By TANESA WHITIN
You read an article on Christine Baranski who plays Marryanne on the CBS series “Cybil” in the Lifestyle and Leisure section of the New York Times and wonder how the Times got such great information.
Publicity for this CBS show is coordinated by one woman: Tracy McGraw, one of the publicists for CBS Media Relations in New York City handling programming like “Cybil,” “High Society,” “Almost Perfect” and “Central Park West.”
“My main job is to handle print and electric publicity on and off the set,” McGraw said. “I make sure the talent is available and strategize.”
Publicity plays a large role in successful programming because it’s free advertising. McGraw pitches ideas to the media for the CBS programming she represents.
“Pitching is more than just saying ‘I have Mariel Hemingway’,” she said. “They (media) want to know what she is doing and why they should write about her.”
McGraw frequents the sets of the programs she handles coordinating interviews and publicity events with the talent and escorting journalists and crews on and off the set.
“I have had really good experiences with journalists,” she said. “They have listened and have worked with me.”
She also oversees talent interviews, often spooling them prior to interviews.
“Most of the talent I have worked with has been really good,” she said. “They are professionals. They have been doing it for a long time, so they know what to say and what not to say.”
McGraw’s favorite part of her job is seeing the results of her work: “I get a big kick out of it when I see a cover that I pitched. I get a real high off it.”
“I really don’t have a least favorite part except for talent that is temperamental that I have to baby-sit,” she added. “It drives me crazy.”
Darren Star’s “Central Park West,” which premiered last September, was the first series that McGraw launched. Mariel Hemingway was among the original cast, but has since left the show.
“I tried to include the entire cast because it was an ensemble cast,” McGraw said. “With a show like ‘Central Park West’ their story lines were as full as Mariel Hemingway’s story line.”
The atmosphere on the set of “Central Park West” resembles that of a large family, McGraw said.
“We joke around a lot,” she said. “It is like a family because you work with each other every day. They’re great. They know each other. We talk and go out after work. We go to dinner and for drinks.”
“They are professionals. If something is bothering them they’ll talk about it in private or talk to the director or the creator of the series.”
Being a good publicist is not an easy task.
“It can be stressful — you have to learn how to balance,” McGraw said.
“I don’t know if I have achieved that yet,” McGraw laughed. “I have,” she added, smiling.
