As SHOOT celebrates a milestone, its 65th year of publication, we continue a recently launched series of interviews and features that will run throughout the summer on SHOOTonline and in SHOOT‘s newsletters and special PDF Issue with digital distribution in which industry executives, creatives and artists reflect on the changes they’ve seen over the decades, as well as essential dynamics that have endured. These folks–from different sectors of the business–will also share their visions and aspirations for the future.
Perhaps most importantly, this special SHOOT coverage enables us to look back on the industry’s history, learn from it, and plum relevant lessons that will help us now and beyond. Mark Twain once famously said, “History doesn’t repeat itself but it often rhymes.” Twain’s insight underscores the importance of the past and its role in helping us better shape today and tomorrow.
Such perspectives are invaluable yet sadly often not properly considered as society’s tendency at times is to overlook history and its significance. Additionally, the new generation navigating our industry sometimes isn’t aware of the relevant history, having not experienced it firsthand. Hopefully helping to close those gaps will be SHOOT’s 65th Anniversary coverage which seeks to provide historical context and to benefit from its relevance to the present and what may lie ahead.
This week we connect with Frank Scherma, president of RadicalMedia, an award-winning production company that has made an indelible mark in the commercial and branded content space as well as in television series, feature films and immersive digital projects. It’s a body of work that has earned two Academy Awards, a Golden Globe, multiple Emmys, Grammys, Webbys, AICP Awards and the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award, along with a pair of Palme d’Ors from the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
Scherma has also been integrally involved in the industry beyond his duties at RadicalMedia. He’s an active board member of AICP, and served as chairman and CEO of the Television Academy from 2019-’23.
Here are reflections and observations from Scherma in response to several questions posed by SHOOT:
SHOOT: How has your business model evolved over the years? What principles and beliefs have remained constant to help shape your company/agency/organization? What dynamics have changed, causing you and your company to adapt–and how have you adapted?
SCHERMA: Our company began as a dedicated television commercial production house, creating high-impact campaigns for clients across the globe. By 1992, we began exploring long-form content, experimenting with docu-style television programming — a cautious but deliberate step beyond our :30 and :60-second roots. At the heart of everything we did, and still do, is storytelling. Whether in seconds or hours, short-form or long-form, we’ve always been passionate about crafting compelling narratives.
As technologies like DVRs and streaming devices emerged and audience behaviors began to shift — fast-forwarding through traditional ad breaks — we recognized the need to evolve. The challenge was clear: if people were skipping commercials, we had to find new, meaningful ways for brands to connect with them. And so, we pivoted — guided, as always, by the power of story.
SHOOT: What lessons have you learned over the course of your career that remain vital to you today? What new or recent lessons have you found particularly significant?
SCHERMA: For us, it has always come down to the creative. Stay true to the belief that great ideas win — and you stay true to yourself. When Jon and I started this company, we made a pact: our integrity would never be up for negotiation. Years later, that promise still holds. Creativity and integrity — those have been our North Stars, and we’ve never strayed far from them.
As for the new lessons? It’s this: nothing stays the same — and that’s the only constant worth counting on. Complacency is the silent killer of great companies, so we’ve learned to stay sharp and stay curious. And what excites us the most is what we have yet to make.
SHOOT: What industry developments over the years–and/or recently–have had the greatest positive influence on you and your company, agency, organization? Whose work has had the greatest positive influence on you?
SCHERMA: Our strength lies in helping brands make an impact wherever their audience is — and ensuring they do so with purpose and creativity. Whether it’s a commercial, a social campaign, a documentary, a live event, or a full-blown TV series, we’re built to create, produce, and collaborate with brands and agencies to bring big ideas to life — across every medium that matters.
SHOOT: What changes in the business do you love and why? And, what changes in the business do you dislike and why?
