The classroom is dark and the teacher wheels in a bulky television set. The students groan with disappointment knowing they are all about to spend the 50-minute period watching another foreign film they won’t understand. All of the students, that is, except one. At age 14, Ken Mok knew exactly what he wanted to do. “I understood the films in the way other students didn’t,” Mok said. “I was interested in the visual elements, being able to understand the media and film. I knew right then that I wanted to work in television.” The now, successful executive producer, took that passion for the visual elements and used it to take him far in his career. He began in TV news, working for NBC in Boston, then CNN in Atlanta, until he realized he didn’t want to do news, he wanted to do entertainment television. |
Shortly after, he became a production assistant in the wardrobe department on the Cosby Show. Mok impressed Cosby with his drive and hard work. He established a close relationship with Bill Cosby, which was a turning point in his career.
“The writers on the show hated Mr. Cosby,” said Steven James, a production assistant who worked closely with Mok. “They felt like he was kind of a dictator of the show. So when they realized that Ken and Cosby had such a good relationship, they got sort of jealous. I think this was fortunate in a way, Mr. Cosby knew the writers were unhappy so I think bringing Ken in may have been his way of tweaking the writers. I guess it was Ken’s good fortune that the relationship was strained between the writers and Mr. Cosby. I’m not saying that Ken didn’t deserve it. I think he was more talented than the head writer. The head writer was the one who was actually feuding with Cosby. The other writers, I think, just went along to get along. It was mutually beneficial to both Ken and Mr. Cosby. The writers hated me too because I was friends with Ken. It made things more fun for us, although we were really abused sometimes.”
“I was working on a spec script while working on the show, and I managed to get Cosby to read it,” Mok said. “When the writers found out, they got jealous. Can you believe it? They got jealous of me, a production assistant?”
Cosby offered Mok the opportunity to write a pilot episode after reading his script, and the band of jealous writers got together and created a public declaration claiming they would never take a meeting with Ken Mok for the rest of their careers.
Years later, while Mok was working as an executive for ABC, one of the writers from the Cosby Show, named John Marcus, the infamous head writer, came to ABC to pitch a television show. “He wasn’t happy when he realized that I was the executive that he had to pitch the story to,” Mok said. “After the meeting ended I went to shake his hand and said ‘John, does this constitute a meeting?’ His face turned bright red and he just walked out.”
After leaving the Cosby Show, Mok entered into the unscripted world of television, or more commonly known as “reality TV.” As a producer for unscripted television, he is involved in every aspect. “You have to do everything,” he said. “You do the format, you write, you direct and you cast. You want to tell a good story.”
The first unscripted show he became involved in was America’s Next Top Model. He teamed up with Tyra Banks and the two of them came up with the format. “I love Top Model,” he said. “In order to make something really good, you have to care about it. That’s the key to anything.”
As an Asian American and an African American working together to produce a show, they were the most diverse duo of the time. “Being an Asian American in the business can come with its difficulties,” said Mok. “There are not too many Asian producers.” Even though he may face challenges, it doesn’t stop him from putting his all into the show.
Not only does he love the show, but the entire process of creating it. “I enjoy every bit of it,” he added. “The pre-production all the way to post-production. It’s an idea that comes out of your mind and then you get to see it come to life.”
Show business has its perks, as Mok explains, but nothing is going to just come to you. He emphasizes that your success is measured by how hard you work. “This is a very difficult business,” Mok said. “You have to be really self motivated. No one is going to give you anything.”
Helie Lee, Mok’s wife, who is quite an accomplished writer and performer in her own right, explains her husbands success by saying that her husband suffers from a superiority and inferiority complex at the same time. She said, “Oh, it’s kind of a joke between us and it seems contradictory but it really isn’t. When he does something he has no doubt it will be done right. But he always needs feedback that what he is doing is the right thing to do. Those two things and absolute focus are probably the keys to his success.”
“The most difficult part of my job is trying to find my next job. It’s hard,” he said. “You get into a slump where you are thinking ‘What am I going to do next?’ and let me tell you, it can get really depressing. When looking for your next move, nine times out of 10 you will fail. You have to keep up your work and keep writing. You have to really believe in yourself.”
And believe in himself he has. After years of working on reality television, Mok is expanding his horizons. “I have been doing unscripted for so long that I’ve grown bored with it,” he said. “When this happens, you have to find ways to keep yourself creative. Now I am starting to work on features and scripted programs.”
The biggest project that he has begun in the feature/scripted world is a movie he is producing for next fall, starring Jennifer Lawrence, which he is very excited about.
“My favorite part about this job is the creative side,” said Mok. “I hate everything else about the business except the creative part.”
Steven James, Mok’s friend from the Cosby show laughed when he admitted this and said, “I feel like the declaration of the writers during Cosby was the perfect example of how horrible the politics are in this business.”
Even with the nasty politics of show business that Mok recalls, Karma always comes around. “One of the writers from the Cosby show named Carmen Finestra called me 15 years later looking to get his daughter a job with my company,” he said. “The second I answered the phone the first thing that came out of his mouth, I kid you not, was, ‘I’m really sorry about everything that I said and did 15 years ago at Cosby.’ I think he had been holding on to that guilt for 15 years because he spit it out so immediately that it almost sounded like word vomit.”
