Eric Manes
Encyclopedia
Eric Manes is a writer
and producer
in the film
and television
industry. As a producer, Manes made the groundbreaking documentary
Voices of Iraq
.
cameras to hundreds of Iraqis in the midst of war. The Iraqis in turn interviewed thousands of their compatriots. Within six months, the film was finished, marketed, and distributed for theatrical release in the United States
. Because of its unparalleled intimacy and access to Iraqis, the footage was featured on This Week
with George Stephanopoulos
. Manes guided Voices of Iraq through its worldwide release and festival
circuit, bringing it to Edinburgh
, Melbourne
, Locarno
, and South Korea
.
Previously, Manes produced the $40 million 3000 Miles to Graceland
(starring Kevin Costner
, Kurt Russell
, Christian Slater
and Courteney Cox
) for Warner Bros.
, the indie
comedy Phat Beach
(with "Entourage
” creator Doug Ellin
and starring Coolio
) and the horror film Campfire Tales
(starring Amy Smart
and Ron Livingston
) for New Line Cinema
, which he also wrote. For CBS
, he has created and executive produced television pilots with Academy Award winning producer Mark Johnson
. In 2000, Manes convinced MTV
to gamble on a reality show where contestants film themselves while completing challenges in the world’s most haunted locations. The result was MTV's Fear
, MTV’s second highest rated show in 2000 and 2001, which Manes created and executive produced.
Prior to this, Manes founded a post-production facility that American Cinematographer
magazine noted for its innovative use of inexpensive, cutting edge, post-production technology to finish indie films.
In 2011, DirecTV
, Technicolor
, and Panasonic
got together to finance an experimental 3D film for Manes to produce and shoot on Panasonic’s new 3D camera systems. DirecTV
will distribute the 3D film internationally.
Born in New York City
, he is a founding member of Booya Studios with Martin Kunert
. He studied business and film at New York University
, is a member of the Writers Guild of America
.
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
and producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
in the film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
industry. As a producer, Manes made the groundbreaking documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
Voices of Iraq
Voices of Iraq
Voices of Iraq is a 2004 documentary film about Iraq, created by distributing cameras to the subjects of a film, thus enabling subjects to film themselves...
.
Biography
For Voices of Iraq, Manes arranged to funnel digital videoDigital video
Digital video is a type of digital recording system that works by using a digital rather than an analog video signal.The terms camera, video camera, and camcorder are used interchangeably in this article.- History :...
cameras to hundreds of Iraqis in the midst of war. The Iraqis in turn interviewed thousands of their compatriots. Within six months, the film was finished, marketed, and distributed for theatrical release in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Because of its unparalleled intimacy and access to Iraqis, the footage was featured on This Week
This Week (ABC TV series)
This Week is ABC's Sunday morning political affairs program.The Sunday morning talk show has aired on Sunday mornings on ABC since 1981; the program is initially aired at 9:00 AM ET, although many stations air the program later, especially those in other time zones...
with George Stephanopoulos
George Stephanopoulos
George Robert Stephanopoulos is an American television journalist and a former political advisor.Stephanopoulos is most well known as the chief political correspondent for ABC News – the news division of the broadcast television network ABC – and a co-anchor of ABC News's morning news...
. Manes guided Voices of Iraq through its worldwide release and festival
Film festival
A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...
circuit, bringing it to Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Locarno
Locarno
Locarno is the capital of the Locarno district, located on the northern tip of Lake Maggiore in the Swiss canton of Ticino, close to Ascona at the foot of the Alps. It has a population of about 15,000...
, and South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
.
Previously, Manes produced the $40 million 3000 Miles to Graceland
3000 Miles to Graceland
3000 Miles to Graceland is a 2001 American crime film, starring Kurt Russell, Kevin Costner, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Bokeem Woodbine, Christian Slater, and Kevin Pollak. It is a story of theft and betrayal, revolving around a plot to rob the Riviera Casino during a convention of Elvis...
(starring Kevin Costner
Kevin Costner
Kevin Michael Costner is an American actor, singer, musician, producer, director, and businessman. He has been nominated for three BAFTA Awards, won two Academy Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards. Costner's roles include Lt. John J...
, Kurt Russell
Kurt Russell
Kurt Vogel Russell is an American television and film actor. His first acting roles were as a child in television series, including a lead role in the Western series The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters...
, Christian Slater
Christian Slater
Christian Michael Leonard Slater is an American actor. He made his film debut with a small role in The Postman Always Rings Twice before playing a leading role in the 1985 film The Legend of Billie Jean...
and Courteney Cox
Courteney Cox
Courteney Bass Cox is an American actress, she is best known for her roles as Monica Geller on the NBC sitcom Friends, Gale Weathers in the horror series Scream and as Jules Cobb in the ABC sitcom Cougar Town, for which she earned her first Golden Globe nomination....
