David T. Friendly (born May 1, 1956) is an American film producer best known for co-producing the 2006 film ''

Little Miss Sunshine ''Little Miss Sunshine'' is a 2006 American tragicomedy road film and the feature film directorial debut of the husband–wife team of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris. The screenplay was written by first-time writer Michael Arndt. The film s ...

'', for which he was nominated for an

Academy Award for Best Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since the awards debuted in 1929. This award goes to the producers of the film and is the only categor ...

Career

After graduating from

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Chart ...

Medill School of Journalism The Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications is a constituent school of Northwestern University that offers both undergraduate and graduate programs. It frequently ranks as the top school of journalism in the Unite ...

in 1978, Friendly became a journalist, a staff writer at

newsmagazine A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio or television program, usually published weekly, consisting of articles about current events. News magazines generally discuss stories, in greater depth than do newspapers or n ...

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...

''. He moved to the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' in 1985 where he wrote about the entertainment industry and had a weekly column exploring the business side of the film industry until 1987, when he was approached by

Imagine Entertainment Imagine Entertainment (formerly Imagine Films Entertainment), also known simply as Imagine, is an American film and television production company founded in November 1985 by producer Brian Grazer and director Ron Howard. Background Brian Gra ...

co-founders

Brian Grazer Brian Thomas Grazer (born July 12, 1951) is an American film and television producer and writer. He founded Imagine Entertainment in 1986 with Ron Howard. The films they produced have grossed over $15 billion. Grazer was personally nominated fo ...

and

Ron Howard Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He first came to prominence as a child actor, guest-starring in several television series, including an episode of ''The Twilight Zone''. He ...

, and he became Imagine's Vice President of Motion Pictures. With Imagine, he executive produced '' My Girl'', ''

My Girl 2 ''My Girl 2'' is a 1994 American comedy-drama film starring Dan Aykroyd, Jamie Lee Curtis, Anna Chlumsky and Austin O'Brien. A sequel to '' My Girl'' (1991), its plot follows a now-teenaged Vada Sultenfuss, who travels from her home in suburban Pe ...

'', '' For Love or Money'', '' Greedy'', and '' The Chamber''. In 1994, Friendly joined Davis Entertainment as President, where he produced ''

Daylight Daylight is the combination of all direct and indirect sunlight during the daytime. This includes direct sunlight, diffuse sky radiation, and (often) both of these reflected by Earth and terrestrial objects, like landforms and buildings. Sun ...

'' and '' Digging to China'', as well as overseeing the development and production of many other Davis films. With his own independent company, Friendly Productions, he has produced the 2000 film '' Here on Earth''. Friendly and producer/financier Marc Turtletaub founded Deep River Productions in September 2000 and, after working at

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film studio, film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm o ...

for three years where he produced '' Big Momma's House'', they produced their first feature, '' Laws of Attraction''. Friendly went on to produce ''

Duane Hopwood ''Duane Hopwood'' is a 2005 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Matt Mulhern, and starring David Schwimmer, Janeane Garofalo, Judah Friedlander, John Krasinski and Steve Schirripa. After being featured in the Sundance Film Fes ...

'', ''

The Honeymooners ''The Honeymooners'' is an American television sitcom which originally aired from 1955 to 1956, created by and starring Jackie Gleason, and based on a recurring comedy sketch of the same name that had been part of Gleason's variety show. It fo ...

'' and ''

Big Momma's House 2 ''Big Momma's House 2'' is a 2006 American crime comedy film, the sequel to 2000's '' Big Momma's House'' and the second installment of the ''Big Momma'' film series. The film was directed by John Whitesell and starring Martin Lawrence reprising h ...

'' with Deep River under different labels before producing the 2006 film ''

'' with Turtletaub, Ron Yerxa, Albert Berger and Peter Saraf, for which they were all nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment in ...

for Best Picture and a

BAFTA Award The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cere ...

for Best Film, as well as winning an

Independent Spirit Award The Independent Spirit Awards (abbreviated Spirit Awards and originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards), founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with acrylic glass ...

for Best Feature and a

PGA Award The Producers Guild of America (PGA) is a 501(c)(6) trade association representing television producers, film producers and New Media producers in the United States. The PGA's membership includes over 8,000 members of the producing establishment w ...

for a Theatrical Motion Picture. After the release of ''Little Miss Sunshine'', which had been in production at Deep River Productions for six years, Friendly and Turtletaub split and left the company to work elsewhere and Friendly made a two-year producing deal with

that landed him producing roles on the 2008 film '' Meet Dave'' and '' Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son''. He is also set to produce the upcoming projects ''

Office Romance ''Office Romance'' (russian: links=no, italic=yes, Служебный роман, Sluzhebny roman) is a 1977 Soviet comedy film directed by Eldar Ryazanov. The film's plot is based on the stageplay ''Co-workers'' (') written by Ryazanov and Emi ...

'', '' Q School'', and ''

The Warden ''The Warden'' is a novel by English author Anthony Trollope published by Longman in 1855. It is the first book in the ''Chronicles of Barsetshire'' series, followed by ''Barchester Towers''. Synopsis ''The Warden'' concerns Mr Septimus Hard ...

''.

Personal life

Friendly is the son of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

American journalist Fred W. Friendly, the president of CBS News from 1964 to 1966 (whom

George Clooney George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by George Clooney, numerous accolades, including a British Academy Film Awards, British Academy Film A ...

portrayed in the 2005 film ''

Good Night, and Good Luck ''Good Night, and Good Luck'' (stylized as ''good night, and good luck.'') is a 2005 historical drama film about American television news directed by George Clooney, with the movie starring David Strathairn, Patricia Clarkson, Jeff Daniels, ...

''). His brother is fellow producer Andy Friendly. He is married to

film editor Film editing is both a creative and a technical part of the post-production process of filmmaking. The term is derived from the traditional process of working with film which increasingly involves the use of digital technology. The film edi ...

Priscilla Nedd-Friendly Priscilla Nedd-Friendly (born 1955) is an American film editor. She is married to film producer David T. Friendly. Filmography *''The Darkest Hour'' (2011) *'' Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son'' (2011) *'' The Proposal'' (2009) *''27 Dresses'' ...

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

*
Profile of David T. Friendly
by ''Northwestern Magazine'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Friendly, David 1956 births Living people American film producers Medill School of Journalism alumni