Brad Grey
Encyclopedia
Brad Alan Grey is the Chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures
, a position he has held since 2005. Under Grey’s leadership, Paramount has finished No.2 in market share in 2008, 2009 and 2010 despite releasing significantly fewer films than its competitors.
Since arriving at Paramount in 2005, Chairman and CEO Brad Grey has led a return to fortune at the box office. He has overseen the creation or revitalization of several major franchises, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
, Star Trek, and Paranormal Activity, which was made for $15,000 and generated $192 million at the global box office.
Paranormal Activity 2
grossed $177 million worldwide, and the third installment in the franchise is scheduled for release in October 2011.
Paramount has also forged productive relationships with top-tier filmmakers and talent including J.J. Abrams, Michael Bay
and Martin Scorsese
.
The 2010 Paramount slate achieved much success with Shutter Island
and True Grit
reaching the biggest box office totals in the storied careers of Martin Scorsese and the Coen Brothers
, respectively. In addition, during Grey's tenure, Paramount launched its own worldwide releasing arm, Paramount Pictures International , and has released acclaimed films such as An Inconvenient Truth
, Up in the Air
, and There Will Be Blood
. The success of Paranormal Activity also led to the creation of a low-budget releasing label Insurge Pictures, which released Never Say Never:Justin Bieber, which has collected nearly $100 million in worldwide box office revenue.
Grey is also American film and television producer, partnered with actor/producer Brad Pitt
in the production company Plan B.
of Paramount Pictures Corporation. Grey was named CEO in 2005. In his position, Grey is responsible for overseeing all feature film
development and production for films distributed by Paramount Pictures Corporation including Paramount Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics, MTV Films and Nickelodeon Movies
. He is also responsible for the worldwide business operations for Paramount Pictures International, Paramount Famous Productions, Paramount Home Entertainment
, Paramount Digital Entertainment, Studio Group and Worldwide Television Distribution.
Among the commercial and critical hit films Paramount has produced and/or distributed Grey's tenure are the Transformers and Iron Man franchises, Star Trek, How To Train Your Dragon
, Shrek the Third
, Mission: Impossible III
, An Inconvenient Truth
, There Will Be Blood
, No Country For Old Men
, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
, Babel
, Shutter Island
, Up In The Air
, The Fighter
and True Grit
.
Since he became Chairman and CEO of Paramount, the studio's films have been nominated for dozens of Academy Awards, including 20 in 2011.
In 2002, Grey formed Plan B
with Brad Pitt
and Jennifer Aniston
, with a first-look deal
at Warner Bros. The company produced two movies for Warner Bros: Tim Burton
's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (film)
with Johnny Depp
, and Martin Scorsese
's The Departed
, starring Leonardo DiCaprio
, Matt Damon
, and Jack Nicholson
. After Pitt and Aniston separated, Grey and Pitt moved the company to Paramount Pictures in 2005.
Previously, for 20 years, Grey was partner of the talent management
company Brillstein-Grey Entertainment
,one of the industry's elite organizations, regarded by Forbes as "Hollywood's most successful management and production firm", there he produced some of the most popular and most honored series on television, including the Emmy Award
-winning hit, The Sopranos
, The Wayne Brady Show
Several high profile and successful shows were developed in the 1990s under the Brillstein-Grey banner:
In 1996, Brillstein sold his shares of the Brillstein-Grey company to Grey, giving Grey full rein over operations; the company's television unit was subsequently rechristened "Brad Grey Television". Grey also ventured into film by producing the Adam Sandler
hit, Happy Gilmore
.
Grey is a multiple Golden Globe, BAFTA, PGA and Emmy Award winner, as well as a four-time recipient of the George Foster Peabody Award.
salesman. He majored in business and communications at the University of Buffalo
. While attending the university, he became a gofer
for a young Harvey Weinstein
, who was then a concert promoter
. The first show Grey produced (at age twenty) was a concert by Frank Sinatra
at Buffalo's War Memorial Auditorium
in 1978. Grey traveled to Manhattan
on weekends to look for young comics
at The Improv
. Grey brought comedian Bob Saget
to New York, thus making Saget his first client.