) for Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
, the indie
Independent film
An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...
comedy Phat Beach
Phat Beach
Phat Beach is a 1996 American comedy film, written and directed by Doug Ellin, which stars Jermaine 'Huggy' Hopkins, Coolio and Brian Hooks.-Plot:...
(with "Entourage
Entourage (TV series)
Entourage is an American comedy-drama television series that premiered on HBO on July 18, 2004 and concluded on September 11, 2011, after eight seasons...
” creator Doug Ellin
Doug Ellin
Douglas Reed Ellin is the creator of the HBO television series Entourage. Ellin also serves as executive producer and head writer for the series. He attended Tulane University.-Life and career:...
and starring Coolio
Coolio
Artis Leon Ivey Jr. , better known by the stage name Coolio, is an American musician, rapper, actor and record producer.-Late 80s:He recorded two singles in the late 80s, titled "Watcha Gonna Do" and "You're Gonna Miss Me"...
) and the horror film Campfire Tales
Campfire Tales
Campfire Tales is a horror film written and directed by William Cooke and Paul Talbot. The film is an anthology about a group of teenagers telling ghost stories around a campfire. One of the storytellers is horror legend Gunnar Hansen...
(starring Amy Smart
Amy Smart
Amy Lysle Smart is an American television and film actress and former fashion model.-Early life:Smart was born in Topanga, California. Her mother, Judy Lysle , worked at a museum, and her father, John Boden Smart, was a salesman...
and Ron Livingston
Ron Livingston
Ronald Joseph "Ron" Livingston is an American film and television actor. His roles include a disaffected corporate employee in the film Office Space, a sardonic writer in a short-term relationship with Carrie Bradshaw in the TV show Sex and the City, and Captain Lewis Nixon in the miniseries...
) for New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema, often simply referred to as New Line, is an American film studio. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne as a film distributor, later becoming an independent film studio. It became a subsidiary of Time Warner in 1996 and was merged with larger sister studio Warner...
, which he also wrote. For CBS
CBS
CBS 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...
, he has created and executive produced television pilots with Academy Award winning producer Mark Johnson
Mark Johnson (producer)
Mark Johnson is an American film producer. Johnson won the Best Picture Academy Award for producing the 1988 drama movie Rain Man, starring Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise...
. In 2000, Manes convinced MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
to gamble on a reality show where contestants film themselves while completing challenges in the world’s most haunted locations. The result was MTV's Fear
MTV's Fear
MTV's Fear is an American paranormal reality television series that originally aired from 2000 to 2002 on MTV. The program follows a group of 5 or more contestants being left at an allegedly haunted location and led them on a series of dares over two nights to explore and confirm whether or not the...
, MTV’s second highest rated show in 2000 and 2001, which Manes created and executive produced.
Prior to this, Manes founded a post-production facility that American Cinematographer
American Cinematographer
American Cinematographer is a monthly magazine published by the American Society of Cinematographers.American Cinematographer focuses on the art and craft of cinematography, going behind the scenes on domestic and international productions of all shapes and sizes...
magazine noted for its innovative use of inexpensive, cutting edge, post-production technology to finish indie films.
In 2011, DirecTV
DirecTV
DirecTV is an American direct broadcast satellite service provider and broadcaster based in El Segundo, California. Its satellite service, launched on June 17, 1994, transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States, Latin America, and the Anglophone Caribbean. ...
, Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
, and Panasonic
Panasonic
Panasonic is an international brand name for Japanese electric products manufacturer Panasonic Corporation, which was formerly known as Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd...
got together to finance an experimental 3D film for Manes to produce and shoot on Panasonic’s new 3D camera systems. DirecTV
DirecTV
DirecTV is an American direct broadcast satellite service provider and broadcaster based in El Segundo, California. Its satellite service, launched on June 17, 1994, transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States, Latin America, and the Anglophone Caribbean. ...
will distribute the 3D film internationally.
Born in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, he is a founding member of Booya Studios with Martin Kunert
Martin Kunert
Martin Kunert is a founding partner of Booya Studios and a feature film and television writer, director and producer. In 2004, Kunert conceived and directed the critically acclaimed documentary Voices of Iraq, made by sending 150 DV cameras to Iraqis to film their own lives...
. He studied business and film at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
, is a member of the Writers Guild of America
Writers Guild of America, East
Writers Guild of America, East is a labor union representing writers of television and film and employees of television and radio news. The 2006 membership of the guild was 3,770....
.
