Brian Scott Herzlinger (born February 19, 1976,

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

) is an American

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

who directed and starred in '' My Date with Drew'', a documentary released in 2005. Herzlinger graduated from

Ithaca College Ithaca College is a private college in Ithaca (town), New York, Ithaca, New York. It was founded by William Egbert in 1892 as a Music school, conservatory of music. Ithaca College is known for its media-related programs and entertainment program ...

(NY) with a film degree in 1997.

Early years

Herzlinger grew up in

Evesham Township, New Jersey Evesham Township is a township in Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a suburb of Philadelphia, the nation's sixth-most populous city. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 46,826, an incr ...

, where he attended Cherokee High School, graduating in 1994 as the prom king. In 1997, he graduated from

with a BS in Cinema & Photography. He had written and directed a short, student film called ''The Film Contest'' shot on 16mm film. After moving to Los Angeles, Herzlinger directed more short films, including ''Malicious Intent''. He worked at DreamWorks and

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

and also as a Production Assistant on several commercials and music videos. Afterwards, he worked for two years as a Producer's P.A. on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

medical drama ''

Chicago Hope ''Chicago Hope'' is an American medical drama television series created by David E. Kelley, that originally aired for six seasons on CBS from September 18, 1994, to May 4, 2000, with a total of 141 episodes. The series is set in a fictional pr ...

'', and worked his way up to Executive Producer

Bill D'Elia William D'Elia is an American screenwriter, producer, director and actor. Life D'Elia grew up in Queens, New York City, and is a second generation Italian-American. He graduated from Ithaca College, and earned a master's degree in communicati ...

's assistant on the David E. Kelley landmark series ''

Ally McBeal ''Ally McBeal'' is an American legal comedy-drama television series created by David E. Kelley that originally aired on Fox from September 8, 1997, to May 20, 2002. It revolves around Calista Flockhart in the title role as a lawyer working ...

''. After his first feature '' My Date With Drew'', Herzlinger began a three-year stint as an on-air special correspondent for ''

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the fourth and sixth installment of ''The Tonight Show''. Hosted by Jay Leno, it aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009, replacing ''The Ton ...

''. Simultaneously, he directed the romantic comedy '' Baby on Board'', starring

Heather Graham Heather Joan Graham (born January 29, 1970) is an American actress. The accolades she has received include nominations for two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Critics' Choice Movie Award, and an Independent Spirit Award. After appearing in tel ...

Jerry O'Connell Jeremiah O'Connell (born February 17, 1974) is an American actor and TV show host. He is known for his roles as Quinn Mallory in the television series '' Sliders'', Andrew Clements in '' My Secret Identity'', Vern Tessio in the film '' Stand by ...

John Corbett John Joseph Corbett Jr. (born May 9, 1961) is an American actor and country music singer. On television, he is best known for his roles as Chris Stevens on ''Northern Exposure'' (1990–1995), Aidan Shaw on ''Sex and the City'' (2000–2003), ...

and

Lara Flynn Boyle Lara Flynn Boyle (born March 24, 1970) is an American actress. She is known for playing Donna Hayward in the television series ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991). After appearing in Penelope Spheeris's comedy ''Wayne's World (film), Wayne's World'' (1 ...

which hit theatres nationwide in 2009. Herzlinger's love for film began at a young age with his first viewing of the film '' E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial'', said the director in an interview for

The Film That Changed My Life ''The Film That Changed My Life'' (also known as ''The Film That Changed My Life: 30 Directors on Their Epiphanies in the Dark'') is a non-fiction collection of interviews compiled by American journalist, author and film columnist Robert K. Eld ...

Robert K. Elder Robert K. Elder (born January 20, 1976) is an American journalist, author, and film columnist. He is currently the President and CEO othe Outrider Foundation He has written more than a dozen books on topics ranging from the death penalty and m ...

I think it gave us permission to believe, and I’ll tell you right now, one of my biggest things as a person, as a filmmaker, is being able to believe. If I didn’t have that and didn’t have that ability, I would have failed at this business.

Recent years

Herzlinger has multiple film and television projects in the works. He currently lives in

Malibu, California Malibu ( ; ; ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, about west of downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate, its strip of beaches stretching along the Pacific Ocean coa ...

and works as a film director and writer. In 2010,

Summit Entertainment Summit Entertainment, LLC (formerly the Summit Group, Summit Export Group, Summit Entertainment Group Inc., Summit Entertainment Limited, Summit Films Limited, and Summit Entertainment N.V.) is an American film production label of Lionsgate Film ...

hired Black and Herzlinger to re-write their $50 million action comedy ''Mental''. In 2011, Herzlinger directed the feature ''Brother White'' (starring

Bruce Davison Bruce Allen Davison (born June 28, 1946) is an American actor who has appeared in more than 270 films, television and stage productions since his debut in 1968. His breakthrough role was as Willard Stiles in the 1971 cult horror film '' Willard' ...

and

Ray Wise Raymond Herbert Wise (born August 29, 1947) is an American actor best known for his role as Leland Palmer in ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991, Twin Peaks (season 3), 2017) and its prequel film ''Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me'' (1992). He has appeared ...

) as well as the television pilot for B&B Media's ''Today’s Tiaras''. In 2012, Herzlinger served as host for ''Laugh Factor'', a CW pilot for the Wayans Brothers, described as '' The Voice'' for stand-up comedy. Also in 2012, Herzlinger the comedy musical ''How Sweet It Is'' (starring

Paul Sorvino Paul Anthony Sorvino (, ; April 13, 1939 – July 25, 2022) was an American actor. He often portrayed authority figures on both the criminal and the law enforcement sides of the law. Sorvino was particularly known for his roles as Lucchese cri ...

and

Joe Piscopo Joseph Charles John Piscopo ( ; born June 17, 1951) is an American actor, comedian and conservative radio talk show host. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1980 to 1984, where he played a variety of recurring characters. His f ...

), which was co-written by Jay Black & Herzlinger, and released in select theatres nationwide on May 10, 2013. That same year, he directed the family holiday film ''Christmas Angel'' (starring

Kevin Sorbo Kevin David Sorbo (born September 24, 1958) is an American actor. He has had starring roles in two television series: as Hercules in '' Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'' (1995–1999) and as Captain Dylan Hunt in '' Andromeda'' (2000–2005). ...

and

Della Reese Della Reese (born Delloreese Patricia Early; July 6, 1931 – November 19, 2017) was an American singer, actress, television personality, author and ordained minister. As a singer, she recorded blues, gospel, jazz and pop. Several of her singl ...

), which became the highest-rated TV movie of 2012 for the GMC network with over 3 million viewers. In 2013, he directed the feature film ''Finding Normal''. He produced, directed, and co-wrote the TV pilot ''Paulie'' (starring

and

Janeane Garofalo Janeane Garofalo ( ; born September 28, 1964) is an American comedian, actress, and former co-host on Air America Radio's '' The Majority Report''. The accolades she has received include nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards and a Screen Act ...

). In 2014, Herzlinger and Black wrote the cancer drama ''Meet My Valentine''. He directed the film for

Marvista Entertainment MarVista Entertainment, LLC is an American production company, based in Westwood, Los Angeles, California. The company mainly provides financing and some original content, mainly made-for-TV films and direct-to-SVOD titles, many of which are ca ...

which was released on Valentine's Day 2015, and is currently on Netflix. In 2015, the duo wrote the action film, ''The Bus Driver'', which Herzlinger also directed. That year, he also directed the feature drama ''The Perfect Daughter'' starring

Parker Stevenson Richard Stevenson Parker Jr. (born June 4, 1952), known professionally as Parker Stevenson, is an American actor best known for playing Frank Hardy in the 1970s series '' The Hardy Boys'' and Craig Pomeroy on the 1990s series ''Baywatch''. Ea ...

and

Meredith Salenger Meredith Salenger (born March 14, 1970) is an American actress. Her credits include the 1985 film '' The Journey of Natty Gann'', as the title character, and the 1989 teen comedy '' Dream a Little Dream''. Early life Salenger was born and raise ...

. He co-wrote and directed the Christmas film ''Love Always, Santa'' and directed the series pilot ''Confessions of a Hollywood Bartender''. In 2016, Herzlinger directed the feature romantic comedy ''Love's Last Resort'', which turned out to be the late

Alan Thicke Alan Willis Thicke (né Jeffrey; 1 March 1947 13 December 2016) was a Canadian-American actor, songwriter, and game/talk show host. He was the father of singer Robin Thicke. Thicke was best known for playing Dr. Jason Seaver on the 1980s sitco ...

's last film; ''Hush Little Baby'', a thriller starring

Erin Cahill Erin Jessica Cahill (born January 4, 1980) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Jen Scotts in ''Power Rangers Time Force'', Ted Mosby's sister Heather in ''How I Met Your Mother'', and Kendra Burke in '' Saving Grace''. She ...

; and the Pureflix original series pilot ''Hitting The Breaks''. In 2017, Herzlinger directed the romantic drama ''Runaway Romance'' starring

Tatum O'Neal Tatum Beatrice O'Neal (born November 5, 1963) is an American actress. At the age of 10, she became the youngest person ever to win a competitive Academy Award, for her performance as Addie Loggins in '' Paper Moon'' co-starring her father, Ry ...

. In 2019, he directed his second documentary, '' My Truth: The Rape of 2 Coreys''. The film explores actor

Corey Feldman Corey Scott Feldman (born July 16, 1971) is an American actor and musician. As a youth, he became well known for his roles in popular 1980s films such as '' Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter'' (1984), '' Gremlins'' (1984), '' The Goonies'' (198 ...

's allegations sexual abuse as a child by prominent Hollywood figures.

Filmography

References

External links

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My Date With Drew production information
{{DEFAULTSORT:Herzlinger, Brian Living people Cherokee High School (New Jersey) alumni Film directors from New Jersey Ithaca College alumni People from Evesham Township, New Jersey 1976 births Place of birth missing (living people)