Eric David Manes is a feature film and television writer and producer, owner of Swiss chocolate company Coco Suisse with his wife Marianne Manes, and a State of California Registered Investment Advisor.
Biography
Manes produced the documentary ''
Voices of Iraq'', for which he funneled
digital video
Digital video is an electronic representation of moving visual images (video) in the form of encoded digital data. This is in contrast to analog video, which represents moving visual images in the form of analog signals. Digital video comprises ...
cameras to hundreds of
Iraqis
Iraqis ( ; ) are the citizens and nationals of the Republic of Iraq. The majority of Iraqis are Arabs, with Kurds accounting for the largest ethnic minority, followed by Turkmen. Other ethnic groups from the country include Yazidis, As ...
in the midst of war. The Iraqis interviewed thousands of their compatriots. Within six months, the film was finished, marketed, and distributed for theatrical release in the United States. Because of its unparalleled intimacy and access to Iraqis, the footage was featured on ''
This Week'' with
George Stephanopoulos
George Robert Stephanopoulos (born February 10, 1961) is an American television host, political commentator, and former Democratic advisor. Stephanopoulos currently is a news presenter, coanchor with Robin Roberts (newscaster), Robin Roberts and M ...
. Manes guided ''Voices of Iraq'' through its worldwide release and
festival
A festival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, Melā, mela, or Muslim holidays, eid. A ...
circuit, bringing it to
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
,
Melbourne
Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
,
Locarno
Locarno (; ; Ticinese dialect, Ticinese: ; formerly in ) is a southern Switzerland, Swiss List of towns in Switzerland, town and Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district Locarno (district), Locarno (of which it is the capita ...
, and
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...
.
Manes produced the $60 million budgeted ''
3000 Miles to Graceland'' (starring
Kevin Costner
Kevin Michael Costner (born January 18, 1955) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Kevin Costner, various accolades, including two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and a Primeti ...
,
Kurt Russell
Kurt Vogel Russell (born March 17, 1951) is an American actor. He began his career as a child actor before transitioning to leading roles as an adult in various genres such as action adventures, science-fiction, westerns, romance films, co ...
,
Christian Slater
Christian Michael Leonard Slater (born August 18, 1969) is an American actor. He made his film debut with a leading role in '' The Legend of Billie Jean'' (1985) and gained wider recognition for his breakout role as Jason "J.D." Dean, a sociopath ...
and
Courteney Cox
Courteney Bass Cox (born June 15, 1964) is an American actress and producer. She rose to international prominence by playing Monica Geller in the NBC sitcom ''Friends'' (1994–2004) and Gale Weathers in the horror film franchise '' Scream'' ...
) for
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...
Manes also wrote and produced the feature film ''
Campfire Tales'' (starring
Amy Smart
Amy Lysle Smart (born March 26, 1976) is an American actress. Her first role in film was in Martin Kunert's anthology horror film '' Campfire Tales'', followed by a minor part in '' Starship Troopers,'' directed by Paul Verhoeven. In 1998, Sma ...
,
James Marsden
James Paul Marsden (born September 18, 1973) is an American actor. He began his acting career guest starring in the television shows '' Saved by the Bell: The New Class'' (1993), '' Touched by an Angel'' (1995), and '' Party of Five'' (1995). Ma ...
,
Ron Livingston
Ronald Joseph Livingston (born June 5, 1967) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Peter Gibbons in ''Office Space'' (1999) and Captain Lewis Nixon III in the miniseries ''Band of Brothers (miniseries), Band of Brothers'' (2001). Liv ...
, and
Christine Taylor
Christine Joan Taylor Stiller (born July 30, 1971) is an American actress. She has played Marcia Brady in '' The Brady Bunch Movie'' and '' A Very Brady Sequel'' and appeared in '' The Craft'', '' The Wedding Singer'', '' Zoolander'', and '' Do ...
) for
New Line Cinema
New Line Productions, Inc., Trade name, doing business as New Line Cinema, is an American film production, film and television production company that is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, a division of the Major film studios, ...
and the
indie comedy ''
Phat Beach
''Phat Beach'' is a 1996 American comedy film directed by Doug Ellin, which stars Jermaine 'Huggy' Hopkins, Coolio, Brian Hooks and Gregg Vance. The movie has been considered to be "one of the greatest (and perhaps only) hip-hop beach movies ...
'' (with "
Entourage
An entourage () is an informal group or band of people who are closely associated with a (usually) famous, notorious, or otherwise notable individual. The word can also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* L'entourage, French hip hop / rap collecti ...
” creator
Doug Ellin
Douglas Reed Ellin (born ) is an American screenwriter and film and TV director, known best for creating the HBO television series '' Entourage''. Ellin also served as executive producer, director, head writer and supporting actor for the seri ...
and starring
Coolio
Artis Leon Ivey Jr. (August 1, 1963 – September 28, 2022), known by his stage name Coolio, was an American rapper. He was best known for his single "Gangsta's Paradise" (1995), which won a Grammy Award, and was credited for changing the cours ...
