The Office with a View: The Seasoned Producer Discusses His 10-Year Journey From Assistant to President of Production Company Jesse Collins Entertainment
“So I meet him and say to him: ‘Look, I don’t want to be an assistant, I have big aspirations and I want to be a place where I can really grow.’ and that [said]”Look, I wanted to meet you because you’re more than an assistant, I need a right hand — and I need supporting material too,” Harmon told TheWrap for this week’s Office With a View.
Collins acted as a mentor, allowing Harmon to sit on the call and jump in with opinions and feedback. And, 10 years later, Harmon laughs that it was the best demotion she’s ever accepted, mainly from award shows (including several BET Awards and Grammy Awards shows and the 2021 Oscars, executive-produced) from JCE’s Opening the door to help you expand the portfolio. Collins with Stacy Sher and Steven Soderbergh) in scripted and unscripted TV and film projects.
“The biggest thing I want to tell people is that sometimes taking a step back is all you need to push yourself forward,” Harmon said. “I started out as his assistant, what makes this moment even more special, to grow through so many roles in the company, from the beginning to where we are now.”
Read on to find out Harmon’s goals for his new role in JCE, how he built a live event amid the challenges of the pandemic, and how his mother finally came to appreciate Harmon’s Hollywood career.
This Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.
What is your goal as the President of JCE?
We want this to be a place where you can come for content of all genres. In the last 10 years, it has been really important for us to establish ourselves not exclusively but in unwritten and scripted as well as television and films. We are building our team in all those areas.
The special is a big deal for JCE, especially after your first Emmy win for Outstanding Variety Special for The Super Bowl Halftime Show LVI. You were also nominated for Last Year’s Halftime Show,
For the Super Bowl in 2021, we were not allowed to be on the field because there could be no interaction between the production people and the football players. so we made [the performance space] on the meeting. Some people might have said, “Who wants to do a Super Bowl show that’s not on the football field, like, what is that?” But instead the creatives came up with this really cool concept that didn’t look like a post-COVID Super Bowl show. It just sounded like this wonderful musical opera.
At that point JCE already faced pandemic challenges with live production, right?
I think a big turning point for the company was in 2020, when the pandemic hit and we got a call from BET that they were going to do the BET Awards, but they didn’t want the Zoom show. By June, you saw a ton of people in their living rooms, playing guitar, singing songs in the kitchen—we don’t want that. We were able to use the technique and get super creative, for example with Megan Thee Stallion shooting in the middle of the desert with her dancers six feet apart. That’s really our challenge, because we want people to keep watching [awards shows and specials], You have to make those viral moments so that people don’t see all the clips on Instagram the next day.
Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show The Sophie Stadium in Inglewood was pretty adorable 14 Minutes, with so many personalities, not just one star.
I think the beauty of it is that they were really a family. Dre was an integral part of all his career. Our production design team created an entire city block with buildings that meant something to the artists. The odds were against someone like Dre or Snoop, growing up in parts of L.A. where a lot of black men don’t make it to adults. They’ve accomplished so much, and to be back at Inglewood and be on this world stage — and not only to win an Emmy for the show, to have won a Super Bowl halftime show for the first time in history — I’m honored to be on that team. to be part of.
How did you first get your foot in the door in Hollywood?
When I graduated and moved to Los Angeles, I didn’t come here for fun, I came here for the season. The first time I came to L.A. was New Year’s 2000, and I think there was probably five or six feet of snow in Cambridge. It was 82 degrees and there were palm trees and I was like, “Oh my god, I’m going to stay here.” When I left, I was interviewing with consulting firms and investment banking companies, I felt like I was going down a business track.
What changed your mind?
I was at an event, and someone came up to me who is now one of my best friends, a gentleman named Topher Lewis. He said, “Hey, do you want to be on this TV show? It’s called ‘Khaz’ on MTV. You go on a date with two guys and end up getting rejected by one of them.” And I was like, not at all! But he called me on Monday and offered me the job. He added: “If you go out, maybe you can bring some variety to the show.” I said okay, that sounds interesting. I went to MTV and did interviews and got a job as a casting recruiter. They gave me a Polaroid camera and I went to clubs and parties and the beach and the gym looking for people…. So I started casting, and then I worked as a freelancer for many different companies.
JCE has been the most important step in your career, but it took a career coup long ago to win over your mother.
I was a segment producer on “Design to Sell” on Home and Garden Television. [HGTV], which was the first time my mother saw my name in the credits. She was so proud because she hadn’t seen any MTV dating shows, and I think she thought I was wasting my life at that point. But when she saw “Design to Sell,” she was like, “My daughter is a maker!”
