Dunlap Exclusive

Charles Dunlap (conceived October 23, 1983) is better known by his stagename Dunlap Exclusive. He is a Grammy, Stellar and 3x Dove award winning music producer from Nashville, Tennessee who has worked with artist such as 2 Chainz, Lloyd, Jim Jones, Trina, Rick Ross and Lecrae.
As a visionary, Dunlap realized he had outgrown his hometown and moved to Atlanta to pursue music. Right off the bat in his profession, he worked with Gorrila Zoe at Block ENT in the Mixtape market. Later he worked with Atlanta Def Jam/DTP recording artist Playaz Circle as well as landing a placement on Tampa's Atlantic/Big Gates artist Plies on his album "Goon Affiliated".
Dunlap left Atlanta to work closely with Interscope group I Square, and Dirty Money on their “Last Train To Paris” album in Los Angeles. Returning to Atlanta a little over a year later, he landed a placement on Jim Jones' album “Capo”. From there he went on to working with acts such as Lecrae, TLC, Snoop Dogg and more. He currently resides in Los Angeles, CA
Album charts.
Snoop Dogg
TLC
Andy Mineo
Lecrae
Jim Jones
Lecrae
Plies
Accolades.
Grammy
GMA Dove Award
Stellar Award


Ger FitzGerald (musician)

Gerald "Ger" FitzGerald (born 19 November 1970) played bass for Setanta Records band Catchers. In 1999, he was hired as general manager of Stratosphere sound, a recording studio founded by James Iha (ex-Smashing Pumpkins), Adam Schlesinger (Fountains of Wayne, Ivy) and Andy Chase (Ivy, Brookville). During this period, FitzGerald also ran Scratchie Records, Iha and Schlesinger's boutique record label, overseeing releases by artists such as The Frogs and Dan Bryk.
In late 2000, FitzGerald started working with the New York group Hem. During FitzGerald's tenure as Hem's manager, the band released two albums, "Rabbit Songs" and "Eveningland".


Bill Bruce (guitarist)

Bill Bruce is an American guitarist, producer, and songwriter, best known for his work co-composing the soundtrack to the independent, science fiction video game "" (2010).
Career.
During the early 1990s, Bruce was lead guitarist in the rock band Wilder, where he first worked with musicians J. Allen Williams and Jimmy Pitts.
In April 2009, Bruce released a solo album titled "Acoustic Sides" featuring ten original tracks at a running time of approximately 30 minutes.
In 2010, Bruce co-composed the critically acclaimed soundtrack to the independent video game "" with bass guitarist (and "Darkstar" creator) J. Allen Williams and keyboardist Jimmy Pitts. Though the game was originally intended to be co-scored with music by the popular rock band Rush, production negotiations with Universal Music (who retain much of the rights to Rush music) eventually deteriorated and the Rush soundtrack was subsequently replaced with an entirely original score by Pitts, Williams, and Bruce.
In 2011, Bruce produced the album "Jah Roots" for reggae musician, former Jah Roots lead singer, and GanJah records founder Josh Heinrichs, which debuted number six on the iTunes Store Top 200 Best Selling Reggae Albums. Bruce also co-produced Heinrichs' fifth solo album "Satisfied". In an October 2011 interview, Heinrichs described Bruce as "a good friend, amazing guitar player and producer".


Lew Bedell

Lewis Joseph Bedell (March 21, 1919 – July 6, 2000) was an American music business executive and comic entertainer who founded Era Records and then Doré Records in Los Angeles, California in the 1950s. Originally named Lewis Joseph Bedinsky, he also used the pseudonyms Louis Bideu and Billy Joe Hunter, among others.
Early life.
Lewis Bedinsky was born in El Paso, Texas, the son of Joseph Bedinsky, a Jewish immigrant from Odessa, Ukraine, who owned a small garment factory in the town, and his wife Sara (née Newman) who had been born in New York City. His parents divorced when he was a child, and he moved with his mother and uncle, Max Newman, to Boyle Heights in Los Angeles. He attended Los Angeles City College and then Santa Barbara State College. In 1941, he and his mother changed their surname by decree to Bedell.
During World War II, he worked in an aircraft factory, but in 1946 he teamed up with college friend Doug Mattson to form a comedy duo. Bedell and Mattson appeared together in clubs in San Francisco, Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe, New York City and elsewhere, performing an act that involved them miming and clowning around on stage to current pop hits and comedy records such as those by Spike Jones. By the early 1950s, the pair had become resident comedians at Billy Gray's Band Box, a supper club on Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles. The pair split up in 1953, and Bedell began working as a solo comedian on Los Angeles TV station KTLA, as well as continuing in clubs. He also had a short-lived TV show, "The Lew Bedell Show", on WOR-TV in New York City in the early 1950s.
By 1955 Bedell had started work for a music publisher, Meadowlark Music. That year he set up a new record label, Era, with his uncle Max Newman and cousin Herb Newman, and became its comptroller. The company soon appointed Buddy Bregman as musical director, and he in turn brought singer Gogi Grant to the label. Grant's successes with songs like "Suddenly There's a Valley" and "The Wayward Wind", co-written by Herb Newman, established the Era label. This was consolidated after the label won an action against Grant for breach of contract when she signed with RCA in 1957. Era signed several singers, such as Glen Glenn, in an attempt to break into the rock and roll market, but had little success. However, in 1958 the label had another major hit with "Chanson d'Amour", by Art and Dotty Todd.
Bedell married Dolores Ethel Mae "DeDe" Barrymore (born 1930) in 1956. She was the divorced daughter of actors John Barrymore and Dolores Costello. The couple had two children: a son, Doré Lewis Bedell (born 1957), who was named for Lew Bedell's grandmother Dora; and a daughter Stephanie Mae Bedell (born 1966). DeDe also had two children from her first marriage.
Doré Records.
Bedell was later described as "a garrulous man who masked a hardheaded business sense with endearing and sometimes annoying bluster." In June 1958, he and Herb Newman set up a new label with record distributor George Jay, for releasing new rock and roll material, and named it Doré after Bedell's young son. The label's first hit was "To Know Him Is To Love Him" by The Teddy Bears, written by and featuring the young Phil Spector. Bedell and Newman decided to end their partnership in 1959, with Newman retaining control of Era and Bedell running the Doré label.
The Doré label had several major pop and novelty hits over the next few years, including "Baby Talk" by Jan and Dean. In 1961, Bedell suggested to session leader Ernie Freeman that he and fellow musicians - including drummer Earl Palmer, guitarist René Hall, bassist Red Callender and marimba player Julius Wechter - record a version of a Maxwell House advertising jingle. The record, "Percolator (Twist)", was credited to Billy Joe & the Checkmates and rose to no.10 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 in early 1962. Bedell claimed a co-writing credit using the pseudonym "Louis Bideu", and, to help promote the record, used an old college photo of himself, as "Billy Joe Hunter". The label released a further 18 singles credited to Billy Joe & The Checkmates but recorded by studio musicians over the following years.
From the mid-1960s, the Doré label issued pop and R&B records. It also produced comedy albums, including Bedell's own 1967 album "Oh Mighty Game of Golf!!"; Bedell was an enthusiastic golfer. He continued to run Doré Records until shortly before his death. In later years Bedell released three further comedy CDs under his own name: "Mel's Hole" (1997), " Bad Bad Biker" (1998), and "Extra, Extra... Humor Discovered in the Bible" (2000).
Death.
Bedell died of cancer in Los Angeles in 2000, at the age of 81.


Kacy Andrews

Kacy Andrews (born February 27, 1969) is an American film producer and CEO of Bigfoot Entertainment.
Education.
Kacy graduated cum laude from Ball State University in 1991 with a degree in telecommunications and continuing studies at the American Film Institute. In 2000, she was awarded Ball States University's Graduate of the Last Decade.
Career.
Hyperion
Kacy spent nine years in production and project development at Hyperion. She moved from position of production assistant to operations manager, assistant to the co-owner, writer, director and associate producer. She has worked on various feature films, television series, theater and animation, including as associate producer on Miramax's Playing by Heart starring Sean Connery and Angelina Jolie. Her projects includes films and shows that starred such actors as Louie Anderson (Life with Louie), Linda Cardellini (Bone Chillers), and other projects like HBO's (with stars like Denzel Washington and Whoopi Goldberg) and the Oz Kids (with Jonathan Taylor Thomas).
Bigfoot Entertainment
In 2003 her consulting work at Bigfoot Productions in Asia led to the creation of the Bigfoot Entertainment and the International Academy of Film and Television with founder Michael Gleissner. The company is located in Cebu, Philippines with offices and additional schools in Hong Kong and Los Angeles. In October 2010, they purchased the facilities of Majestic Crest Theatre in Westwood, California as a venue to showcase their films. In November 2010, Kacy leads the launching of Bigfoot Ascendant Distribution (formerly Ascendant Pictures) which will be the foreign and domestic sales arm of Bigfoot.
As CEO of Bigfoot Entertainment Kacy has produced films such as The Curiosity of Chance, Irreversi (Estella Warren), Midnight Movie, Within, Hui Lu, The Girl With No Number and Deep Gold (Bebe Pham). She has also produced documentaries, 9000 Needles and as well as reality series' Hollywood Boot Camp.


Andrew Balogh

Andrew Balogh is an American music producer, songwriter, film composer and saxophonist. Balogh contributed to the rapper Gunplay's favorably acclaimed album "Living Legend", ranking #171 in the 2015 US Billboard Top 200, #17 in the 2015 US Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and #11 in the 2015 US Billboard Top Rap Albums. Balogh tours with the band Sublime With Rome as their saxophonist and keyboardist. Most recently, Balogh collaborated with actor Robert De Niro for the 2016 motion picture "Dirty Grandpa", performing on the song "It Was a Good Day."
Biography.
Andrew started playing saxophone and piano when he was 7 years old. He was passionate about jazz and classical music and started writing scores when he was in high school. Balogh attended Bob Cole Conservatory of Music, majoring in Jazz Studies and Composition.