).
His film and television screenplays include
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...
’ Dodging Bullets for
Will Smith
Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968) is an American actor, rapper, and film producer. Known for his work in both Will Smith filmography, the screen and Will Smith discography, music industries, List of awards and nominations re ...
and
Halle Berry
Halle Maria Berry ( ; born Maria Halle Berry; August 14, 1966) is an American actress. She began her career as a model and entered several beauty contests, finishing as the first runner-up in the Miss USA pageant of 1986 and also placing six ...
,
Paramount
Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to:
Entertainment and music companies
* Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS.
**Paramount Picture ...
’s The Brazilian, and
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...
’s Hindenburg for
Jan de Bont
Jan de Bont (; born 22 October 1943) is a Dutch former cinematographer, film director, and film producer. He is best known for directing the action films ''Speed (1994 film), Speed'' (1994) and ''Twister (1996 film), Twister'' (1996). As a direct ...
. He created and executive produced “HRT” (starring
Michael Rooker
Michael Rooker (born April 6, 1955) is an American actor who mainly plays roles of antagonists. He first rose to prominence for portraying the titular role in '' Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer'' (1986), and is best known for starring as Mer ...
and
Ernie Hudson
Earnest Lee Hudson (born December 17, 1945) is an American actor. He is known for his role as Winston Zeddemore in the ''Ghostbusters'' franchise. Hudson has also acted in the films ''Leviathan'' (1989), '' The Hand That Rocks the Cradle'' (19 ...
) for
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 ...
and Columbia TriStar and “Catch” for
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 ...
. With
Doug Liman
Douglas Eric Liman (; born July 24, 1965) is an American film director and producer. He is known for directing the films '' Swingers'' (1996), '' Go'' (1999), '' The Bourne Identity'' (2002), '' Mr. & Mrs. Smith'' (2005), '' Jumper'' (2008), '' E ...
, Manes reinvented “
CHiPs
''CHiPs'' is an American crime drama television series created by Rick Rosner and originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to May 1, 1983. After the final first-run telecast on NBC in May 1983, the series went into reruns on Sundays fr ...
” for
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
and
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...
He also created the reality show “Mayor” for
Columbia TriStar. In 2002, NBC/Studios USA signed Manes to an exclusive writing/producing contract. He wrote and executive produced "Witch Doctor", a TV pilot for Beacon TV and
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting
* Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...
television studios in 2008.
For
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 ...
, he created and executive produced television pilots with
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
winning producer
Mark Johnson. In 2000, Manes convinced MTV to gamble on a reality show where contestants film themselves while completing challenges in the world's most haunted locations. The result was ''
MTV's Fear'', MTV's second highest rated show in 2000 and 2001, which Manes created and executive produced.
Prior to this, Manes founded a post-production facility that
American Cinematographer
The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC), founded in Hollywood in 1919, is a cultural, educational, and professional organization that is neither a labor union nor a guild. The society was organized to advance the science and art of cinem ...
magazine noted for its innovative use of inexpensive, cutting edge, post-production technology to finish indie films.
[
]
In 2011,
DirecTV
DirecTV, LLC is an American Multichannel television in the United States, multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital Satellite television, s ...
,
Technicolor
Technicolor is a family of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes. The first version, Process 1, was introduced in 1916, and improved versions followed over several decades.
Definitive Technicolor movies using three black-and ...
, and
Panasonic
is a Japanese multinational electronics manufacturer, headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka, Kadoma, Japan. It was founded in 1918 as in Fukushima-ku, Osaka, Fukushima by Kōnosuke Matsushita. The company was incorporated in 1935 and renamed and c ...
got together to finance an experimental 3D film for Manes to produce and shoot on Panasonic's new 3D camera systems.
DirecTV
DirecTV, LLC is an American Multichannel television in the United States, multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital Satellite television, s ...
will distribute the 3D film internationally.
[
]
Born in New York City, Manes studied business and philosophy at
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
and is a member of the
Writers Guild of America
The Writers Guild of America (WGA) is the name of two American labor unions representing writers in film, television, radio, and online media:
* The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) is headquartered in New York City and is affiliated wit ...
.
Selected filmography
See also
*
History of Film
The history of film chronicles the development of a visual art, visual art form created using history of film technology, film technologies that began in the late 19th century.
The advent of film as an artistic medium is not clearly defined. Th ...
*Documentary Film
*Reality Television
*''
Voices of Iraq''
*''
MTV's Fear''
*''
Campfire Tales''
*''
3000 Miles to Graceland''
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Manes, Eric
Living people
American male screenwriters
American film producers
American television producers
American chief executives
New York University alumni
Year of birth missing (living people)