From Sweeping Floors to Winning Emmys
From humble beginnings sweeping the floor of broadcast news television studio KOCO-TV in Oklahoma City following his graduation from the Department of Radio-Television-Film to his rise as one of television’s iconic producers, Bill Geddie (B.S. ’77) never forgot his time on the Forty Acres.
“I’m very proud to be a Longhorn,” Geddie said. “I’ve worked in New York City for 30 years, but I still think Austin is the center of the universe.”
At his first post-graduation job, Geddie quickly learned to seize opportunities when they came his way.
“When you buffed the floors—this is how informal television was back then—they let you run camera for the local news,” Geddie said in an interview with Texas Monthly. “What got me off the floor was that I went to the news director and said I had shot film before, so he gave me a job shooting film.”
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Geddie, along with Barbara Walters, now serves as executive producer of “The View,” ABC network’s critically acclaimed live talk and entertainment program produced by ABC Daytime and Walters’ Barwall Productions.
Geddie has helped “The View” earn 30 Daytime Emmy Awards, including the 2003 Daytime Emmy for “Outstanding Talk Show.” He also appeared on Walters’ weekly Sirius Radio program, “Barbara Live!,” providing his own brand of humor and insight on a variety of topics.
He’s been with Walters for more than 25 years as the executive producer of “The Barbara Walters Specials” and “The 10 Most Fascinating People,” which he also co-writes and directs.
Before joining Barwall Productions, Geddie produced for “Good Morning America.” He is the recipient of three Emmy Awards, two for news, one as executive producer of “The View,” and was honored at the Emmys with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
He is a screenwriter in his spare time and his script, “Unforgettable,” was made into a movie starring Ray Liotta and Linda Fiorentino. His production company, Bill Geddie Productions, produced 60 original hours for the Discovery Channel.
“If you want to make it in television it’s important to have taste, but you can’t afford to be a snob,” Geddie said.
As a current member of the Moody College of Communication advisory council, Geddie still visits Austin regularly but spends the bulk of his time in New York and California with his wife and two daughters.