Lindsay Doran

Lindsay Doran (c. 1949) is an American film producer and studio executive who has worked on such films as "This Is Spinal Tap", "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", "Sense and Sensibility", "Stranger Than Fiction", and "Nanny McPhee".
Early life.
Much of Doran's family has worked in the Hollywood film industry. She was born to D. A. Doran, a 55-year-old veteran Hollywood executive producer. Her mother, Marion Avery, began her career in film as a script typewriter for Preston Sturges before marrying D.A., and later became head of the play department at Columbia Pictures. Doran also has a brother, Daniel, a publicist whose work includes the 1968 film "". She recalled, "[Film] was all around me and what I saw was people who loved it and people who did not have to compromise who they were to be successful in the movie business." D.A. used to provide his daughter with screenplays and short stories, asking her opinion on whether they could be adapted into good films.
In 1967 Doran began attending Barnard College, an all-women liberal arts college in New York City. There, she studied English literature but due to financial constraints she transferred after her first year to University of California, Los Angeles. After three semesters, Doran then transferred to University of California, Santa Cruz, taking "courses in dance, art history, music and architecture." Upon graduating, she moved to London in 1971. She explained of the experience, "I thought I wanted to live there forever, but I couldn't get a visa. I did some writing for film encyclopedias. I had a flat with no heat in Earl's Court and a lot of free time, so I spent most of it in the Brompton Road library. I'd pick an author and read everything." It was in London that she acquired a love of Jane Austen and her works, especially Austen's first published novel, "Sense and Sensibility".
Career in film industry.
Doran moved to State College, Pennsylvania upon returning from London, where she worked for seven years with public television, first as a secretary and later as a producer and writer. She met her husband, architectural designer Rodney Kemerer, there before returning to Los Angeles, despite her previous desire to not live in the city or work in the film business. Having to begin anew in a new place, Doran found that her "skills writing for public television were completely useless," forcing her to again take work as a secretary. She worked at the Screen Actors Guild, where she "learned a lot" and soon received another job at Hollywood studio Avco Embassy Pictures, working her way up. When Doran was approximately 30 years old, she became an executive at Embassy. There, she worked on comedy films directed by Rob Reiner, including "This Is Spinal Tap" and "The Sure Thing". In 1985, she became the vice president of production for Paramount Pictures in Los Angeles. Her early work as a studio executive at Paramount saw her supervising five films simultaneously. She stated that it was "a 12-hour-a-day job. It was difficult to get involved on a line-by-line basis in a screenplay and I did it anyway because that's what I love to do." There, she oversaw the development of "Ghost", "Planes, Trains and Automobiles", "The Naked Gun", "Pretty in Pink" and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", among other films. She developed the script for the 1991 film "Dead Again", beginning a professional relationship with actress Emma Thompson that would last more than five films and 20 years.
In 1989 Doran became a producer at Mirage Enterprises, a studio co-founded by director-producer Sydney Pollack. She found that in contrast to being a studio executive, the role of a producer required that she "initiate everything" rather than receive calls from others. She commented, "But in the end that's what I prefer because I can work closely on the script and be in the editing room if that's what it requires. You can supervise every aspect of it." One of her first tasks in her new role was attending a company retreat to brainstorm new projects. Doran suggested "Sense and Sensibility" to the studio, her favorite book. After the film "Dead Again" had wrapped, she successfully persuaded Thompson to adapt it to film. Doran explained, "For 10 years I'd been trying to find somebody I thought could adapt it. Usually romantics are too optimistic and dreamy to see Austen's cynicism, and satirists are too cynical to believe in romance." Thompson fit Doran's criteria for a good screenwriter, despite the actress never having written a screenplay before. The resulting production of "Sense and Sensibility" earned Thompson an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, making her the only person to have won an Oscar for both her writing and acting (Thompson won the Best Actress award for "Howards End", in 1993). Along with producing, Doran had a small cameo in the film as a maid.
In 1996 Doran ended her partnership with Pollack, citing a need for change, and was quickly hired as the new president and chief operating officer of small studio United Artists, replacing John Calley. There, Thompson approached her with a proposal to adapt the stories of "Nurse Matilda" into film, with Thompson starring. She and Doran proceeded to work on the adaptation for "a good seven years" and released "Nanny McPhee" two years later, in 2005. Doran noted that MGM, owner of United Artists, "didn't want to make the movie and didn't believe in it. A lot of people wanted to do it and Working Title came to us and were interested in working with Emma and with Kirk Jones who was attached as the director so they were willing to put up the money through Universal so we made the movie that way." They released its sequel, "Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang", in 2010. Other films Doran oversaw included "Tomorrow Never Dies", "The World Is Not Enough", "Ronin", and "The Thomas Crown Affair".


Gianna Simone

Gianna Simone (born December 22, 1989) is an American actress, model, and producer. She has appeared in roles in the feature films "Star Trek Into Darkness" (2013), "Mother's Day" (2016), "I Can Only Imagine" (2018), "" (2018), and several television series.
Early life.
Simone is originally from Boston, Massachusetts and during her youth, lived in East Boston, Chelsea, Revere, and Wilbraham. She was abused as a child and placed in Boston's foster care system at thirteen years old.> Her father, Anthony Baxter, was unable to serve as her caretaker at the time, though Simone has since said that Baxter has been "a very positive influence" in her life and helped her make the decision to focus on acting. Around the time Simone entered the foster care system, she enrolled at a gym, where she met the owner Kathy DeMarco, who became her mentor. DeMarco introduced Simone to a small non-denominational Christian church and wanted to adopt the teenager, but died before doing so.
Simone attended Boston Latin Academy. Around age sixteen she began pursuing a modeling career.
Career.
Simone originally only wanted to focus on modeling, which she pursued despite opposition from agencies, and secured modeling work without agency representation for several years. She signed her first modeling contract with Boston's Maggie Inc. in 2009, and appeared in advertisements for the American Dental Association, Carolina Herrera, Elie Saab, Hasbro, New Balance, Reebok, and Vera Wang. In 2010, she appeared on the cover of "Boston" magazine at the age of 20, while living in Boston.
While pursuing modeling, Simone was encouraged to act by her colleagues. She began to focus on acting when she enrolled at Bunker Hill Community College and then joined the Screen Actors Guild shortly after. She relocated to Los Angeles at the age of 21. She has appeared in the feature films "Star Trek Into Darkness" (2013), "90 Minutes in Heaven" (2015), "God's Not Dead 2" (2016), and "Mother's Day" (2016), and "I Can Only Imagine" (2018). She is slated to appear in the upcoming films ', "God Bless the Broke Road", and "Run the Race". Simone has also appeared in several television series, including ', "Chuck", and "Hitting the Breaks", which she co-produced with Pure Flix Entertainment through her company GS Productions. In 2015, she created the original series "Love Gianna", launched via YouTube channel by REBL HQ, the digital entertainment studio created by Maker Studios and Full Sail University.
In 2016, Livingly included Simone in their red carpet fashion rankings following the Cannes Film Festival and Teen Choice Awards. She was also included in "Vogue Germany" "Best Dressed" list from the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.
Personal life.
Simone founded the Gianna Simone Foundation, which provides rescue as well as support to abused and neglected people and animals. The foundation is managed by the National Christian Foundation and supports youth in Maryvale (Los Angeles) and Rwandan genocide survivors. Simone also works with the animal rescue group Wings of Rescue, which relocates adoptable pets, on private planes, to no kill shelters and permanent homes. Simone also serves on the board of The Plantrician Project.
Simone is of Italian descent and identifies as a Christian and vegan. She likes extreme sports, including riding motorcycles and skydiving, and is an avid aerialist and target shooter. Simone resides in Los Angeles.


R. E. Winsett

Robert Emmett Winsett ( — ) was an American composer and publisher of Gospel music.
Biography.
Early years.
Winsett was born in Bledsoe County, Tennessee, and graduated from the Bowman Normal School of Music in 1899.
Musical career.
He founded his own publishing company in 1903, and his first publication, "Winsett's Favorite Songs", quickly became popular among the Baptist and Pentecostal churches of the American South. "Pentecostal Power" followed in 1907; that year Winsett completed postgraduate work at a conservatory.
He married Birdie Harris in 1908, and had three sons and two daughters with her. He settled in Fort Smith, Arkansas, continuing to compose gospel songs, of which he would write over 1,000 in total. He became a minister in 1923, and was affiliated with the Church of God (Seventh Day).
Birdie Harris died late in the 1920s, and shortly thereafter Winsett moved back to Tennessee. He founded a new company in Chattanooga, and published more shape note music books. He remarried, to Mary Ruth Edmonton, in 1930, and had three further children.
Winsett's final publication, "Best of All" (1951), sold over 1 million copies, and in total his books sold over ten million copies. His song "Jesus Is Coming Soon" won a Dove Award for Gospel Song of the Year at the 1969 awards. He has been inducted into the Southern Gospel Museum and Hall of Fame and the Gospel Music Hall of Fame.
He is buried in the Buttram Cemetery, Dayton, Tennessee.


Sam Pollard (filmmaker)

Samuel D. Pollard is an American film director, editor, producer, and screenwriter. His films have garnered numerous awards such as Peabodys, Emmys, and an Academy Award nomination. In 2020, the International Documentary Association gave him a career achievement award. Spike Lee, whose films Pollard has edited and produced, described him as being "a master filmmaker." Henry Louis Gates Jr. characterizes his work in this way: “When I think about his documentaries, they add up to a corpus — a way of telling African-American history in its various dimensions.”
Career.
Born in Harlem, New York, Samuel D. Pollard began his career in 1972 as an editor for Victor Kanefsky, after having taken courses in a workshop organized by WNET. He obtained a BA from Baruch College in 1973. Early in his career, he assisted George Bowers, the editor of "A League of Their Own", "The Good Son" and "The Stepfather". St. Clair Bourne was also a mentor.
Awards and recognition.
In 1998, Pollard received an Academy Award nomination for "4 Little Girls" with Spike Lee. In 2010, Pollard (with Geeta Gandbhir and Arielle Amsalem) received an Emmy Award (Outstanding Picture Editing for Nonfiction Programming) for the film "". In 2020, the International Documentary Association gave Pollard its first Career Achievement Award.
"MLK/FBI" was named best documentary at the 2020 San Diego International Film Festival.
In 2021, Film at Lincoln Center put together Tribute to Sam Pollard, featuring several of his documentaries, calling him one of "cinema’s most dedicated chroniclers of the Black experience in America."


