“The Philanthropist” Premieres in DC

So…the circle of life continues.  Whenever I am asked why/how/WHY did I start this website (in the olden days we called them blogs, short for web logs) I always say: I was so involved with various community, civic and charity events, that I spent half my day pushing out information on them and the other half writing about my “adventures” because everyone wanted to know what happened the night before.  I thought if I had ONE place to write all of this stuff, my life would be easier. Well, the first part happened -I am still waiting on the latter part of that sentence.

Anyway, last night through the nice folks at Qorvis (who by the way, really GET social media) I attended the world premiere of the NBC show “The Philanthropist”.  The Creative Coalition was bringing it to Washington.  Sponsored by bing (the new decision engine-note, not “search” engine brought to earth to battle the giant Google-and yes, only Microsoft would do something like this), the show was screened at the E Street Cinema with the after party taking over the entire space of Co Co Sala (thank you Jayne Sandman!).

One important note: The special guests (who were so cool and talked to everyone at the after party) were: James Purefoy (who is hot, hot HOT) lead actor, he was in HBO’s Rome, Ben Silverman, the co-Chair of NBC Entertainment and Universal Studios, Tom Fontana, writer/executive producer/Emmy winner, Peter Horton, executive producer, Charlie Corwin who was a co-creator and executive producer, Gareth Neame, executive producer, Teri Weinberg, executive producer and the true inspiration for the show, billionaire gone mad for philanthropy, Bobby Sager. By the way, when they all came in finally (traffic must have been a pain because of all those Red Sox fans), I happened to be standing in the theater in the aisle and I think they thought I was a greeter because I was alone and they all greeted me. Bobby kindly shook my hand and said, “Hi! I’m Bob!”

The show was shot all over the world including South Africa, Mozambique, and Prague (yes, Canada had to be thrown in there) but it was really beautifully done.  The premier had the billionaire playboy co-CEO Teddy Rist placed in Nigeria on business when a severe flood occurs.  Because he’s who he is, officials come to him to bang down his door in order to take him to higher ground.  During this waterlogged scene (think Titantic) he spots a little scared boy and grabs him to have him go first. The boy gets on the boat and when a (probably stupid) American jumps on the boat it tips and Teddy dives in to save the boy. And save he does. But the ironic thing is, the boy saved him (that’s the underlying theme).

Flash forward to clean dry corporate powerful America where his co-CEO Philip Maidstone, played by Jesse Martin of Law & Order (this time he’s wearing glasses though), Philip’s wife Olivia (Neve Campell) who also runs the foundation set up by the company and also happened to have had a brief affair with Teddy (say it isn’t so!), Teddy’s assistant Lindy Booth (A.J. Butterfield) and Teddy’s driver/bodyguard, Dax Vahagn played by the very tough looking former The Wire star Michael K. Williams (you don’t get a facial scar like that sitting at home knitting, btw) are all trying to take care of the impulsive yet emotional (as we see in future scenes) man.

Turns out, Teddy is not only divorced, but he lost a son (we haven’t found out why yet) about a year ago. Now we get why he wanted to rescue that boy so badly. He’s not just a nice good guy, he’s got a personal connection.

They say things happen for a reason.  The show has Teddy dropping everything, risking his company, his life (literally) and his world to get a cholera vaccine to a small town in Nigeria.  One thing about this Teddy character, you get that if he got to where he is in the jungle of boardrooms, Wall Street, and the media, whacking your way through snake and giant bug infested African jungles barefoot while being shot at … well. It’s nothing. Perhaps that’s why so many executives also do heli-skiing, mountain climbing and extreme sports. They’ve already accomplished what so many people wish they could do, they have to get their satisfaction in other areas.  For Teddy however, the jungle path, heat, snakes, and being shot at is only a means to an end.  His end, in fact, is to be “The Philanthropist”.

The show is in no way not entertaining. It’s fast moving, with 50% about the location (we start from a global view and are hurtled through space to the Earth, brought to us by bing, natch), 30% sexiness (hot, sweaty jungles, in-house corporate affairs, and um… power), 20% humanitarianism, and 100% Teddy because he’s got it all.

The cast works very well with each other, even though Neve’s character looks like she has something in her shoe that she wants to get out but can’t, or at least she was looking a bit uncomfortable with something.  Maybe she’s yearning for Teddy more than she wants to admit, but hey, she’s got a good man. Speaking of yearning for, Ms. Booth looks like she’s gotta thing for her boss too. Oh, one last note, Teddy is telling his whole story to a flirty cynical bartender because on his way back from Nigeria, his plane (G550, brand new, no less!) broke down. Wait. How can a brand new G550 be having problems already? Never mind.

Listen to me. Watch the show. You’ll love it. Even if you think “That can’t happen. That’s impossible.”, who cares? It’s an adventure show. Bobby Sager was the INSPIRATION for this HOLLYWOOD production. Do you think that the CSI in Miami solve crimes in one day and always look that good?  And do think for a MINUTE REALITY TV IS REAL? Right. Trust me. I know differently.

P.S. While the after party at Co Co Sala was hot with wines from Tradewinds Speciality and their incredible passed appetizers, the best part came when a friend (who is friends with Ben) and I went to Old Ebbitt Grille where Creative Coaltion’s Robin Bronk, Ben Silverman, James Purefoy, Tom Fontana (we traded writer stories…he writes in the morning and never has had writer’s block) Gareth Neame, and others sat and chatted, ate about 101 dishes and watched the premier on the small screen (as it had premiered to everyone else at 10pm last night).  I got to sit next to Peter Horton who told me his opinion of DC is that it’s a one industry town: Politics. I almost threw my drink on him. He’s too charming for that though. Then he said that so was LA: Movies/TV. I said, “All ye who don’t LIVE in DC think that, but those who do, think very differently. The dimensions of Washington are so multi-layered and faceted that it’s inexplicable until you actually spend a lot of time here.”

That’s why I love Washington and you know I’ve lived here my entire life since 1990.  I thought hard about moving to LA a few years back and something happened where I just couldn’t go.  I couldn’t leave the area that was just so good to me and start all over again.  Sorry DC, you have me for the long haul.

Watch The Philanthropist! Wednesday night 10pm EST/ NBC  http://www.nbc.com/the-philanthropist/about/