STEVE TISCH / PRODUCER

Like “Forrest Gump,” which he co-produced, Steve Tisch has had a fortuitous career. At 48, the New York native has had a Hollywood run that started as Peter Guber’s assistant at Columbia in 1971. Since going indie in 1976, his credits range from “Risky Business” (which launched Tom Cruise) to Kevin Costner’s “The Postman.” He’s also executive producer of “American History X,” starring Edward Norton.

FOREST FOR THE TREES: “I think what ‘Gump’ showed the industry is that an untraditional story can be told in a somewhat traditional way and find a big audience literally around the world. Humanity sells.”

MAN OF THE PEOPLE: “The audience has the ability to smell a bomb quickly, which is the great equalizer in this business. Hollywood can buy a lot of pieces of the puzzle, but the great thing is they can never buy word of mouth.”

ROOKIES: “The industry is giving more actors and writers their shot at directing their first films. Brian Helgeland, one of the co-writers of ‘The Postman,’ just directed his first film, the new Mel Gibson movie, and I’m sure it’s very exciting.”

SCREENING ROOM: “I’m excited to see [Gus Van Sant’s] ‘Good Will Hunting’ and [Quentin Tarantino’s] ‘Jackie Brown.’ There’s been a Tarantino backlash and people are saying, ‘Show me.’ But he’s got a great cast and is a great storyteller.”

RISING STARS: “There’s a young actor in ‘The Postman’ I like a lot, Giovanni Ribisi [playing a bandit]. I believe he’s been cast as the lead in a film that Garry Marshall is directing. And I like Dina Meyer, who’s in ‘Starship Troopers.’ ”

FREE TRADE AGREEMENT: “We’re seeing movies like ‘Bean’ and ‘The Full Monty’ that have been financial and critical successes outside the U.S. that we are importing with a pedigree. That’s a new trend I think is great.”

ON DECK: “I put up money as executive producer on a film being shot in London called ‘Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.’ Hopefully it will have the same reception ‘Trainspotting’ had. It’s not quite as dark, but it’s young actors and actresses, a first-time director, pretty original storytelling.”

LOST CAUSE: “The book ‘A Confederacy of Dunces’ [by the late John Kennedy Toole] is a great project. I got it in 1983 and couldn’t get it made. That’s one of the ones that got away.”

NOT WATERLOGGED: “There’s a misconception that Kevin [Costner] directed ‘Waterworld,’ and that he creatively took it over, which he didn’t. If Kevin is anything, it’s an extremely passionate filmmaker.”