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Judd Apatow

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Judd Apatow
Born (1967-12-06) December 6, 1967 (age 56)
Template:Country data USA-NY Syosset, New York, USA
Occupation(s)Film director, writer, producer, and actor
SpouseLeslie Mann
Websitehttp://www.myspace.com/juddapatow

Judd Apatow (born December 6, 1967, in Syosset, New York)[1] is an Emmy-winning American screenwriter, director, and producer. He is best known for writing and directing successful comedy films The 40 Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up. He also is the founder of Apatow Productions, his own production company. He has written, produced, and directed films that have grossed nearly $700 million at the box office.[2]

Biography

Childhood

Judd Apatow describes his childhood as "nerdy but tranquil." He was small for his age, but he had many friends. Apatow was always picked last for teams as a child. He was obsessed with entertainment and comedy, and his childhood hero was comedian Steve Martin.[2] He has an older brother Robert and a younger sister Mia.[2] Apatow's notion of "writing" consists of stringing together various and sundry bits of vulgarity and obscenity. His father was a real estate developer and his mother worked at a comedy club in Southampton.[2]

Apatow's parents divorced when he was 12 years old. His brother Robert went to live with his grandparents and his sister Mia went to live with his mother. Apatow went to live with his father and visited his mother on weekends. His parents were both devoted to his obsession with comedy.[2] He got his start in comedy while attending Syosset High School, where he was the host of a program on the school's 10-watt radio station known as "Club Comedy." He used his mother's contacts at the comedy club to gain access to the comedians.[2] During his time at the radio station, he managed to interview Steve Allen, Howard Stern, Harold Ramis and John Candy, and then-unknowns Jerry Seinfeld, Jay Leno, Steven Wright and Garry Shandling. [3]

Early struggles

He began performing stand-up comedy at age 17, during his senior year of high school.[2]. After graduating from high school in 1985, he moved to Los Angeles and enrolled in the screenwriting program at University of Southern California.[2] He soon began volunteering at Comic Relief and introducing comedians at the Improv.[2] Apatow dropped out of USC after two years and moved into an apartment with comedian Adam Sandler, whom he met at the Improv.[2] He also continued performing standup comedy; and although he admits that his act was well-written, he was unable to develop his own unique comedic personality.[4]

Apatow began writing jokes for others, including Roseanne Barr,[4] after finding little success as a performer himself.[3] He appeared on HBO's 15th Annual Young Comedians Special in 1992.[1] In 1990, Apatow met Ben Stiller outside of an Elvis Costello show, and they became friends.[2] In 1992, Apatow produced The Ben Stiller Show for the Fox network. Although the show was critically acclaimed and earned Apatow and the rest of the writing staff an Emmy Award, Fox cancelled the show in 1993.

Apatow's manager, Jimmy Miller, introduced him to comedian Garry Shandling, who hired Apatow as a writer and producer for The Larry Sanders Show in 1993. Apatow worked on the show for five years until the show's end in 1998.[4] Apatow credits Garry Shandling as his mentor for influencing him to write comedy that is more character-driven.[4] Apatow earned six Emmy nominations for his work on Larry Sanders.

Apatow was hired to re-write Lou Holtz' script for the movie The Cable Guy, which was released in 1996. He expected the film to be a huge success, but it was a critical and commercial failure.[5] However, that movie would prove to be a major personal success for Apatow, in that he met his wife, Leslie Mann, during the shooting for it.

Apatow's next script was entitled Making Amends and had Owen Wilson attached as a man in AA who decides to apologize to everyone he has ever hurt. Apatow used Cameron Crowe and his movie Jerry Maguire as a role model. However, the film was never made.[5] Apatow did an uncredited rewrite of the 1998 Adam Sandler comedy The Wedding Singer.[5]

From 1999 to 2002, Apatow worked on Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared, which were "two of the most acclaimed TV series to ever last only one season."[6] Both shows developed cult followings and helped to launch the careers of several young actors including James Franco, Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, and Jay Baruchel, among others.

Career breakthrough

Apatow has helped to foster the acting careers of Steve Carell and Seth Rogen and also tends to work with his close friends.[4] He has frequently worked with producer Shauna Robertson, who he met on the set of Elf.[5] He tries to keep a low budget on his projects and usually makes his movies about the work itself rather than using big stars.[4] After his success in film, Apatow hired the entire writing staff from Undeclared to write movies for Apatow Productions.[4] He never fires writers and he keeps them on projects through all stages of productions.[4] Apatow is not committed to any specific studio, but his projects are typically set up at Universal and Sony.[4] Apatow also strives to avoid marginalizing women in his work and to develop authentic female characters.[6]

In 2004, Apatow produced the hit comedy Anchorman: the Legend of Ron Burgundy, starring Will Ferrell, his first hit after a career of critically-acclaimed failures.

