Gigi Pritzker (born 27 July 1962) is an American

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least 1,000,000,000, one billion units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. It is a sub-category of the concept of the ultr ...

and film producer who is a member of the

Pritzker family The Pritzker family is an American family engaged in various business enterprises and philanthropy, and one of the wealthiest families in the United States (staying in the top 10 of ''Forbes'' magazine's "America's Richest Families" list since th ...

. Pritzker is co-founder of the film production and financing company Odd Lot Entertainment, producing several films including '' Rabbit Hole'', ''

Drive Drive or The Drive may refer to: Motoring * Driving, the act of controlling a vehicle * Road trip, a journey on roads Roadways Roadways called "drives" may include: * Driveway, a private road for local access to structures, abbreviated "drive" * ...

'', and '' Hell or High Water''. Pritzker has also produced for TV, including ''

The Dragon Prince ''The Dragon Prince'', known as ''The Dragon Prince: Mystery of Aaravos'' from the fourth season onward, is an Animated series, animated Fantasy television, fantasy television series created by Aaron Ehasz and Justin Richmond for Netflix. Prod ...

'', which won the 2020

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...

for Outstanding Children's Animated Series.

Early life and education

Jean Pritzker was born to the wealthy

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, the daughter of Marian "Cindy" (née Friend) and

Jay Pritzker Jay Arthur Pritzker (August 26, 1922 – January 23, 1999) was an American businessman and member of the Pritzker family. He was a founder of the Hyatt Corporation, having purchased the first Hyatt Hotel in 1957, and was responsible for ...

. Her maternal grandfather was

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

-born jurist

Hugo Friend Hugo Morris Friend (July 21, 1882April 29, 1966) was an American jurist who, in his youth, competed as an athlete in the long jump and hurdles. He is best remembered as the judge who presided over the criminal trial of the Black Sox Sca ...

. Her father, along with his brothers,

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...

and

Donald Pritzker Donald Nicholas Pritzker (October 31, 1932 – May 6, 1972) was an American businessman. He was a member of the Pritzker family and served as the president of Hyatt, where he helped grow the hotel chain. Early life and education Pritzker wa ...

, diversified the Chicago-based family business, the

Marmon Group Marmon Group is an American industrial holding company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by Jay Pritzker and Robert Pritzker in 1953 (as Colson Corporation), it has been held by the Berkshire Hathaway group since 2013. Marmon Group ...

. They created the

Hyatt Hotel Hyatt Hotels Corporation, commonly known as Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, is an American multinational hospitality company headquartered in the Riverside Plaza area of Chicago that manages and franchises luxury and business hotels, resorts, and vac ...

chain in 1957 and owned

Braniff Airlines Braniff Airways, Inc., operated as Braniff International Airways from 1948 until 1965, and then Braniff International from 1965 until the cessation of air operations, was an American airline that operated from 1928 until 1982 and continues to ...

from 1983 until 1988, later divesting many assets.Chicago Tribune: "Pritzker family could soon own less than half of Hyatt" By Julie Wernau
April 19, 2011 Pritzker graduated from North Shore Country Day School in Winnetka, IL in 1980 and went on to receive a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

(B.A.) in

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

.Michael Cieply
New York Times: "A Movie Mogul Rising"
January 14, 2013.

Career

After taking courses in

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

making, Pritzker, along with Deborah Del Prete, co-founded the

Culver City, California Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. It is mostly surrounded by Los Angeles, but also shares a border with the unincorporated area of Ladera Heights, Californi ...

-based film production and financing company Odd Lot Entertainment. In 2010, Odd Lot produced the film '' Rabbit Hole'', starring

Nicole Kidman Nicole Mary Kidman (born 20 June 1967) is an Australian and American actress and producer. Known for Nicole Kidman on screen and stage, her work in film and television productions across many genres, she has consistently ranked among the world ...

, and in 2011, the film ''

'', starring

Ryan Gosling Ryan Thomas Gosling ( ; born November 12, 1980) is a Canadian actor. His work includes both independent films and major studio features, and his accolades include a Golden Globe Award, in addition to nominations for three Academy Awards, a ...

. In November 2013, Odd Lot released ''

Ender's Game ''Ender's Game'' is a 1985 military science fiction novel by American author Orson Scott Card. Set at an unspecified date in Earth's future, the novel presents an imperiled humankind after two conflicts with an insectoid alien species they ...

'' a film, co-starring

Harrison Ford Harrison Ford (born July 13, 1942) is an American actor. Regarded as a cinematic cultural icon, he has starred in Harrison Ford filmography, many notable films over seven decades, and is one of List of highest-grossing actors, the highest-gr ...

and based on

Orson Scott Card Orson Scott Card (born August 24, 1951) is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. , he is the only person to have won a Hugo Award for Best Novel, Hugo Award and a Nebula Award for Best Novel, Nebula Award in List of joint ...

's science fiction novel. Prizker, along with her with partner Ted Rawlins, co-lead the company ''Relevant Theatricals'', which develops and produces live

stage productions Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communicat ...

, including the play ''

Million Dollar Quartet "Million Dollar Quartet" is a recording of an impromptu jam session involving Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash made on December 4, 1956 at the Sun Studio, Sun Record Studios in Memphis, Tennessee. An article about th ...

''.

Personal life

Prizker is married to Michael PuckerCrain's Chicago Business: "Gigi, Michael Pucker donate sculpture to Lurie Children's Hospital" by Shia Kapos
October 24, 2012 and has three children.

Filmography

Pritzker was a producer in all films unless otherwise noted.

Film

;Thanks

Television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pritzker, Gigi American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent American billionaires Film producers from Illinois American women film producers Female billionaires Stanford University alumni Gigi Living people 1962 births Businesspeople from Chicago Mass media people from Chicago American film production company founders 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American women Jewish American film people