Robert Friedman (producer)

Last updated
Robert Friedman
R Friedman 2018.jpg
Born
Robert Friedman

1956
NationalityAmerican
Occupation CEO
Known forBungalow Media + Entertainment

Robert Friedman (born 1956) [1] is an American businessman in the entertainment industry. He is the CEO of Bungalow Media + Entertainment, a private equity-backed entertainment and media company he founded in 2013. [2] It develops, produces and distributes content across all platforms. [3] Beginning his career as an account manager at Grey Advertising he then held roles at AOL Time Warner, New Line Cinema, Classic Media, and RadicalMedia. He has produced films including Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory, Mortal Kombat: Conquest, and Under African Skies, for which he shared a Christopher Award.

Contents

Early life

Friedman attended Vassar College, from which he received a BA in psychology in 1978. He subsequently earned an MBA degree from Columbia's Graduate School of Business in 1980. [4] He is a Trustee Emeritus of Vassar College and sits on the Board of Overseers of Columbia Business School. He was the speaker at the latter's 2009 commencement. [5]

Career

Friedman began his career in advertising as an Account Manager on P&G, at Grey Advertising. He was part of MTV Network's development team, working from 1981-1989 on MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, and on The Movie Channel. [6] [7] He was in charge of Consumer and Trade Marketing for MTV Networks, and Promotion and Licensing for MTV and VH1, overseeing marketing of its secondary businesses, such as Global Licensing and Home Entertainment. [6] [7]

AOL Time Warner and New Line Cinema

Friedman held a variety of positions at AOL Time Warner during 1991-2003. [8] He held two roles at New Line Cinema for ten years, as Co-Chairman of Worldwide Theatrical Marketing, Licensing and Merchandising and as President of New Line Television, which he launched in 1991. [1] He also served as CMO for Time Warner and President of AOL – Interactive Marketing, TV, and Ad Sales. At New Line Cinema, Friedman oversaw marketing campaigns for all New Line Cinema's feature films. [3] [9] As President of New Line TV, he handled development, production, acquisition and the global distribution of products to network, cable, and pay-per-view markets. [6] [1] [9] Friedman managed licensing and merchandising activity, as well as new media for New Line's projects. [10]

Harvey and Golden Books Entertainment

Friedman was President and a Managing Partner of Classic Media: Harvey & Golden Books Entertainment during 2003-2006, the family entertainment company owned by DreamWorks Animation as of 2012, and Comcast as of 2016. [10] [11]

@radical.media

Robert Friedman was President of Entertainment and Media at @radical.media-FremantleMedia for seven years, from 2006-2013. [12] @radical.media, now RadicalMedia, is a media and entertainment company. [3] Friedman executive produced films for the company, including Paul Simon's documentary film Under African Skies , which won the Christopher Award in 2013, [13] and When We Were Beautiful , which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. [14] TV credits include Grey Goose's Iconoclasts and Nike's Battlegrounds campaigns; the pilot episode of the series Mad Men ; Bravo's Ironic Iconic America; [15] Britney: For the Record ; [16] and Oprah's Master Class on OWN, among others. [10] [17] @radical.media developed "driverTV", an HD video-on-demand channel, [18] and THNKR, [19] a YouTube channel. Under Friedman @radical.media sold a majority stake of the company to Fremantle in 2012. [20]

Associations

Currently, Friedman serves on the boards of AccuWeather, Mount Sinai Health System, Columbia Graduate School of Business, NATPE, and The International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. He served on the board of Morgans Hotel Group for almost a decade where he was a recipient of the hospitality board honor of the year. He is a Trustee Emeritus of Vassar College.   

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Greenstein, Jane. "Friedman quits Playboy for New Line. (Robert Friedman resigns from presidency of Playboy Entertainment Group for New Line Television)". CWI. Multichannel News. Archived from the original on 10 September 2016. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  2. ↑ Littleton, Cynthia. "Robert Friedman's Bungalow Media Sets Cisneros Pact". Variety. Variety. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 Lieberman, David. "Robert Friedman Launches Company To Help Integrate Media With Marketing". Deadline. Deadline. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  4. ↑ "Elissa Gretz To Be Bride". The New York Times. 1983-10-23. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2016-01-25.
  5. ↑ "Columbia Business School Celebrates Graduating Class of 2009". Columbia Business School Newsroom. Columbia. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 Fabrikant, Geraldine (1991-11-16). "BUSINESS PEOPLE; President for TV Unit At New Line Cinema". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2016-02-10.
  7. 1 2 Reed, R. M.; Reed, M. K. (2012-12-06). The Encyclopedia of Television, Cable, and Video. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN   9781468465211.
  8. ↑ HOFMEISTER, SALLIE (2001-03-09). "New Line's Friedman Named President of AOLTV". Los Angeles Times. ISSN   0458-3035 . Retrieved 2016-02-10.
  9. 1 2 Journal, Martin Peers Staff Reporter of The Wall Street. "AOL Appoints New Line Chief Head of Its Interactive-TV Unit". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved 2016-02-10.
  10. 1 2 3 Beltrone, Gabriel. "Horizon Bolsters Branded Content Offering With Robert Friedman Deal". AdWeek. AdWeek. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  11. ↑ STEELE, ANNE; FRITZ, BEN; MATTIOLI, DANA. "Comcast to Buy DreamWorks Animation for $3.8 Billion". Wall Street Journal. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  12. ↑ Goldsmith, Jill. "Friedman to leave Radical Media". Variety. Variety. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  13. ↑ "CHRISTOPHER AWARD WINNERS HIGHLIGHT THE POWER OF LOVE, GOD, COMMUNITY, SPORTS AND MUSIC". The Christophers. The Christophers. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  14. ↑ McClellan, Steve. "Horizon Media In New Branded Content Venture". MediaDailyNews. MediaDailyNews. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  15. ↑ Hampp, Andrew. "Tommy Hilfiger Takes Branding on the Road With Bravo Special". AdAge. AdAge. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  16. ↑ Vincent Terrace (19 June 2013). Television Specials: 5,336 Entertainment Programs, 1936-2012, 2d ed. McFarland. pp. 68–. ISBN   978-1-4766-1240-9.
  17. ↑ Elliott, Stuart. "Fremantle Buys Majority Stake in @radical.media". New York Times. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  18. ↑ Parish, Nick. "NBC Universal Invests in driverTV". AdAge. AdAge. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  19. ↑ Fera, RAE ANN. "New YouTube channel THNKR Aims To Make You, And Edu-Programming, Smarter". Co.Create. Co.Create. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  20. ↑ Vranica, Suzanne. "Spreading 'Branded' Shows Overseas". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved 2016-02-10.
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