Jim McCawley
Jim McCawley (May 31, 1942 – May 3, 1997) was a screenwriter and former television producer of ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'', for which, in 1992, he won an Emmy, in the Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Program (Series) category, for the penultimate episode with guests Robin Williams and Bette Midler. McCawley began his Show business, showbiz career as a production assistant for the Broadway theatre, Broadway productions of ''Bye Bye Birdie (musical), Bye Bye Birdie'' and ''All American (musical), All American'', and joined ''The Tonight Show'' in 1977. His other entertainment-related work included stints as a supervising producer on ''Vicki (tv series), Vicki'' and as a writer and correspondent for Los Angeles all-news radio station KFWB. McCawley started his career as a literary agent and was always on the alert for new and great talents. McCawley discovered many of today's comedians and supported the likes of David Letterman, Garry Shandling, Jerry Seinfeld ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Screenwriter
A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. Terminology In the silent era, writers now considered screenwriters were denoted by terms such as photoplaywright, photoplay writer, photoplay dramatist and screen playwright.Steven Maras. ''Screenwriting: History, Theory and Practice.'' Wallflower Press, 2009. pp. 82–85. Screenwriting historian Steven Maras notes that these early writers were often understood as being the authors of the films as shown and argues that they cannot be precisely equated with present-day screenwriters because they were responsible for a technical product, a brief " scenario", "treatment", or "synopsis" that is a written synopsis of what is to be filmed. Profession Screenwriting is a freelance profession. No education is required to be a professional scr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Literary Agent
A literary agent is an agent who represents writers and their written works to publishers, theatrical producers, film producers, and film studios, and assists in sale and deal negotiation. Literary agents most often represent novelists, screenwriters, and non-fiction writers. Reputable literary agents generally charge a commission and do not charge a fee upfront. The commission rate is generally 15%. Diversity Literary agencies can range in size from a single agent who represents perhaps a dozen authors, to a substantial firm with senior partners, sub-agents, specialists in areas like foreign rights or licensed merchandise tie-ins, and clients numbering in the hundreds. Most agencies, especially smaller ones, specialize to some degree. They may represent—for example—authors of science fiction, mainstream thrillers and mysteries, children's books, romance, or highly topical nonfiction. Very few agents represent short stories or poetry. Legitimate agents and agencies in the b ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jon Lovitz
Jonathan Michael Lovitz (; born July 21, 1957) is an American actor and comedian. He was a cast member of ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1985 to 1990. Lovitz starred as Jay Sherman in '' The Critic'' and played a baseball scout in ''A League of Their Own''. He has appeared in 20 episodes of ''The Simpsons''. Early life Lovitz was born on July 21, 1957, in the Tarzana neighborhood of Los Angeles, to Harold and Barbara Lovitz. His family is Jewish, and emigrated from Romania, Hungary, and Russia. His paternal grandfather, Feivel Ianculovici, left Romania around 1914. After arriving in the United States, he Americanized his name to Phillip Lovitz. In a 2011 interview, Lovitz described his comedic influences: "When I was 13, I saw Woody Allen's movie '' Take The Money and Run'', and I wanted to be a comedian. Then when I was 16, I saw the movie '' Lenny'', about Lenny Bruce, starring Dustin Hoffman. I thought the movie was so great, and I'd never heard of Lenny, so I went to the reco ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Paula Poundstone
Paula Poundstone (born December 29, 1959) is an American stand-up comedian, author, actor, interviewer, and commentator. Beginning in the late 1980s, she performed a series of one-hour HBO comedy specials. She provided backstage commentary during the 1992 presidential election on ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.'' She is the host of the Starburns Audio podcast (previously a member of the Maximum Fun network) ''Nobody Listens to Paula Poundstone'', which is the successor to the National Public Radio program ''Live from the Poundstone Institute.'' She is a frequent panelist on NPR's weekly news quiz show '' Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me'', and was a recurring guest on the network's ''A Prairie Home Companion'' variety program during Garrison Keillor's years as host. Early life Poundstone was born in Huntsville, Alabama, the daughter of Vera, a housewife, and Jack Poundstone, an engineer. Her family moved to Sudbury, Massachusetts, about a month after her birth. Career Poundstone ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Victoria Jackson
Victoria Jackson (born August 2, 1959) is an American actress, comedian, and singer who was a cast member of the NBC television sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' (SNL) from 1986 to 1992. Early life Jackson was born in Miami, Florida, the daughter of Marlene Esther (née Blackstad) and James McCaslin Jackson, a gym coach. From the age of 5 until she was 18, Jackson's father trained her in gymnastics. After graduating from high school, Jackson attended Florida Bible College in Hollywood, Florida, later transferring to Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina on a gymnastics scholarship. At Furman, she was cast in her first play. She transferred to Auburn University in 1979 for her senior year, changing her major to theater. Midway through her senior year, she left Auburn to pursue an acting career. In the 2000s, Jackson earned a degree in theatre from Palm Beach Atlantic University. Acting and comedy While doing summer stock theater in Alabama, Jackson met for ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Roseanne Barr
Roseanne Cherrie Barr (born November 3, 1952) is an American actress, comedian, writer, producer, and former presidential candidate. Barr began her career in stand-up comedy before gaining acclaim in the television sitcom '' Roseanne'' (1988–1997; 2018). She won an Emmy and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for her work on the show. Barr became a stand-up comedian in 1980. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, she gained fame through her role in ''Roseanne'' and other performances. Barr sparked controversy when performing "The Star-Spangled Banner" at a nationally aired baseball game on July 25, 1990. After singing the anthem in what many perceived to be a deliberately disrespectful manner, Barr grabbed her groin and spat. This performance was met with condemnation from baseball fans and sportswriters, and was called "disgraceful" by then-President George H. W. Bush. Barr has been active and outspoken on political issues. She won nearly 70,000 votes for president in the 20 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ellen DeGeneres
Ellen Lee DeGeneres ( ; born January 26, 1958) is an American comedian, television host, actress, writer, and producer. She starred in the sitcom '' Ellen'' from 1994 to 1998, which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award for " The Puppy Episode". She also hosted the syndicated television talk show, ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' from 2003 to 2022, for which she received 33 Daytime Emmy Awards. Her stand-up career started in the early 1980s and included a 1986 appearance on '' The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson''. As a film actress, DeGeneres starred in '' Mr. Wrong'' (1996), '' EDtv'' (1999), and '' The Love Letter'' (1999), and provided the voice of Dory in the Disney/ Pixar animated films '' Finding Nemo'' (2003) and '' Finding Dory'' (2016); for ''Finding Nemo'', she was awarded the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress, the first time an actress won a Saturn Award for a voice performance. In 2010, she served as a judge on the ninth season of ''American Idol''. She star ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jerry Seinfeld
Jerome Allen Seinfeld ( ; born April 29, 1954) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He is best known for playing a semi-fictionalized version of himself in the sitcom ''Seinfeld'', which he created and wrote with Larry David. The show aired on NBC from 1989 until 1998, becoming one of the most acclaimed and popular sitcoms of all time. As a stand-up comedian, Seinfeld specializes in observational comedy. In 2004, Comedy Central named him the 12th-greatest stand-up comedian of all time. Seinfeld produced, co-wrote, and starred in the 2007 film ''Bee Movie'', which was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film. In 2010, he premiered a reality series called '' The Marriage Ref'', which aired for two seasons on NBC. Seinfeld is the creator and host of the web series '' Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee'' (2012–2019). He is married to author and philanthropist Jessica Seinfeld, with whom he has three children. Seinfeld has recei ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Garry Shandling
Garry Emmanuel Shandling (November 29, 1949 – March 24, 2016) was an American actor, comedian, writer, director, and producer. Shandling began his career writing for sitcoms, such as '' Sanford and Son'' and '' Welcome Back, Kotter''. He made a successful stand-up performance on '' The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' where he became a frequent guest host. Shandling was, for a time, considered the leading contender to replace Johnny Carson. In 1986, he created '' It's Garry Shandling's Show'', which aired on Showtime. It was nominated for four Emmy Awards (including one for Shandling) and lasted until 1990. Shandling's second show, '' The Larry Sanders Show'', began airing on HBO in 1992. He was nominated for 18 Emmy Awards for the show and won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series in 1998, along with Peter Tolan, for writing the series finale. In film, he had a recurring role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, appearing in '' Iron Man 2 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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David Letterman
David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host, comedian, writer and producer. He hosted late night television talk shows for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982 debut of '' Late Night with David Letterman'' on NBC and ending with the May 20, 2015 broadcast of '' Late Show with David Letterman'' on CBS. In total, Letterman hosted 6,080 episodes of ''Late Night'' and ''Late Show'', surpassing his friend and mentor Johnny Carson as the longest-serving late night talk show host in American television history. In 1996, Letterman was ranked 45th on ''TV Guide''s 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time.Miller, Gregory E.; Schneider, Michael (December 31, 2015). "2015 by the Numbers", ''TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program TV listings, listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine, TV Guide Mag ...''. p. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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KFWB
KFWB (980 AM) is a commercial radio station in Los Angeles, California. It airs a classic Regional Mexican music format. KFWB is owned by Lotus Communications. The station has a colorful history, being the radio voice of Warner Bros. Studios in the early days of broadcasting, and a long-time Group W/ CBS radio station from 1966 to 2016. It has kept the same call sign throughout its nearly 100-year history. KFWB broadcasts with 5,000 watts of power from a non-directional antenna shared with KLAC on North Indiana Avenue near Lincoln Park in Eastside Los Angeles. The studios and offices are on Barham Boulevard, near the Universal City complex. History The Warner Bros. years On March 3, 1925, KFWB first signed on the air, initially on the frequency of 950 kHz. The station was started by Sam Warner, a co-founder of Warner Bros. The station launched the careers of such stars as Ronald Reagan, Alan Ladd and Bing Crosby during the "Golden Age of Radio." The station was th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Television Producer
A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of video production on a television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television networks, but upon acceptance they focus on business matters, such as budgets and contracts. Other producers are more involved with the day-to-day workings, participating in activities such as screenwriting, set design, casting, and directing. There are a variety of different producers on a television show. A traditional producer is one who manages a show's budget and maintains a schedule, but this is no longer the case in modern television. Types of television producers Different types of producers in the industry today include (in order of seniority): Showrunner : The showrunner is the "chief executive" in charge of everything related to the production of the show. It is the highest-ranking individual who is responsible for the production and daily ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |