By Cecilia J. Keehan

Robert Kline, founder of the Lifetime Network, spoke in Los Altos Nov. 18.

Robert Kline, executive vice president of 20th Century Television and co-founder of Lifetime Television, spoke to the Morning Forum of Los Altos Nov. 18. Kline is also a professor of film and media at the University of Southern California, and he teaches a course on film for Elderhostel each January.

As a child of the 1960s, he didn’t know what he wanted to do, but he eventually worked as a history teacher and football coach at a Quaker school. In time, he realized that he wasn’t being fulfilled in this role.

His dream was to become part of the entertainment industry, so he took a job in the mail room of Universal MCA with other well-educated people with similar goals. The mail room provided no training to the people who worked there, but it was understood that those with ambition would find their own way out of it. That time for Kline came when Jules Styne decided to give him a break, and he took it.

The studio, he said, nurtured him and gave him an 18-picture deal in Australia, which he accepted. When things started going well for Kline, they went well beyond his expectations. ABC next came to call. They told him they were thinking of starting a “chick’s network” and that if Kline came on board, he would own one-third of their new network, Lifetime.

At Lifetime, Kline did a series of shows with his friend Helen Gurley Brown. In five years, he interviewed Anwar Sadat, Princess Grace, Indira Gandhi and other world leaders and celebrities. He was also sent to Wales to make “How Green Was My Valley.” He produced “Firing Line,” “Profiles of Excellence” and, in 1991, the television special “Operation Desert Storm.”

Kline told the Morning Forum that he is presently working on a film celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

A few years ago, he and the provost of USC decided that a series on the first works of outstanding directors should be made.

That resulted in a set of DVDs featuring the works of Martin Scorcese, Spike Lee, Ron Howard, Oliver Stone and many other distinguished filmmakers.

Stone, a friend of Kline’s who dropped out of Yale twice to return to service in Vietnam, came to work on a Vietnam trilogy with Kline. The result was “Born on the Fourth of July,” “Heaven and Earth” and “Platoon.” Kline has been the producer of 22 films to date.

Kline said that the elements for making a good film include having a producer with vision, who serves as a magnet for actors who share that vision. In Kline’s view David O. Selznick was that ideal visionary, given his body of works, which include “Gone With the Wind.”

Kline believes that in recent years there has been a significant change in filmmaking, with big films, requiring big budgets. However, as “Titanic” proved, there is a new audience for these films. Teenagers come to see the same movie five or six times, justifying their production costs.

The director also praised the work of Steven Spielberg, whom he called the most successful director of his time, having won recognition and awards for his outstanding works, such as “Schindler’s List,” “Indiana Jones,” “Jaws,” “E.T.” and “The Color Purple.”

He also praised the great American films “Gentleman’s Agreement,” “Grapes of Wrath,” “On the Waterfront” and “To Kill a Mockingbird,” for their universal appeal and worldwide impact. They had spiritual, political and racial values, he said, and traveled well across national borders.

The producer observed that within the next few months, films on VHS tape will begin to disappear from rental shelves to be replaced by DVDs. He said the latter show movies to greater advantage because of their high quality. He also noted that the next Academy Awards ceremony would take place on Feb. 29, 2004, later than usual.

Morning Forum is a members-only lecture series held at the United Methodist Church of Los Altos. To get on a waiting list for membership, write to: Morning Forum, P.O. Box 274, Los Altos 94023-0274.