George Paige, today a multimedia producer, achieved success through a somewhat unusual path. He started out at Rider University, where he received his bachelor’s degree in journalism, and moved on to Temple University, earning a master’s degree in educational media. His education and work in the Audiovisual Department at Rider pushed him to study and learn all aspects of the media. This led to him a degree at Temple, which he called a “natural progression for [his] newly acquired interests.”
"Attending Temple University was a life changer for me,” Paige said. “A master’s program in Educational Media was a new academic major and offered at very few schools around the country at the time.”
He was also able to continue working as an assistant teacher at Trenton’s Mercer County Community College. While he spent some more time working in academia, he would later realize his Temple education had really prepared himself for his life as a producer. Nonetheless, his Temple experience eventually led to him working as a professor at the University of Vermont.
“I always loved teaching, especially on the college level where students are eager to learn,” he said. “I honestly thought university teaching was the best job in the world for me.”
During his time there, he also worked as a concert promoter, marketing the likes of Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. “Twice, I ran away with the artists I was promoting. It was like the circus came to town and I ran away and joined the circus,” Paige said. “Once was Bob Marley during his last tour, Uprising, where I became his friend and national sales manager for the song ‘Could You Be Loved.’”
Paige thought he’d be in music the rest of his career, until he met Ed Hansen, a Hollywood producer, and got the chance to oversee his New York City branch.
Paige went on to produce feature films like “The Three Stooges,” “Space Warriors” and “The Adventures of Brer Rabbit.” He also produced musical features such as “Michael Jackson: The Legend Continues,” “The Doors: Dance on Fire” and “The Temptations and the Four Tops.”
Paige said his productions “are like [his] children. I love them all.” Later adding, “The Doors, Michael Jackson and the Farrelly Brothers on The Three Stooges do stand out.”
He said plans to keep working on projects that stem from his interests. He dreams of making a feature film based on the Stephen Davis book “Hammer of the Gods,” which tells the story of Led Zeppelin. And, after all of his successes, his next goal doesn’t seem too far-fetched. To Paige, giving up hardly seems like an option.
“There’s been many times when things weren’t going the way I wanted or expected and I wanted to just quit,” Paige said. “And many of my friends did just that. But I’ve stuck it out, persevered and it just keeps getting better.”