UA graduate promotes 'open-mindedness'

By: Demetrius Neal

Posted: 1/26/09

Leslie Jaye Goff's name can be seen under the 1984 list of UA graduates on the senior walk. But, of course, only a few students might have even heard of her. Today, if any students know her, it would be because she is the producer of the gradually attention-grabbing Web-based original series from StrikeTV "Anyone But Me."

Many might remember the writers' strike that occurred a couple years ago. What some might not know about the specially-made Web site that posted original shows written by members from the Writer Guild of America as a result of the strike is that the site still runs today.

"Anyone But Me," which is in its fourth episode, was created by writer and executive producer Susan Miller (writer of "The L Word" and "thirtysomething") and playwright of the Obie-award-winning "My Left Breast" and director and writer Tina Cesa Ward (creator of the short film "In Their Absence"). The story describes life in a post-9/11 world where 16-year-old Vivian McMillan, along with a number of other characters, must find herself in a new generation of open-mindedness. Vivian leaves her home city in New York and her lesbian lover to move to the suburbs with her father, who became ill after saving people in the 9/11 tragedy as a firefighter. Throughout her journey, she meets people, such as Archibald and Sophie, who might be able to help in her growing and soul-searching.

Goff did not originally begin producing this show. While the "Anyone But Me" team was starting up, Goff was busy producing another project. She was asked to produce an episode after that project and was later asked to become the permanent producer, she said.

"As a producer, your goal is to support the director and executive producer's creative vision," Goff said. "The producer handles every level to big and small details, such as handling the budgets, logistics, and have a close relationship with the actors, cameramen, writers, directors and the crew."

The producer doesn't want the director and executive producer to worry about all of the details because they should be focused on the story. The producer is essential for all of them to be able to communicate and resolve certain isssues and conflicts in a production of an episode, she said.

Goff, who was born in West Memphis, Ark., graduated from the UA in 1984 as a journalism major. She worked as the Arts and Entertainment Editor at The Arkansas Traveler when it was located at Hill Hall and published twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays. For the Arts and Entertainment section, she wanted to use her experiences from New York, where she spent her junior year interning for a magazine. She had the opportunity to interview various artists and musicians who came to Fayetteville. One memorable interview was with CeDell Davis, a jazz musician from Pine Bluff. She recalls during the interview that he had a bit too much to drink, which produced a memorable performance. Years later, when Goff moved to New York, Davis also traveled to the city to perform another unforgettable performance. Davis, who suffered from polio, placed his guitar on his lap and had a butter knife in his left hand to strum it because it had been crippled.

"I went up to him, and told, although I thought he wouldn't remember me, that I had interviewed him in 1983 for a school newspaper," Goff said. Surprisingly, Davis told her that he remembered her, she said.

She continued her journalism career, writing for Working Woman, a now defunct magazine that offered aid and information for the New York businesswoman during a time when women weren't really a part of the business sector and there were only a handful of women CEOs, she said.

After 9/11, she transitioned her career focus into a more corporate software vendor. The company wanted her to make content videos, which she scripted and produced.

"I realized that storytelling was a common thread on how to find the best story, how to tell it in a compelling way and the best way to present the medium," Goff said. "[Producing] was building on my career as a journalist rather than departing from it."

To learn more about "Anyone But Me," visit the Web site at www.anyonebutmeseries.com.