Willoughby Productions
The First Stop for Media Services
The First Stop for Media Services
Your Subtitle text
How Did We Get Our Name?
You Can Thank Rod Serling
You Can Thank Rod Serling
Coming up with a name is never easy. From babies to companies, the right ones take some searching.
When the founders of Willoughby Productions looked for a name, they wanted something that was clever, yet based in the media world.
Plus, with the company originally based in Connecticut, they wanted ties to the "Nutmeg State" which happened to be the home of the New Haven Railroad (now MetroNorth - New Haven line) and the backdrop for one of the most brilliant scripts ever written by Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling, himself a former resident of Westport, Connecticut.
In "A Stop at Willoughby" actor James Daly play Gart Williams, an advertising executive caught up in the "push, push, push" media world.
Every night Williams rides the New Haven train bound for Westport. His life in the ad world is no Mad Men. One day after a brief nap, he wakes and finds the train at a stop he has never seen before. The stops name is Willoughby and as Williams looks out the window of the train, the sites and sounds are not of the 20th century, but of the 19th century, around 1888.
He goes back to sleep and a few days later after another grueling day train stops at Willoughby again. It looks enticing. Williams thinks maybe he'll stay and leave the rat race behind.
Now when he asks a conductor on the morning commute about Willoughby, he says ever heard of the station. And the conductor is right. It is not a train stop, but a life decision. Something unexpected for a man who decides to leave his misery behind and become a citizen there.
But it is not a happy ending It is a twist ending. It is after all Rod Serling, who in this episode took a profoundly terrifying act and made it wistful because the viewer can't help but be enticed too by the idyllic Willoughby with its constant summer days filled with ice cream and lemonade. Who wouldn’t want to make the trade?
Some find the episode maudlin, others find it brilliant. If you've never seen it, here is "A Stop at Willoughby"
When the founders of Willoughby Productions looked for a name, they wanted something that was clever, yet based in the media world.
Plus, with the company originally based in Connecticut, they wanted ties to the "Nutmeg State" which happened to be the home of the New Haven Railroad (now MetroNorth - New Haven line) and the backdrop for one of the most brilliant scripts ever written by Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling, himself a former resident of Westport, Connecticut.
In "A Stop at Willoughby" actor James Daly play Gart Williams, an advertising executive caught up in the "push, push, push" media world.
Every night Williams rides the New Haven train bound for Westport. His life in the ad world is no Mad Men. One day after a brief nap, he wakes and finds the train at a stop he has never seen before. The stops name is Willoughby and as Williams looks out the window of the train, the sites and sounds are not of the 20th century, but of the 19th century, around 1888.
He goes back to sleep and a few days later after another grueling day train stops at Willoughby again. It looks enticing. Williams thinks maybe he'll stay and leave the rat race behind.
Now when he asks a conductor on the morning commute about Willoughby, he says ever heard of the station. And the conductor is right. It is not a train stop, but a life decision. Something unexpected for a man who decides to leave his misery behind and become a citizen there.
But it is not a happy ending It is a twist ending. It is after all Rod Serling, who in this episode took a profoundly terrifying act and made it wistful because the viewer can't help but be enticed too by the idyllic Willoughby with its constant summer days filled with ice cream and lemonade. Who wouldn’t want to make the trade?
Some find the episode maudlin, others find it brilliant. If you've never seen it, here is "A Stop at Willoughby"
The "30 Million Jobs Tour" was a sequel to MSNBC's successful "Steel on Wheels Tour." This trip looked for the next jobs and jobs markets for America's employment forces visiting Miami, Silicon Valley, Austin and Chicago as well as a special "college tour." Above is a highlight reel but for more see below.
Click here for more highlights from MSNBC's 30 Million Jobs Tour and the Steel on Wheels Tour.
______________________________
Space was just one of the many frontiers discovered when GBTV asked to help launch its news daily youth magazine show, Liberty Tree House
____________________________
______________________________
Space was just one of the many frontiers discovered when GBTV asked to help launch its news daily youth magazine show, Liberty Tree House
____________________________
In Development
"Live the Dream."
It is a phrase that people utter every day. Sometimes in jest, sometimes as advice.
Few people embody "living the dream" that Bo Eason, who went from an undersized runt to number one draft pick in the National Football League.
But despite a successful NFL career, Bo dreamed for more. And he embarked on a career as a screenwriter and playwright, eventually starring in his own critically acclaimed one-man show, "Runt of the Litter," which is now in negotiations to become a series on the web.
Now Bo Eason is ready to help others "live the dream" in a new daily talk show. Click here for some of his interviews for the pilot episode.
For more on Bo's one-man show visit www.boeason.com
or on Facebook and on Twitter
The Bo Eason Show
"Live the Dream."
It is a phrase that people utter every day. Sometimes in jest, sometimes as advice.
Few people embody "living the dream" that Bo Eason, who went from an undersized runt to number one draft pick in the National Football League.
But despite a successful NFL career, Bo dreamed for more. And he embarked on a career as a screenwriter and playwright, eventually starring in his own critically acclaimed one-man show, "Runt of the Litter," which is now in negotiations to become a series on the web.
Now Bo Eason is ready to help others "live the dream" in a new daily talk show. Click here for some of his interviews for the pilot episode.
For more on Bo's one-man show visit www.boeason.com
or on Facebook and on Twitter