Judd Apatow

Judd Apatow (; born December 6, 1967) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and comedian. He is the founder of Apatow Productions, through which he wrote (or co-wrote), produced and directed the films "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" (2005), "Knocked Up" (2007), "Funny People" (2009), "This Is 40" (2012), "Trainwreck" (2015), and "The King of Staten Island" (2020).
Additionally through Apatow Productions, he produced and developed the television series "Freaks and Geeks" (1999–2000), "Undeclared" (2001–2002), "Funny or Die Presents" (2010–2011), "Girls" (2012–2017), "Love" (2016–2018), and "Crashing" (2017–2019).
Apatow also produced the films "The Cable Guy" (1996), ' (2004), ' (2006), "Superbad" (2007), "Pineapple Express" (2008), "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" (2008), "Get Him to the Greek" (2010), "Bridesmaids" (2011), "Begin Again" (2013), "" (2013), and "The Big Sick" (2017).
Throughout his career, Apatow received nominations for eleven Primetime Emmy Awards (two wins), five Writers Guild of America Awards (one win), two Producers Guild of America Awards, one Golden Globe Award, and one Grammy Award.
Early life and education.
One of three children of Maury Apatow, a real-estate developer, and Tamara Shad, who ran the music label Mainstream Records founded by her father, Bob Shad, Judd Apatow was born in the Flushing neighborhood of the New York City borough of Queens, and raised in Syosset, New York, on Long Island. His family is Jewish, but nonreligious. Apatow has an older brother, Robert, and a younger sister, Mia. Their mother died in 2008. His maternal grandmother, Molly, co-starred in his film "This Is 40" (playing the grandmother of Paul Rudd's character).
When Apatow was 12 years old, his parents divorced. Robert went to live with his maternal grandparents, and Mia went to live with her mother. As a child, Apatow lived mainly with his father, and visited his mother on weekends. Apatow's mother spent a summer working at a comedy club, which is where Judd was first exposed to live stand-up comedy.
Apatow was obsessed with comedy as a child; his childhood heroes were Steve Martin, Bill Cosby and the Marx Brothers. Apatow got his comic start washing dishes at the Long Island East Side Comedy Club, and while attending Syosset High School, he played jazz and hosted a program called "Comedy Club" on the school's 125-watt radio station WKWZ which he created as a way to meet and learn from the comedians he looked up to. He cold-called comedians he admired during this time, managing to interview Steve Allen, Howard Stern, Harold Ramis and John Candy, along with emerging comedians such as Jerry Seinfeld, Steven Wright and Garry Shandling.
Career.
1985–2003: Stand-up, early film and television work.
Apatow began performing stand-up comedy at age seventeen, during his senior year of high school. In the September 1985 issue of "Laugh Factory Magazine", he is listed as an Associate Editor. After graduating from high school in 1985, he moved to Los Angeles and enrolled in the screenwriting program at University of Southern California. While at USC, he organized and hosted a number of on-campus "Comedy Night" events, featuring headliners such as "Saturday Night Live" performer Kevin Nealon. Apatow introduced the acts at these events with short standup routines of his own. He also began volunteering at (and later producing) benefit concerts for HBO's Comic Relief and performing and seeing standup at the Improv in Hollywood. He dropped out of college during his second year and later moved into an apartment with comedian Adam Sandler, whom he met at the Improv. He competed in the Johnnie Walker Comedy Search in 1989 directed by "Saturday Night Live" short film producer Neal Marshad.
Shortly thereafter, Apatow was introduced by manager Jimmy Miller to Garry Shandling which resulted in Apatow being hired as a writer for the 1991 Grammy Awards that year, which Shandling hosted. He went on to co-produce comedy specials by Roseanne Arnold, Tom Arnold, and Jim Carrey. In 1992, Apatow appeared on HBO's "15th Annual Young Comedians Special" and shortly afterwards went on to co-create and executive produce "The Ben Stiller Show" for Fox. Apatow had met Stiller outside of an Elvis Costello concert in 1990, and they became friends. Despite critical acclaim and an Emmy Award for Apatow and the rest of the writing staff, Fox canceled the show in 1993.
Apatow went on to join HBO's "The Larry Sanders Show" in 1993 as a writer and consulting producer, and he later served as a co-executive producer and director of an episode during the show's final season in 1998. He credits Shandling as his mentor for influencing him to write comedy that is more character-driven. Apatow earned six Emmy nominations for his work on Larry Sanders. During this same time, he worked as a consulting producer and staff writer for the animated show "The Critic", starring Jon Lovitz.
In 1995, Apatow co-wrote (with Steve Brill) the feature film "Heavyweights". Around the same time, Apatow was hired to produce and do an uncredited re-write of the script for the movie "The Cable Guy", which was released in 1996 to mixed reviews. It was during the pre-production of the film that Apatow met his future wife, actress Leslie Mann. Apatow did uncredited re-writes on two other Jim Carrey films: "Liar, Liar" and "Bruce Almighty". His next script was titled "Making Amends", which had Owen Wilson attached to star as a man in Alcoholics Anonymous who decides to apologize to everyone he has ever hurt. However, the film was never made. Apatow did uncredited rewrites of the Adam Sandler films "Happy Gilmore" and "The Wedding Singer". He was also featured in four tracks on Sandler's 1996 comedy album "What the Hell Happened to Me?"
In 1999, Apatow created "Sick in the Head", a multi-camera sitcom pilot starring David Krumholtz as a psychiatrist on his first day on the job, Amy Poehler as a suicidal patient, and Kevin Corrigan as Krumholtz's slacker roommate. The show was not picked up by Fox, which freed up Apatow to serve as an executive producer of the award-winning series "Freaks and Geeks", which debuted in 1999. He also wrote and directed several episodes of the series. After its cancellation, Apatow was the executive producer and creator of the series "Undeclared", which reused Seth Rogen in the main cast and other "Freaks and Geeks" cast members in recurring roles. Although both shows were quickly canceled, "USA Today" media critic Susan Wloszczyna called the shows "two of the most acclaimed TV series to ever last only one season."
In 2001, Apatow created "North Hollywood", a pilot that featured Jason Segel, Kevin Hart, Seth Rogen, Phil Hendrie, and Judge Reinhold (playing himself). The pilot was not picked up by ABC. In 2002, he co-wrote (with Brent Forrester) a Fox pilot titled "Life on Parole", starring David Herman as a dissatisfied parole officer whose roommate happens to be one of his parolees; it was not picked up. Apatow has screened and introduced them at "The Other Network", a festival of un-aired TV pilots produced by Un-Cabaret.
2004–2008: "The 40-Year-Old Virgin", "Knocked Up", and producing.
In 2004, Apatow produced the feature film comedy ', starring Will Ferrell and directed by Adam McKay. The film was a box office success. Apatow co-produced the 2013 sequel, '. He made his feature directorial debut in 2005 with the comedy "The 40-Year-Old Virgin", which he also co-wrote with the film's star, Steve Carell, for Universal Pictures. The film opened at number one at the box office and grossed more than $175 million globally. The comedy garnered numerous awards and nominations, including being named one of AFI's Top Movies of the Year, as well as taking home Best Comedy Movie at the 11th annual Critics' Choice Awards. "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" also earned Apatow a nomination for Best Original Screenplay from the Writers Guild of America and received four MTV Movie Award nominations, including a win for Carell for Best Comedic Performance. In 2005, Apatow co-wrote with Nicholas Stoller the feature film comedy "Fun with Dick and Jane" starring Jim Carrey and Téa Leoni. The film went on to gross $202 million worldwide.
His second film, the romantic comedy "Knocked Up", was released in June 2007 to wide critical acclaim. Apatow wrote the initial draft of the film on the set of "". The story concerns a slacker and a media personality (Rogen and Heigl, respectively) whose one-night stand results in an unintended pregnancy. In addition to being a critical success, the film was also a commercial hit, continuing Apatow's newfound mainstream success.
In August 2007, Apatow produced the film "Superbad", which was written by Seth Rogen and his writing partner Evan Goldberg. A concept Rogen and Goldberg had created as teens, Apatow convinced Rogen to write the film as a vehicle for himself in 2000. Rogen and Goldberg finished writing the film, but were unable to find a studio interested in producing it. Apatow then enlisted Rogen and Goldberg to write "Pineapple Express", a stoner action movie that he felt would be more commercial. After the success of "Anchorman" and "The 40-Year-Old Virgin", Apatow was still unable to sell both "Superbad" and "Pineapple Express"; it was only after he produced the commercial hit "Talladega Nights" that Sony Pictures Entertainment decided to produce both.
At this point, Rogen was unable to play the lead for "Superbad", as he had grown too old to play the part of Seth. Subsequently, he was cast in a supporting role as a police officer and friend Jonah Hill took his role as the high school student. Apatow credits Rogen for influencing him to make his work more "outrageously dirty."
In August 2007, "Superbad" opened at No. 1 in the box office to critical acclaim, taking in $33 million in its opening weekend. Industry insiders claimed Apatow was now a brand unto himself, creating movies geared toward older audiences, who would watch his movies even when the films delved into the teen genre.
Apatow served as producer and co-writer along with director Jake Kasdan for the biopic spoof "" starring John C. Reilly, Kristen Wiig and Jenna Fischer, which was released in December 2007. While the film received positive reviews, it did poorly commercially. In 2008, he served as producer for "Drillbit Taylor" starring Owen Wilson and Leslie Mann and written by Seth Rogen, which opened in March and earned negative reviews.
For the rest of 2008, Apatow produced the comedy films "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" starring Jason Segel and Kristen Bell; "Step Brothers", which reunites "Talladega Nights" co-stars Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly; and "Pineapple Express" starring Seth Rogen and James Franco, both of whom originally starred on "Freaks and Geeks". In addition, he served as co-writer for the Adam Sandler comedy film "You Don't Mess with the Zohan", which Sandler and Robert Smigel also co-wrote and went on to gross $199 million at the worldwide box office.
He tries to keep a low budget on his projects and usually makes his movies about the work itself rather than using big stars. After his success in film, he hired the entire writing staff from "Undeclared" to write movies for Apatow Productions. He never fires writers and he keeps them on projects through all stages of productions, known colloquially as "the comedy wheel." Apatow is not committed to any specific studio, but his projects are typically set up at Universal and Sony, and in 2009 "Variety" reported that Universal had signed him to a 3 picture directing deal. Apatow once vowed to include a penis in every one of his movies. He explained his position as, "I like movies that are, you know, uplifting and hopeful...and I like filth!"
2009–2015: "Funny People","This is 40", "Girls", and "Trainwreck".
In 2009, Apatow served as producer for the biblical comedy film "Year One"; the film was not well received. He also released his third directorial feature on July 31 that same year, titled "Funny People". Apatow wrote the film, which starred Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen as a pair of standup comedians, one of whom has a terminal illness. Other co-stars included his wife Leslie Mann and Eric Bana, who was a comedic actor in Australia before appearing in American films. The film contained more dramatic elements than Apatow's previous directorial efforts. Although the film was not financially successful (grossing $54 million domestically), the critical reception was primarily positive, with David Denby of "The New Yorker" magazine including the film on his top ten films of 2009, calling "Funny People" "a serious comedy about a funny man's brush with death" and stating that the film "is Apatow's richest, most complicated movie yet—a summing up of his feelings about comedy and its relation to the rest of existence." "New York Times" critic A.O. Scott, reflecting on summer films of 2009, opined that "Funny People" was "a movie about growing up, feeling sad, facing death—a long, serious film whose subject is the challenge of maturity. Which may be why, in the face of a softish opening weekend, various interpreters of box office data were quick to declare "Funny People" a flop. The summer is no time for grown-ups."
In 2010, Apatow served as producer on the "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" spin-off "Get Him to the Greek" with Russell Brand reprising his role and Jonah Hill returning from the original film, albeit as a different character. Released by Universal, the film did well at the box office, grossing more than 60 million dollars. In 2011, Apatow produced the most successful R-rated female comedy of all time, "Bridesmaids", which received Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actress (Melissa McCarthy) and Best Original Screenplay (Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig), as well as two Golden Globe Award nominations and two Screen Actors Guild Award nominations. "Bridesmaids" also won a Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Comedy Movie, a People's Choice Award for Favorite Comedy Movie and was named one of AFI's Movies of the Year. That same year, he produced "Girls" after seeing Lena Dunham's 2010 film "Tiny Furniture". In a January 2013 interview in "Fast Company", Apatow and Dunham discussed the creative process of working on the show, saying that "this type of show is an auteur's vision. It isn't collaborative in the same way as other shows. We are probably closer to "Curb Your Enthusiasm" than we are to something like "Friends"."
Apatow produced "Wanderlust" (2012), starring Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd as a married couple who leave New York City and live in a hippie commune. He also produced "The Five-Year Engagement" (2012), featuring Jason Segel and Emily Blunt as a couple who have a rocky five-year engagement.
Apatow's fourth directorial effort, the "Knocked Up" spin-off "This Is 40", was released by Universal Pictures on December 21, 2012, starring Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann as the characters Pete and Debbie (reprising their roles from "Knocked Up") and had original music by Graham Parker and The Rumour (who play themselves). The film received mostly positive reactions from critics, with "The New Yorker"s Richard Brody writing that "This Is 40" is "the stuff of life, and it flows like life, and, like life, it would be good for it to last longer."