SCHERMA: I love diving into long-form work — creating and producing engaging programs for brands is one of the most satisfying things I do. It’s sometimes a slow, thoughtful process with lots of moving parts and caffeine. On the flip side, commercials are beautifully chaotic: quick turnarounds, fast decisions, and just enough pressure to keep things exciting. The truth is, each keeps the other from getting too comfortable — the marathon makes me appreciate the sprint, and the sprint reminds me why the marathon is worth it.
It feels like trust isn’t as automatic as it used to be in the business — and that shift can really change how we work together.
SHOOT: What do you look back on as among your greatest accomplishments professionally?
SCHERMA: I believe the true achievement lies in building and sustaining RadicalMedia alongside my partner Jon [Kamen] for all these years — not to mention the incredible team who have been with us through thick and thin.
SHOOT: What prompted you to get into the advertising/filmmaking business to begin with?
SCHERMA: Just lucky, I suppose. I started as an actor, but quickly realized I preferred doing the picking rather than waiting to be picked. Turns out, I was much better calling the shots than hitting my mark.
SHOOT: Looking towards the future, what are the most pressing questions for which you are still seeking answers as you seek to meaningfully evolve your career and your company? Responses can span such sectors as the economy, business, creative, technological, media and/or any other area you deem relevant.
SCHERMA: How will the relentless march of technology shape our craft? We all recognize AI as a disruptive tide — one that can overwhelm unless we learn to harness its power. What new innovation will emerge next, and how it might transform our work, remains a mystery.
Yet, I hold hope that the vast seas of data brands now capture will serve not to drown creativity, but to elevate it — placing imagination and the humanizing factor of storytelling firmly at the forefront. After all, it is this human touch in creativity that truly resonates with consumers.
SHOOT: What’s your fondest industry remembrance? Your most profound remembrance? Your funniest remembrance?
SCHERMA: I would say my fondest industry remembrance is when we won our first Palme d’Or in Cannes.
My most profound memory is when we won our first Academy-Award for “The Fog of War”
I still remember when my partner Jon called me and said, “Go buy this thing called TiVo—they’re going to fast-forward through commercials.” We just stared at each other and burst out laughing. That was the moment we realized: well, we’re going to have to rethink everything. From that point on, we knew the only way to survive was to evolve, adapt, and most importantly—keep our sense of humor. That’s been our superpower ever since.
SHOOT: When did you start reading SHOOT and what were you doing then? How has SHOOT been useful to you during your career?
SCHERMA: I started reading SHOOT when it was called BACKSTAGE and I was a young actor. I read it every week as it fills me in on lot of industry things I might have missed.
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Publisher’s note: Thank you to Frank Scherma for contributing to our series of 65th Anniversary articles which you will see over the next few months.
Here’s a fun look back at some of the content and Ads relating to our 50th & 40th Anniversaries.
>Click Here to see a feature series we published in the months leading up to our 50th Anniversary Issue which includes interviews with Lee Clow, Robert Greenberg, Bob Giraldi, Larry Bridges, Rich Silverstein, Stephen Dickstein, Phil Geier, Joe Pytka, Bryan Buckley, Joe Sedelmaier, Dan Weiden, Susan Credle, Noam Murro, Tony Granger, Kevin Roddy, Kristi VandenBosch, David Lubars, Jon Kamen, Stefan Sonnenfeld, Tom Kuntz and Lance Accord.
>Click Here to see the SHOOT 50th Anniversary Issue published in Nov. 2010.
>Click Here to see SHOOT House Ads leading up to our 40th Anniversary Issue published in Nov. 2000. A big hit at the time, they are still fun to look at. The Ads featured Cheryl Berman, Alex Bogusky, Texas East, Nitza From,
Llye Greenfield, Matt Miller, Tom Mooney, Barbara Mullins, David Perry, Joe Pytka, and Scott Ross.
>If you’d like links to some of the other great content from our 40th and 50th Anniversary Issues please contact SHOOT publisher Roberta Griefer at rgriefer@shootonline.com.
>Click Here for our special 65th Anniversary Retro Banner & PDF Issue Ad Rates.
