See Beyond – July 2019

10

sonally, creatively, and intellectually. The job was

heaven sent.

Remember that vacant lot I mentioned earlier?

HBO was built right there just one year after my

Thanksgiving phone call. I couldn’t know then

that I was previewing the future, that my sev-

enth-floor office, looking out at the Empire State

Building, might have already existed in someone’s

grand plan. So, I absolutely do believe in angels.

They come at the most unexpected and sometimes

unwanted times. I’ve been blessed with more than

my share of visits, guiding me to places where

I belonged—even when I couldn’t or wouldn’t

initially recognize them. Over the years, I have

gotten better at getting out of my own way.

I moved to California after getting a pink slip

because of the worst merger in history: Time War-

ner/AOL. That was devastating. I really expected

to retire from HBO, to get that symbolic gold

watch. It is excruciatingly difficult to go from the

upper echelon in a huge company to job hunting.

Who would want to hire a middle-aged, ex-TV

executive? Overqualified—expensive—threaten-

ing—end of story.

At this time, my brother Jorge and his husband

Ron had started a global tour production com-

George Foreman; Ibis produced several HBO

marketing and PR productions with Foreman.

After a couple months

working with these angels,

I didn’t just get out

of my own way, I plunged!

Oscar de la Hoya; Ibis produced his first event after

Olympic Win in El Paso, Texas (1992)

July/August 2019