Suburban producer of 'The 33' makes the impossible possible

Once in a while, Hollywood producer Robert Katz returns to his alma mater, Northern Illinois University, to talk with students about the movie business.

He always tells them this: The movie industry is not a career choice. It's a life choice.

On the last movie Katz produced, "The 33," about the trapped Chilean miners, Katz spent six months in South America, working long hours in very unglamorous places and unable to regularly communicate with his wife and then 10- and 6-year-old children.

"You sacrifice a lot to do this," he warns the students. "It can be painful and uncertain and frightening. There's no security in it, no matter how successful you get. But if you're passionate about telling stories through the medium of movies or television, then it's amazing."

Katz, 51, who grew up in Deerfield, has that passion. During his 27 years and counting in the movie business, he's produced dozens of well-known films including "Seabiscuit," "The Illusionist" and the Oscar-winning "Crash."

And he's worked with countless celebrities, from Pierce Brosnan to the rapper Common, as well as composer James Horner and director Patricia Riggen.

One of his favorite people was the late Robin Williams. During a break on the filming of "One Hour Photo," Williams, who starred in the movie, saw Katz talking on the phone to his 93-year-old Eastern European Jewish grandfather. Williams grabbed the phone and started talking.

"He starts pretending he's a rabbi. Soon there are 120 people gathered around (Williams), listening to this ... and the crew is howling with laughter. Then he hands the phone back to me. I don't think it was even five seconds later that Robin transformed back into (Seymour), the photo guy, the opposite of the character he was just doing on the phone. He was just amazing."

He also hailed Williams' humanity, a trait held in high regard by Katz's family.

Katz's parents instilled strong beliefs in civil rights and opposition to the Vietnam War, yet were very pro-soldier. Katz remembers his family collecting, wearing and displaying in their home silver bracelets with the names of soldiers who had been killed or were prisoners of war in Vietnam.

He also remembers an article in the Deerfield Review - a story he was embarrassed about at the time - featuring his mom speaking out about the rat problem in the creek by their home, where a lot of children played in the 1970s.

"I grew up with an inherited sense of humanity from my mother and father," Katz said. "So stories that I tend to be a part of - 'Crash,' 'The 33,' 'Seabiscuit' - are about the humanity of how people look at each other."

His love of movies began at age 10, when he'd ride his bike to General Cinemas in Deerfield, sneak in the back door and watch two or three movies. His interest was further fueled by seeing middle schooler Kevin McCollum (who went on to be executive producer of "Rent," "Avenue Q" and other Broadway shows) star in the musical "Oklahoma" at Shepard Middle School in Deerfield.

"I wanted to be Kevin McCollum," Katz said, laughing.

So Katz started performing at Deerfield High School and earned a full scholarship to NIU.

Not confident in his acting skills, Katz switched his major to TV and film. And after graduation, he and a friend blindly moved out to Los Angeles, hoping to break into the business.

They struggled for a while, until Katz landed a temp job with a movie company. Katz worked his tail off, leading the company to let him work on a movie set as a production assistant. And he moved up the ladder from there.

Almost 30 years later, he is the producer on major movies, overseeing budgets, schedules and creative decision-making.

"Your job, as a producer, is to make the impossible possible," Katz said. "If the resources aren't there, you have to find another way to give the director some options."

That wasn't easy on a movie like "The 33," about the trapped Chilean miners and the attempts to rescue them. Since re-creating a mine was too expensive, Katz was tasked with finding a safe mine where they could film. He found one 1½ hours outside Bogota, Columbia.

There were plenty of problems to solve, from arranging for daily safety inspections to getting equipment hand-carried into the narrow mine entrance. Vehicles got stuck in the sand. They had a hard time getting extras to show up.

On breaks, they retreated to a motor lodge without hot water and with lousy food.

"We suffered for the art," Katz said. "But I'm super proud of this movie. It was made under very difficult circumstances. We tried to be respectful and truthful to what really happened."

Producing can be a difficult, stressful and life-consuming job, yes. But does he love it?

"Yes, I do," he said.

- Jamie Sotonoff

Dann Gire and Jamie Sotonoff are always looking for people from the suburbs who are now working in showbiz. If you know of someone who'd make an interesting feature, email them at dgire@dailyherald.com and jsotonoff@dailyherald.com.

Working with the stars

Movie producer Robert Katz, of Deerfield, talked about a few of the many celebrities he's worked with over the years:

Dave Chappelle: He's hilarious, amazing and super smart, Katz said. Chappelle made a call and got the Fugees back together. “He's a master of the moment and understanding people around him, making people feel comfortable,” Katz said. “Dave Chappelle was able to bridge the gap that existed for whatever (the band) went through personally, and bring the Fugees back together.”

Sir Anthony Hopkins: Katz called him an incredibly talented actor and a fascinating person. “I spent hundreds of hours talking to him about life, childhood, music, art and a letter he wrote to Charlie Chaplin as a child.”

Robin Williams: “One of the most warmhearted human beings I've ever met,” Katz said. Also one of the funniest, Katz said. While Katz was talking on the phone to his 93-year-old grandfather in Florida, Williams grabbed the phone out of his hand and started talking to him, pretending he was a rabbi.