A scene from

The Wedding Band

Ben Spector is one of the behind-the-scenes talents
at TBS's The Wedding Band — next up, Jane Fonda?

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Suzanne Chessler
Contributing Writer

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F

ormer Detroiter Ben Spector felt
comfortable appearing before
audiences as a student at North
Farmington High School (Class of 1992)
and in West Bloomfield as a choir member
at Temple Israel.
He thought entertainment would be the
field for him, but his destination moved
behind the scenes as he forged ahead.
First in film and later in television,
Spector has built a production career that
currently bills him as co-executive pro-
ducer of The Wedding Band, a 10-episode
series airing 10 p.m. Saturdays on TBS.
The show premiered on Nov. 10; past
episodes are available for viewing on the
cable channel's website at www.tbs.com .
The show is about a four-member
weekend wedding band called Mother
of the Bride, which performs not just at
weddings but at b'nai mitzvah and special
events as well.
Brian Austin Green plays lead singer
and perennial bad-boy bachelor Tommy
while Peter Cambor takes the role of gui-
tarist Eddie, Tommy's best friend and mar-
ried father of two.
Derek Miller is drummer Barry, Eddie's
younger brother, whose mission is to bring
rock spectacle to black-tie events. Stevie
(Harold Perrineau), a bassist and back-
ground session musician for established
stars, finally feels like a star in his own
right as part of Mother of the Bride.
"What I love about The Wedding Band
is that it's about a group of guys who, at
the heart of it, have the best of intentions
as they're going to make special events
the best in all the guests' lives:' Spector,
38, explains in a phone interview from his

"I like to
tell strong
character
stories,
whether for
drama or
comedy."

home in California.
"There's a fun-loving spirit in the char-
acters, and I love how it all comes together.
The cast and music are terrific, with fun
guest stars every week. Everyone has great
chemistry with one another.
"We've worked with Adam Schlesinger, a
songwriter, member of the band Fountains
of Wayne and winner of an Emmy for an
opening number in the Tony Awards.
"Adam produced all the music and rein-
vented classic wedding and event songs for
the series. He did a country and western
version of 'I Will Survive' and a science-
fiction version of 'YMCA:"
The idea for the series developed as
Spector worked with writers on a comedy
pilot about male students in the vein of
The Hangover and The Wedding Singer.
Although they first speculated about a
cover band, they eventually settled on it

being a wedding band.
Spector's own career ideas developed
while earning a bachelor's degree at Duke
University in North Carolina.
"I was a liberal arts major and started
realizing I didn't want to be an actor:'
Spector recalls. "I was more interested in
the directing-producing side and started
taking a lot of classes in that field.
"I ended up taking some filmmaking
classes and spending some summers in
New York studying and interning with
production companies and a talent agency.
"At the end of college, I realized I
wanted to go to film school and applied to
the University of Southern California. That
was a fertile training ground for trying to
figure out what aspect of the industry I
wanted, and I recognized that my skill set
was in producing:'
After graduation, Spector secured an

interview with a production company that
needed a creative executive and worked
with French filmmaker Jean-Jacques
Annaud on the post-production of Enemy
at the Gates, which was about the Battle of
Stalingrad in World War II.
That professional connection continued
through three years of making the family
adventure film Two Brothers, about two
tigers separated as cubs, shot in Thailand
and Cambodia and requiring considerable
travel for Spector.
"After that, I was introduced to comedy
director Betty Thomas by an agent, started
working with her at Fox and did the movie
John Tucker Must Die he recalls.
"While I was working with her, she
directed some TV pilots, and that got me
into the television world.
"I realized that TV was quicker-paced
with more immediate gratification, and I
really liked the rhythm of it. I transitioned
from doing mostly film and some TV to
doing mostly TV and an occasional film.
I've been with Tollin Productions for more
than three years:'
Spector was encouraged to be creative
by his parents, Louise and Steve Spector, a
teacher and psychologist respectively.
"My parents worked with kids and
young adults, and they instilled the idea to
find myself and pursue my dreams:' says
Spector, who was home for Thanksgiving.
"I was raised with those values, and they
were pretty influential:'
Currently in the promotion phase for The
Wedding Band, which started off with the
quartet playing at a bar mitzvah, Spector is
developing a series with Jane Fonda among
other projects for various networks. The
Fonda project, Now What?, revolves around
a mother-daughter relationship.
"I like to tell strong character stories,
whether for drama or comedy:' says
Spector, who is single and enjoys yoga
when he has some free time. "I feel that
if there's a compelling story about people,
audiences will watch.
"Jane Fonda read the spec script that I
developed with a young writer and fell in
love with it. On my first meeting with her,
there was the notion that I'm sitting in the
room with an icon, someone who holds a
piece of Hollywood history.
"As I started talking to her, I had a star-
struck moment. Then we just got to work.
We're rewriting the script, and we'll find
out in January if a pilot will be ordered:'
Although Spector is a non-writing pro-
ducer, he develops all the scripts with the
writers.
"I'm doing exactly what I want to be
doing right now:' says Spector, whose broth-
er, Sam, is a fashion stylist in New York. "I
just want to be doing more of it'.'

❑

The Wedding Band airs at 10 p.m.
Saturdays on TBS. Catch previous
episodes on www.tbs.com .

December 6 • 2012

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