Voices/45inches/dp1st/mark2nd
Forrest Murray
Independent film producer
“Spitfire Grill,” “Bob Roberts”
I work at home, so I get up and make my breakfast and I’m at my desk 25 seconds later. It’s a wonderful blessing. I’ll talk two or three hours a day on the phone. There’s also a number of hours waiting for the phone to ring. That is my day.
It took over six years to make “Bob Roberts,” to go from idea to script to rewrite to rewrite to rewrite. Each step takes a hundred meetings before someone says yes.
Laura Chick
L.A. City Councilwoman
It takes me anywhere from 45 minutes to one hour and 15 minutes to get to City Hall from my home in Tarzana. If there is one thing I really hate, it’s traffic. The only way it’s not a total waste is when I make calls on my cell phone.
I usually get to City Hall around 9:15, go through a quick briefing with my staff and then head down for the 10 a.m. council meeting. After council, I often have to go into committee meetings, which can take up much of the afternoons. I get home around 6:30, but it’s usually just a quick stop to change my clothes, because I usually have to go to an evening meeting.
Michael Hughes
Psychotherapist
Before I come to work, I check messages and return calls to clients and prospective clients. I usually spend some time reflecting on the clients I’ll see that day, and revisit where each of them is in his or her process. I usually do five sessions a day.
It’s necessary to have flexible hours. Many of my clients can only come in after work or after school hours, so I’m in the office until 7, two or three evenings a week.
Eshell McRaney
Letter carrier
I’m a utility carrier. I relieve five different carriers on their off days, so I deliver mail to multiple routes. I come in at around 6 a.m., check for my (vehicle) keys and do a vehicle inspection.
Then I hit the streets. I have two monster routes. On these routes, I don’t hit the streets until 11 a.m. On the other routes, I’m on the streets at 10 a.m. I love delivering the mail. I’m a people person.
Anita Mann
Self-confessed slacker
Today, I got up around 10. We watched some TV to see what is going on in Kosovo. After that I worked for a while on the computer, on a logo design for an Internet start-up company. I also surfed the Web, reading the Wall Street Journal and New York Times online.
We drove to Malibu for lunch, at McDonalds. On the way back we stopped at the bookstore. I checked out some books on starting your own business, but I didn’t buy any.
Yakub Hazzard
Lawyer
First, I take my kids to school. When I get to work, I usually have an agenda or a to-do list legal research, pleadings that need to get out that day and I start going through it. Inevitably, I get interrupted and dragged into new things.
I try to remember to eat lunch, which is not something I always have a chance to do. In the late afternoon, I’ll take another look at my to-do list to see what can still get done before I go home, without having to pull an all-nighter.
Staci Levine
Public relations executive
I start out surfing or drinking coffee on the sand before venturing out into the real world. Then, I drive to the office and return phone calls and e-mails to editors and reporters. After that, I have some kind of strategy meeting with my staff.
That’s when I’m here. But most of the time I’m traveling to events or trade shows, representing my clients, most of which are skateboard, snowboard and surfing clothes and accessories manufacturers. In February, I think I was here three days.
Angela Rinaldi
Literary agent
My day usually starts at 7 a.m. because I like to work on New York hours and do phone work the same day.
In a typical week, I get 100 proposals. I might pursue three. Many of the submissions are thrillers written by men, romances from women or business proposals from entrepreneurs. I also get a lot of crazy submissions from religious fanatics as well as spiritual stuff, pornography and end-of-the-world catastrophes.
I generally work whatever hours I want, but of course there are days when I decide to not do so at all.
Don Ohlmeyer
President, NBC
I get up at 5:45 a.m. and go through the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and L.A. Times. I check on the ratings and I make any calls I have to make to New York. I arrive at the office about 9:30 a.m. Then, it’s just meetings and phone calls until lunch. If I am having lunch with someone, it’s in the office. I don’t go out.
After lunch, it’s meetings and screenings. At night, I read scripts and watch shows or cassettes. It’s a pretty boring life. You find that most people who are really working are working continuously.
Michael Jackson
Radio talk show host
I rise at 5:45 and read the newspapers until 7. I arrive at the studio at the Museum of Radio and Television by 8:30 and broadcast from 9 to noon.
If there aren’t any sponsors to meet, I’ll be home by 1:15. I’ll go for a four-mile run and then tend my vegetable garden. Then I’ll be with my wife. In the evening, we lead a very active social life.
Jim Banister
President, Warner Bros. Online
Today, I skimmed the industry trade publications online, dropped off my dry cleaning, and headed to the tennis club, all by 7 a.m. I drove to see a major motion picture writer-director and met for about an hour about creating original broadband entertainment for the Web. I got to the office and met with the production staff of the first original broadband interactive episodic program.
I thought briefly about ways to clone myself, then met with Human Resources to discuss recruiting efforts to fill vacant positions in the division.
Andrea Szew
Tax accountant
Right now is tax season, so the days are pretty long. Usually the first thing I do in the morning is check my phone messages and e-mail from frantic clients. I call them up and calm them down and answer their questions.
Most of our work is on the computer, doing research for the clients, preparing their tax returns. We eat at our desks most of the time these days. But on Friday we take a break and they give us ice cream sundaes.
Cindy Chong
General manager, Glendale Galleria
We’re here before the mall opens and that’s our most productive time. Most of my morning is devoted to meetings with tenants, staff and the city. Then, there’s always a lunch meeting with a department store manager or business person in town. The remainder of the day is spent trying to plan and strategize to gain market share.
I leave by 6 p.m. and start the second half of my day with my family. Some days, I’ll wind down with yoga.
Jeffrey King
Restaurant chain chairman
By 8 a.m., I’m in a board meeting. I belong to 10 different boards in the area so I usually attend one before heading to my offices. I usually have about 15 phone calls waiting for me from my different restaurants, possibly needing help solving a problem, whether it deals with supplies, employees or menu offerings.
Tomorrow evening, my wife and I are taking a supplier out to dinner. The next evening we’re having dinner with the editor of an industry newsletter. We take them to our restaurants to expose them to our offerings.
Manny Beltran
County information officer
I leave my house in Chino around 5:30, drive to the park-and-ride lot at the Pomona Fairplex and take the bus to downtown. I usually get here just before 7.
At 8, the doors open and I start getting inquiries from the public, both in person and over the phone. Things like asking for directions, where to go to pay taxes, etc. I get around 60 to 120 calls and between 20 to 40 people stopping by each day. Often, by the time they get to me, they are very frustrated. I try to calm them down and figure out where they need to go.
Frank Escher
Architect
We go to one of our projects almost every day. This morning we got a call to meet a musician at the Chemosphere house (featured in the Brian de Palma film “Body Double”), which we are remodeling. The owner, a German publisher, wants to use the house for a reception to launch the publication of a book of photographs. We need to see if there is a way to get a piano up there for the jazz combo that will play at the reception.
