life. It's available on Amazon for only $5.95. It'll take you under three hours to read, and it could change the rest of your life. There's a link to it right below this sentence, and I truly believe you will enjoy reading it. https://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Your-Textbook-Will-Tell-ebook/dp/B0789Q63KS I hope everyone enjoyed reading this interview! This was such a fun opportunity to get to talk to someone who worked with Joseph Barbera, hear all Sandy's experiences writing for Hanna-Barbera, and get his perspectives on screenwriting and the world of show business. If you're thinking about purchasing his book, Sandy was nice enough to provide a free five-page sample of the book specifically documenting some more of his experiences with Joseph Barbera, which you can read here. Note that there are some stories in the book that are not appropriate for younger audiences. I want to give a big thank you to Sandy for sharing all these stories, and to Colin as well for reaching out and helping set this interview up!
8 Comments
James Dixon
4/9/2022 05:42:04 am
Great going on getting the interview, WWV, and thanks for sharing!
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Matt
4/9/2022 10:53:08 am
Working for Hanna Barbera sounds like a dream gig (even if it is no longer possible). Great interview
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Lamont
4/9/2022 11:34:08 pm
Glad you could interview Sandy. I hope more interviews come your way!
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James Dixon
4/10/2022 11:15:52 am
I would definitely be interesting in buying the book. But when, I don't know.
Reply
Jakob123
4/10/2022 07:55:12 pm
For a second there, I thought Sandy sounded like a girl's name.
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