In 2012, "Entertainment Weekly" reported that 22 years after writing an episode of "The Simpsons", Apatow's script ("Bart's New Friend") was being developed into an episode that would air in 2015. Apatow co-produced "", which was released December 18, 2013, with the plot focusing on "Ron Burgundy's struggle to find his place in the rise of new media and the 24-hour news cycle." Apatow produced "Begin Again" (2013), starring Keira Knightley who plays a singer-songwriter who is discovered by a struggling record label executive (played by Mark Ruffalo) and collaborates with him to produce an album recorded in public locations all over New York City. Writer-director John Carney first pitched the film in 2010 to Apatow, who produced the film alongside Tobin Armbrust and Anthony Bregman whose production company Exclusive Media financed the film's US$8 million budget.
Apatow's fifth directorial feature was the 2015 romantic comedy entitled "Trainwreck". Amy Schumer wrote and starred in the film as "a basket case who tries to rebuild her life" by attempting to commit to a serious relationship with a sports doctor (Bill Hader), after a string of one-night stands with different men. "The Atlantic"'s Christopher Orr opined that "this is a film that belongs not to its director but to its star, who, if there is any justice in the world, is about to ascend from cult icon to mass phenomenon." The film received an 85% on Rotten Tomatoes. Produced on a budget of $35 million, "Trainwreck" grossed $140.8 million worldwide.
In November 2017, Apatow returned to stand-up after a long hiatus to headline a show in New York City's Carnegie Hall called "Judd Apatow and Friends". He announced over Twitter that the show would benefit Everytown for Gun Safety, a non-profit organization founded by Michael Bloomberg which advocates for gun control and against gun violence.
2016–present: "Love", "Crashing", "The King of Staten Island".
In 2016, he created the Netflix television comedy series "Love", on which he also serves as a writer and executive producer. The series followed a young couple navigating the thrills and agonies of modern relationships, and ran on Netflix for three seasons. Later that year, HBO picked up "Crashing" a semi-autobiographical television series which follows Pete Holmes as he tries to become a stand-up comedian after his wife cheats on him. It's only with the help of other famous comedians (playing fictional versions of themselves) that Pete is able to learn the ropes of the stand-up comedy world. The series was created by and stars comedian Pete Holmes, and executive produced by Apatow. It was first reported in 2010 that Apatow would be producing a new Pee-Wee Herman film starring Paul Reubens that would be written by Rebuens and Paul Rust. The film, "Pee-wee's Big Holiday", was released by Netflix in March 2016.
Apatow made his first documentary piece in 2016, "Doc and Darryl", which documents the career and relationship of New York Mets players Dwight "Doc" Gooden and Darryl Strawberry. It aired as part of ESPN's series of sports documentaries "30 for 30" in July 2016.
In 2017, he produced the romantic comedy "The Big Sick". The film stars Kumail Nanjiani as himself, a stand-up comedian who comes from a Muslim Pakistani background and falls in love with an American woman, based on Nanjiani's real-life wife Emily V. Gordon. Produced on a budget of $5 million, it grossed $52.3 million worldwide. A "New York Times" review described the movie as "a joyous, generous-hearted romantic comedy that, even as it veers into difficult terrain, insists that we just need to keep on laughing" while revitalizing "the often moribund romantic comedy subgenre with a true story of love, death and the everyday comedy of being a 21st-century American". In 2018, the film was nominated for an Academy Award in the category of best Original Screenplay. Additionally it won Best Comedy at the Critics' Choice Awards and received an AFI Movies of the Year Award from the American Film Institute. The film also received two Screen Actors Guild nominations and a NAACP Image Award nomination. Apatow was nominated for the Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures award by the Producers Guild of America, alongside producing partner Barry Mendel.
Earlier that year, Apatow produced Chris Gethard's HBO comedy special Career Suicide, an hour and a half long monologue about Gethard's experience with depression, therapy and search for fulfillment. The program was described as being able to "articulate intense and often ineffable emotion" while still remaining "brazenly candid...and packed with great jokes." In a review for "The A.V. Club", Erik Adams wrote "There is a feeling that somewhere, somehow, someone is going to stumble-upon Career Suicide, and it's going to make them feel less alone."
Apatow also starred in his first stand-up special, "Judd Apatow: The Return", in December 2017. The special was recorded during the Just for Laughs comedy festival in Montreal, Canada the previous July and released through Netflix. Apatow also had a cameo role in "The Disaster Artist" (2017), which chronicles the making of the film "The Room". "The New Yorker" critic Richard Brody felt the role was a "reminder" that Apatow should play a lead in one of his own films. Along with documentarian Michael Bonfiglio, Apatow co-directed the documentary "May It Last: A Portrait Of The Avett Brothers", which chronicles the making of the titular band's album "True Sadness". It aired on HBO in January 2018 and later won the SXSW Audience Award at the SXSW film festival.
Later in 2018, he directed another HBO documentary, "The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling", exploring the life and legacy of comedian Garry Shandling, one of Apatow's idols and a close friend. After editing together video packages for Garry Shandling's memorial service, Apatow realized that the material was worthy of a full documentary. NPR's David Bianculi called the documentary, "a deeply affecting TV show about the meaning of life - right up there with the final TV interviews by mythologist Joseph Campbell and British TV writer Dennis Potter. In his comedy, Garry Shandling always was in pursuit of the truth and contemplating real life. With this two-part HBO special, he and Judd Apatow achieved that very beautifully one last time." In September 2018, Apatow took home the outstanding documentary or nonfiction special award at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards for his work on the documentary.
In June 2020, Apatow's 12th film "The King of Staten Island," co-written with and starring Pete Davidson, was to be released in theatres but due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic it was instead released to video on demand on the 12th of June to positive reviews from critics.
Criticism.
Treatment of LGBTQ people.
In 2007 "New York" magazine noted that former Apatow associate Mike White was "disenchanted" by Apatow's later films, "objecting to the treatment of women and gay men in Apatow's recent movies", saying of "Knocked Up": "At some point it starts feeling like comedy of the bullies, rather than the bullied." In Apatow's comedies, characters frequently use demeaning words against the LGBTQ community, words such as "tranny", and "faggot".
Accusation of sexism.
Actress Katherine Heigl said in 2007 that though she enjoyed working with Apatow on "Knocked Up", she found the film itself "a little sexist" and felt it "paints the women as shrews, as humorless and uptight, and it paints the men as lovable, goofy, fun-loving guys." Apatow responded, "I'm just shocked she [Heigl] used the word "shrew". I mean, what is this, the 1600s?" Apatow said the characters in the film "are sexist at times... but it's really about immature people who are afraid of women and relationships and learn to grow up."
In 2012, Alyssa Rosenberg of "ThinkProgress" praised Apatow for his "wonderfully refreshing" approach to women and comedy, quoting Apatow as saying, "I got bored of penises. I said, 'enough of that.' No, I just like immaturity, I like to show people struggle and try to figure out who they are. I'm a guy and so it leaned guy for a while. But one of the projects I'm most proud of is "Freaks and Geeks", which is about a woman in high school struggling to figure out which group she wants to belong to, so for me, it goes back and forth."
Personal life.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences rejected his first application for membership, even though he was sponsored by Academy Award-winning screenwriters Akiva Goldsman and Stephen Gaghan. Seth Rogen claimed Apatow "just wanted the free DVDs". He became a member in 2008.
Marriage and children.
Apatow met actress Leslie Mann on the set of the 1996 comedy film, "The Cable Guy", where he served as producer and she was cast as the girlfriend of Matthew Broderick's character. They were married on June 9, 1997 in Los Angeles, and have two daughters, Maude and Iris. Mann has appeared in "Freaks and Geeks", "The 40-Year-Old Virgin", "Knocked Up", "Drillbit Taylor", "Funny People", and "This Is 40". Both daughters appeared in "Knocked Up," "Funny People," and "This Is 40", as Leslie Mann's character's daughters, and Maude was nominated at the 34th Young Artist Awards for Best Performance in a Feature Film – Supporting Young Actress for "This Is 40".
Apatow and his family live in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles.
Philanthropy.
Apatow's philanthropic work includes supporting the literacy organization 826LA, the Bogart Pediatric Cancer Research Program, and Children's Cancer Research Center at Children's hospital. He edited the book "I Found This Funny" published by McSweeneys to benefit 826LA. Additionally, Apatow's book, "Sick in the Head", in which he interviews comedy icons such as Jerry Seinfeld and Jay Leno, benefitted the 826LA organization.
Judd has also received several high-profile awards for his advocacy and support of women in Hollywood, as well as victims of sexual assault. In 2015, he was honored by the Rape Treatment Foundation, who later released a statement on Apatow's contributions, describing him as "a powerful voice for the truths about rape and an advocate for respectful treatment of victims." Apatow has positioned himself at the forefront of the #MeToo and #TimesUp online movements, encouraging alleged victims to come forward while also criticizing people accused. Apatow had strong words for people like Bill Cosby and those who gave Cosby a platform to continue to perform and speak. He has been criticized for staying quiet about people accused within his own circles, such as James Franco, Garry Shandling and Lena Dunham.
In 2017, Apatow was awarded the ACLU Bill of Rights Award, for being "an outspoken and tireless advocate on behalf of women in the arts".
Apatow regularly performs stand-up at the Largo at the Coronet, a comedy venue in Los Angeles, as part of his Judd Apatow and Friends series. Guests have included Adam Sandler, Zach Galifianakis, Ryan Adams, Beck, David Spade, Garry Shandling and Jackson Browne. Each show benefits a charity of Apatow's choosing and past charities have included St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 826LA and Alzheimer's Association.
Awards.
In 1993, he was one of the writers awarded an Primetime Emmy Award for "Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program" for his work on "The Ben Stiller Show" at the 45th Primetime Emmy Awards.
During his work on the "Larry Sanders Show", Apatow was nominated for five Emmys, as well as a Critics' Choice Television Award. In 2007, he was nominated for a Grammy for co-writing the song "Walk Hard" (nominated for Best Song Written for Motion Picture). Apatow's work was also nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series at the 2012 and 2013 Primetime Emmys for "Girls" and was also nominated at the Critics' Choice Television Awards for "Girls". In 2012, Apatow received the Hollywood Comedy Award at the 16th annual Hollywood Film Awards presented by the Hollywood Film Festival. Additionally in 2012, Apatow was presented with the Herb Sargent Award for Comedy Excellence from the Writers Guild East.
In the 2013 Critics Choice Award Nominations from the Broadcast Film Critics Association, Apatow's film "This Is 40" was nominated for Best Comedy as were Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd for their performances in the film. On January 10, 2013, the Broadcast Film Critics Association awarded Apatow the Critics' Choice Louis XIII Genius Award named after a cognac. On October 3, 2013, The San Diego Film Festival awarded Apatow the esteemed Visionary Filmmaker Award. On May 12, 2013, the television show "Girls" won a BAFTA for Best International Program.
Apatow was nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay for his work on "The 40-Year-Old Virgin", a nomination also shared with Carell, and "Knocked Up".
In 2015, Apatow's film "Trainwreck" was nominated for 2 Golden Globe Awards, including a nomination for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, the first film directed by Apatow to achieve this feat. The film was also nominated for 3 Critics' Choice Movie Awards, including Best Comedy.
In 2016, Apatow was awarded the Generation Award at the Just for Laughs comedy festival in Montreal for his contributions to comedy.
In 2018, Apatow was nominated for the Darryl F. Zanuck Award at the Producers Guild Film Awards, alongside producing partner Barry Mendel. Later that year, "May It Last: A Portrait Of The Avett Brothers", which Apatow co-directed along with documentarian Michael Bonfiglio, won the SXSW Audience Award at the 2018 SXSW Film Festival.
Recurring collaborators.
Apatow has worked with a group of actors on an ongoing basis, including Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, and Jason Segel, and also tends to work with his close friends. He has frequently worked with producers Shauna Robertson and Barry Mendel. To date, Seth Rogen has been involved with eight of Apatow's projects, as an actor, writer, and/or producer. Apatow's wife Leslie Mann has starred in five, Will Ferrell has starred in five, Paul Rudd has starred in nine, Jonah Hill has starred in seven, and Jason Segel has starred in four (as well as written two). Apatow has produced four projects written by Adam McKay and Will Ferrell. "Saturday Night Live" and "Bridesmaids" star Kristen Wiig has appeared in five Apatow movies and, alongside Mann, is Apatow's main female collaborator.
Kristen Wiig, in a speech presenting Apatow with the Herb Sargent Award for Comedy Excellence in February 2012 said that he was an "incredible collaborator and supporter" In a 2011 interview with "Elle", television actress and writer Lena Dunham, who has collaborated often with Apatow said of his work, ""Knocked Up" is really about love. ... His movies are about people trying to get closer to themselves. He's the perfect match for a story about being 25, because that's all 25-year-olds are interested in. The other problems they encounter—money issues, conflicts at work—don't matter."
External links.


