David L. Wolper

Continuity is a wonderful thing, and it is a very rare thing in show business.

I'm not a kid trying to make an impression in the business. I do have 600 films out there that are playing constantly.

Somebody said something funny to me the other day. They said, 'Wolper, until two weeks ago, your tombstone was going to say, 'David Wolper, the man who produced 'Roots.' I think the tombstone now has a new inscription. It's going to be 'David Wolper, the man who produced the opening ceremony of the 1984 Olympics.'

I was the first independent to walk in with a documentary.

I had been an independent entrepreneur from the beginning, and I felt I could do it myself. I didn't want to get a job.

What prevailed was that it was a family story, so it didn't matter what the color. It was also the perfect subject matter for a miniseries: A best-selling book, a generational story, a social problem - they all made 'Roots' what a miniseries should be.

You need an actor who can maintain a character over a long period of time. If you have a weak actor, it won't be obvious in two hours, but you'll begin to see his weaknesses over four or five days.

My main contribution has been that I have educated and entertained people at the same time.

You have to say, 'We think it's going to work. Let's go with it.' Either you're going to kill the world, or you're going to fall on your rear end.

I believe a mini-series has two audiences. The first is the media. Then I go for the television audience.

Motion pictures are a director's medium. Broadway is a writer's medium. Television is a producer's medium. I picked a medium I could control.

I make the money, and I don't have to take the abuse some of the stars do, opening up their personal life. I can go into a restaurant, sit down, and have a nice meal without being harassed. Arnold Schwarzenegger can't do that.