He directed and co-wrote the comedy The 40-Year-Old Virgin, which was nominated for best original screenplay by the Writers Guild of America,[7]. The 40 Year Old Virgin was a sleeper hit.[5] The film grossed $177 million worldwide and made many critics' Top-10 lists for the year.[2] Also in 2005, Apatow wrote the Jim Carrey comedy Fun with Dick and Jane. Apatow's most recent film, Knocked Up, was released in summer 2007 to wide critical acclaim, despite accusations of plagiarism from Canadian writer Rebecca Eckler.[8][9] In addition to being a critical success, the film was also a commercial hit, continuing Apatow's newfound success. Apatow wrote the initial draft of the film on the set of Talladega Nights.[4]

In fall of 2006, Apatow produced the film Superbad, which was written by Rogen and his writing partner Evan Goldberg. Apatow first convinced Rogen to write the film as a vehicle for himself in 2000. Rogen and Goldberg wrote the film, but were unable to get the project produced because studios were uninterested. After Apatow produced the hit Anchorman, studios were still uninterested. So, Apatow enlisted Rogen and Goldberg to write The Pineapple Express, a stoner action movie that he felt would be more commercial. After the success of Virgin, Apatow was still unable to sell both Superbad and Pineapple Express; but after he produced the huge hit Talladega Nights, Sony Pictures Entertainment decided to produce both.[5] At this point, Rogen was unable to play the lead for Superbad. Rogen was cast in a supporting role as a police officer and friend Jonah Hill took his role as a high school student. Sony also produced The Pineapple Express, along with Apatow. Apatow credits Rogen for influencing him to make his work more "outrageously dirty."[4]

Apatow admires filmmakers James L. Brooks, Hal Ashby, Robert Altman, and John Cassavetes.[5] The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences rejected Apatow's application for membership, even though he was sponsored by Academy Award-winning screenwriters Akiva Goldsman and Stephen Gaghan.[6]

Apatow is married to actress Leslie Mann, whom he met on the set of The Cable Guy and who has starred in both The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up.[10] The couple have two daughters, both of whom appeared in Knocked Up.[11] Apatow currently resides in Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles, California with his family.[2]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Notes
2009 The Recruiter Producer (in-development)
Attorneys at Raw Producer (in-development)
A Whole New Hugh Producer (in-development)
Year One Producer (in-development)
2008 The Middle Child Producer (in-development)
Step Brothers Producer (pre-production)
You Don't Mess with the Zohan Writer, producer (pre-production)
The Pineapple Express Producer (post-production)
Forgetting Sarah Marshall Producer (filming)
Drillbit Taylor Producer (post-production)
2007 Walk Hard Writer, producer (post-production)
Superbad Producer
Knocked Up Director, writer, producer
2006 Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby Producer
The TV Set Executive producer
American Storage Executive producer (short film)
2005 Fun with Dick and Jane Screenplay
The 40 Year Old Virgin Director, writer, producer
Kicking & Screaming Executive producer
2004 Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie Producer (direct-to-video)
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy Producer
1996 The Cable Guy Producer
Celtic Pride Story, screenplay, executive producer
1995 Heavyweights Writer, executive producer
1992 Crossing the Bridge Associate producer

Television

Year Title Notes
2001-2002 Undeclared Creator, director, writer, executive producer
1999-2000 Freaks and Geeks Director, writer, executive producer (through episode 7)
1994-1995 The Critic Writer, consulting producer
1993-1998 The Larry Sanders Show Director, writer, co-executive producer, consulting producer
1992-1993 The Ben Stiller Show Co-creator, writer, executive producer

References

  1. ^ a b Michaels, Chad (May 23, 2007). "Judd Apatow Interview". Wild About Movies. Retrieved 2007-06-04. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Minton, Jeff. "Judd Apatow's Family Values", New York Times, 2007-05-27. Retrieved on June 4, 2007.
  3. ^ a b Maher, Ken (May 31, 2007). "Gross-out for grown-ups". Times Online. Retrieved 2007-06-04. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Abramowitz, Rachel. "Judd Apatow, the mayor of comedy", The LA Times, 2007-05-13. Retrieved on June 4, 2007.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Thompson, Anne. "Hot Apatow new king of comedy", Variety, 2007-05-11. Retrieved on June 4, 2007.
  6. ^ a b c Wloszczyna, Susan. "For Apatow, opportunity knocks," USA Today, 2007-05-06. Retrieved on June 4, 2007.
  7. ^ Buckalew, Brett (August 18, 2006). "No Longer a Feature Film Virgin". Filmstew.com. Retrieved 2007-06-04. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  8. ^ Eckler, Rebecca: "Is That my Baby on the Screen", page 69-71. Maclean's Magazine, Volume 120 Number 22, June 11, 2007
  9. ^ ""Knocked Up" is 2007's Best-Reviewed Wide Release". Rotten Tomatoes. June 1, 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-04.
  10. ^ Koltnow, Barry (June 1, 2007). "A couple that films together ..." The Orange County Register. Retrieved 2007-06-04. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  11. ^ "Judd Apatow emerges as behind-the-scenes maestro in thriving comedy era". The Boston Herald. May 5, 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-04. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

Freeks and Geeks (through episode 8)

Interviews

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