William Wadsworth Hodkinson

William Wadsworth Hodkinson (August 16, 1881 – June 2, 1971), known more commonly as W. W. Hodkinson, was born in Independence, Kansas. Known as "The Man Who Invented Hollywood", he opened one of the first movie theaters in Ogden, Utah in 1907 and within just a few years changed the way movies were produced, distributed, and exhibited. He became a leading West Coast film distributor in the early days of motion pictures and in 1912 he co-founded and became president of the first nationwide film distributor, Paramount Pictures Corporation. Hodkinson was also responsible for doodling the mountain that became the Paramount logo in 1914. After being driven out of Paramount, he established his own independent distribution company, the W. W. Hodkinson Corporation, in 1917, before selling it off in 1924. He left the motion picture business in 1929 to form Hodkinson Aviation Corporation, and later formed the Central American Aviation Corporation and Companía Nacional de Aviación in Guatemala.
Career.
As a young man, Hodkinson was a messenger with the Western Union Telegraph Company, and he worked for other companies as a messenger, callboy, telegrapher, and signal operator. In 1902, he was a trick bicycle rider and later became a salesman with ICS.
Film business.
Hodkinson opened one of the first movie theaters in Ogden, Utah in 1907 and charged five-cents a show. Two-years later, he was charging ten-cents admission and changing films twice weekly. With this successful strategy he was able to buy out his only two competitors as he expanded into Salt Lake City, Utah. Hodkinson then joined General Film Company and became one of the leading West Coast film distributors, expanding into Los Angeles and San Francisco.
On May 8, 1914, Hodkinson merged 11 film rental bureaus to create the first U.S.-wide distributor of feature films, Paramount Pictures. In addition to gaining a huge efficiency advantage over the previous regional "States' Rights" and "Road Show" systems of film distribution, Paramount introduced the concept of block-booking. This meant that exhibitors who wanted a particular movie had to buy a bundled package containing movies from all of the companies that signed exclusive rights agreements with Paramount, including Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Company, the Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Company, and others. Hodkinson's plan guaranteed exhibitors a steady supply of features because Paramount would help producers finance and advertise their pictures with advance rentals collected by the exchanges. In return, Paramount charged producers a distribution fee of 35 percent of gross to cover operating costs and profit. The 'Hodkinson System' of film distribution existed with few changes for almost a century.
Hodkinson first designed the Paramount logo in 1914. Legend has it that he doodled an image of a star-crested mountain on a napkin, clouds, and 27 stars. During a meeting with Adolph Zukor. It was an image of Utah's Ben Lomond Mountain in Ogden, Utah. According to a plaque in the Paramount Studios Lobby, Hollywood, CA this mountain, Ben Lomond, was inspired from his childhood memories, combined with the scripted word Paramount became the beginnings of the logo we know today.
In 1916, Famous Players-Lasky formed from the merger of Famous Players Film Company and the Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Company. The newly merged film studios acquired Paramount and became the parent company. Zukor soon fired Hodkinson and took over as president of Paramount and added motion-picture production to the company's film distribution business. Following his ouster, Hodkinson sold his Paramount interest to S.A. Lynch, one of Paramount's distribution franchise holders.
Hodkinson soon joined Raymond Pawley to start Superpictures Incorporated in November 1916, and was the producer for the Leon F. Douglass color feature film "Cupid Angling" (1918).
Hodkinson also served as president of the Triangle Distributing Company, the distribution arm of the Triangle Film Corporation. Hodkinson owned Triangle Distributing together with Pawley and his Paramount partner Lynch. After leaving Triangle, Hodkinson formed the W. W. Hodkinson Corporation, later reorganized as Producers Distributing Corporation (PDC). PDC lasted until 1929 and played an important role during Cecil B. DeMille's short-lived but ambitious plans as a full-fledged independent filmmaker in the late 1920s.
Commercial aviation.
Hodkinson left the motion picture business in 1929 to form an airplane manufacturing concern, Hodkinson Aviation Corporation. Soon thereafter Hodkinson joined with Roderick Burnham, the son of Frederick Russell Burnham, to form the Central American Aviation Corporation and Companía Nacional de Aviación in Guatemala. Ultimately, a series of accidents forced Hodkinson and his company out of Guatemala in 1936. Grupo TACA later acquired Compañia Nacional de Aviación, S.A. of Guatemala.


