- Brad Grey
name = Brad Grey
birthname = Bradley Alan Grey
birthdate = birth date and age|1957|12|29
location =Bronx, New York
emmyawards = Outstanding Drama Series
2004 "The Sopranos "Brad Alan Grey (born
December 29 ,1957 ) is an American film,television producer , and formertalent manager currently working as theCEO ofParamount Pictures .Grey was born in the
Bronx , the youngest child of a garment district salesman. He majored in business and communications at the State University of New York at Buffalo. While attending the university, he became a gofer for a youngHarvey Weinstein who was then a concert promoter. Grey would also travel to Manhattan on weekends to look for young comics at the Improv. Grey brought comedianBob Saget to New York thus making Saget his first client.Grey's career soon took off in 1984 when he met talent manager
Bernie Brillstein inSan 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-christenedBrillstein-Grey Entertainment . Grey began producing for television in 1986 with theShowtime hit, "It'sGarry Shandling 's Show". With his success, he went on to produce theHBO series "The Larry Sanders Show ." He also produced the ABC nightly talk show "Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher ."Grey also ventured into film by producing the
Adam Sandler hit, "Happy Gilmore ." He continued to produce successful television with several high profile and successful shows developed in the 1990’s: "NewsRadio " and "Just Shoot Me " forNBC , "Mr. Show " forHBO , "Good Sports " forCBS and "The Steve Harvey Show " for the WB all fell under the Brillstein-Grey banner. He also helped shepherd the critically acclaimedHBO drama , "The Sopranos ". Grey earned aGolden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Drama in 1999 for his producing efforts. His feature projects, however, failed to match the success of his television ventures: "Bulletproof" (1996), "The Replacement Killers " (1998), "Screwed " (2000) and "What Planet Are You From? " (2000) were typical film projects. Only "The Wedding Singer " (1998) and "Scary Movie " (2000) proved to be financially successful.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". In 2002, Grey formed Plan B with
Brad Pitt andJennifer Aniston , with a first-look deal at Warner Bros. After Pitt and Aniston separated, Grey and Pitt moved the company toParamount Pictures , where Grey had become CEO afterSherry Lansing left.While Grey's new CEO duties forced him to divest himself from both Brillstein-Grey and Plan B in 2005, it is unclear to what extent he maintains former personal management ties to non-entertainment entities, most notably Presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani. Recent DreamWorks releases have included "Flags of Our Fathers", "
Letters from Iwo Jima " and "Dreamgirls". Holdover releases from Lansing and Dolgen's regime before Grey took over constitute most of the rest of Paramount's major releases, including "War of the Worlds", "" and "Charlotte's Web."In the late 1990s Grey's client
Gary 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.External links
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