Michael Colton

Last updated
Michael Colton
Born1975 (age 4849)
Occupation
  • Journalist
  • screenwriter
Alma mater Harvard University
SpouseCarla Pereira

Michael Colton is an American screenwriter and former journalist. [1] With writing partner John Aboud, he created the television show Home Economics and wrote the films A Futile and Stupid Gesture and Penguins of Madagascar . He was a regular commentator on Best Week Ever and other VH1 shows, including I Love the '80s . [2]

Contents

Personal life

Colton attended Newton North High School in Massachusetts, where he wrote a humor column for the student newspaper. [3] He graduated from Harvard University, where he was an editor at both the Harvard Lampoon and The Harvard Crimson . [3]

He married lawyer and Harvard alum Carla Pereira on May 30, 2004. [4]

Career

Colton has co-written the films A Futile and Stupid Gesture , [5] Penguins of Madagascar and The Comebacks . He has also co-produced the television series Close Enough and Zoolander: Super Model and written for Childrens Hospital and Leverage . [1] In 2021, he co-created the ABC television series Home Economics .

In the late 1990s, Colton was a journalist at The Washington Post . [6] He has also written for The New York Times Magazine , the Los Angeles Times , The Boston Globe , Newsweek , The New York Observer , the Washington City Paper , Brill's Content , and McSweeney's . [1]

During the Writers Guild of America strike of 2007–2008, Colton and Aboud created the website AMPTP.com, a parody of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers' official website, AMPTP.org. [7] [8]

From 2000 to 2003, Colton and Aboud ran Modern Humorist, an entertainment company based in Brooklyn, best known for its online magazine. [3] [9]

Filmography

Television

YearTitleRole
2003VH1 Big in 03Consultant
2004The Wrong CoastWriter
2004I Love the '90sHimself/Panelist
2005Last Laugh '05Consultant
2005CMT: 20 Merriest Christmas VideosHimself
2005I Love the '90s: Part DeuxHimself
2005I Love the '80s 3-DHimself
2005I Love the HolidaysHimself
2006I Love ToysHimself
2006I Love the 70s: Volume 2Himself
2008I Love the New MillenniumHimself
2008 Best Week Ever with Paul F. Tompkins Himself
2009 Sit Down, Shut Up Executive Story Editor, Writer
2009Black to the FutureHimself
2009The Great DebateHimself
2009100 Most Shocking Music MomentsHimself
2010 Leverage Executive Story Editor, Writer
2010A Night of 140 Tweets: A Celebrity Tweet-A-Thon for HaitiHimself
2010UndateableHimself
2011 Allen Gregory Writer, Co-Producer
2014 I Love the 2000s Himself
2014 Newsreaders Writer
2015 Childrens Hospital Writer
2016 Zoolander: Super Model Writer, Producer
2017The Fake News With Ted NelmsWriter
2020 Close Enough Executive Producer
2021 Jeopardy! Contestant
2021 Acapulco Writer
2021 Home Economics Co-creator, Writer, Executive Producer

Movies

YearTitleRole
2007 The Comebacks Writer
2014 Penguins of Madagascar Writer
2018 A Futile and Stupid Gesture Writer, Executive Producer

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christopher Guest</span> British-American screenwriter, comedian, musician, director, and actor

Christopher Haden-Guest, 5th Baron Haden-Guest, known professionally as Christopher Guest, is a British-American actor, comedian, screenwriter and director. Guest has written, directed, and starred in his series of comedy films shot in mockumentary style. He wrote and acted in the rock satire This Is Spinal Tap (1984), and later directed a string of satirical mockumentary films such as Waiting for Guffman (1996), Best in Show (2000), A Mighty Wind (2003), For Your Consideration (2006), and Mascots (2016).

<i>National Lampoon</i> (magazine) American humor magazine

National Lampoon was an American humor magazine that ran from 1970 to 1998. The magazine started out as a spinoff from The Harvard Lampoon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">P. J. O'Rourke</span> American political satirist and journalist (1947–2022)

Patrick Jake O'Rourke was an American author, journalist, and political satirist who wrote twenty-two books on subjects as diverse as politics, cars, etiquette, and economics. Parliament of Whores and Give War a Chance both reached No. 1 on The New York Times bestseller list.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael O'Donoghue</span> American actor and writer (1940–1994)

Michael O'Donoghue was an American writer, actor, editor and comedian.

<i>The Harvard Lampoon</i> College humor magazine

The Harvard Lampoon is an undergraduate humor publication founded in 1876 by seven undergraduates at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Douglas Kenney</span> American comedy writer (1946–1980)

Douglas Clark Francis Kenney was an American comedy writer of magazine, novels, radio, TV and film, who co-founded the magazine National Lampoon in 1970. Kenney edited the magazine and wrote much of its early material. He went on to write, produce, and perform in the influential comedies Animal House and Caddyshack before his sudden death at the age of 33.

