Being Bob Rich Jr. comes with a long list of labels: Billionaire businessman. Frozen-food magnate. Professional sports team owner. Book author.
Add this to the Rich list of labels: Writer whose novel was made into a Michael Douglas film. Not that Rich needs résumé lines. He’s the 84-year-old senior chairman of his family’s nearly $6 billion Buffalo-based food company, Rich Products, which was founded by his father, the late Robert Rich Sr.
But Rich’s cinematic approach to life has driven him to be adventurous far beyond selling baked goods and culinary ingredients around the world. He’s a professional sports team owner whose holdings include the Buffalo Bisons. Rich plays a supporting role in wife Mindy’s work as a Broadway producer. He’s an avid fisherman, both in freshwater and saltwater, who has cast alongside an intriguing set of fishing buddies, including the late former President George H.W. Bush.
Rich has also penned seven books that share stories about pursuing (unsuccessfully) a Major League Baseball franchise for Buffalo, working with Robert Redford on “The Natural,” which was shot at the Bisons’ stadium, and being part of the ownership group of the then-financially struggling Buffalo Sabres.
People who know the billionaire chairman of Rich Products call him a great storyteller. For most of his life, Bob Rich yearned to write. On Nov. 3, his 5th book, a novel called “Looking Through Water,” will be
And then there’s fishing. Lots of fishing, lots of fishing stories, and multiple fishing books. Most of them are nonfiction – or as true to life as fishing stories can be – but “Looking Through Water” is a story where Rich “let my mind take me where it will.”
The novel was released a decade ago, and it caught the attention of Michael Douglas, who, like Rich, grew up in the shadow of a wildly successful father, the late actor Kirk Douglas, and had to find his own way.
Douglas was looking to make a movie with his son, Cameron, and the father-son themes in Rich’s fishing novel resonated. As happens in the film world, it took years to come to fruition, and now it’s here. “Looking Through Water” premiered in New York and Los Angeles earlier this month. It premieres Friday at the North Park Theatre, when Rich will take part in a Q&A at the 7 p.m. showing.
I spoke with Rich by phone; following are excerpts of the conversation, edited for space and clarity.
What do you love about writing?
Rich: I’ve always loved words. I love the way they come together. I admire people who take the time to choose the right word, and to put them together in an appealing way. I like the art of writing.
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You spent time on the “Looking Through Water” set. What jumped out at you about the process of filmmaking?
Rich: It wasn’t my first rodeo. We got so involved in “The Natural” when it came to Buffalo, especially with Bobby Rich, my son, being chosen to be Robert Redford’s son. He needed to have a relative (on set), and every time he’d get a call, I’d be there. So I’d seen movies made, and knew my way around a scene a little bit, but this was my first time being involved as a writer. Being on the scene, there’s a little bit of distrust that the book writer is going to want to make changes. After a while, there’s a relaxation. In my case, I wasn’t there to make changes. I was there more as a quality-control person to make sure the fishing scenes were authentic. A lot of the actors didn’t know how to fish, so we spent a long time working with them – how you behave on a boat, how you hold rods, what to do. That was a lot of fun.
What was it like to work with Michael Douglas?
Rich: We spent a lot of time together because there’s a lot of hurry up and wait. We also ended up having breakfast and dinner together almost every day when we were shooting in Massachusetts. We talked about our fathers. We talked about growing up in the family business. Just as I grew up at Rich Products, for Michael, movies became the family business. We both have fathers who were very passionate about what they were doing, and were very strong-willed and very strict. It was fun to share how we dealt with that growing up, especially trying to find our own way in a family business like that.
They discuss Rich Products’ interest in developing its West Side properties; the new roles they took in the family business in the summer of 2022 (Mindy Rich became chair; Bob Rich, the company’s longtime chair, took on the role of senior chair); and their ongoing work in entertainment.
It sounds like you bonded over finding your own paths, and building your own story.
Rich: We both had a situation where before you proved yourself to the world, you had to prove yourself to your father. We talked about those coming-of-age moments when we had discussions with our fathers about what our needs were, and when the relationships changed. When the fathers relaxed a little bit, took a deep breath and said, “OK, I guess junior has got skills, and I can relax and do some other things.” Those are interesting conversations. All of a sudden, it wasn’t like being with a movie star. It was like being with another guy. We’re about the same age – I’m a little bit older – but it was just like being with a guy and talking about emotions and growing up. We also talked about our lives. We’ve both been married a couple of times. We talked about children, and what the challenges were with having children come into the business as well. It was a really nice time getting to know somebody as a friend.
I imagine it would be challenging to find and connect with people who can relate to those circumstances. Have you had many conversations like that over the years?
Rich: Not so much. I’m not often in situations like this, where I have this much time. That’s one thing about Hollywood. In a lot of these film shoots, you have a lot of time to chat with someone. We went pretty deep on these conversations. It was interesting to share ideas. As different as making movies and processing food may seem to be, in many ways, they’re similar. You’re making products that are ultimately going to be judged by consumers as to how they fill a need. It was a very reflective time, which was appropriate. It was the father-and-son draw that brought Michael to this movie, when he read my book. And also the parental relationship – he wanted to do something with his son, Cameron.
I know one of your favorite stories is “Don Quixote,” and the theme of approaching life as a quest has been important to you. I’m sitting here right now thinking about this movie as a quest – as an adventure. If I’m you, it feels like a heady experience.
Rich: Exactly. It is a heady experience. A lot of (authors) think about it when they write: Wouldn’t it be great to see this turned into a movie? It doesn’t happen that often, obviously. It doesn’t strike home until you go into that theater. At our premiere in New York, we went into the theater and there were 400 people. They darken the theater and the opening scene comes on, and the actors are playing out a story, with music in the background, and saying words that you’ve written. It’s like, Oh my goodness. It gives you goosebumps. Whether this movie is popular or people like it or don’t like it, you can’t take that moment away.
By the way, I got up this morning and was looking at the Rotten Tomatoes audience rating for “Looking Through Water,” and it was at 98%.
Follow Tim O’Shei on Twitter @timoshei.
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