Raconteur understands how to tell special tales

On his LinkedIn profile, Paul Faulhaber describes himself as an “Executive Producer, Show Runner, Writer, Father, Teller of Long Stories.”

The last characteristic has helped propel Faulhaber, 49, through a nearly 27-year career in television. “I’ve been known tell a very lengthy story about anything any topic,” said the Atlantic Beach native and Lawrence High School class of 1986 graduate. “It gets to the point sometimes that I get too long-winded and my kids say get to the point already.”

Audiences for the 27-year-old syndicated show hosted by Maury Povich have not grown tired of the stories Faulhaber helps to convey, along with his co-executive producer John Pascarella and a staff, many of whom have been together for nearly two decades. An executive producer since 2005, Faulhaber’s story-telling skill helped the show snag its first Emmy nomination for outstanding daytime talk show in May.

Pascarella has worked with Faulhaber for more than 15 years. He called his co-executive producer “nothing short of a TV genius.” “After more than two decades of working in talk, he still has so much passion for this business,” Pascarella said. “Paul goes to the very last second to make every show and story special. He has this magic touch that is so crucial to a show’s success.”

Faulhaber has always viewed work as fun since he wrote the Lawrence Lately student column for the Herald in his senior year of high school, and attended SUNY Albany, graduating in 1991.

That fun is also accompanied by hard work. “The EP on ‘Maury’ does it all,” he said. “There is no job too small. My motto through twenty years is all hands on deck. Title doesn’t exclude you. We do everything to get the job done.”

Tracie Wilson, the senior vice president of Programming and Development at the Stamford Media Center in Connecticut where the show is taped, said that Faulhaber is “super creative” and a “great leader.” “Look at his track record,” Wilson said, “he just celebrated his twentieth year and there are a handful of staff that have been with him the entire time. “That speaks volumes in a business where there is a lot of turnover.”

Wilson noted Faulhaber’s habit of being a raconteur. “I give him a code, like rubbing my nose, when a story has gone too long,” she said. “But he is a great story teller, good at his job and great at analogies.”

A family man, Faulhaber met his wife, Stephanie, when they were part of “The People’s Court” production team. They have three sons: Jack, Max and Benny.

Two years ago, Faulhaber’s brother, Theo, died of a heroin overdose. He said the loss of his sibling had a profound effect on him. “Just the way I approach raising my three children,” he said, “the guidance I give them. “It validated what we already know. It’s a dangerous raising boys and it’s not an easy task. Even with the best of parents, kids fall pray to this epidemic.” Faulhaber, his father, John, mother, Doreen, and his other surviving brother, Jonathan, hosted an overdose prevention seminar in Atlantic Beach last year.

After more than 3,000 episodes and with the new season kicking into gear, Faulhaber is looking forward to expanding the “Maury” show to social media platforms.

“This is a way to reintroduce our shows to younger people whose viewing habits have changed dramatically,” he said, adding that reading books, knowing how to write and branding their talent is his advice to the next generation of TV producers.