Stephen David of the eponymous production company talks about the new docu series American Playboy and the charismatic founder of the magazine Hugh Hefner with Unnati Joshi
How did the series come to youIJ
Hugh Hefner had recently seen our series The Making of the Mob: New York and he then approached us. He wanted the full scope of his life story told in tandem with the larger historical context of the eras and events he was a part of. And that’s exactly what we do as a company. For me, it was a no brainer – working with Hef and Playboy on the definitive story of his life and the magazine was a dream project.
Beyond the direct impact of Playboy magazine, for over 60 years, Hef has been at the forefront of so many issues that continue to resonate today: civil rights, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, gender politics and more. To do service to that legacy, we really poured everything into the research, writing, production and editing of this project.
How much research did you put into the seriesIJ
We did the normal due diligence we would do on any other project, assembling a research team, pulling from a wide range of resources. But the game changer for us on this project was having the unprecedented access to Playboy’s resources and Hef’s personal archives. Being able to tap into this never-before-seen material really elevated things for us and opened up our larger perspective on the stories and people chronicled in the series.
How closely did you work with Mr HefnerIJ
Hefner personally read and noted all of our scripts and two things really stood out for me with regard to his input. It would have been impossible to tell his life story without his involvement and he’s been very happy with the final result.
We are sure there must be many challenges as a film-maker for you. What was the toughest bitIJ
Even with 10 episodes, it was a struggle to try and boil down all the incredible material we had on Hef to fit into the series. Sorting through all of Hef’s personal archives was a daunting task but having all that never-before-seen material available to us was what really made this project special in the end.
What brought you to the movies and what led to Stephen David EntertainmentIJ
I started, originally, as a screenwriter, writing scripts for a number of Hollywood studios. For me, whether the stories are fictional or historical, I’ve always been drawn to the psychology of people – what makes them relatable to the movie-going audience. My writing career eventually led me to producing and I worked on The Apprentice, among many other shows. When I started Stephen David Entertainment, I ended up really combining my two backgrounds – movie writing and non-fiction producing – and that’s what led to The Men Who Built America and the docudrama hybrid genre that we’re known for.
How do your screen-writing skills complement your producing skillsIJ
It doesn’t matter what genre we’re producing in, I’m always looking at these stories through the lens of the character. Coming from a screen-writing background, I’m always tracking character and story along with the larger context. So when we’re making producing decisions, how to approach different topics or scenes, I’m usually thinking in terms of writing and storytelling before I get into the logistics of it all.
One piece of advice for budding film-makersIJ
Figure out what your strengths are, what you’re best at… and then keep doing it. I know people offer bits of advice like that all the time, but it really is true.
What is that one thing you want the audience to takeaway from the seriesIJ
Viewers are probably going to come to this series with some sort of preconception of who they think Hugh Hefner is. My hope is that they’ll come away with a new appreciation for the man behind the public image, something they probably didn’t expect.
What’s next for Stephen David EntertainmentIJ
Currently, we have a number of projects in production, including the Frontiersmen project with leonardo DiCaprio for History Channel, and The Definitive History of Hip Hop with Russell Simmons.
American Playboy: The Hugh Hefner Story coming soon only on Amazon Prime Video