Grey's career took off in 1984, when he met talent manager Bernie Brillstein
in San Francisco, California
at a television convention
. Having convinced Brillstein that he could deliver fresh talent, he was taken on as a partner and the Bernie Brillstein Company was re-christened Brillstein-Grey Entertainment
. Grey began producing
for television in 1986 with the Showtime hit, It's Garry Shandling's Show
. In the late 1990s, Shandling sued Grey for breach of duties and related claims. Shandling complained that his TV show lost its best writers and producers when Brad Grey got them deals to do other projects, and that Grey commissioned these other deals, while Shandling did not benefit from them. Mr. Grey denied the allegations and countersued, saying the comedian breached his contract on the Sanders show by failing to produce some episodes and indiscriminately dismissing writers, among other actions. Both suits were settled avoiding a trial. Shandling did testify about Grey during the 2008 trial of private investigator Anthony Pellicano
who worked on Grey’s defense team. The value of the settlement to Shandling was later disputed by attorneys as being either $4 million or $10 million.
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
, a position he has held since 2005. Under Grey’s leadership, Paramount has finished No.2 in market share in 2008, 2009 and 2010 despite releasing significantly fewer films than its competitors.
Since arriving at Paramount in 2005, Chairman and CEO Brad Grey has led a return to fortune at the box office. He has overseen the creation or revitalization of several major franchises, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is a 2009 American science fiction-action film directed by Michael Bay and produced by Steven Spielberg. It is the sequel to the 2007 film Transformers and the second installment in the live-action Transformers series...
, Star Trek, and Paranormal Activity, which was made for $15,000 and generated $192 million at the global box office.
Paranormal Activity 2
Paranormal Activity 2
Paranormal Activity 2 is a 2010 American supernatural horror film directed by Tod Williams and written by Michael R. Perry. The film is a parallel prequel to the 2007 film Paranormal Activity, beginning two months before and following up with the events depicted in the original film...
grossed $177 million worldwide, and the third installment in the franchise is scheduled for release in October 2011.
Paramount has also forged productive relationships with top-tier filmmakers and talent including J.J. Abrams, Michael Bay
Michael Bay
Michael Benjamin Bay is an American film director and producer. He is known for directing high-budget action films characterized by their fast edits, stylistic visuals and substantial practical special effects...
and Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
.
The 2010 Paramount slate achieved much success with Shutter Island
Shutter Island
Shutter Island is a best-selling novel by Dennis Lehane, published by Harper Collins in April 2003. A film adaptation was released in February 2010. Lehane has said he sought to write a novel that would be an homage to Gothic settings, B movies, and pulp. He described the novel as a hybrid of the...
and True Grit
True Grit
True Grit is a 1969 American Western film written by Marguerite Roberts and directed by Henry Hathaway. It is the first adaptation of Charles Portis' 1968 novel True Grit. John Wayne stars as U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn and won his only Academy Award for his performance in this film...
reaching the biggest box office totals in the storied careers of Martin Scorsese and the Coen Brothers
Coen Brothers
Joel David Coen and Ethan Jesse Coen known together professionally as the Coen brothers, are American filmmakers...
, respectively. In addition, during Grey's tenure, Paramount launched its own worldwide releasing arm, Paramount Pictures International , and has released acclaimed films such as An Inconvenient Truth
An Inconvenient Truth
An Inconvenient Truth is a 2006 documentary film directed by Davis Guggenheim about former United States Vice President Al Gore's campaign to educate citizens about global warming via a comprehensive slide show that, by his own estimate, he has given more than a thousand times.Premiering at the...
, Up in the Air
Up in the Air
Up in the Air is a 2001 novel by American author Walter Kirn. It was later adapted into the 2009 feature film Up in the Air, starring George Clooney.-Plot summary:...
, and There Will Be Blood
There Will Be Blood
There Will Be Blood is a 2007 drama film written, co-produced, and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. The film is based on Upton Sinclair's 1927 novel Oil!. It tells the story of a silver miner-turned-oilman on a ruthless quest for wealth during Southern California's oil boom of the late 19th and...
. The success of Paranormal Activity also led to the creation of a low-budget releasing label Insurge Pictures, which released Never Say Never:Justin Bieber, which has collected nearly $100 million in worldwide box office revenue.
