Date: Fri 26-Apr-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDREA

Quick Words:

Chris-Licht-producer-TV

Full Text:

with cut: Former Newtowner Finds Opportunities As A Young Producer

B Y A NDREA Z IMMERMANN

When the Olympic torch was carried through Los Angeles recently, Christopher

Licht was there to cover it. But the biggest thrill thus far for the

24-year-old special project producer for KNBC was broadcasting "live from the

carpet" at the Academy Awards.

"All the stars have people with them and you try to make eye-contact with

those people - the stars never make eye-contact," said the former Newtown

resident. "We mouth that we're on live, they see the NBC logo, and come over."

To prepare for the evening with the stars, Mr Licht tapped resources at the

television show, Extra, who provided "reams of research." The producer then

narrowed down the information to two or three points on each nominee and

shared those with reporter Fred Roggin. It was the first time either one of

the team had covered such an event live.

"We were both in the dark and had lot of fun," said Mr Licht. "It was really

flawless which was really exciting. We talked with every major star

[nominated] and we got a good reaction from everyone... When Mel Gibson came

over we told him he'd be on in 20 seconds and he started counting - joking

around. That was great."

Although there is glamour in such coverage, Mr Licht said his real love is

producing a newscast. He does that for NBC in Los Angeles on a fill-in basis

now, but at one point was able to produce a newscast for three months

straight.

"I get here at 5 am and spend time planning and assigning writers and putting

all that into the computer," he said. "With a newscast, you're responsible for

everything - what reporters go where, what is covered, what format, how much

time is devoted to what... When you're in the control booth, you're

orchestrating and making sure you get off the air on time."

Because the broadcast is live, the producer has to make tough decisions when

not all goes according to plan. One day, after they had promised to go back to

the helicopter for an update before the end of the show, the person who keeps

time notified Mr Licht he had made a mistake and there were only seconds left

in the broadcast. "So I blew off the commercials. As a producer you can do

that, but you better have a damn good reason," said Mr Licht.

Eventually, the producer plans to return to move back east to where his family

and friends are. But before that, he said he needs to get really good at what

he's doing.

"There's a lot of opportunity here in L.A. - more than in other places. This

city is fascinated by youth and gives youth a lot more opportunity than New

York or Washington," he said. "Everything is union out here, so I make the

same as someone who has been working at this 20 years."

Mr Licht said he's in a really good place to be able to enjoy his work. "I'm

young. I don't have kids and a lot of obligations. If they say, `Okay, we're

going to Montana,' we go. Or if I want to work a lot of hours, I get paid

overtime and that's how I get ahead," he said. He usually gets finished with a

newscast around noon, but will often stay until 5 or 6 pm. He's putting in

long days now so he won't have to later in his career. "I'm saving for my

future," he explained.

Mr Licht said he refined his skills as writer and field producer when he was

doing a nightly half-hour show on the O.J.Simpson trial which aired for six

months. The mentor who got him into the newsroom at NBC is now the producer

for Entertainment Tonight.

The son of Peter and Susan Licht, Chris was born in Switzerland and grew up in

Newtown. He attended local public schools until high school when he went to a

private school, then received a BS in broadcast journalism from Syracuse

University S.I. Newhouse School of Communications. But his first experience

anchoring a "television newscast" was in Mr Bird's fifth grade class at Hawley

School.