Rob Carpenter pulls back the Ozian curtain on one of the most enigmatic leadership roles in Hollywood – the producer.

This April, UCLA Communication Professor Carpenter published his sixth book, “The Creative Leader: What Every Leader Should Know About The Art and Science of Creative Intelligence,” a nonfiction guide to the practical application of creativity as a learnable skill essential to exceptional leadership. Coauthored by UCLA alumnus and Emmy-nominee Bob Boden, the now-Amazon #1 Bestseller offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the entertainment industry through the eyes of award-winning producers who unveiled the framework of innovation and imagination that helped guide their way to professional success.

“Producers are the ultimate, not only creative leaders, but the ultimate problem solvers,” Carpenter said. “We need creativity. I think creative leadership is the main skill of the future… We can’t stick to the old traditional patterns of leadership if we want to excel.”

Featuring interviews from top executives behind television hits such as “Jeopardy!” and “Black-ish,” Carpenter and Boden’s book illustrates the importance of adaptive ingenuity – a strategy Carpenter says producers have been using for a century.

“They’ve always reinvented themselves. Way back in the day there were silent films, and then they became talkies,” he said. “So, I thought every industry in the world can learn from these types of leaders.”

Carpenter, who originally planned to pursue a career in politics, took interest in the entertainment industry when a friend working on the set of a Marvel “Avengers” movie encouraged him to get involved with filmmaking. After landing some minor acting roles in projects such as “Bird Box” and “Lethal Weapon,” his attention shifted to screenwriting, directing and production. Using online resources and a few classes at the USC film school, he said he took the initiative to develop those skills and interests on his own time.

Since then, he has worked on multiple sets for studios including Warner Bros., HBO and Netflix, and has directed projects such as the 2020 feature film documentary “American Dropout,” which includes interviews with several of former President Obama’s cabinet secretaries.

“I’m a storyteller at heart, and I like to tell compelling, captivating stories,” Carpenter said. “We’re existing in a world of darkness and shadows, and I try to reveal the light.”

But to be successful in telling those stories, he said, and to be successful in any type of industry, you don’t just need skills – you need to understand the way people think and apply that knowledge in a tangible, actionable way.

“If you just give people inspiration without actual application, you’re kind of wasting your time,” he said. “People give theoretical models – that’s fine – but if we don’t know how to put them into play, we’re wasting everyone’s time.”

The book, he said, translates the wisdom of successful producers into practical, concrete steps readers can apply almost instantly. Carpenter’s coauthor, “TV Bob” Boden, shared a similar sentiment.

“It’s not just a book of empty advice – it’s a book that has some science behind it,” Boden said. “We’re so happy to have done this together. I adore this man, I love working with him. He’s been a gift to my life.”

Carpenter and Boden first met at a Syracuse University staff welcome dinner in the fall of 2022, Boden said. He added that they decided to collaborate on the project just a few weeks later.

“He’s (Boden) coming in with so much more practical entertainment experience,” Carpenter said. “He’s been in the business 45 years … and brings a whole different angle to the book.”

Boden focused his career on the production of game show television and currently serves as an executive producer of the show “Funny You Should Ask.” Having filled numerous executive roles on programs such as “Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune,” Boden said his expertise in “unscripted television” complimented Carpenter’s experience in the more “scripted” world. [CQ Boden 12:10]ok

“It’s (game shows) been my passion since I was six years old,” Boden said. “There’s nothing else I’ve ever wanted to do, there’s nothing else I’m qualified to do. There’s nothing else that I love – this is what I was put on this Earth to do.”

Boden got his first job in the industry at just 19 years old after meeting the inventor of cue cards at a show in UCLA’s Macgowan Hall. Four years later – all of which he spent living in UCLA’s Hedrick Hall – he landed his first post-grad position at Paramount Studios through the UCLA Career Placement Center.

Now, “The Creative Leader” will be included in his esteemed legacy as the first book of his career.

Jiya Singh, a second-year cognitive science and communications student at UCLA who took Carpenter’s class and is currently interning for him, said Boden and Carpenter have great energy together. She added that it is interesting how the age difference between them allows for different perspectives.

Another fascinating thing about the book, she said, is the insider information from people such as Boden, Carpenter and the interviewees actively working in Hollywood at the top of the game. Singh added that this is useful to people like her looking to work in the entertainment industry.

“I think the overarching message of the book is that you can be a creative person, and you can be a leader – and that one can feed off the other,” Boden said.

He added that conventional wisdom tends to draw a divide between wild creativity and strategic leadership.

Boden said, “We contend that you can be both, you can succeed in both, and you can excel in both. And I think – I know – that everybody we interviewed has excelled in both.”

As a professor, Carpenter said he believes the lessons in this book apply to any student with entrepreneurial goals. Students have to be a lot more flexible than he was when he graduated years ago, he said. As a champion of an interdisciplinary education, Carpenter added that people who educate themselves across multiple fields in this way will be able to produce some truly amazing work.

Producers, he said, have to juggle things such as budgets, studios, logistics, artists, creative vision and more. Anyone can benefit from listening to the voices of leaders who have successfully balanced so much.

“If that’s the message we can get across, it’s don’t sacrifice one of these talents for the other – chase both.”