Even though he could have served Finestra a dish of his own medicine, that’s just not Mok’s way. “I am really, really stubborn,” said Mok. “But only in the sense that the more people tell me I can’t do something, the more motivation I have to do it. Nobody is going to stop me. I am going to prove everybody wrong.”
“Whether I fail or succeed, I’m going to do it,” he said with such a big smile you could practically hear it through the phone.
“The writers on the show hated Mr. Cosby,” said Steven James, a production assistant who worked closely with Mok. “They felt like he was kind of a dictator of the show. So when they realized that Ken and Cosby had such a good relationship, they got sort of jealous. I think this was fortunate in a way, Mr. Cosby knew the writers were unhappy so I think bringing Ken in may have been his way of tweaking the writers. I guess it was Ken’s good fortune that the relationship was strained between the writers and Mr. Cosby. I’m not saying that Ken didn’t deserve it. I think he was more talented than the head writer. The head writer was the one who was actually feuding with Cosby. The other writers, I think, just went along to get along. It was mutually beneficial to both Ken and Mr. Cosby. The writers hated me too because I was friends with Ken. It made things more fun for us, although we were really abused sometimes.”
“I was working on a spec script while working on the show, and I managed to get Cosby to read it,” Mok said. “When the writers found out, they got jealous. Can you believe it? They got jealous of me, a production assistant?”
Cosby offered Mok the opportunity to write a pilot episode after reading his script, and the band of jealous writers got together and created a public declaration claiming they would never take a meeting with Ken Mok for the rest of their careers.
Years later, while Mok was working as an executive for ABC, one of the writers from the Cosby Show, named John Marcus, the infamous head writer, came to ABC to pitch a television show. “He wasn’t happy when he realized that I was the executive that he had to pitch the story to,” Mok said. “After the meeting ended I went to shake his hand and said ‘John, does this constitute a meeting?’ His face turned bright red and he just walked out.”
After leaving the Cosby Show, Mok entered into the unscripted world of television, or more commonly known as “reality TV.” As a producer for unscripted television, he is involved in every aspect. “You have to do everything,” he said. “You do the format, you write, you direct and you cast. You want to tell a good story.”
The first unscripted show he became involved in was America’s Next Top Model. He teamed up with Tyra Banks and the two of them came up with the format. “I love Top Model,” he said. “In order to make something really good, you have to care about it. That’s the key to anything.”
As an Asian American and an African American working together to produce a show, they were the most diverse duo of the time. “Being an Asian American in the business can come with its difficulties,” said Mok. “There are not too many Asian producers.” Even though he may face challenges, it doesn’t stop him from putting his all into the show.
Not only does he love the show, but the entire process of creating it. “I enjoy every bit of it,” he added. “The pre-production all the way to post-production. It’s an idea that comes out of your mind and then you get to see it come to life.”
Show business has its perks, as Mok explains, but nothing is going to just come to you. He emphasizes that your success is measured by how hard you work. “This is a very difficult business,” Mok said. “You have to be really self motivated. No one is going to give you anything.”
Helie Lee, Mok’s wife, who is quite an accomplished writer and performer in her own right, explains her husbands success by saying that her husband suffers from a superiority and inferiority complex at the same time. She said, “Oh, it’s kind of a joke between us and it seems contradictory but it really isn’t. When he does something he has no doubt it will be done right. But he always needs feedback that what he is doing is the right thing to do. Those two things and absolute focus are probably the keys to his success.”
“The most difficult part of my job is trying to find my next job. It’s hard,” he said. “You get into a slump where you are thinking ‘What am I going to do next?’ and let me tell you, it can get really depressing. When looking for your next move, nine times out of 10 you will fail. You have to keep up your work and keep writing. You have to really believe in yourself.”
And believe in himself he has. After years of working on reality television, Mok is expanding his horizons. “I have been doing unscripted for so long that I’ve grown bored with it,” he said. “When this happens, you have to find ways to keep yourself creative. Now I am starting to work on features and scripted programs.”
The biggest project that he has begun in the feature/scripted world is a movie he is producing for next fall, starring Jennifer Lawrence, which he is very excited about.
“My favorite part about this job is the creative side,” said Mok. “I hate everything else about the business except the creative part.”
Steven James, Mok’s friend from the Cosby show laughed when he admitted this and said, “I feel like the declaration of the writers during Cosby was the perfect example of how horrible the politics are in this business.”
Even with the nasty politics of show business that Mok recalls, Karma always comes around. “One of the writers from the Cosby show named Carmen Finestra called me 15 years later looking to get his daughter a job with my company,” he said. “The second I answered the phone the first thing that came out of his mouth, I kid you not, was, ‘I’m really sorry about everything that I said and did 15 years ago at Cosby.’ I think he had been holding on to that guilt for 15 years because he spit it out so immediately that it almost sounded like word vomit.”
Even though he could have served Finestra a dish of his own medicine, that’s just not Mok’s way. “I am really, really stubborn,” said Mok. “But only in the sense that the more people tell me I can’t do something, the more motivation I have to do it. Nobody is going to stop me. I am going to prove everybody wrong.”
“Whether I fail or succeed, I’m going to do it,” he said with such a big smile you could practically hear it through the phone.