Modern Humorist was a United States–based humor webzine founded in 2000 by John Aboud and Michael Colton, and managed by CEO Kate Barker. Its board of directors included feature film producer Frank Marshall and comedian Jon Stewart.

Martin Gerald "Matty" Simmons was an American film and television producer, newspaper reporter for the New York World-Telegram and Sun, and Executive Vice President of Diners Club, the first credit card company. Simmons gained his greatest fame while the chief executive officer of Twenty First Century Communications.

Robert Kenneth Hoffman was an American businessman and philanthropist, most notable for co-founding the influential humor magazine National Lampoon.

John Aboud III is an American writer and comedian. With Michael Colton, he was a regular commentator on Best Week Ever and other VH1 shows. From 2000 to 2003, the two founded Modern Humorist, a parody website based in Brooklyn, New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anne Beatts</span> American writer (1947–2021)

Anne Beatts was an American comedy writer.

<i>National Lampoons Movie Madness</i> 1982 American film

National Lampoon's Movie Madness is a 1982 American comedy film produced by National Lampoon as the second film from the magazine. The film was originally produced under the title National Lampoon Goes to the Movies; completed in 1981, the film was not released until 1982, and was reedited and retitled as Movie Madness.

Henry Nichols Beard is an American humorist, one of the founders of the magazine National Lampoon and the author of several best-selling books.

Michel Choquette is a Canadian humorist who has written for print, for television and for film, and a comedian who has performed for television.

Seán Kelly was a Canadian humorist and writer.

<i>A Futile and Stupid Gesture</i> 2006 book by Josh Karp

A Futile and Stupid Gesture: How Doug Kenney and National Lampoon Changed Comedy Forever is an American book by Josh Karp that was published in 2006. It is a history of National Lampoon magazine and one of its three founders, Doug Kenney, during the 1970s. The book was based on numerous interviews with people who contributed to the magazine, and people who performed in The National Lampoon Radio Hour, and the stage show Lemmings.

<i>Penguins of Madagascar</i> 2014 American DreamWorks film

Penguins of Madagascar is a 2014 American animated spy action comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and PDI/DreamWorks and distributed by 20th Century Fox. A spin-off of the Madagascar franchise and the fourth film overall in the series, the film was directed by series director Eric Darnell and Simon J. Smith from a screenplay written by Brandon Sawyer and the writing team of Michael Colton and John Aboud, based on a story conceived by Colton, Aboud, Alan Schoolcraft, and Brent Simons. Despite the title of the film, it is not directly related to the Nickelodeon animated television series The Penguins of Madagascar. Starring the voices of Tom McGrath, Chris Miller, Christopher Knights, Conrad Vernon, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ken Jeong, Annet Mahendru, Peter Stormare and John Malkovich, it takes place directly after the events of Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (2012), following the adventures of four Adélie penguins - Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private - as they join forces with the North Wind intelligence agency to stop the Giant Pacific octopus Dave, who seeks revenge on all Adélie penguins across the Earth for being upstaged by capturing them.

<i>Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead</i> (film) 2015 film by Douglas Tirola

Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon is a 2015 American documentary film directed by Douglas Tirola. The film is about National Lampoon magazine, and how the magazine and its empire of spin-offs changed the course of comedy and humor.

<i>A Futile and Stupid Gesture</i> (film) 2018 American film

A Futile and Stupid Gesture is a 2018 American biographical comedy-drama film based on Josh Karp's book of the same title, directed by David Wain, and written by Michael Colton and John Aboud. The film stars Will Forte as comedy writer Douglas Kenney, during the rise and fall of National Lampoon. It was the last movie Martin Mull starred in before his death in 2024.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "About Us". coltonaboud.com. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
  2. "Michael Colton". IMDb . Retrieved March 8, 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 "His job is a joke". The Boston Globe. October 19, 2004. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
  4. "WEDDINGS/CELEBRATIONS; Carla Pereira, Michael Colton". The New York Times. May 30, 2004. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
  5. Kit, Borys (March 16, 2016). "Will Forte to Star as 'National Lampoon' Co-Founder in Netflix Movie (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 16, 2018.
  6. "Michael Colton '97". Harvardwood. February 2008. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
  7. "Welcome To AMPTP.com (not AMPTP.org)". Deadline. December 10, 2007. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
  8. "amptp.net" . Retrieved March 12, 2015.
  9. "Inside Modern Humorist with Co-Founders Michael Colton and John Aboud". Splitsider. April 28, 2011. Retrieved March 8, 2015.