Albert Grossman

Albert Bernard Grossman (May 21, 1926 – January 25, 1986) was an American entrepreneur and manager in the American folk music scene and rock and roll. He was famous as the manager of many of the most popular and successful performers of folk and folk-rock music, including Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Peter, Paul and Mary, the Band, Odetta, Gordon Lightfoot and Ian & Sylvia.
Early life.
Albert Grossman was born in Chicago on May 21, 1926, the son of Russian Jewish immigrants who worked as tailors. He attended Lane Technical High School and graduated from Roosevelt University, Chicago, with a degree in economics.
Career.
After finishing college he worked for the Chicago Housing Authority, leaving in the late 1950s to go into the club business. Seeing folk star Bob Gibson perform at the Off Beat Room in 1956 prompted Grossman's idea of a 'listening room' to showcase Gibson and other talent, as the American folk-music revival movement grew. The result was the Gate of Horn in the basement of the Rice Hotel, where Jim (later Roger) McGuinn began his career as a 12-string guitarist. Grossman moved into managing some of the acts who appeared at his club — including an eighteen-year-old Joan Baez, who got her first major break with him — and in 1959 he joined forces with George Wein, who had founded the Newport Jazz Festival, to start up the Newport Folk Festival. At the first Newport Folk Festival, Grossman told "The New York Times" critic Robert Shelton: "The American public is like Sleeping Beauty, waiting to be kissed awake by the prince of folk music."
Because Grossman was committed to commercial success for his clients, and was frequently surrounded by socialist enthusiasts of the American folk-music revival, his manner could generate hostility. This hostility is illustrated by this description of Grossman's presence in the Greenwich Village folk scene by Dylan biographer and critic Michael Gray: "He was a pudgy man with derisive eyes, with a regular table at Gerde's Folk City from which he surveyed the scene in silence, and many people loathed him. In a milieu of New Left reformers and folkie idealists campaigning for a better world, Albert Grossman was a breadhead, seen to move serenely and with deadly purpose like a barracuda circling shoals of fish."
In 1961, Grossman put together Mary Travers, Noel Stookey, and Peter Yarrow as the folk group Peter, Paul and Mary. They quickly achieved success when their eponymous first album entered the Billboard Top Ten in 1962. The group had been avidly pursued by Atlantic Records, who were on the verge of signing them when the deal inexplicably fell through. The group signed with Warner Bros. Records instead and Atlantic's executives later discovered that it was because music publisher Artie Mogull had introduced Grossman to Warner executive Herman Starr, from whom Grossman was able to extract an unprecedented deal that gave the trio complete creative control over the recording and packaging of their music. Over the course of his career, Grossman's client list included Todd Rundgren, Odetta, Peter, Paul and Mary, John Lee Hooker, Ian and Sylvia, Phil Ochs (early in his career), Gordon Lightfoot, Richie Havens, The Pozo Seco Singers, The Band, the Electric Flag, Jesse Winchester, and Janis Joplin.
On August 20, 1962, Bob Dylan signed a contract which made Grossman his manager. Grossman also extended hospitality to Dylan at his home in Woodstock in upstate New York. Dylan liked the area so much he purchased a house there in 1965. The cover of Dylan's album "Bringing It All Back Home" was photographed at Grossman's home in Woodstock. The woman in the cover photo with Dylan, in the red trouser suit, was Grossman's wife, Sally. Having returned to Woodstock at the end of his 1966 World Tour, Dylan was on his way home from Grossman's house in West Saugerties when he suffered the motorcycle accident that precipitated his eight-year withdrawal from touring.
When managing both Bob Dylan and Peter, Paul and Mary, Grossman brought the trio Dylan's song "Blowin' in the Wind" which they promptly recorded (on a single take) and successfully released.
In his autobiography, "", Dylan describes first encountering Grossman at the Gaslight cafe: "He looked like Sydney Greenstreet from the film "The Maltese Falcon", had an enormous presence, always dressed in a conventional suit and tie, and he sat at his corner table. Usually when he talked, his voice was loud like the booming of war drums. He didn't talk so much as growl."
When Bob Dylan was about to perform at the Isle of Wight Festival in August 1969, English critic Michael Gray asked Grossman about the rumor that The Beatles might appear on-stage with Dylan. Grossman replied, sotto voce: "Of course the Beatles would like to join Bob Dylan on stage. I should like to fly to the moon." The contracts between Dylan and Grossman were officially dissolved on July 17, 1970, prompted by Dylan's earlier realization that Grossman had taken 50% of his song publishing rights in a hastily-signed contract.
When Grossman signed Janis Joplin and her four bandmates from Big Brother and the Holding Company in 1967, he told them he would not tolerate any intravenous drug use, and all five agreed to abide by the rule. When he discovered, in the spring of 1969, that Joplin was injecting drugs anyway, he did not confront her. Instead, in June 1969 he took out a life insurance policy guaranteeing him $200,000 in the event she died in an accident. His yearly premium was $3,500.
On October 4, 1970, two-and-a-half months after Grossman was dealt a blow by the dissolution of his contracts with Dylan, his most famous remaining client, Janis Joplin, died suddenly from a heroin overdose. Grossman refused to speak about her death to journalists or colleagues in the music business, leaving his employee Myra Friedman to handle the phone calls that flooded their office. According to Joplin biographer Ellis Amburn, Grossman's "feelings about the loss of his most valuable client are not known." What is known is that in 1974, by which time his only living clients were the members of The Band, he kept busy with Joplin's legacy. The San Francisco Associated Indemnity Corporation challenged him on his collection of $200,000 from his life insurance policy, which led to a bizarre civil trial in the spring of that year, covered by the "New York Post", in which the insurer tried to prove that the singer's death was a suicide, not an accidental overdose as had been determined by Dr. Thomas Noguchi. Grossman testified that he had never known the extent of Joplin's substance abuse when she was alive, and that he secured the accidental death policy "with air crashes in mind." He won the case and collected $112,000. In 1974 he also assisted Howard Alk with the creation of the feature-length documentary "Janis", locating and using black and white film footage in which the singer says she is satisfied with Grossman as her manager.
In 1969, Grossman established the Bearsville Recording Studio near Woodstock, and in 1970 he founded Bearsville Records, which evolved from his brief partnership with the Ampex company to establish a record label of the same name. Although that venture was short-lived - Todd Rundgren's debut solo album "Runt" was one of its few successful releases - this soon led to the establishment of Grossman's own Bearsville Records label, which was originally distributed through Ampex, and then by Warner Bros. Records. April 1972, Grossman attended a launch party in London hosted by Kinney (WEA), set to distribute the Bearsville label in the UK, with initial album releases by Todd Rundgren, Lazarus and Foghat.
In addition to Rundgren's solo recordings and those of his band Utopia, the label also recorded acts including Jesse Winchester, Foghat, Gil Evans, Paul Butterfield, Sparks, Felix Cavaliere, Randy Vanwarmer, Lazarus, Jesse Frederick, Roger Powell, NRBQ and The dB's. When Michael Friedman joined the Grossman office he brought Todd Rundgren with him and signed Rundgren to a management contract with Grossman. This was soon after leaving his original group Nazz and during the early 1970s he worked extensively on record production projects, either for the Bearsville label or for Grossman's other clients. It was Grossman who recommended Rundgren to Robbie Robertson of The Band as the engineer on an album by Jesse Winchester, which in turn led to Rundgren working on The Band's third LP "Stage Fright". Rundgren also worked briefly on the early "Pearl" sessions with Janis Joplin, but these came to nothing and the project was subsequently taken over by Paul A. Rothchild. Joplin's Rundgren-produced recording of the song "One Night Stand" from March 28, 1970 stayed in a vault for more than a decade then became part of her posthumous "Farewell Song" album.
The Bearsville label continued into the early 1980s, folding in 1984, two years before Grossman's death. Bearsville Studios became Todd Rundgren's recording base through the late 1970s and 1980s and was used by a slew of top-line American and international acts.
Management style.
Grossman had a reputation for aggressiveness in both his method of acquiring clients and the handling their careers. That aggression was based in large measure on Grossman's faith in his own aesthetic judgments. Grossman charged his clients 25 percent commission (industry standards were 15 percent). He is quoted as saying, "Every time you talk to me you're ten percent smarter than before. So I just add ten percent on to what all the dummies charge for nothing."
In negotiations, one of Grossman's favorite techniques was silence. Musician manager Charlie Rothschild said of Grossman, "He would simply stare at you and say nothing. He wouldn't volunteer any information, and that would drive people crazy. They would keep talking to fill the void, and say anything. He had a remarkable gift for tipping the balance of power in his favor."
Grossman sometimes appeared treacherously devoted to his clients' satisfaction. While wooing Joan Baez into representation, Grossman is quoted as saying, "Look, what do you like? Just tell me what do you like? I can get it for you. I can get anything you want. Who do you want? Just tell me. I'll get you anybody you want."
In film.
In the documentary film chronicling Dylan's 1965 tour of the United Kingdom, "Dont Look Back", Grossman can be seen constantly protecting his client, sometimes aggressively confronting people he thinks are disrespectful to Dylan. In one memorable scene, he works with musical entrepreneur Tito Burns to extract a good price for Dylan's appearance on BBC One television. The director of "Dont Look Back", D. A. Pennebaker, said of Grossman's management tactics, "I think Albert was one of the few people that saw Dylan's worth very early on, and played it absolutely without equivocation or any kind of compromise."
There are two interesting comments on Grossman in Martin Scorsese's film "No Direction Home". One is Dylan's: "He was kind of like a Colonel Tom Parker figure... all immaculately dressed, every time you see him. You could smell him coming." The other is John Cohen's: "I don't think Albert manipulated Bob, because Bob was weirder than Albert."
In the 2007 Bob Dylan biopic "I'm Not There", Grossman was represented as the fictitious character Norman, played by Mark Camacho. In the film, Norman makes many of the remarks spoken by Grossman in "Dont Look Back", at one point saying to an English hotel manager, "And you, sir, are one of the dumbest assholes and most stupid persons I've ever spoken to in my life". He was also briefly portrayed as the manager of the fictional Bob Dylan (Hayden Christensen as Billy Quinn) in the 2006 film "Factory Girl".
In the 2013 Film "Inside Llewyn Davis" by the Coen brothers, F. Murray Abraham portrays a fictional character named Bud Grossman, who owns The Gate of Horn folk club in Chicago, the same name as Albert Grossman's Chicago club. In the film, fictional folk singer Llewyn Davis (played by Oscar Isaac) auditions for Bud Grossman, who replies: "I don't see a lot of money here." This comment refers to the experience of Dave Van Ronk, who recounted a similar audition for Grossman, who then asked: "Do you know who works here? Big Bill Broonzy works here. Josh White works here... Now tell me why I should hire you?" After this comment, Grossman offers Davis a part in a band he is about to put together, consisting of two guys and a girl, which one journalist notes is "a reference to Peter, Paul, and Mary, the trio that Albert Grossman put together in 1961—ultimately choosing Noel Paul Stookey as the third member of the group, rather than Van Ronk, whom he also considered." Davis turns down the offer.
Personal life.
Grossman died of a heart attack on January 25, 1986, while flying on the Concorde, aged 59. He was en route to London and was planning to make a trip to Cannes, France to attend a music convention. He is buried behind his own Bearsville Theater near Woodstock, New York.