Grey is also American film and television producer, partnered with actor/producer Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt
William Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...
in the production company Plan B.
Work history
Brad Grey is currently Chairman and Chief Executive OfficerChief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
of Paramount Pictures Corporation. Grey was named CEO in 2005. In his position, Grey is responsible for overseeing all feature film
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
development and production for films distributed by Paramount Pictures Corporation including Paramount Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics, MTV Films and Nickelodeon Movies
Nickelodeon Movies
Nickelodeon Movies is the motion picture production arm of children's cable channel Nickelodeon, originally launched in 1995. Its first film was Harriet the Spy. It has produced films based on Nickelodeon programs, as well as other adaptations and original projects...
. He is also responsible for the worldwide business operations for Paramount Pictures International, Paramount Famous Productions, Paramount Home Entertainment
Paramount Home Entertainment
Paramount Home Entertainment is the division of Paramount Pictures dealing with home video founded in late 1975.-History:...
, Paramount Digital Entertainment, Studio Group and Worldwide Television Distribution.
Among the commercial and critical hit films Paramount has produced and/or distributed Grey's tenure are the Transformers and Iron Man franchises, Star Trek, How To Train Your Dragon
How to Train Your Dragon
How to Train Your Dragon is a series of nine books set in a fictional Viking world. The books were published starting in 2003 as children's novels written by British author Cressida Cowell and published by Hodder Children's Books...
, Shrek the Third
Shrek the Third
Shrek the Third is a 2007 American animated film, and the third film in the Shrek series. It was produced by Jeffrey Katzenberg for DreamWorks Animation, and is distributed by Paramount Pictures. It was released in U.S. theaters on May 18, 2007...
, Mission: Impossible III
Mission: Impossible III
Mission: Impossible III is a 2006 spy film, the third based on the spy-themed television series Mission: Impossible starring Tom Cruise who reprises his role of IMF agent Ethan Hunt....
, An Inconvenient Truth
An Inconvenient Truth
An Inconvenient Truth is a 2006 documentary film directed by Davis Guggenheim about former United States Vice President Al Gore's campaign to educate citizens about global warming via a comprehensive slide show that, by his own estimate, he has given more than a thousand times.Premiering at the...
, There Will Be Blood
There Will Be Blood
There Will Be Blood is a 2007 drama film written, co-produced, and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. The film is based on Upton Sinclair's 1927 novel Oil!. It tells the story of a silver miner-turned-oilman on a ruthless quest for wealth during Southern California's oil boom of the late 19th and...
, No Country For Old Men
No Country for Old Men
No Country for Old Men is a 2005 novel by U.S. author Cormac McCarthy. Set along the United States–Mexico border in 1980, the story concerns an illicit drug deal gone wrong in a remote desert location. The title comes from the poem "Sailing to Byzantium" by William Butler Yeats...
, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" is a short story written by F. Scott Fitzgerald and first published in Colliers Magazine on May 27, 1922. It was subsequently anthologized in his book, Tales of the Jazz Age, which is occasionally published as The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Other Jazz...
, Babel
Babel
Babel is the name used in the Hebrew Bible for the city of Babylon.Babel may also refer to:-People:*Isaak Babel, Soviet journalist, playwright, and short story writer*Ryan Babel, Dutch footballer*Markus Babbel, German footballer-Places:...
, Shutter Island
Shutter Island
Shutter Island is a best-selling novel by Dennis Lehane, published by Harper Collins in April 2003. A film adaptation was released in February 2010. Lehane has said he sought to write a novel that would be an homage to Gothic settings, B movies, and pulp. He described the novel as a hybrid of the...
, Up In The Air
Up in the Air
Up in the Air is a 2001 novel by American author Walter Kirn. It was later adapted into the 2009 feature film Up in the Air, starring George Clooney.-Plot summary:...
, The Fighter
The Fighter
The Fighter is a 2010 biographical sports drama film directed by David O. Russell, and starring Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Melissa Leo and Amy Adams. The film centers on the life of professional boxer "Irish" Micky Ward and his older half-brother Dicky Eklund . The film also stars Amy Adams as...
and True Grit
True Grit
True Grit is a 1969 American Western film written by Marguerite Roberts and directed by Henry Hathaway. It is the first adaptation of Charles Portis' 1968 novel True Grit. John Wayne stars as U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn and won his only Academy Award for his performance in this film...
