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Stuart Benjamin | |
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| Born | Stuart Benjamin April 25, 1946 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Stuart Benjamin (born April 25, 1946) is an American film and theater producer and professional basketball executive. He produced such films as Against All Odds, Ray , and La Bamba.
Benjamin was born in Los Angeles. He attended North Hollywood High School where he lettered in Varsity basketball and served on the student council. He went on to graduate from the University of Southern California in 1967 with a degree in finance, where he played basketball and served as the President of Associated Men, was a Rhodes Scholar candidate, and was a recipient of the prestigious Man of Troy award. He also attended Harvard Law School, and graduated in 1970. He is the son of Gerald Benjamin, a corporate executive, and Victorine Benjamin, a housewife.
He began his career in 1970 with the law firm of Wyman, Bautzer, Finell, Rothman and Kuchel. He became a partner in 1975, specializing in business, securities and entertainment litigation, as well as sports law, and was chairman of the firm's entertainment department at the time he left the firm in January 1988. From 1975 to 1978, Benjamin served on the board of directors of the Boston Celtics and received a championship ring when the Celtics won a World Championship in 1976. In 1978, Benjamin was involved in the formation of the San Diego Clippers and served on their board until 1981.
In 1971, Benjamin and director Taylor Hackford formed a production company called New Visions, Inc. Throughout most of the 70's, they produced documentaries, docu-dramas and a great number of music-concert shows. Their short film Teenage Father garnered Hackford an Oscar in 1979 for the short film. Benjamin and Hackford went on to produce several other films under the New Visions banner: Against All Odds , White Nights , La Bamba , Everybody's All-American . [1]
Outside of New Visions, Benjamin was actively involved in the production of the highly acclaimed Testament . The film tells the story of how one small Bay Area town near San Francisco slowly falls apart after a nuclear war destroys outside civilization. Jane Alexander was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance. He also produced the highly acclaimed film for American Playhouse , Billy Galvin , starring Karl Malden.
In 1988, Benjamin and Hackford formed New Visions Pictures, a joint venture between New Visions Entertainment and Cineplex Odeon. Benjamin served as president and chief operating officer of New Visions Pictures from 1988 through 1991, during which time the venture produced six films: The Long Walk Home , Defenseless , Sweet Talker , Queen's Logic , [2] Mortal Thoughts , and Rooftops . Benjamin served as the executive producer on all of these films.
As a principal in New Visions Music Group along with Taylor Hackford and Joel Sill, Benjamin has been involved in a number of sound track albums, several of which have achieved gold or platinum status. New Visions Music Group was responsible for nine number one singles.
In 1991, Benjamin formed Benjamin Productions. Together with partner Alise Benjamin Mauritzson, he produced films for both network television and cable including Betrayal of Trust for NBC, The Abduction for Lifetime Television and Sodbusters for Showtime. The company also produced Corduroy , an animated series for Viacom and the USA Network, which became a Saturday morning series on CBS, and Safe House , starring Patrick Stewart and Kimberly Williams for Showtime.
In 2000, Benjamin was involved in the formation of Crusader Entertainment, a film and motion picture company financed by Philip Anschutz, and served as Executive Vice President of the company from its formation until July 2001, when he became a consultant/independent producer to Crusader with specific responsibilities on a number of Crusader's projects. It was while he was an executive at Crusader that his pet project, The Ray Charles Story was put into development. [3] Benjamin was first introduced to Ray Charles in the late 1980s and had tried for years to get Charles' story made into a movie. During the course of those efforts, Benjamin and Charles developed a friendship, resulting in Charles agreeing to make the picture and with Charles fully participating in its development. Benjamin produced Ray , which was released in late 2004 by Universal Pictures. The picture garnered six Academy Award Nominations including a Best Picture, [4] which gave Benjamin his first Academy Award Nomination. The film went on to receive two Academy Awards. Benjamin also produced the soundtrack album from the movie which has sold over four million units and which has garnered Benjamin a Grammy Award. Benjamin was also one of the Executive Producers of the Ray Charles Tribute Concert which took place on October 8, 2004, at the Staples Center and was a CBS Television special. [5] That program received a number of awards, including the prestigious NAACP Image Award.
