THE 3rd FLOOR at Fox Studios during the late 70’s an early creative “incubator” – and the brainchild of studio executive Alan Ladd, Jr., who believed that creatives should be working together in an open, collaborative environment – very different from the closed down, segmented ‘studio system’ operations of the era.
The 3rd Floor housed leading talent such as Mel Brooks, Richard Donner, Paul Mazursky, Gene Wilder, Walter Hill, Jane Fonda, Barry Levinson, James L Brooks & Robert Altman. It also was home to producers like Michael Gruskoff (YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, MY FAVORITE YEAR); Marvin Worth (LENNY, THE ROSE); Michael Shamberg (THE BIG CHILL); and Arnon Milchen (THE KING OF COMEDY, ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA).
Such a bet on talent by a studio had arguably never been done before. And it worked.
This short window at Fox is known for a string of Academy Awards… THE ROSE, NORMA RAE, LENNY, ALL THAT JAZZ, AN UNMARRIED WOMAN, JULIA and KAGEMUSHA; for iconoclastic oddities like RACE WITH THE DEVIL, ROLLING THUNDER, NOSFERATU: THE VAMPYRE, THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW and QUEST FOR FIRE; and for box office hits like ALIEN, THE OMEN, 9 TO 5, YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, SILVER STREAK and, of course, STAR WARS.
George Lucas, Ridley Scott, Bob Fosse, William Friedkin, Brian DePalma, Werner Herzog, and Paul Schrader are all featured players on the stage of the 3rd Floor during Ladd’s remarkable six-year run from 1973 to 1979.
The series will embark upon a 6-year journey, moving backwards and forward in time, exploring the lives of the producers, executives and talent working on the 3rd Floor at Fox, told in the voices of people who were there uncovering stories of darkness and light, of loyalty and egos, of truth and sometimes deception.