Selected filmography
| Year | Project | Credit | Studio/Network |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Misney Makes Them Pay | creator, executive producer | Booya Studios |
| 2011 | Ripper Ripper Ripper may refer to:* Jack the Ripper, a pseudonym given to an unidentified serial killer active in the largely impoverished Whitechapel area and adjacent districts of London in the latter half of 1888... |
writer, producer | Booya Studios, DirecTV, Panasonic |
| 2008 | Witch Doctor Witch Doctor "Witch Doctor" is a song written and performed by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr., and released in 1958 by Liberty Records under the name David Seville, a character whom Bagdasarian portrayed.-Song information:... |
writer, executive producer | ABC Studios |
| 2008 | Miracle Chasers | writer, executive producer | Columbia Tristar |
| 2005 | Dodging Bullets | writer | Warner Bros. |
| 2004 2004 in film The year 2004 in film involved some significant events. Major releases of sequels took place. It included blockbuster films like Shrek 2, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Passion of the Christ, Meet the Fockers, Blade: Trinity, Spider-Man 2, Alien vs. Predator, Kill Bill Vol... |
Voices of Iraq Voices of Iraq Voices of Iraq is a 2004 documentary film about Iraq, created by distributing cameras to the subjects of a film, thus enabling subjects to film themselves... |
producer | Magnolia Pictures |
| 2002 | The Mayor | creator, executive producer | Columbia Tristar |
| 2003 | CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs is an American television drama series produced by MGM Studios that originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to July 17, 1983. CHiPs followed the lives of two motorcycle police officers of the California Highway Patrol... |
writer, executive producer | Warner Bros. |
| 2002 | Catch | writer, executive producer | CBS |
| 2002 | Beautiful People | writer, executive producer | USA Networks |
| 2001 | HRT HRT -Medical:* Habit reversal training* Heart rate turbulence* Hormone replacement therapy , for women* Hormone replacement therapy , for men* Hormone replacement therapy , for trans women... |
writer, executive producer | CBS, Columbia TriStar |
| 2001 | Inside Fear | creator, executive producer | MTV |
| 2001 | Faces of Fear Faces of Fear The Faces of Fear was the professional wrestling tag team of Sione Vailahi and Uliuli Fifita. Vailahi wrestled as The Barbarian, and Fifita wrestled as Haku in the World Wrestling Federation and Meng in World Championship Wrestling . They appeared together several times in the WWF as part of The... |
creator, executive producer | MTV |
| 2000 | MTV's Fear MTV's Fear MTV's Fear is an American paranormal reality television series that originally aired from 2000 to 2002 on MTV. The program follows a group of 5 or more contestants being left at an allegedly haunted location and led them on a series of dares over two nights to explore and confirm whether or not the... |
creator, executive producer | MTV |
| 2000 2000 in film The year 2000 in film involved some significant events.The top grosser worldwide was Mission: Impossible II. Domestically in North America, Gladiator won the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Actor .... |
3000 Miles to Graceland 3000 Miles to Graceland 3000 Miles to Graceland is a 2001 American crime film, starring Kurt Russell, Kevin Costner, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Bokeem Woodbine, Christian Slater, and Kevin Pollak. It is a story of theft and betrayal, revolving around a plot to rob the Riviera Casino during a convention of Elvis... |
writer, producer | Warner Bros. |
| 1998 | They Come at Night | producer | indie |
| 1997 | Campfire Tales Campfire Tales Campfire Tales is a horror film written and directed by William Cooke and Paul Talbot. The film is an anthology about a group of teenagers telling ghost stories around a campfire. One of the storytellers is horror legend Gunnar Hansen... |
writer, producer | New Line Cinema |
| 1997 | Lowball Lowball Lowball is an early type of railway signal indicating danger/stop. The ball signal was a light or indicator suspended from a rope, that could move upwards and downwards, held by a weighted ball... |
producer | Cinequinon |
| 1996 | Phat Beach Phat Beach Phat Beach is a 1996 American comedy film, written and directed by Doug Ellin, which stars Jermaine 'Huggy' Hopkins, Coolio and Brian Hooks.-Plot:... |
producer | Orion Pictures |
| 1995 | Where Do Planes Sleep? | producer | Indie |
See also
- History of FilmHistory of filmThe history of film is the historical development of the medium known variously as cinema, motion pictures, film, or the movies.The history of film spans over 100 years, from the latter part of the 19th century to the present day...
- Documentary FilmDocumentary filmDocumentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
- Reality TelevisionReality televisionReality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
- Voices of IraqVoices of IraqVoices of Iraq is a 2004 documentary film about Iraq, created by distributing cameras to the subjects of a film, thus enabling subjects to film themselves...
- MTV's FearMTV's FearMTV's Fear is an American paranormal reality television series that originally aired from 2000 to 2002 on MTV. The program follows a group of 5 or more contestants being left at an allegedly haunted location and led them on a series of dares over two nights to explore and confirm whether or not the...
- Campfire TalesCampfire TalesCampfire Tales is a horror film written and directed by William Cooke and Paul Talbot. The film is an anthology about a group of teenagers telling ghost stories around a campfire. One of the storytellers is horror legend Gunnar Hansen...
- 3000 Miles to Graceland3000 Miles to Graceland3000 Miles to Graceland is a 2001 American crime film, starring Kurt Russell, Kevin Costner, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Bokeem Woodbine, Christian Slater, and Kevin Pollak. It is a story of theft and betrayal, revolving around a plot to rob the Riviera Casino during a convention of Elvis...