Hawk Koch - Magic Time: My Life in Hollywood

Advance Praise for

Magic Time

Is there anybody that Hawk Koch hasnt worked with? Magic Time should be required reading for three types of people. One, those starting in show business, two, those that have been in show business for a long time, and three, everyone else. Like every movie Hawk has made, Magic Time is a fascinating journey of self-identity. I love this book.

Mike Myers , Actor, Writer, and Director

Magic Time recounts what I remember about Hawk: someone who never took an opportunity for granted and worked hard to achieve success in his own right. Plus, he was a lot of the fun, and, as the book reflects, we had some memorable adventures.

Robert Redford , Oscar-winning Actor and Director,
Founder of the Sundance Institute & Film Festival

Hawk Koch is without a doubt one of the great Hollywood storytellers Ive ever known. His adventures in the movie business are so funny and so incredible that I re-tell stories from his career more than ones from my own. And his own personal journey is as heartfelt as it gets.

Edward Norton , Actor, Writer, and Director

I can personally relate to this moving journey of a man learning to step out from under a fathers shadow. But Magic Time is also filled with fun, surprising stories that only a deep insider could tell.

Jane Fonda , Oscar-winning Actress, Bestselling Author

I found the book profoundly moving, and insightful about not only the entertainment industry, but human nature. Bravo and congratulations!

Gale Anne Hurd , Producer, The Terminator and The Walking Dead

This book is more than just a great Hollywood memoir. Hawk Koch shares his story with us in a funny, touching, and vulnerable way in contrast to the glitz and glamor of the show business life he leads. If you want to hear a story about what Hollywood is really like read this book. Its a winner.

Mark Gordon , Producer of Saving Private Ryan , Greys Anatomy , and Criminal Minds

Some of my best times on set were when I could ask a million questions about how the actors, directors, and craftspeople brought movies to life. I asked Hawk a zillion questions about him, but they were really about his dad. This was before I learned a lesson from my daughter, who bitched to me once...or 100 times, No one ever asks me a question about me, they only want to know about you. Later on, I was lucky enough to meet Hawks dad. The pride of father to son, and from son to father, was always evident. In Magic Time , theres no mistaking itHoward Koch and Hawk Koch are great reflections of each other. Whats better than that?

Whoopi Goldberg, EGOT-winner, Actor, Host

Magic Time is a wonderful, charming, heartbreaking, inspiring, redemptive story beautifully told. I am touched by it on so many levels, and Hawks love of movies is infectious. Hawk is the guy that got us the p.g.a. Mark, and the animation producers the Oscar. He is the most dynamic, productive, and successful Academy leader Ive seen in my lifetime. So, thanks, Hawk, for all you have done for us, for movies, and for the gift of this book.

Jim Morris , President of Pixar Animation Studios

Hawk Kochs climb up the proverbial ladder of success is by no means a mistake: not opting to be a dilettante, which he very well could have been, he did his homework, excelling in every facetfrom the lowest up to the highest in the making of a film. His multitude of extraordinary incidents make for an inspirational, sometimes hilarious, behind-the-scenes, never-told, exciting read. His retelling of his incredulous experiences makes for a book to read and read again.

Robert Evans , Producer, Bestselling Author of The Kid Stays in the Picture

On one level, Hawk Koch has written a memoir on a life in Hollywood that will fascinate, inform and amuse you. His point of view is as close to ground zero as there is. On another level he has written an honest reflection on what it means to be a human being, on the long journey from the head to the heart. The skin of his tale describes Americas dreams from post-WW II to now and the folks who made those dreams that shaped us. The bones are as old as Odysseus.

David Field , Writer, Producer, and Former Studio Executive

Not only is it a terrific movie book but Hawk unveils the personal difficulties of being the namesake of a very famous father and the nerve-racking ups and downs of life in Hollywood. A lively read of contemporary movie making from a key player.

Sid Ganis , Producer, Former President of the Academy
of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Hawk Koch worked his way up from a location manager, to a 1st AD, to line producer, and then a full producer. He also ran a major production company. Hawk knows from the inside out how to truly produce a movie. This book will give you great insight and offer the secrets and skills of how to work with actors, writers, cinematographers, and especially directors. Hawks complete knowledge about filmmaking makes this a must read for any producer.

Gary Lucchesi , Producer, President of Lakeshore Entertainment

Hawk brought a special type of leadership to the Academy while he was President because he viewed the film community as one, all equally important in the collective effort of getting a movie made. One of his great talents is making work fun. Optimistic, energetic, he moved the Academy forward while never losing sight of his first love: the movies and the people who make them. He gives readers an inspired and honest view of filmmaking and our filmmaking community.

Dawn Hudson , CEO of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

A POST HILL PRESS BOOK

Magic Time:

My Life in Hollywood

2019 by Hawk Koch

All Rights Reserved

ISBN: 978-1-64293-302-4

ISBN (eBook): 978-1-64293-303-1

Cover art by Cody Corcoran

Cover Photo: Copyright Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Author Photo: Copyright Motion Picture and Television Fund

Interior design and composition by Greg Johnson, Textbook Perfect

This is a work of nonfiction. All people, locations, events, and situations are portrayed to the best of the authors memory.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author and publisher.

Post Hill Press

New York Nashville

posthillpress.com

Published in the United States of America

For my children, Billy, Emily, and Robby,
and my grandchildren,
Payton, Cooper, Walker, Teddy, and Charlie,
in the hopes that someday you will come to understand
that my love for you is the river that runs
beneath every word in this book.

Contents

I grew up with all the privileges a kid has access to when hes fortunate enough to be born into a successful show business family. I have a lot to be grateful for, but as is true with everything else in life, what you see on the surface is only a portion of the whole story.

My father, Howard W. Koch, was a man that Iand everyone else in his orbitcherished and admired. Dad was a famous movie producer in charge of Frank Sinatras production company, then the head of Paramount Pictures, and ultimately president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. No matter how high he soared professionally, he was always considered one of the most down-to-earth, kind, and thoughtful men in Hollywood. And the truth is, he was all that and more.