Nick Manoloff

Nick Manoloff (1898-1969) was a manufacturer of steels/tone bars for stringed instruments to use for the method of steel guitar, an arranger and author of instrument method books and sheet music, and a distributor of musical supplies and publications.
Early life.
Nick Manoloff was born Nicola Manoloff on April 3, 1898, in Bulgaria. He immigrated to the east coast of the United States in 1922. In 1935, he established residency in Chicago, Illinois, with his wife Bernice (1909-?), who had immigrated to America from Latvia/Yugoslavia. They had a son, Nicki Manoloff, born in Chicago in 1937, and two daughters, Bernice and Denna.
Venture into business.
Manufacturing.
Manoloff invented the Nick Manoloff Tone Bar. He was granted a patent (#2073331) on March 9, 1937. The tone bar or steel was made of the revolutionary synthetic material known as bakelite. Bakelite (/ˈbeɪkəlaɪt/ BAY-kə-lyt, sometimes spelled Baekelite[3]), or polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride, is an early plastic. It is a thermosetting phenol formaldehyde resin, formed from an elimination reaction of phenol with formaldehyde. It was developed by Belgian-born chemist Leo Baekeland in New York in 1907. These slides were 2.75" in length, 0.75" in diameter, round on the tip end and flat on the other with inscription, "Nick Manoloff Pat. 2076331." They were in an array of colors such as solid black or white marbleized/swirl: red and white; green and white; jade green and white; chocolate and white; and red and black. He made slides of several styles and sizes of metal, usually of high polished chrome, with the inscription of his name "NICK MANOLOFF". He designed steels and accessories for the dobro, Hawaiian guitar, resonator guitar, Spanish guitar, resonator mandolin, lap steel guitar, and pedal steel guitar.
Publishing.
In the early 1930s, Nick and Bernice were musical arrangers, eventually forming the Calumet Music Publishing Company. For many publications, Nick and Bernice arranged songs, music, and instructional methods for stringed instruments such as the guitar, dobro, and ukulele—particularly for music played with a slide. Over 180 works by Nick appeared in over 253 publications. An example was the method book "Nick Manoloff's Complete Chord and Harmony Manual for the Guitar". Bernice arranged many, including books ("The Bee"). They largely specialized in Hawaiian, folk and cowboy songs, Russian music, and standards.
Sales.
Nick and Bernice Manoloff formed a distributing business called Manoloff's Musical Supply at 7018 S. Ashland Avenue, Chicago. Until 1968, the business employed four men and three women. They sold slides, metal thumb and finger picks (etched with Manoloff's name), capos, flat picks, sheet music, and books.
Death.
Nick Manoloff died in Los Angeles, California, in 1969.


Simon Kornblit

Simon Kornblit (August 1, 1933 – July 2, 2010) was a Belgian-born American studio executive and actor. Kornblit worked as the Executive Vice President of worldwide marketing for Universal Pictures before pursuing an acting career during retirement.
Early life and education.
Simon Kornblit was born to a Jewish family in Antwerp, Belgium, on August 1, 1933. His father, Nathan Kornblit, was a diamond cutter originally from Poland, while his mother, Sonia, was Russian. Kornblit fled the country with his parents and sister, Dora, in 1940, just months before the invasion of Belgium by Nazi Germany. The family escaped to the United States in a cargo ship.
Kornblit settled with his family in New York City, where he graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1951.
Career.
Kornblit began his career in marketing and advertising by working in the mailroom at DDB Worldwide in New York as a summer job in high school. DDB (Doyle Dane Bernbach) had less than 20 employees when Kornblit joined the company, where he would work for 35 years. Kornblit simultaneously attended the School of Commerce and Management at New York University while at DDB. He temporarily left DDB to enlist in the United States Army during the Korean War.
He was gradually promoted within DDB. Kornblit was responsible for managing such advertising accounts as American Tourister's "The Gorilla with the Suitcase" commercial early in his career. He later decided to relocate from New York City to the DDB Worldwide offices in Los Angeles to be closer to his main clients in the entertainment industry, 20th Century Fox and Universal Pictures. He would ultimately become Executive Vice President and general manager of DDB Worldwide in Los Angeles. Kornblit headed the advertising campaign for 20th Century Fox launch of "Star Wars" in 1977.
Kornblit left DDB and joined Universal Pictures in 1987. He oversaw the marketing campaigns for the releases of more than 100 films for Universal Pictures from 1987 until 1993, including "Field of Dreams" (1989), "Fried Green Tomatoes" (1994) and "Jurassic Park" (1993). Kornblit was named a voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the Academy Awards for his work.
Later life.
Kornblit retired from Universal Pictures in 1993. He moved with his wife, Bobbi, to Atlanta in 1994, following the Northridge earthquake to be closer to family in the Southeast. The couple ultimately settled in Sandy Springs, Georgia.
Kornblit quickly became involved with the arts and entertainment industries in Atlanta. He co-founded and developed Kennesaw State University's film institute, also serving as its director from 2001 until 2003. He was a member of the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival's executive committee and co-chaired the High Museum of Art's photo forum. He also served on the board of governors for the Atlanta chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Kornblit also lectured as a guest professor of film marketing at Georgia State University and the Goizueta Business School at Emory University.
Kornblit decided to become an actor during his early-70s. He trained under Steve Coulter and other Atlanta area acting coaches. He was able to get a talent agent after just six weeks of study. Kornblit landed roles in local community theater productions, independent films and television pilots.
Personal life.
Simon Kornblit died of acute myeloid leukemia at his home in Sandy Springs on July 2, 2010, at the age of 76.


Daniel Hart Donoghue

Daniel Hart Donoghue is an American actor, screenwriter and director. Donoghue was born in Holyoke, Massachusetts and moved to Lowell, Massachusetts at the age of four where he lived with his parents, Daniel and Kathleen, and one brother, Brian. He is of Irish descent. Donoghue attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the University of Limerick, Ireland where he studied literature and writing. In his twenties, Donoghue was an English Teacher on the reservation of the Jicarilla Apache Nation, in Dulce, New Mexico and then at Lowell High School in his hometown of Lowell, Massachusetts. In his thirties, Donoghue began a career as a stage actor and writer. His first feature film screenplay, Bridie's Bind, which is based on Donoghue's award winning short film screenplay originally titled Gunmetal Rose, was well received critically, with numerous accolades including semifinal placement in the Nicholl Fellowship competition, and is scheduled for production in 2019 under its original title Gunmetal Rose.


Frank Batten

Frank Batten (February 11, 1927 – September 10, 2009) was a co-founder of the first nationwide, 24-hour cable weather channel, The Weather Channel. His media company, Landmark Media Enterprises, once owned nine daily newspapers, more than 50 weekly newspapers, television stations in Las Vegas and Nashville, and a national chain of classified advertising publications.
Batten assumed leadership in 1954 of two newspapers, "The Virginian-Pilot" and "The Ledger-Star" in Norfolk, Virginia, parlaying those papers into a media conglomerate by acquiring other newspapers, radio stations, and television stations and establishing a cable outlet as well as the national cable weather channel. Until 2008, the company, Landmark Communications, now Landmark Media Enterprises, was one of the country’s largest privately held media companies.
Batten sold TeleCable (a multi-system cable TV company) in 1995 to TCI for $1 billion and the Weather Channel in 2008 to NBC Universal and two private equity firms for nearly $3.5 billion.
Batten served as chairman of the Associated Press from 1982 to 1987.
Early life.
Batten was born on February 11, 1927 to Frank Batten, a bank auditor, and Dorothy Martin Batten, the daughter of a wealthy Norfolk family. After the death of his father the following year, Batten and his mother moved in with his aunt and uncle, Fay and Samuel L. Slover. A Jewish native of Tennessee, Slover had taken ownership of a newspaper in Newport News, Virginia, which he sold in 1907 to buy what would become the "Norfolk Ledger-Dispatch". Themselves childless, the Slovers raised young Frank as their own son.
Batten attended the Culver Academies, a boarding school in Indiana, to graduate in 1945 and later attend the United States Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, New York. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia, where he was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity. He then received his MBA from Harvard in 1952.
"The Virginian-Pilot".
Batten professionalized the newspaper he inherited in 1954 at age 27, and went on to acquire the "Portsmouth Star", which he later merged with the "Ledger-Dispatch" to form the "Ledger-Star". During his early days as publisher of "The Virginian-Pilot", Batten championed desegregation, a position not often taken in the state of Virginia during the 1950s; Virginia, like much of the American South, was undergoing deep resistance to the movement. In 1960 "The Virginian-Pilot" received a Pulitzer Prize for articles written in support of racial desegregation.
Media acquisitions.
In 1965, Batten acquired "The Greensboro Daily News" and "The Greensboro Record", adding "The Roanoke Times" in 1969. Together with "The Virginian-Pilot", these papers made up the core of the Landmark Publishing business. Under Landmark Publishing many other papers were started and acquired, including dailies, weeklies, community papers, and military papers across the southern and western parts of the United States.
Birth of The Weather Channel.
When John Coleman, former WLS-TV Chicago chief meteorologist and "Good Morning America" forecaster, suggested creating a 24-hour cable weather station, the idea confirmed what Batten had learned at "The Virginian-Pilot", that readers prioritized weather information as a primary reason for purchasing the daily paper.
The Weather Channel debuted on May 2, 1982, after 10 months in development. Although initially criticized, The Weather Channel ultimately thrived and expanded to include its sister web site, Weather.com, which receives more than 300 million visits per month.
In 2002, on its 20th anniversary, Batten co-authored "The Weather Channel: The Improbable Rise of a Media Phenomenon", recounting the creation of The Weather Channel.
Philanthropy.
Batten became the first Rector of Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, served on the boards of the College of William and Mary and Hollins University, and served as Vice Chairman of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.
His gifts to schools and institutions include $32 million to the Harvard Business School, $60 million to the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia, $32 million to Old Dominion University, and various scholarships, such as the Batten Scholarship at the Culver Academies. On April 12, 2007, Batten made a gift of $100 million to the University of Virginia, the largest gift in the University's history, to establish the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, and in 2006, $2 million to Hollins University.
Batten donated to the Norfolk Academy, for the school's library, as well as to the City of Norfolk for a new downtown library.
In 2009, he also started the $50 million Batten Challenge at the Culver Academies, where he would match every dollar donated to the school during 2009-2010 with a dollar of his own.
Personal life.
Batten lived in Virginia Beach, Virginia with his wife Jane Parke Batten. They had two daughters, Mary Elizabeth and Dorothy, and son Frank Batten, Jr., who succeeded his father as Chairman and CEO of Landmark Communications on January 1, 1998, and has been leading Sunday night Bible study group at Tabernacle Church of Norfolk.
In 2007, Batten was listed as the 190th richest person in the United States, according to Forbes 400, with a net worth of approximately $2.3 billion.
Batten owned one of the Chesapeake Bay's largest racing yachts, the "Shadow".


