Peter Guber is the president of Mandalay Entertainment and holds a rather prominent position in the hierarchy of Hollywood. Unlike some producers and studio heads who seem to revel in their power (and subtly, but very effectively, let you know that they are more important and wealthy than you), Guber is a very down-to-earth guy. Consider: he got the shirt he is wearing in this photo shoot while on safari in Africa. In between photos, I asked him about the shirt and learned that he hadn't bought the shirt on safari, he had traded one of his own shirts for it outright (the guide liked the Mandalay tiger logo on it). • Planning out a photo shoot for a Hollywood power player is a significantly different task than planning out a shoot for almost anyone else in the industry. I've shot a number of big producers and studio executives and have learned that, while actors and directors rarely care about what is in the background of a photo, the power players really do. Their overall presentation to the public is very important to them, as well they should. • The Mandalay office is on Wilshire Boulevard in an area of Los Angeles that doesn't have a whole lot to do with the entertainment industry. I'd driven passed the building before but can't remember ever stopping anywhere remotely close to it. Positioned on the corner of Wilshire and some residential side street, there weren't too many good backgrounds nearby. That number decreased even further when I began to consider that Guber wouldn't want to stand next to any of the "Dead End" or "Do Not Enter" signs on the block that normally add vibrancy to a photograph. I sketched out a few shots that I wanted and then, attempting to think like a major Hollywood producer, realized that Guber probably wouldn't want to be photographed in front of any houses that weren't his own either. As such, I ended up shooting Guber in front of as many trees, bushes, flowers and Mandalay-related office buildings as I could. Hardly my normal style, I always find it interesting to work within someone else's set of tightly defined parameters in order to see what I can do when challenged. I'd like to have gotten a few more of Guber laughing in this shoot, but, as is, am pretty happy with the results. • I also found out how to get rid of publicists... Photoshop. Here's the original, and here's the Photoshopped result.