.
Since he became Chairman and CEO of Paramount, the studio's films have been nominated for dozens of Academy Awards, including 20 in 2011.
In 2002, Grey formed Plan B
Plan B Entertainment
Plan B Entertainment is a film production company founded by Brad Pitt, Brad Grey, and Jennifer Aniston. In 2006, Pitt became the sole owner; the company currently holds a release deal with Paramount Pictures, along with Warner Bros...
with Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt
William Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...
and Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Joanna Aniston is an American actress, film director, and producer, best known for her role as Rachel Green on the television sitcom Friends, a role which earned her an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.Aniston has also enjoyed a successful film career,...
, with a first-look deal
First look deal
A first look deal is an arrangement, usually in the film industry, where either a company or in some cases an individual enters into a commercial agreement with a studio under which they must allow the studio the right of first refusal in relation to developing and/or producing a project the...
at Warner Bros. The company produced two movies for Warner Bros: Tim Burton
Tim Burton
Timothy William "Tim" Burton is an American film director, film producer, writer and artist. He is famous for dark, quirky-themed movies such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet...
's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (film)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (film)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a 2005 film adaptation of the 1964 book of the same name by Roald Dahl. The film was directed by Tim Burton. The film stars Freddie Highmore as Charlie Bucket and Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka...
with Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...
, and Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
's The Departed
The Departed
The Departed is a 2006 American crime thriller film, fashioned as a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs. The film was directed by Martin Scorsese and written by William Monahan...
, starring Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio is an American actor and film producer. He has received many awards, including a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his performance in The Aviator , and has been nominated by the Academy Awards, Screen Actors Guild and the British Academy of Film and Television...
, Matt Damon
Matt Damon
Matthew Paige "Matt" Damon is an American actor, screenwriter, and philanthropist whose career was launched following the success of the film Good Will Hunting , from a screenplay he co-wrote with friend Ben Affleck...
, and Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson
John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the...
. After Pitt and Aniston separated, Grey and Pitt moved the company to Paramount Pictures in 2005.
Previously, for 20 years, Grey was partner of the talent management
Talent management
Talent management refers to the skills of attracting highly skilled workers, of integrating new workers, and developing and retaining current workers to meet current and future business objectives. Talent management in this context does not refer to the management of entertainers...
company Brillstein-Grey Entertainment
Brillstein-Grey Entertainment
Brillstein Entertainment Partners is a talent management film and television production company formed by the 1991 addition of Brad Grey to The Brillstein Company, founded by Bernie Brillstein in 1969.-The Brillstein Company:Bernie Brillstein formed The Brillstein Company in 1969...
,one of the industry's elite organizations, regarded by Forbes as "Hollywood's most successful management and production firm", there he produced some of the most popular and most honored series on television, including the Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
-winning hit, The Sopranos
The Sopranos
The Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads...
, The Wayne Brady Show
The Wayne Brady Show
The Wayne Brady Show was a variety show hosted by Wayne Brady that originally ran from August 8, 2001 to March 11, 2002 on ABC. Due to low ratings, the show was cancelled by ABC and reformatted into a daytime variety talk show for syndication...
Several high profile and successful shows were developed in the 1990s under the Brillstein-Grey banner:
- CBSCBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
: Good SportsGood SportsGood Sports is an American sitcom that aired on the CBS network in 1991, starring Farrah Fawcett and Ryan O'Neal.-Synopsis:The show features the two main characters, Bobby Tannen, a once-famous former football player gone to seed and Gayle Roberts, an ex-Miss America , as mismatched anchors on an... - HBO: The Larry Sanders ShowThe Larry Sanders ShowThe Larry Sanders Show is a satirical television sitcom that aired from August 1992 to May 1998 on the HBO cable television network in the United States. It starred stand-up comedian Garry Shandling as vain, neurotic talk show host Larry Sanders, and centered on the running of his TV show, and the...
, Mr. ShowMr. ShowMr. Show with Bob and David is an American sketch comedy series featuring former Saturday Night Live writer/actor Bob Odenkirk and stand up comedian/actor David Cross...
