As a primetime Emmy nominated television producer, writer and occasionally director at Walt Disney Studios, author Philip May filmed on every major studio back lot in Hollywood. If you love classic movies, you’ll love his most recent book Exit Clause. It takes place during Hollywood’s Golden Age, which was also when Philip directed Golden Era stars as Bette Davis, Helen Hayes, Gregory Peck, Jimmie Stewart, many more. Now, in retirement, Philip teaches college level film classes. We’re pleased to have Philip as our guest today in this interview where we hope to learn more about the author!
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now? Do you have any pets?
I was raised in Birmingham, Michigan which was the General Motors suburb of Detroit. My dad was a GM engineer. I left Detroit as soon as I graduated from college and moved to California, because I wanted to be in the Entertainment Business and because it was time to not be cold anymore. I spent almost all of my career in Los Angeles. Now that I’m retired I live in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico and 
Longmont Colorado. The weather in San Miguel is almost perfect, and my two grandsons live in Longmont and they’re almost perfect, too.
In Los Angeles, I became a primetime Emmy nominated television producer, writer and director at Walt Disney Studios, I filmed on every major studio back lot in Hollywood. As a member of the Writers Guild, Directors Guild and Producers Guild, I worked with such Golden Era stars as Bette Davis, Helen Hayes, Gregory Peck, Jimmie Stewart, many more and avidly garnered their stories.
In retirement I teach College level film classes of my own design; ¨The Moguls¨,¨ McCarthy in the Media¨,” Film Noir¨, ¨America´s Great Mid-Century Directors¨ ¨Film Language¨ ¨The Hollywood Style¨ ¨Hitler Vs. Hollywood: the Propaganda Wars¨, and many others.
As a film historian, teacher and a former insider, I wrote Exit Clause to appeal to classic film lovers. My audience is the avid TCM fan, people who love movies and who read.”
Every chapter is infused with obscure insights into the history of studios, movie making and the inner workings of the Hollywood Golden Age.
And the lead character, Grantland Sharer, is nuanced and likeable enough to generate a lot of encores.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
The first novel I ever read was in the Third Grade. It was titled Trigger John´s Son, I just gave a copy to my grandson, who´s just the same age I was when I read it. At around twelve I knew I wanted to work for Disney because of The Wonderful World, the Mickey Mouse Club and Zorro. I fulfilled that dream when I was around 22, and worked my up. At the Studio, I wrote teleplays, and treatments to get sell management the shows I wanted to make. (Mostly I was a TV Producer)
I was so young then, I didn´t really have a full knowledge of the history of Hollywood and film making. I remember standing in Jimmy Stewart´s back yard chatting with him, as we were waiting for a camera set up. I asked him which of his films was his favorite. He said, It´s A Wonderful Life, to my embarrassment, I´d never seen it. From that day on I made it my mission to watch, dissect and understand the history behind the great films of the Hollywood Golden Age.
When I retired I started teaching film which deepened my knowledge of the history, economic importance, technological, cultural and sociological impact our movie industry has had on the world. Film is a window into its time, we can learn history by studying motion pictures in the context of their different eras.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read? Who Inspires you in your writings?
John Steinbeck, Larry McMurtry, Cormac McCarthy are, in my opinion, the greatest American authors of the last Century. Love them. But for fun and a great thriller, I love John D. McDonald, Michael Connelly and John Sanford. Their characters and smart, persistent, memorable and most importantly, likeable.
My leading man, Grantland Sharer, has those same qualities. I gave him a classic flaw, as well. He´s a fixer charged with keeping movie stars out of scandals but he´s a terrible liar, which complicates his job. He has to be clever enough to figure out ways around his honesty. I think that´s a nice reversal. Being a bad liar is, in his case, a drawback.
Tell us a little about your latest book.
Exit Clause takes place in Los Angeles, New York and Cairo in 1948. The Supreme Court is on the brink of the “Paramount Decree”, forcing Major Hollywood Studios to sell their movie palaces, marking the end for filmdom’s Golden Age. It could mean possible criminal prosecution for the movies’ most powerful Moguls. Behind the scenes, a nationwide Egyptian based heroin smuggling ring threatens the future of the country.
Grantland Sharer, Tinsel Town´s number one scandal fixer, fighting to help a struggling actor battle discrimination, is caught in an undertow of corruption that leads from the highest court in the land to the lowliest studios on Poverty Row.
Take a thrill ride from Cairo to California. From a secret New York Subway Station to the heights of LA´s iconic Planetarium.
For Grantland Sharer and his tortured client, pitted against the most powerful men in America, there can be only one way out… Exit Clause.
I wrote this book in about a year but most of the research was already completed because I teach film. In preparing curriculum for my classes, I did the historical research interwoven into this book. The depth of detail is a component I think readers will find fascinating, I know my students did.