In the fall of 2007, Benjamin successfully launched a live theatrical production based upon the life of Ray Charles, "Unchain My Heart...The Life and Music of Ray Charles" [6]
In March 2009, Benjamin produced Louis & Keely Live at the Geffen Playhouse in Westwood, Los Angeles, California. This theatrical production, based on Las Vegas lounge act Louis Prima and Keely Smith, went on to become the longest running show in the history of the Geffen. On January 11, 2010, Benjamin and his fellow producers of the show received an Ovation Award given out by the Los Angeles Stage Alliance for Best Production of a Musical – Large Theatre.
As a music producer, Benjamin not only produced the soundtrack album for the film Ray , but also executive produced the Sam Moore comeback album, Overnight Sensational . [7]
In addition, Benjamin was the Managing Partner of Capstone Entertainment, which was in the business of producing specialized non-theatrical projects. [8] Those projects include a reunion of the 1960s Vince Lombardi Green Bay Packers, which aired on ESPN Classics in January 2002, and a series of Comedy Roasts with Shaquille O'Neal, shot at the MGM Grand Hotel [9] in Las Vegas, which aired on OnDemand as Pay Per View Specials. Capstone promoted and produced a Ray Charles Holiday/Gospel Concert in December 2002 which Benjamin produced and directed. Benjamin also produced the album from that concert.
Benjamin produced an album for soul singer Tasha Taylor, who is the daughter of Johnnie Taylor, a blues and soul musician from Dallas Texas.
Benjamin is currently co-producing a Broadway play with Concord Music Group about the history and music of Stax Records. The book is written by Matthew Benjamin. In March 2016, Benjamin and Concord Music Group produced a four-week showcase in Memphis, Tennessee. [10]
Benjamin has two children. His son Matthew Benjamin is a playwright and screenwriter. His daughter Jennifer Benjamin Teeman is also a successful writer and was a senior editor for Cosmopolitan .
John Robert "Joe" Cocker was an English singer known for his gritty, bluesy voice and dynamic stage performances that featured expressive body movements. Most of his best known singles, such as "Feelin' Alright?" and "Unchain My Heart", were recordings of songs written by other song writers, though he composed a number of songs for most of his albums as well, often in conjunction with songwriting partner Chris Stainton.
David William Sanborn was an American alto saxophonist. Sanborn worked in many musical genres; his solo recordings typically blended jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He began playing the saxophone at the age of 11 and released his first solo album, Taking Off, in 1975. He was active as a session musician, and played on numerous albums by artists including Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, Aretha Franklin, Sting, the Eagles, Rickie Lee Jones, James Brown, George Benson, Carly Simon, Elton John, Bryan Ferry and the Rolling Stones. He released more than 20 albums and won six Grammy awards.
Basil Glen Ballard Jr. is an American songwriter, lyricist, and record producer. He is best known for co-writing and producing Alanis Morissette's 1995 album Jagged Little Pill and Dave Matthews Band's 2001 album Everyday. As a songwriter, he co-wrote songs including "All I Need", "Man in the Mirror", "Hold On", "Hand in My Pocket", and "Believe". As a producer, he has worked with No Doubt, Shelby Lynne, Goo Goo Dolls, P.O.D., Annie Lennox and others.
David Allan Stewart is an English musician, songwriter and record producer, best known for Eurythmics, his successful professional partnership with Annie Lennox. Sometimes credited as David A. Stewart, he won Best British Producer at the 1986, 1987 and 1990 Brit Awards. Stewart was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2020 and the duo were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022. Outside of Eurythmics, Stewart has written and produced songs for artists such as Ringo Starr, Stevie Nicks, Mick Jagger and Tom Petty.
Ray is a 2004 American biographical musical drama film focusing on 30 years in the life of soul musician Ray Charles. The independently produced film was co-produced and directed by Taylor Hackford; it was written by James L. White from a story by Hackford and White. It stars Jamie Foxx in the title role, along with Kerry Washington, Clifton Powell, Harry Lennix, Terrence Howard, Larenz Tate, Richard Schiff, and Regina King in supporting roles. Along with Hackford, the film was also produced by Stuart Benjamin, Howard Baldwin, and Karen Baldwin.
Ahmir K. Thompson, known professionally as Questlove, is an American drummer, record producer, disc jockey, filmmaker, music journalist, and actor. He is the drummer and joint frontman for the hip-hop band the Roots. The Roots have been serving as the in-house band for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon since 2014, after having fulfilled the same role on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Questlove is also one of the producers of the 2015 cast album of the Broadway musical Hamilton. He has also co-founded of the websites Okayplayer and OkayAfrica. He joined Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at New York University as an adjunct professor in 2016, and hosts the podcast Questlove Supreme.