, Real Time with Bill MaherReal Time with Bill MaherReal Time with Bill Maher is a talk show that airs weekly on HBO, hosted by comedian and political satirist Bill Maher. Much like his previous show, Politically Incorrect on ABC , Real Time features a panel of guests that discuss current events in politics and the media...
, and The SopranosThe SopranosThe Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads... - NBCNBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
: NewsRadioNewsRadioNewsRadio is an American television situation comedy that aired on NBC from 1995 to 1999. The series was created by executive producer Paul Simms, and was filmed in front of a studio audience at CBS Studio Center and Sunset Gower Studios...
, Just Shoot Me!Just Shoot Me!Just Shoot Me! is an American television sitcom that aired for seven seasons on NBC from March 4, 1997 to August 16, 2003, with 148 episodes produced. The show was created by Steven Levitan, the show's executive producer.-Description:...
In 1996, Brillstein sold his shares of the Brillstein-Grey company to Grey, giving Grey full rein over operations; the company's television unit was subsequently rechristened "Brad Grey Television". Grey also ventured into film by producing the Adam Sandler
Adam Sandler
Adam Richard Sandler is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, musician, and film producer.After becoming a Saturday Night Live cast member, Sandler went on to star in several Hollywood feature films that grossed over $100 million at the box office...
hit, Happy Gilmore
Happy Gilmore
Happy Gilmore is a 1996 sports comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan and produced by Robert Simonds for Universal Studios. It stars Adam Sandler as the title character, an unsuccessful ice hockey player who discovers a talent for golf. The screenplay was written by Sandler and Tim Herlihy...
.
Grey is a multiple Golden Globe, BAFTA, PGA and Emmy Award winner, as well as a four-time recipient of the George Foster Peabody Award.
Early life
Grey was born in the Bronx, the youngest child of a garment districtGarment District, Manhattan
The Garment District, also known as the Garment Center, the Fashion District, or the Fashion Center, is a neighborhood located in the Manhattan borough of New York City. The dense concentration of fashion-related uses give the neighborhood, which is generally considered to span between Fifth Avenue...
salesman. He majored in business and communications at the University of Buffalo
University at Buffalo, The State University of New York
University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, also commonly known as the University at Buffalo or UB, is a public research university and a "University Center" in the State University of New York system. The university was founded by Millard Fillmore in 1846. UB has multiple campuses...
. While attending the university, he became a gofer
Gofer
A gofer or go-fer is an employee who is often sent on errands. "Gofer" reflects the likelihood of instructions to go for coffee, dry cleaning, or stamps, or to make other straightforward or familiar procurements. The term gofer originated in North America...
for a young Harvey Weinstein
Harvey Weinstein
Harvey Weinstein, CBE is an American film producer and movie studio chairman. He is best known as co-founder of Miramax Films. He and his brother Bob have been co-chairmen of The Weinstein Company, their film production company, since 2005...
, who was then a concert promoter
Promoter (entertainment)
An entertainment promoter i.e. music, wrestling, boxing etc is a person or company in the business of marketing and promoting live events such as concerts/gigs, boxing matches, sports entertainment , festivals, raves, and nightclubs.- Business model :Promoters are typically hired as independent...
. The first show Grey produced (at age twenty) was a concert by Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
at Buffalo's War Memorial Auditorium
War Memorial Auditorium
The War Memorial Auditorium is a 1,661-seat performance hall located in Nashville, Tennessee. It is located across the street from, and is governed by, the Tennessee Performing Arts Center, and is also adjacent to the Tennessee State Capitol.- History :...
in 1978. Grey traveled to Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
on weekends to look for young comics
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
at The Improv
The Improv
The Improv is a comedy club franchise. Originally, it was a single venue founded in 1963 by Budd Friedman and located in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York City on West 44th near the SE corner of 9th Ave. A second location was opened in 1974 at 8162 Melrose Avenue in the Fairfax District...
. Grey brought comedian Bob Saget
Bob Saget
Robert Lane "Bob" Saget is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and television host. Although he is best known for his roles as Danny Tanner in Full House, host of America's Funniest Home Videos and Future Ted Mosby on How I Met Your Mother, Saget is also known outside of television for his blue...
to New York, thus making Saget his first client.
Grey's career took off in 1984, when he met talent manager Bernie Brillstein
Bernie Brillstein
Bernard J. "Bernie" Brillstein was an American film and television producer, executive producer and talent agent.-Life and career:...
in San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
at a television convention
Convention (meeting)
A convention, in the sense of a meeting, is a gathering of individuals who meet at an arranged place and time in order to discuss or engage in some common interest. The most common conventions are based upon industry, profession, and fandom...
. Having convinced Brillstein that he could deliver fresh talent, he was taken on as a partner and the Bernie Brillstein Company was re-christened Brillstein-Grey Entertainment
Brillstein-Grey Entertainment
Brillstein Entertainment Partners is a talent management film and television production company formed by the 1991 addition of Brad Grey to The Brillstein Company, founded by Bernie Brillstein in 1969.-The Brillstein Company:Bernie Brillstein formed The Brillstein Company in 1969...
. Grey began producing
Television producer
The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...
for television in 1986 with the Showtime hit, It's Garry Shandling's Show
It's Garry Shandling's Show
It's Garry Shandling's Show is an American sitcom which was initially broadcast on Showtime from 1986 to 1990. It was created by Garry Shandling and Alan Zweibel. The show is notable for its frequent use of breaking the fourth wall to allow characters to speak directly to the audience...
. In the late 1990s, Shandling sued Grey for breach of duties and related claims. Shandling complained that his TV show lost its best writers and producers when Brad Grey got them deals to do other projects, and that Grey commissioned these other deals, while Shandling did not benefit from them. Mr. Grey denied the allegations and countersued, saying the comedian breached his contract on the Sanders show by failing to produce some episodes and indiscriminately dismissing writers, among other actions. Both suits were settled avoiding a trial. Shandling did testify about Grey during the 2008 trial of private investigator Anthony Pellicano
Anthony Pellicano
Anthony Pellicano is a former high-profile Los Angeles private investigator who recently served a sentence of three and a half years in federal prison for illegal possession of explosives, firearms and homemade grenades, and who was arrested on February 4, 2006, on unlawful wiretapping and...
who worked on Grey’s defense team. The value of the settlement to Shandling was later disputed by attorneys as being either $4 million or $10 million.
Awards
| Award | Year | Work | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emmy Emmy Award An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various... |
2004 | The Sopranos The Sopranos The Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads... |
Outstanding Drama Series |
| Emmy | 2007 | The Sopranos | Outstanding Drama Series |
| Golden Globe Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign... |
2000 | The Sopranos | Best Television Series – Drama |
| Golden Globe | 2001 | The Sopranos | Best Television Series – Drama |
| Golden Globe | 2002 | The Sopranos | Best Television Series – Drama |
| Peabody Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards recognize distinguished and meritorious public service by radio and television stations, networks, producing organizations and individuals. In 1939, the National Association of Broadcasters formed a committee to recognize outstanding achievement in radio broadcasting... |
1993 | The Larry Sanders Show The Larry Sanders Show The Larry Sanders Show is a satirical television sitcom that aired from August 1992 to May 1998 on the HBO cable television network in the United States. It starred stand-up comedian Garry Shandling as vain, neurotic talk show host Larry Sanders, and centered on the running of his TV show, and the... |
|
| Peabody | 1998 | The Larry Sanders Show | |
| Peabody | 1999 | The Sopranos | |
| Peabody | 2000 | The Sopranos | |
| PGA | 2005 | The Sopranos | Norman Felton Producer of the Year – Episodic Norman Felton Norman Felton is a British-born American television producer, best known for his involvement in shows such as The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and Dr. Kildare, both on NBC.-Background:... |
| PGA | 2008 | The Sopranos | Norman Felton Producer of the Year – Episodic |
Philanthropy
Grey received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from SUNY during a visit to Buffalo and UB in 2003. Grey’s current and former Board appointments include:- UCLA's Executive Board for the Medical Sciences
- USC School of Cinema-Television Board of Councilors
- Board of Directors for Project A.L.S.
- NYU's Tisch School of the Arts