--- title: Jon Radler ’00 on Storytelling, Taking Risks and Trusting Your Taste description: Jon Radler '00 shares his journey from Pine Crest School to producing major TV hits, emphasizing the importance of storytelling, risk-taking and trusting your taste. image: https://blog.pinecrest.edu/hubfs/Advancement/The%20Magazine/Summer%202025/ED1FC2DB-17FB-4DA1-8776-D0F63A454124.jpg --- [ pine crest school ](https://www.pinecrest.edu/) [#PCFutureReady](https://www.pinecrest.edu/media?SearchExpression=#PCFutureReady) Fort Lauderdale Campus 1501 NE 62nd Street, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33334 [(954) 492-4100](tel:9544924100) Boca Raton Campus 2700 St. Andrews Boulevard, Boca Raton, Florida 33434 [(561) 852-2800](tel:5618522800) - [inquire](https://www.pinecrest.edu/inquire) - [apply](https://www.pinecrest.edu/apply) - [visit](https://www.pinecrest.edu/visit) # Jon Radler ’00 on Storytelling, Taking Risks and Trusting Your Taste Posted by [Pine Crest School](https://blog.pinecrest.edu/author/pine-crest-school) on June 6, 2025 at 11:36 AM - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) By: Dean Shiff ’26 Long before Jon Radler ’00 was helping produce major network hits and streaming originals with Small Dog Picture Co., he was wandering through Pine Crest’s student store, eyeing Otis Spunkmeyer cookies and soaking up the kind of spirited environment he says helped shape his confidence and drive. Jon reflects fondly on his time at Pine Crest—not just for its academics but for its culture. ![ED1FC2DB-17FB-4DA1-8776-D0F63A454124](https://blog.pinecrest.edu/hs-fs/hubfs/Advancement/The%20Magazine/Summer%202025/ED1FC2DB-17FB-4DA1-8776-D0F63A454124.jpg?width=452&height=615&name=ED1FC2DB-17FB-4DA1-8776-D0F63A454124.jpg)*Jon Raddler ’00* "There was a spirit at Pine Crest that made you feel like you could do what you wanted to do," Jon said. "It was filled with incredibly intelligent, hardworking and competitive people. If you could figure out how to succeed there, it gave you the confidence that you could succeed anywhere." In fact, Jon says the impact of Pine Crest has only deepened with time. “As you get older, the magic of Pine Crest grows,” he says. “Especially if you maintain a lot of the friendships you had when you were there. I'm very close with a sizable group of people I went to Pine Crest with and they're all extremely unique individuals, very ambitious and very competitive, and I love them. They have been my friends since the third grade and I hope they’ll be my friends for life.” He adds that what made Pine Crest special wasn’t just the academic rigor but the diversity of talents and interests that surrounded him. “There was such a breadth of different types of intelligence. That’s pretty unique.” Jon’s path to Hollywood wasn’t direct. He studied political science at Emory University and once considered law school. But after a moment of clarity during an LSAT prep class—where he found himself answering only three out of forty questions “that probably didn't bode well for a career in law!"—he realized his heart wasn’t in it. He called a childhood friend with a shared love of film and TV and made the bold decision to move to Los Angeles. “Let’s give it a shot,” he remembers saying. And he did—faxing his resume to any production he could find in Variety or The Hollywood Reporter. ![Jon Radler Pic 2](https://blog.pinecrest.edu/hs-fs/hubfs/Advancement/The%20Magazine/Summer%202025/Jon%20Radler%20Pic%202.jpg?width=912&height=684&name=Jon%20Radler%20Pic%202.jpg)*Jon Raddler ’00 on a recent campus visit with his son Henry.*   Though not a single fax received a reply, Jon moved to Los Angeles anyway. “I spent my last semester of college working a silly internship and faxing resumes,” he recalls. “Entry-level jobs in Hollywood aren’t necessarily about skills—they’re about showing up, being eager and being willing to learn.” He landed his first real job in the mailroom of a talent agency—a classic starting point for many in the industry. “Hollywood has always been like an apprenticeship business,” he explains. “There’s usually a requirement that you put in years as an assistant before you have an opportunity to move up.” Over time, Jon built a resume that included stints at Nickelodeon, Disney XD and eventually Imagine Entertainment—Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s legendary production company. “Working at Imagine was a master class in storytelling,” Jon recalls. “Their projects had a certain scope, emotionality and craft that made you appreciate how ambitious great television can be.” In 2017, Jon became a partner at Small Dog Picture Co. where he teamed up with director Jason Winer—best known for directing the pilot of “Modern Family.” “Jason is an exceptionally talented director and producer,” Jon says. “He was based at 20th Television where Small Dog Picture Co. had a studio deal, which meant 20th was the financier on any project we developed.” Through that partnership, Jon has helped bring a diverse slate of shows to life, including the NBC comedy “Perfect Harmony,” the FOX musical dramedy “The Big Leap,” the three-time Emmy Nominated BET hit “The Ms. Pat Show” and “The Santa Clauses” for Disney+, a series revival of the beloved Tim Allen holiday films. Jon and Jason are currently working on a Netflix adaptation of the novel “Vladimir.” ![Jon Radler Pic 3](https://blog.pinecrest.edu/hs-fs/hubfs/Advancement/The%20Magazine/Summer%202025/Jon%20Radler%20Pic%203.jpg?width=1179&height=1557&name=Jon%20Radler%20Pic%203.jpg)* Jon Raddler 00 on set with the cast of "The Ms. Pat Show." * Balancing storytelling with the business side of production, Jon explains, comes down to curation and collaboration. “I’m not a writer or director but I have a well-developed sense of my own personal taste,” he says. “Being a producer means building the right team—finding the idea, attaching the right talent and holding it all together.” He describes his skillset, somewhat self-effacingly, as a “mile wide and an inch deep.” “You get to do a little bit of a lot of different things,” he says. “Your day doesn’t just involve writing or directing. It’s about shaping the whole picture.” Working on “The Santa Clauses” presented a unique challenge: how to revive a franchise steeped in nostalgia while making it feel fresh for new viewers. “So much of that was about having the original cast back,” Jon says. “We had Tim Allen, Elizabeth Mitchell and even brought back David Krumholtz as Bernard because the fans were so vocal about wanting him. There’s a surprisingly huge fandom around that franchise and being faithful to the tone of the original films was key.” Jon also reflected on the evolving role of social media in shaping storytelling today—both as a tool for identifying emerging talent and as a cultural force that writers and producers must acknowledge. “Anything in film and television, if it’s good, is reflecting the world around us,” he says. “Now there are people out there making things for TikTok and Instagram that allow them to circumvent traditional Hollywood hierarchies. Some of them are doing pretty incredible things.” When evaluating pitches or deciding what to develop, Jon admits there’s no exact science. “It’s like anything else—you look at someone’s resume, their body of work and their unique voice,” he says. “But sometimes you also have to take a leap on someone new. It’s harder to get a project made with a first-time writer or director but if they have something truly special, people are willing to take that risk.” Jon often returns to a quote by legendary screenwriter William Goldman: “Nobody knows anything.” For Jon, that’s not discouraging—it’s empowering. “It means that your opinion, your perspective can be just as valid as anyone else’s in this business,” he says. “All you have to do is be able to sell it!” Jon continues to champion stories that resonate. And though he’s worked in a wide range of genres—from heartfelt comedies to dramatic revivals—his approach remains the same: build with care, trust your gut and always keep an eye on what makes a story worth telling. And maybe, when in doubt, grab a cookie. 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