Taylor Edwin Hackford is an American film director and former president of the Directors Guild of America. He won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film for Teenage Father (1979). Hackford went on to direct a number of highly regarded feature films, most notably An Officer and a Gentleman (1982) and Ray (2004), the latter of which saw him nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director and the Academy Award for Best Picture.
Stan Lathan is an American television and film director and television producer. He is executive producer and director of BET's Real Husbands of Hollywood. He has produced and directed numerous stand-up comedy specials starring comedian Dave Chappelle, including Killin' Them Softly, Equanimity, The Bird Revelation, Sticks & Stones, and The Closer.
White Nights is a 1985 American musical drama film directed by Taylor Hackford and starring Mikhail Baryshnikov, Gregory Hines, Jerzy Skolimowski, Helen Mirren and Isabella Rossellini. It was choreographed by Twyla Tharp. The title refers to the sunlit summer nights of Leningrad, the setting for the majority of the film, situated just a few degrees below the Arctic Circle.
Raymond Charles Jack LaMontagne is an American singer-songwriter and musician. LaMontagne has released eight studio albums: Trouble, Till the Sun Turns Black, Gossip in the Grain, God Willin' & the Creek Don't Rise, Supernova, Ouroboros, Part of the Light, and Monovision. He was born in New Hampshire and was inspired to create music after hearing an album by Stephen Stills. Critics have compared LaMontagne's music to that of Otis Redding, Ryan Adams, Beck, Pink Floyd, The Band, Van Morrison, Nick Drake and Tim Buckley.
"Up Where We Belong" is a song written by Jack Nitzsche, Buffy Sainte-Marie and Will Jennings that was recorded by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes for the 1982 film An Officer and a Gentleman. Warnes was recommended to sing a song from the film because of her previous soundtrack successes, and she had the idea for the song to be a duet that she would perform with Cocker. Jennings selected various sections of the score by Nitzsche and Sainte-Marie in creating the structure of the song and added lyrics about the struggles of life and love and the obstacles that people attempt to dodge. It was released in July of that year to coincide with the release of the film.
Anthology is the first compact disc to collect many of soul music icon Ray Charles' ABC-Paramount-era recordings. AllMusic considers it to be "the best single CD collection of Ray Charles' '60s and '70s ABC-Paramount material", while Rhino Records, the issuing label, refers to it in the liner notes as "the compact disc edition of Ray Charles' Greatest Hits", alluding to the two Rhino LPs issued the same year. It is one of the first CDs to be released by Rhino.
Arthur Gorson, also known as Arthur H. Gorson, is an American film producer. He also has experience as a cinematographer, screenwriter, cameraman and record producer. He is currently (2024) active in TV, film and commercial production. As a record producer, he produced over 20 albums for major labels with artists such as Golden Earring, Phil Ochs and Tom Rush. His photographic work with artists such as Bob Marley is widely published. A series of his photos were included in the authorized documentary Marley directed by Kevin Mcdonald (The Last King of Scotland;as well as the 2023 50th Anniversary box-set of "Catch A Fire.".
Ahmet Ertegun was a Turkish-American businessman, songwriter, record executive and philanthropist.
Joel Moss is an American record producer, sound engineer and mixer.
Here We Go Again: Celebrating the Genius of Ray Charles is a live tribute album by country singer Willie Nelson and jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis. It was recorded during concerts at the Rose Theater in New York City, on February 9 and 10, 2009. The album received mixed reviews, in which the instrumentation of Marsalis' orchestra was praised by the critics.
Alan Eichler is an American theatrical producer, talent manager and press agent who has represented several stage productions, produced Grammy-winning record albums and managed singers including Anita O'Day, Hadda Brooks, Nellie Lutcher, Ruth Brown, Johnnie Ray and Yma Sumac. He is a cousin of California architect Joseph Eichler and nephew of writer Lillian Eichler Watson and advertising executive/novelist Alfred Eichler.
Tasha Taylor is an American Blues and Soul vocalist, songwriter, and actress.
Joel Sill is a music supervisor, music producer and consultant known for his work on Forrest Gump, Cast Away and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, The Goonies, Blade Runner, The Color Purple, and My Cousin Vinny.
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