Peter Safran (born 22 November 1965) is a British and American film producer, studio executive, and

talent manager A talent manager (also known as an artist manager, band manager, or music manager) is an individual who guides the professional career of Entertainer, artists within the entertainment industry. The responsibility of a talent manager is to ove ...

. He currently serves as the co-chairperson and co-CEO of

DC Studios DC Studios is an American film and television production company that is a division of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). It is responsible for the production of live-action and animated films and television series, as well as video games, based ...

alongside

James Gunn James Francis Gunn Jr. (born August 5, 1966) is an American filmmaker. He began his career as a screenwriter in the mid-1990s, starting at Troma Entertainment with ''Tromeo and Juliet'' (1996). He then began working as a director, starting wi ...

Early life

Peter Safran is the son of Ordell and Henry Safran, of

Ashkenazi Jewish Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...

descent. After growing up in the UK, Safran graduated from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

. He earned his J.D. degree at the

New York University School of Law The New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it was the first law school established in New York City and is the oldest survivin ...

. He worked as a corporate attorney in New York City, before becoming an assistant at United Talent Agency in Los Angeles.

Career

He became a

at Gold-Miller Co and stayed there until 1998. He then was a manager at Brillstein-Grey for five years, before he was named president of Brillstein-Grey Management in 2003. As president, he was made responsible for day-to-day activities of the department, which had over 200 clients, including

Brad Pitt William Bradley Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. In a Brad Pitt filmography, film career spanning more than thirty years, Pitt has received list of awards and nominations received by Brad Pitt, numerous a ...

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, and Courteney Cox. He left Brillstein-Grey in 2006, to launch The Safran Company, and took his entire client list with him. As manager, he represented

Sean Combs Sean John Combs (born November 4, 1969), better known by his stage name Diddy, and formerly Puff Daddy and P. Diddy, is an American rapper, record producer, and record executive. Born in Harlem and raised in Mount Vernon, New York, Mount Ve ...

Adam Shankman Adam Michael Shankman (born November 27, 1964) is an American film director, producer, writer, dancer, author, actor, and choreographer. He was a permanent judge on seasons 6–7 of the television program ''So You Think You Can Dance (American TV ...

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Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Lopez (born July 24, 1969), also known by her nickname J.Lo, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, dancer and businesswoman. Lopez is regarded as one of the most influential entertainers of her time, credited with breaking ...

, and

Brooke Shields Brooke Christa Shields (born May 31, 1965) is an American actress. A child model starting at the age of 11 months, Shields gained widespread notoriety at age 12 for her leading role in Louis Malle's film ''Pretty Baby (1978 film), Pretty Baby ...

. During the last few years, Safran has been able to build upon ''The Conjuring'' Universe, and produce films such as ''

Aquaman Aquaman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger, the character debuted in ''More Fun Comics'' #73 (November 1941). Initially a backup feature in DC's anthology titles ...

'', '' Shazam!'', '' The Suicide Squad'', and ''

Shazam! Fury of the Gods ''Shazam! Fury of the Gods'' is a 2023 American superhero film based on the DC character Shazam. Produced by New Line Cinema, DC Films, and the Safran Company, and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, it is the sequel to '' Shazam!'' (201 ...

'', as well as the television series '' Peacemaker'', and others under his banner through his

first-look deal A first-look deal is any contract containing a clause granting, usually for a fee or other consideration that covers a specified period of time, a pre-emption right, right of first refusal, or right of first offer (also called a right of first neg ...

with

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 ...

In October 2022, Safran and

were named co-chairs and co-CEOs of

, overseeing film, television and animation projects. While Gunn will handle the creative aspects, Safran will handle the business side of the division. The two had first worked together on the 2000 superhero comedy film ''

The Specials The Specials, also known as the Special AKA, were an English 2 tone and ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry. After some early changes, the first stable lineup of the group consisted of Terry Hall and Neville Staple on vocals, J ...

'' written by Gunn with Safran as co-executive producer, with subsequent collaborations including Gunn's 2008 short films ''Sparky & Mikaela'' and ''Humanzee!'', the television series '' James Gunn's PG Porn'' (2008-2009), '' The Belko Experiment'' (2016) and the DCEU film '' The Suicide Squad'' (2021). They assumed their positions on 1 November 2022. Safran and Gunn are involved in casting characters for the wider

DC Universe The DC Universe (DCU) is the shared universe in which most stories in American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. In context, the term "DC Universe" usually refers to the main DC Continuity (fiction), continuity. It contains v ...

(DCU) franchise, and Safran produces all films in the franchise.

Filmography

Short film

Feature film

Producer

Executive producer

Television

References

External links

*
Peter Safran
profile at Warner Bros. Discovery website
Peter Safran
profile at '' Variety'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Safran, Peter 1965 births American entertainment company founders American film producers American film studio executives British film studio executives British mass media company founders Corporate lawyers English emigrants to the United States Film producers from London Living people New York University School of Law alumni Princeton University alumni Talent managers Warner Bros. people