Inside the Offices of Amblin TV Heads Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank
“We’ve been working together longer than we’ve been with our wives,” says Darryl Frank of his 20-year partnership with Justin Falvey. They realized early on that teamwork would be the key to their success. “I think we literally said, we’re going to get a lot further working together than we are trying to compete with each other,” says Falvey. So on Frank’s first day on the job, Falvey recalls, “We literally put our desks next to each other.” The co-heads of Amblin TV, who work out of a sprawling cottage on the Universal lot, joke that if they read a script separately, they’d give the same notes, but their offices reflect different personalities. Frank calls his “comfortable and creative,” while Falvey admits his is a bit more of a “mishmash.”
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FAMILY VALUES
Entertainment isn’t the only family business. Frank’s father (veteran TV executive Rich) now runs a winery and recently debuted a wine called Patriarch in honor of Darryl’s grandfather’s 99th birthday. “It sounds cliche, but he’s my hero,” says Frank. “He’s taught me the most important things in life are family, hard work and love. I truly believe that’s why he’s lived so long,”
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RING IT UP
“Growing up, one of the things I did with my dad was go to Kings’ games,” recalls Frank. “And they were horrible back then!” So in 2012 when the team was a contender, he brought his father to the stadium — even though his kids were a bit upset.
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WRITE STUFF
A spec script that landed on Falvey’s desk early on would become Paul Feig’s “Freaks and Geeks.” Now he keeps a special edition DVD set on his coffee table. “If you read something and respond to it, pursue it, chase it, trust your gut, which in this business, is one of the harder ideas to embrace,” he says.
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BOSTON STRONG
That Falvey’s a proud Beantown sports fan is clear from just a glance around his office: there are hockey sticks in the corner, Red Sox paraphernalia at every turn. There’s even a puck he and Frank flip to make key decisions. And then there are the single blade power skates, which were his when he was just 3 years old. “Plus, my kid dresses his teddy bear in them!” he says.
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