Milling About with David Picker

Veteran Hollywood studio executive David Picker joins host Robin Milling to discuss his book Musts, Maybes And Nevers, an inside look at the movies that were produced during his reign at United Artists Corporation, Paramount, Lorimar and Columbia Pictures. A third generation motion picture producer, Picker was responsible for bringing films to United Artists by any means necessary. He tells Robin the real story behind the James Bond franchise that's never been heard before and how his cousin's husband started the Thunderball rolling if you will by introducing him to Ian Fleming's novels. David orchestrated The Beatles' films A Hard Days Night bringing director Richard Lester on board and was instrumental in starting Steve Martin's movie career with The Jerk.

Born in Brooklyn, Picker followed in his family's footsteps loving movies as his father Eugene Picker ran Loews Theaters, and his uncle Arnold Picker was a founding partner in the new 1951 United Artists. He worked alongside some of the greats and not so greats and it's all in the book in black and white. As the legendary director Billy Wilder once told him over lunch, 'There are only three kinds of movies – musts, maybes, and nevers," and that's what inspired the title. The book chronicles a very exciting life of bringing award-winning and classic films to fruition.