Making the Steve Jobs Movie

An Entrepreneurial Case Study

Joe Mancuso

• Publisher: Morgan James Publishing
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN: 9781614488866
• eBook ISBN: 9781614488873
• Topic: Commerce
• Subtopic: Industrie du spectacle

The producer of the hit film, Jobs, shares his visions of Hollywood, big business, and entrepreneurial success with America's most powerful CEOs. How did Mark Hulme make a journey from Fort Worth, Texas, publisher to first-time movie producer who wrangled Ashton Kutcher to star in one of the most highly anticipated biopics ever made? It's a story right of Steve Jobs's own playbook for success: start with a good idea and the drive to seek the resources that'll turn that concept into reality. This is the illuminating and unique guide to accomplishing those dreams. Joe Mancuso—founder of CEO Clubs and with more than fifty years of experience as an entrepreneur—assembles twenty diverse CEOs to discuss the genius and nerve behind two effectual lynchpins: the founder of Apple himself, and Mark Hulme who took the risk to bring Jobs's story to the big screen. In these lively, informative, and invaluable conversations, Mancuso, Hulme, and their peers illustrate how you, too, can apply the same principles and efforts into your own personal success story.

FOLLOWING DIALOGUE SPEAKERS

David W. Bower, Sr.

CEO

Data Computer Corp of America

Gayle A. Glosser

President

Regal Research & Mfg. Co.

Mark C. Hulme

CEO

DS News, Producer of iJOBS

Roy Jones

CEO

Low Cross Farm

Jeffrey Layne

President

Arc-Com Fabrics, Inc.

Joseph R. Mancuso

CEO

CEO Clubs, Inc.

Mike Powell

CEO

Regal Research & Mfg. Co.

David W. Pruitt

CEO

Cap Rock Electricity

Ron Reuven

CEO

Reuven Enterprises

Marcos A. Rodriguez

Chairman

Rodriguez Capital Holdings

Michael Sheaffer

President

Hi-Line, Inc.

John W. Spargo

Chairman

J. Spargo & Associates, Inc.

_________________________

Mancuso

When did you get the idea to create a Steve Jobs movie?

This is October, 2012.

_________________________

Hulme

Doesn’t everyone want to create a Steve Jobs movie?

[Chuckle]

I was looking around to be an investor in a film but I had heard horror stories about the creative accounting in that business.

So I wanted to find something in film where I could control the checkbook.

I heard that this creative accounting would result in you not getting your money back, so I looked for something that if I lost my money I would at least get a “learning experience”.

There was a project I was looking at but I had no interest in the story line.

I would be joining a smart group of savvy film people and my contribution was to be $500,000.

I even sent the script to my attorney.

Then as I am walking down the hall in August, 2011 some art directors and IT people were abuzz by a water cooler.

The excitement of this group leads me to believe it was caused by another 9/11 or a terrorist act.

No, I found out they were discussing the news that Steve Jobs had retired.

Imagine that?

Someone who does not work in Texas and has no association with my magazine publishing businesses could interrupt my companies work output.

I was shocked.

Who is this guy?

He changed the world in so many industries, computers, music, phones, and on and on.

In fact, every time Apple sneezed it made news.

They were and still are so smart that no one does it better.

Now, that is when I want to be a movie investor. . . that is the story I want to tell.

It all came to me as I was still at the water cooler. I want to tell the story about Steve Jobs.

_________________________

Mancuso

When was that?

About fall of 2011?

_________________________

Hulme

No that was the summer of 2011.

So I dinged the writer in September and asked if he was up to doing a movie script about Steve Jobs.

He worked for me writing advertising copy but I knew he had training in script writing.

We had lunch and he said, “I am up to it, let’s go!”

I knew script writing was a rare talent.

I had seen so many million dollar movies with lousy dialogue.

I remain perplexed, how can those lines remain in this $30,000,000 film?

Don’t you agree?

So many movies are so badly written yet they can be big successes.

I knew he needed help as this was going to be a big task.

Like me, this writer, Matthew Whitely, idolized the accomplishments of Apple as we used Apple products in all my businesses, book and magazine publishing, and conferencing, bringing our readers to major events.

On some of our major foreclosure conferences, we had George and Laura Bush as headliners.

At another we had Bill Clinton.

All our promotions were done on Apple products.

It was, and still is, an amazing company, and the hero of Apple was Steve Jobs.

In fact, Joe, I heard the CEO Clubs had voted him the most admired CEO in the world.

Is that true?

_________________________

Mancuso

Yes, and he surpassed both Warren Buffett and Jack Welsh, getting more votes than the two of them combined.

So what day are we at during this stage?

_________________________

Hulme

It was 2011.

_________________________

Mancuso

Was it fall of 2011?

_________________________

Hulme

No, it was summer.

I was willing to risk about a half million in the movie business and I decided I could put that at risk if the story was about Jobs.

So I hired three entry level researchers to help the writer.

We cleared out an office space and called it “The Jobs Research Center”.

We rented some temporary furniture.

We had flow charts, pert charts, pictures, and diagrams all over the walls.

It looked like a war room.

But I should tell this group: after all, it is about transparency in this Super PAC, Matt Whitely is my son.

He is the writer who wrote the Jobs movie script.

He is just 24 years old.

It is the only little bit of nepotism I have but I didn’t want everyone to know he is my son.

You know how people view that!

_________________________

Mancuso

Yeah, the...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• About the Editor
• Preface
• jOBS Movie Credits
• Introduction
• Prologue
• Dialoguers List
• Appendix: