Chad Troutwine (born May 23, 1968) is an American film and television producer and education technology entrepreneur.

Early life and education

As a child, Troutwine was always interested in snowboarding. parents encouraged his entrepreneurial spirit and placed a high value on education. Troutwine earned a perfect score on the

Stanford Achievement Test The Stanford Achievement Test Series, the most recent version of which is usually referred to simply as the "Stanford 10" or SAT-10, is a set of standardized achievement tests used by school districts in the United States and in American schools a ...

, and graduated high school at the age of sixteen. Troutwine earned his BA from

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

at nineteen, and went on to earn a JD from the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

, graduating with honors, an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

from the

Yale School of Management The Yale School of Management (also known as Yale SOM) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. The school awards the Master of Business Admi ...

, and received a master's degree in Public Administration from the

Harvard Kennedy School The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...

Entrepreneurship

While at Yale, Troutwine and Markus Moberg, launched Veritas Prep, a GMAT preparation and MBA admissions consulting company. Veritas Prep has become the world's largest privately owned test preparation and admissions consulting company, and now prepares students for the

SAT The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and Test score, scoring have changed several times. For much of its history, it was called the Scholastic Aptitude Test ...

, ACT, and GRE. In January 2019, it was announced that Veritas Prep had been acquired by

Varsity Tutors Varsity may refer to: Institutions * University, an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in various academic disciplines * Varsity College (South Africa), a school Places *Varsity, Calgary, Al ...

. In recognition of his entrepreneurial endeavors,

Forbes magazine ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The c ...

named Troutwine their 2002 Forbes Future Capitalist of the Year. Seven years later,

Entrepreneur magazine ''Entrepreneur'' is an American magazine and website that carries news stories about entrepreneurship, small business management, and business. First published in 1977. it is published by ''Entrepreneur Media Inc''., headquartered in Irvine, Cal ...

featured Troutwine and Moberg as Top 20 Trailblazers and Trendsetters for 2009. After Troutwine co-founded Freakonomics Media, the Freakonomics franchise grew from its original book to a movie, radio show, more books, and a multimedia website. In 2014, Troutwine co-founded Torn Label Brewing Company in Kansas City, MO. A year later, in 2015, Troutwine co-founded the Los Angeles computer coding academy, Codesmith. In 2016, Codesmith announced it had received over $1 million in funding. As of July 2016, Codesmith alumni had a 96% hiring rate at an average salary of $103,000. Troutwine is an investor and member of the board of directors of the

crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and Alternative Finance, alternative finance, to fund projects "withou ...

and film distribution platform, Seed&Spark. Troutwine is also an advisor to SoloPro, a real estate startup venture founded by former

US Army Special Forces The United States Army Special Forces (SF), colloquially known as the "Green Berets" due to their distinctive service headgear, is a branch of the United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC). The core missionset of Special Forces ...

officer and

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

professor Tommy Sowers.

Henry Crown Fellow, the Aspen Institute

In 2013, the

Aspen Institute The Aspen Institute is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1949 as the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C., but also has a campus in Aspen, Colorado, its original home. Its stated miss ...

named Troutwine a member of the Henry Crown Fellowship.

Film and Arts

In January 2001, Troutwine established Chad Troutwine Films. His films have premiered at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

and the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

and featured award-winning actors (including

James Woods James Howard Woods (born April 18, 1947) is an American actor. Known for fast-talking, intense roles on screen and stage, he has received numerous accolades, including three Emmy Awards, and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nominations for t ...

Nick Nolte Nicholas King Nolte (; born February 8, 1941) is an American actor. Known for his leading man roles in both dramas and romances, he has received a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for three Academy Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award. Nol ...

Vince Vaughn Vincent Anthony Vaughn (born March 28, 1970) is an American actor. He is known for starring as a leading man in numerous comedy films during the late 1990s and 2000s. He was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Awards, Screen Actors Guild Award ...

Miranda Richardson Miranda Jane Richardson (born 3 March 1958) is an English actress who has worked in film, television and theatre. After graduating from the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Richardson began her career in 1979 and made her West End theatre, West ...

Steve Buscemi Steven Vincent Buscemi (,As stated in interviews by Buscemi himself. It is not uncommon for people to pronounce his name or instead. ; born December 13, 1957) is an American actor. He is known for his work as an acclaimed character actor. Mul ...

Bob Hoskins Robert William Hoskins (26 October 1942 – 29 April 2014) was an English actor and film director. Known for his intense but sensitive portrayals of "tough guy" characters, he began his career on stage before making his screen breakthrough pl ...

, and

Natalie Portman Natalie Hershlag{{efn, Some Hebrew sources claim that her birth name was "Neta-Lee Hershleg" ({{langx, he, נטע-לי הרשלג) and later, her first name was Americanized to "Natalie". {{Cite news , last=Shamir , first=Oron , date=August ...

), and directors (

Joel and Ethan Coen Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, together known as the Coen brothers (), are an American filmmaking duo. Their films span many genres and styles, which they frequently subvert or parody. Among their most acclaimed works are '' Blood Simple'' (198 ...

Alex Gibney Philip Alexander Gibney (; born October 23, 1953) is an American documentary film director and producer. In 2010, ''Esquire'' magazine said Gibney "is becoming the most important documentarian of our time." Gibney's works as director include ''T ...

Morgan Spurlock Morgan Valentine Spurlock (November 7, 1970 – May 23, 2024) was an American documentary filmmaker, writer, and television producer. He directed 23 films and was the producer of nearly 70 films throughout his career. Spurlock received acclaim f ...

Gus Van Sant Gus Green Van Sant Jr. (born July 24, 1952) is an American filmmaker, photographer, painter, and musician. He has earned acclaim as an independent film, independent auteur. His films typically deal with themes of marginalized subcultures. His ...

Alfonso Cuaron Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic Kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula. I ...

Seth Gordon Seth Lewis Gordon is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and film editor. He has produced and directed for film and television, including for PBS, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the United Nations Staff 1% for Developme ...

, and

Alexander Payne Constantine Alexander Payne (born February 10, 1961) is an American film director, screenwriter and producer. He is noted for his satire, satirical depictions of contemporary American society. Payne has received List of awards and nominations rec ...

). In 2008, Troutwine joined Dan O'Meara and Chris Romano at the Green Film Company, a New York-based production company. In 2010,

Magnolia Pictures Magnolia Pictures LLC is an American independent film distributor and production company, and is a subsidiary of Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner's 2929 Entertainment. Magnolia was formed in 2001 by Bill Banowsky and Eamonn Bowles, and specializes in ...

released his documentary adaptation of the New York Times Bestseller

Freakonomics ''Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything'' is the debut non-fiction book by University of Chicago economist Steven Levitt and ''New York Times'' journalist Stephen J. Dubner. Published on April 12, 2005, by Wil ...

. It was the Closing Night gala film at the 2010

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...

. In 2014, Troutwine's documentary, '' Print the Legend'', won a special jury award at the 2014

SXSW South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

Film Festival. The film was distributed by

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

. In 2016,

Business Insider ''Business Insider'' (stylized in all caps: BUSINESS INSIDER; known from 2021 to 2023 as INSIDER) is a New York City–based multinational financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Inside ...

published the Top 15 Netflix documentaries to "make you smarter about business", a list which included two of Troutwine's films: '' Print the Legend'' and ''

''.

Producer

- ''Wrestle'' (2018) (executive producer)
- '' Bill Nye: Science Guy'' (2017) (executive producer)
- ''

Rolling Papers Rolling paper is a specialty paper used for making cigarettes (commercially manufactured filter cigarettes and individually made roll-your-own cigarettes). Rolling papers are packs of several cigarette-size sheets, often folded inside a cardboa ...

'' (2015) (executive producer)
- ''

Finders Keepers Finders keepers, sometimes extended as the children's rhyme finders keepers, losers weepers, is an English adage with the premise that when something is unowned or abandoned, whoever finds it first may claim it for themselves to own, by the “f ...

'' (2015) (executive producer)
- '' Print the Legend'' (2014) (producer)
- ''

Jayhawkers Jayhawker and red leg are terms that came to prominence in Kansas Territory during the Bleeding Kansas period of the 1850s; they were adopted by militant bands affiliated with the free-state cause during the American Civil War. These gangs were ...

'' (2014) (executive producer)
- '' Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia'' (2013) (executive producer)
- ''

'' (2010) (producer)
- ''

Gerrymandering Gerrymandering, ( , originally ) defined in the contexts of Representative democracy, representative electoral systems, is the political manipulation of Boundary delimitation, electoral district boundaries to advantage a Political party, pa ...

'' (2010) (producer)
- ''

Carissa ''Carissa'' is a genus of shrubs or small trees native to tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, Australia and Asia. Until recently about 100 species were listed, but most of them have been relegated to the status of synonyms or assigned ...

'' (2008) (producer)
- ''

Paris, je t'aime ''Paris, je t'aime'' (; ) is a 2006 anthology film starring an ensemble cast of actors of various nationalities. The two-hour film consists of eighteen short films set in different '' arrondissements'' (districts). The 22 directors include Guri ...

'' (2006) (executive producer)
- ''

Lo Más bonito y mis mejores años Lo may refer to any of the following: Arts and entertainment * Comic LO, a Japanese ''lolicon''-focused erotic manga magazine * ''Lo!'', the third published nonfiction work of the author Charles Fort * L.O., a fictional character in the Playhou ...

'' (2005) (associate producer)
- '' Edmond'' (2005) (co-producer)
- ''

The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things ''The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things'' is a 2004 drama film co-written and directed by Asia Argento and starring Argento, Jimmy Bennett, Dylan Sprouse and Cole Sprouse (with Bennett and the Sprouse brothers sharing the role as Jeremiah). T ...

'' (2004) (executive producer)
- ''

I Love Your Work ''I Love Your Work'' is an American psychological thriller film completed in 2003 and released theatrically in 2005. The film was directed by Adam Goldberg and written by Goldberg and Adrian Butchart. An indictment of celebrity culture, it was n ...

'' (2003) (executive producer)
- ''

Northfork ''Northfork'' is a 2003 fantasy drama film directed by Michael Polish and written by Michael and Mark Polish. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 21, 2003 and later received a limited release in the United States on July 11, ...

'' (2003) (associate producer) Troutwine also appeared as himself in the 2007 independent film '' A Lawyer Walks into a Bar''.

Personal life

On June 28, 2015, Troutwine married Sacha Radford at the

Adamson House The Adamson House and its estate, known as Vaquero Hill in the 19th century, is a historic house built by Rhoda Adamson and gardens in Malibu, California, Malibu, California. The residence and estate is on the coast, within Malibu Lagoon State ...

in Malibu, CA.

References

External links

Master Minds
an article on Troutwine and Moberg in the March 2009 issue of

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Troutwine, Chad Business education 1968 births American chief executives of education-related organizations Yale School of Management alumni Living people Harvard Kennedy School alumni University of Missouri alumni Arizona State University alumni Film producers from Arizona Henry Crown Fellows