Gavin Polone

Last updated
Gavin Polone
Other namesGavin Pariah
Alma mater University of California, Berkeley
Occupations
Years active1998-present
Notable work

Gavin Polone is an American film and television producer. He began producing films in the late 1990s and television in the 2000s. He has been nominated for seven Primetime Emmy Awards, of which six were for "Outstanding Comedy Series" for Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm . His production company is Pariah. [1]

Contents

Background

Polone graduated from University of California, Berkeley in three years. He earned a realtor's license and applied to work for the Central Intelligence Agency but was not accepted. [2] In 1985, he began work as an assistant at International Creative Management. [3] He eventually became a literary agent at ICM. [4] In 1989, ICM suspected that Polone planned to defect and fired him, though Polone says ICM was wrong about its suspicions.

He joined Bauer-Benedek Agency, and the agency eventually merged with Leading Artists Agency to form United Talent Agency. [3] Polone eventually became a partner at UTA. [4] He was disappointed in how the agency was run and threatened to leave. [3] In April 1996, UTA fired Polone. Polone hired Peter Ostroff to sue UTA in a breach of contract lawsuit, and before the lawsuit was filed, UTA gave Polone a $6 million severance package and made a public admission that "'there were insufficient grounds' to fire him." UTA sued Polone a year later for reneging on the severance contract, and another settlement took place. [5]

After departing from UTA, Polone launched his own management and production company and managed clients in both film and television. He eventually decided to become a film and television producer, [4] and he dropped all of his clients except for Conan O'Brien. In 2007 and beyond, Polone became a pundit who appeared in media to comment on the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, Tiger Woods's infidelity scandal and fallout, and Michael Moore's association with Occupy Wall Street. He also writes an online column for New York Magazine . [3]

In the late 1990s, he was partner with Judy Hofflund to start Hofflund/Polone, with both credited as executive producers on Gilmore Girls through its original run. Hofflund retired in 2013. [6] [7] In May 2001, he started Pariah, with an affiliated production company at Columbia TriStar Television. [8] On February 19, 2002, Pariah decided to expand into film production with Screen Gems, Columbia Pictures and Senator International for a production-and-distribution deal. [9] Shortly afterwards, on May 27, 2002, he moved his Pariah Television production division to NBC, creating projects that were designed solely for the network. [10] On July 26, 2004, NBC decided to cut their ties with Pariah Television, [11] and on April 14, 2005, the production company was moved back to Sony Pictures Entertainment for film and television projects. [12]

Polone, formerly a member of Writers Guild of America West, left and maintained financial core status in 2015. [13]

Filmography

Film

As producer

YearFilmNotes
1999 8mm
Drop Dead Gorgeous
Stir of Echoes
2002 Panic Room
2004 Secret Window
Seeing Other People
2005 Little Manhattan
2006 Population 436 Executive producer
(uncredited)
Direct-to-video
My Super Ex-Girlfriend
2007 Primeval
2008 Ghost Town
2009 Zombieland
2012 Premium Rush
2016 Nerdland
2017 A Dog's Purpose
2019 A Dog's Way Home
A Dog's Journey
Zombieland: Double Tap [14]
TBA Cold Storage [15]
Psycho KillerAlso director

As an actor

YearFilmRole
1997 An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn Gary Samuels
1998 Thick as Thieves Simons
2006 Population 436 Aames
(uncredited)

Thanks

YearFilmRole
2016 Urge Producers special thanks

Television

As executive producer

YearTitleNotes
1998 When Trumpets Fade Television film
1999Larry David: Curb Your EnthusiasmTelevision special
1999−2024 Curb Your Enthusiasm
2000−2007 Gilmore Girls
2001Sam's CircusTelevision film
More, Patience
2002 Family Affair
Life at Five FeetTelevision film
2002−2003 Hack
2003Untitled Howie Mandel ProjectTelevision pilot
The Ortegas
SuspenseTelevision film
Celebrity Temps
American P.I.
2004 Celebrity Blackjack
D.O.T.S.Television film
2005 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Model Search
Revelations
2006 Thief
The Angriest Man in SuburbiaTelevision film
More, Patience
2005−2007 The Showbiz Show with David Spade
2006−2008 Emily's Reasons Why Not
2006−2010 My Boys
2007 Tell Me You Love Me
Backyards & BulletsTelevision film
2011 Cinema Verite Television film
Bachelorette Party: Las Vegas
2012 Jane by Design
2013 Zombieland Television pilot
2013−2014 Twisted

As director

YearTitle
2012 Jane by Design
2013−2014 Twisted
2015 Finding Carter

As an actor

YearTitleRole
1993 Seinfeld Man in Jerry Audience
1999 Action Dodi

Thanks

YearTitleRoleNotes
2013Twisted: Socio Studies 101ThanksTelevision film

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References

  1. ↑ "Gavin Polone". Variety . 17 December 2013.
  2. ↑ Goldstein, Patrick (2004-05-18). "Gavin Polone, the iconoclast". Los Angeles Times .
  3. 1 2 3 4 Masters, Kim (January 6, 2012). "Dark Prince of Hollywood, Producer Gavin Polone, Opens Up About Unlikely Directorial Debut". The Hollywood Reporter .
  4. 1 2 3 Fenjves, Pablo F.; Lang, Rocky (2006). How I Broke into Hollywood: Success Stories from the Trenches . It Books. p.  307. ISBN   978-0-06-078964-0.
  5. ↑ Johnson, Ross (May 2000). "Raging Bulls". Los Angeles . p. 108.
  6. ↑ Busch, Anita M. (1997-05-23). "'Seven' scripter sells '8'". Variety. Retrieved 2021-05-09.
  7. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (22 April 2013). "Judy Hofflund Leaving Biz, Becca Kovacik And Laura Berwick Partnering Up". Archived from the original on 17 April 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  8. ↑ Adalian, Josef; Schneider, Michael (2001-07-16). "Polone picks pal as Pariah prexy". Variety. Retrieved 2021-12-15.
  9. ↑ Brodesser, Claude; Dunkley, Cathy (2002-02-20). "Pariah on pix for Col, Screen Gems". Variety. Retrieved 2021-12-15.
  10. ↑ Adalian, Josef (2002-05-27). "Pariah, Peacock partner". Variety. Retrieved 2021-12-15.
  11. ↑ Adalian, Josef (2004-07-27). "Inside Move: Pariah's no Peacock pal". Variety. Retrieved 2021-12-15.
  12. ↑ LaPorte, Nicole (2005-04-15). "Pariah steps in at Sony". Variety. Retrieved 2021-12-15.
  13. ↑ "WGAW Financial Core List".
  14. ↑ Matt Joseph (January 21, 2019). "First Zombieland 2 Plot Details Tease New Zombies And More". We Got This Covered. Retrieved January 21, 2019.
  15. ↑ Fleming, Mike Jr. (May 11, 2022). "Hot Cannes Package: Liam Neeson, Joe Keery Star In Jonny Campbell-Helmed Studiocanal Sci-Fi Virus Tale 'Cold Storage;' David Koepp Adapted His Novel". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
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