110 EMMY
Foundation Interviews
You and Margaret might be interested in doing
it for the United States.”
So Stan walked into my office one day
with a videocassette and said, “Maggie, I think
I’ve found a hit for us. Take a look.” It was all in
Japanese. Stan said, “But wasn’t it funny?”
I said, “Well, as a matter of fact, it was. It
was pretty crazy.”
He said, “We can get the rights. Why don’t
we do something with it?”
I said, “Okay, I’ll authorize $25,000. Let’s
cut a presentation tape, add U.S. voices and
create a story. We’ll go and present it.”
So Stan and I pitched it to all three
networks, and we were resoundingly sent on
our way. Stan called Mr. Watanabe and said,
“I’m sorry, we haven’t been successful. We’ll
relinquish the rights.”Q: But that wasn’t the end of it....
A: No. Several years later, when I was running
Fox Kids, I was in the office of Haim Saban
[then primarily an independent producer of
animation] and I needed a morning show. I
said, “I need something that’s funny, but with
action. I want something different.”
He raced out, came back with a
videocassette and said, “This might be what
you’re looking for.” I put the cassette on, and
it was the exact same footage that Stan had
shown me — and it was the footage that we
ultimately created Power Rangers out of. It
was a huge hit, although nobody believed init initially.I believedinit.Haimbelievedin
it. Haim’s wife, Cheryl, believed in it. I don’t
think there were very many other people who
believed in it, and certainly my bosses at Fox
didn’t believe in it.Q: But they let you do it.
A: Well, there’s a story behind that. Jamie
Kellner, who was president of the Fox network
(Fox Kids, where I worked, was a wholly owned
subsidiary), wouldn’t let me greenlight Powe r
Rangers. He thought it was terrible. But he said,
“I’ll make a deal with you. Shoot a pilot and test
it. If it tests well, I’ll let you do it. I’ll give you
$100,000.” That isn’t much money for a pilot.
I called Haim and explained the situation. He
said, “I’ll put in another hundred thousand.” He
mortgaged his house for that.
So we made seventeen minutes, not even
a full pilot, and we tested it. I watched the kids
behind the glass at the test and, of course, the
little boys went crazy. But that’s not when I
knew it would be a hit. I knew it would be a
hit when one little girl said, “I love the Pink
Ranger,” and another girl said, “Well, I like the
Yellow Ranger,” and the first girl said, “Well,
I like both of them because they kick butt.” I
said, “It’s a hit.” Done.
I went to Haim and said, “I can order the
show, but I can only pay $15,000 an episode.”
He said, “What?” I said, “Sorry, and I want a
piece of the merchandising for the company.”
And Haim stepped up, to his credit.Q: There are strong female characters in both
Power Rangers and X-Men. Was that an active
effort, to introduce those kinds of characters?
A: Absolutely. Part of my quest is to prove that
little girls liked action/adventure as much as
boys. Girls don’t necessarily buy action figures,
as boys do. They don’t play like boys. But from
a story perspective, girls like action, suspense,
mysteries and special effects. When Wonder
Wo m a n came out and was a hit, nobody could
have been more gratified than yours truly.
Because it proved exactly what I had been
saying for years. At least 40 percent of the
audience for Power Rangers were girls. X-Men
wasthesame.Q: What’s the best advice you received about
working in television?
A: The one that stands out was from the lawyer
at Marvel Comics, Joe Calamari. I shared with
him, “Oh my God, I’m becoming president–CEO
of this company. What should I do?” He said,
“Listen, Margaret, everybody knows that you
work well with creative people, but you need
to learn the business. Your first couple weeks
here, go ineverydayandasktoseeevery
check that’scominginandeverycheckthat’s
written. You’llunderstandwherethemoney
comes fromandhowit’sspent.You’llstartto
understandthebusiness.”
So I didthat,anditwasveryhelpful.When
I looked atthosechecks,I learnedthatall
the meaningfulmoneywascominginfrom
merchandising.Sothatwasgoodadvice.NowI
say to people,“Nomatterhowcreativeyouare,
get an understandingofthebusiness.You’ll
be preparedforthedecisionsthathavetobe
made andthedecisionsthatwillaffectyou.”Q: What advicewouldyougiveanaspiring
televisionexecutive?
A: No jobistoosmall.I amsoluckythatI
started asa clerk-typistatABC.Bystarting
there andworkingmywayup,I learneda lot.
I oftentellpeople,“Ifyouhavea choice
between thebottomjobanda lowmanagement
job whenyou’refirststarting,takethebottom
job becauseyouwon’tlearnasmuchinthe
managementjob.”I alsotellstudents,“Ifyou’re
not curious,you’renotgoingtolearn.Andif
you’re notenthusiastic,youwon’tbenoticed.”If
you’re notnaturallyenthusiastic,pretendtobe.
It’s very infectious.TelevisionAcademy.com/InterviewsCOURTESY MARGARET LOESCH... and with Haim Saban and Mauricio de Sousa.