Ron Fair

Ronald Fair is an American A&R executive, record producer, record executive, musical arranger, recording engineer and conductor. In a career that has spanned over 30 years at major record labels he has produced and arranged hits for several artists, but he is best known as a "guru/mentor", guiding the careers of unknown artists. Among the artists he has mentored are Christina Aguilera, Vanessa Carlton, Keyshia Cole, The Black Eyed Peas and Fergie, and the Pussycat Dolls.
Career.
Early career.
Fair was born in Los Angeles, California, United States. Fair's childhood played an important role in his eventual career direction, saying in an interview with HitQuarters,
"My grandfather was a broadcaster who had built a remote facility for the purpose of producing a daily radio broadcast. Ever since I was two years old I was around microphones and consoles." During his childhood Fair was actively encouraged to pursue this career path, receiving various music tuition and being encouraged to take on the job training in multi-track recording. By the time he was 17 years old he was, in his words, "Very skilled with microphone technique and able to make a pretty convincing sounding recording." Fair's first job in the music industry was a short stint in the mailroom of Far Out Productions, in September 1979. Far Out Productions was the production company headed by Jerry Goldstein and Steve Gold, and produced albums by, most notably, War and Tanya Tucker.
Fair taught "recording production" at the University of Sound Arts in Hollywood while at the same time developing a reputation as a motion picture musical soundtrack coordinator, with the multi-platinum successes of "Pretty Woman" and "Reality Bites". In addition, during the early 1980s Fair worked as a recording engineer on such projects as the Slayer album "Hell Awaits".
A&R career.
During his career, Fair has produced multiple number one singles on the pop and R&B charts, including “Lady Marmalade” (Christina, Pink, Mýa, Lil' Kim), “Be Without You” (Mary J. Blige), “One” (Mary J. Blige & U2), “Big Yellow Taxi” (Counting Crows), “A Thousand Miles” (Vanessa Carlton), and “Where Is the Love?” (Black Eyed Peas). He was also the executive producer of “Beautiful” (Christina Aguilera), “Big Girls Don’t Cry” (Fergie), “Let’s Get It Started” (Black Eyed Peas), and many other hits. He was nominated for 6 Grammy awards and his recordings have won several Grammy awards, including those of Christina Aguilera, The Black Eyed Peas, Mary J. Blige and Queen Latifah.
In 2009, Fair engineered Lady Gaga's single “Speechless,” from her platinum album "The Fame Monster". That year he also collaborated with Indian film composer A.R. Rahman to produce an English version of "Jai Ho", the hit song from the film "Slumdog Millionaire". Currently, Fair is set to produce UK artist Matt Goss’ new album.
Fair held the position of Chairman at Geffen Records until joining Virgin Records. Prior to running Geffen Records, Fair was President of A&M Records for five years, and held senior A & R positions at RCA Records, Chrysalis Records, EMI Records, and Island Records-London.
In 2013, Fair was named the new Chief Creative Officer and Executive Vice President of Virgin Records. In his current position, he is in charge of rebuilding the recently struggling label. After a year with the company, he left Virgin Records in October 2014.
Fair is a celebrity judge on the Canadian television talent program "Cover Me Canada".
On January 30, 2015, it was announced that Fair had signed on to Executive Produce TLC's fifth and final studio album.
Personal life.
Ron Fair married singer-songwriter Stefanie Ridel, a member of the teen girl group Wild Orchid, on September 4, 2001. They have four children together. Fair enjoys gardening and has notably climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. Ron was previously married to Andrea Fair.
Discography.
Notable Productions
Filmography.
Film and television


Steve Anderson (director)

Steve Anderson is an American film director, writer, and producer. After graduating with an undergraduate degree from Nazareth College in Rochester, New York, he gained experience as a television cameraman. He made documentary films for PBS, and won a Peabody Award for "Safe Haven" in 1987. He moved to Los Angeles, California in 1989 and worked for CNN.
Anderson made his feature film directorial debut in 2003 with "The Big Empty" starring Daryl Hannah and Jon Favreau. He directed the documentary film "Fuck", which features commentary by a variety of individuals, including Kevin Smith, Steven Bochco, Janeane Garofalo, Bill Maher, Drew Carey, and Alanis Morissette.
Early life and education.
Anderson was raised in Pittsford, New York. He received an undergraduate degree from Nazareth College in Rochester, New York. He worked as a cameraman for WXXI-TV.
Career.
Steve Anderson gained experience in filmmaking while directing documentary films for PBS. One of these productions for PBS titled "Safe Haven" earned him recognition with a Peabody Award in 1987. In 1989, Anderson moved to Los Angeles, California. He worked for CNN in California.
Anderson made his feature film directorial debut in 2003 with the film "The Big Empty" starting Daryl Hannah and Jon Favreau.
He directed the documentary film "Fuck", which features commentary by a variety of individuals, including Kevin Smith, Steven Bochco, Janeane Garofalo, Chuck D., Ron Jeremy, Bill Maher, Michael Medved, Alan Keyes, Judith Martin, Drew Carey, Alanis Morissette, Ice-T, Pat Boone, and Billy Connolly.


Kevin Makely

Kevin Makely is an American actor and producer.
Early life and education.
Makely was a 1992 graduate of Roy C. Ketcham High School in Wappinger Falls in Dutchess County, New York State.
Career.
In 2019 Makely produced and starred in Lee’s Badland as a Pinkerton detective tracking down Confederate soldiers with things to hide, in a cast that included Academy Award winner Mira Sorvino and multiple nominee Bruce Dern. Badland had success, after a small cinema release in November 2019, on streaming platform Netflix spending time in their top 10 most watched, peaking at number 3.
Makely portrays legendary professional wrestler Randy Savage in the television series Young Rock, which is based on the early life of Dwayne Johnson.


Tony Khan

Antony Rafiq Khan (born October 10, 1982) is an American businessman and sports executive known for his involvement in American Football, professional wrestling, and soccer. He is a co-owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL) and Fulham F.C. of the English Premier League (EPL). Khan is also the founder, co-owner, president, and CEO of the All Elite Wrestling (AEW) promotion.
Tony is the son of billionaire Shahid Khan, who purchased the Jaguars in 2011 and Fulham in 2013.
Early life.
Tony Khan was born on October 10, 1982, in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. His father is Pakistani-American billionaire Shahid Khan and his mother is Ann Carlson Khan. He also has a sister Shanna Khan. Tony graduated from the University Laboratory High School in 2001, and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2007 with a Bachelor of Science degree in finance.
Business ventures.
American football and soccer.
Jacksonville Jaguars.
Khan joined the Jacksonville Jaguars as co-owner in July 2012, and currently serves as Senior Vice President of Football Technology & Analytics.
Fulham F.C..
On February 22, 2017, Khan was named as co-owner and Vice Chairman/Director of Football Operations of Fulham F.C. He oversees the identification, evaluation, recruitment, and signing of players for Fulham. Khan assumed these responsibilities following a period of advising the football operations at the club, particularly in the areas of analytics and research. In 2020, Khan was called a "clown" by Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher for tweeting critical comments of Fulham players, and described the transfer history of Khan as "a right mess". Khan's comments angered manager Scott Parker, who described the situation as "the world we live in". Fulham were relegated at the end of the season.
Professional wrestling.
All Elite Wrestling.
In late 2018, Khan, who is a lifelong avid fan of professional wrestling, filed for several trademarks for a new venture that was shortly thereafter confirmed to be a new professional wrestling promotion, All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Khan and his father, auto parts billionaire Shahid Khan, are the promotion's lead investors. The company was officially announced on January 1, 2019, along with its first event, Double or Nothing, which took place on May 25, 2019, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Khan serves as President and CEO of AEW.
On April 25, 2019, Khan revealed the five year plan for AEW where he stated:
The 5-year plan for AEW is firstly, to have built up a brand, secondly to have built up a roster and thirdly, to have established AEW as a top brand in wrestling for an audience who desire fast-paced exciting action and want a product that is more of a sporting based product.
Other business ventures.
Khan is also the owner and chairman of TruMedia Networks, a Boston-based engineering firm specializing in innovative sports analytics solutions for leagues, franchises, and media partners across the athletic industry.
Along with TruMedia Networks, Khan and his family also helped fund Activist Artists Management, a talent management and advisory firm founded in 2018. Khan made a significant investment in the firm, and separately established the Activist content and venture fund focused on investments in media, entertainment, hospitality as well as consumer products, services and technologies.


Larry Miller (sports executive)

Larry G. Miller is an American business executive for Nike, Inc. He spent five years as the team president of the Portland Trail Blazers in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Education.
Miller earned a bachelor's degree in accounting from Temple University in 1982, and an MBA from La Salle University in 1985. He graduated from the Urban League Leadership Institute in 1987.
Early career.
Miller served as President, Executive Vice President and Controller for Jantzen, Inc. and was a Manager for Kraft Foods, Assistant Controller at Philadelphia Newspapers, Inc. and held various positions with Campbell Soup Company. In 1997, he was hired by Nike Inc., serving as vice president and general manager of Nike Basketball, where he was responsible for managing day-to-day operations of Jordan Brand, Nike Basketball and Converse. From 1999 to 2006, he served as the President of Jordan Brand.
Trail Blazers.
In 2007, Miller was hired as President of the Portland Trail Blazers, replacing interim president Tod Leiweke. Under Miller's management, the Trail Blazers have positioned themselves to make a respectable run at an NBA title. Portland has recorded three consecutive trips to the postseason while riding a streak of 159 consecutive sellouts dating back to December 21, 2007.
Also during his tenure, the Trail Blazers have made significant strides to becoming a leader in sustainability among professional sports franchises. The team's home arena, the Rose Garden, became the first existing arena in the world to attain LEED Gold Certification. The Trail Blazers are one of the six founding members of the Green Sports Alliance, which now boasts over 80 teams, leagues and venues. Portland hosted the inaugural Green Sports Summit in August, 2011. Larry Miller resigned on July 7, 2012 as President of the Portland Trail Blazers to return to his previous role as President of the Jordan Brand.
Personal.
Miller lives in Portland, Oregon and also serves on the board of directors for Self Enhancement Inc. ("SEI"), the Oregon Business Council, Oregon Sports Authority, is a member of the Portland Mayor's Economic Development Cabinet, the NBA's Team Advisory Committee, and the NBA's Labor Relations Committee.