Joe Brandt (born Joseph Brandenburg July 20, 1882 – February 22, 1939) was an American

publicist A publicist is a person whose job is to generate and manage publicity for a company, a brand, or public figure – especially a celebrity – or for a work such as a book, film, or album. Publicists are public relations specialists who ...

, screenwriter, editor, film producer, and

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

. He co-founded

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

with

Harry Harry may refer to: TV shows * ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...

and

Jack Cohn Jacob Cohn (October 27, 1889 – December 8, 1956) was a co-founder of Columbia Pictures Corporation. Early life Cohn was born in New York, the son of Joseph, a tailor from Germany, and Bella, from Russia. He had three brothers, Maxwell (1888� ...

Biography

Joe Brandt was born in New York to Jewish parents, Daniel and Rosa Brandenburg. After obtaining a law degree from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

and being admitted to the New York bar association in 1906, Brandt spent seven years working for Hampton's Advertising Agency. He later worked at ''The Player'' as manager of the New York office of '' Billboard''; and as the advertising manager of the '' Dramatic Mirror''. In 1912, he was hired to be a member of

Carl Laemmle Carl Laemmle (; born Karl Lämmle; January 17, 1867 – September 24, 1939) was a film producer and the co-founder and, until 1934, owner of Universal Pictures. He produced or worked on over 400 films. Regarded as one of the most important o ...

's executive staff at

Independent Moving Pictures The Independent Moving Pictures Company (IMP) was a motion picture studio and production company founded in 1909 by Carl Laemmle. The company was based in New York City, with production facilities in Fort Lee, New Jersey. In 1912, IMP merged wit ...

, a few months before it merged to become

Universal Film Manufacturing Company Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

. At IMP, he worked with Harry and Jack Cohn. Jack Cohn had also worked at Hampton's Advertising Agency. Brandt was reported to have suggested renaming the National Board of Censorship to the

National Board of Review The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures is a non-profit organization of New York City area film enthusiasts. Its awards, which are announced in early December, are considered an early harbinger of the film awards season that culminat ...

, and was one of the founding members of the Associated Motion Picture Advertisers. In 1919, he left Universal and joined the National Film Corporation, then in 1920 he left National and became one of the founding members of CBC Film Sales with Harry and Jack Cohn, which evolved into

Columbia Pictures Corporation Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the multi ...

. After leaving Columbia and selling his interest to Harry in 1932, Brandt worked briefly for several different firms before retiring in 1935 due to Follicular lymphoma. Brandt died of

lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). In current usage the name usually refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enla ...

on February 22, 1939. Brandt's son and grandson also worked in the film industry. Jerrold T. Brandt was a film producer, most notable for the production of the

Scattergood Baines ''Scattergood Baines'' is a 1941 American comedy-drama film. It is based on a novel by Clarence Budington Kelland. The character of Scattergood was also popular during the days of live radio. In the film, Guy Kibbee plays the title character ...

film series in the early 1940s, and Jerrold T. Brandt Jr., Joe Brandt's grandson, produced the 1979 film '' The Bell Jar''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brandt, Joe 1882 births 1939 deaths New York University School of Law alumni American film producers American film production company founders Jewish American screenwriters Columbia Pictures 20th-century American Jews