Richard Arlook
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Richard Arlook | |
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Born | |
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | Emerson College |
Occupation(s) | Founder & President, The Arlook Group Talent Manager Film Producer |
Richard Arlook is an American talent manager and film producer. He is president of The Arlook Group, a talent and literary management and advisory services company based in Beverly Hills, California. Prior to founding the company in 2008, he was a senior partner and head of The Motion Picture Literary department at The Gersh Agency.
Early life
Born in New York City, Arlook moved to Puerto Rico at age six where his father was a senior U.S government official. He is a graduate of Antilles High School in Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico. Arlook attended Emerson College. Throughout college, Arlook interned for the ABC network's 20/20 under Geraldo Rivera.[citation needed] During his senior year he produced The Mystery of the Andrea Doria: A Hidden Irony, about the sinking of the SS Andrea Doria, which Rivera narrated.[citation needed]
Early career
Following College, Arlook moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in the film industry. His first job was as a contestant coordinator on the game show Tic-Tac-Dough. He worked as a servicing agent for Goldfarb Distributors, an international film distribution company, from 1984-1985, and eventually worked his way into sales and film development.[citation needed] In 1985, Arlook worked as an assistant to Academy Award-winning producer Scott Rudin, who at the time was president of production at 20th Century Fox.[citation needed]
High Bar Pictures and the Gersh Agency
In 1986, at the age of 24, Arlook founded High Bar Pictures and hired his first talent clients. In 1989 he produced his first feature film, After Midnight, for MGM. While a low budget anthology thriller, the film's camera department was led by future Academy Award-nominated cinematographer Phedon Papamichael (Nebraska). Future two-time Academy Award winner Janusz Kamiński (Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan) served as key grip; while eventual Academy Award winner and noted director Wally Pfister served as the gaffer (Inception). Mauro Fiore, who served as best boy, won an Academy Award for his work on Avatar.
In 1990, Arlook joined the Gersh Agency as a literary agent, eventually becoming a partner and head of the Motion Picture Literature department.[1]
The Arlook Group
In 2008 Arlook founded The Arlook Group, a talent management, production, and consulting company. Arlook specializes in managing writers and directors as well as advising on development projects.[citation needed] The group employs several full-time managers who represent actors and talent including Jack Greenbaum, Kieran Maguire, and Galit Mantell. Greenbaum runs The Arlook Group's New York office[2]
Arlook's first feature as executive producer came in 2010 with Waiting For Forever, starring Blythe Danner and Richard Jenkins. In 2012, he produced Goats, starring David Duchovny and Vera Farmiga. In 2009, Arlook produced his first documentary feature: Lucky Ducks, with writer and director Tracey Jackson, which sets out to answer the question of why today's privileged teens are the most unhappy and dysfunctional demographic in America.[citation needed] In 2014, Arlook produced a second feature documentary entitled, Turn it Up!, a celebration of the electric guitar with a unique perspective on people's passion for the instrument, hosted by Kevin Bacon. The film features such legends as Slash, B.B. King, Paul Stanley, as well as one of the final interviews given by Les Paul before his death.[citation needed]
Arlook completed I Smile Back, starring Sarah Silverman in her first leading dramatic role, which led to her first SAG nomination. The film was released October 23, 2015 and was distributed by Broad Green Pictures. With his client, Morgan Spurlock, Arlook executive produced The HALO Effect on Nickelodeon.[3] It premiered in January 2016.
Arlook's film Journey is the Destination, based on the life of photojournalist Dan Eldon, premiered at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival.[4] He also produced It Had To Be You, starring Tony Award-winning actress Cristin Milioti, which was released October 21, 2016 by Samuel Goldywn Films.[5]
Arlook is currently developing Saints and Sinners, a series for HBO Max based on Pulitzer Prize winner Lawrence Wright’s book. Together, Arlook and Greenbaum are developing Popular with Berlanti Productions for HBO Max, The Tip with TriStar Pictures, and The Big Hack with Solstice Studios.[citation needed] In 2020, two Arlook Group clients received Emmy Award nominations: Arlook’s client Amy Talkington as a co-executive producer on Little Fires Everywhere.[citation needed]
References
- ^ "Gersh Adds 10 Partners, Plans New HQ". CelebrityAccess. 2005-07-21. Retrieved 2020-08-19.
- ^ "The Arlook Group - Manager | Backstage". www.backstage.com. Retrieved 2020-08-19.
- ^ Halo Effect; Nickelodeon on-line; accessed: unknown
- ^ "The Journey is the Destination". www.tiff.net. Retrieved 2016-10-20.
- ^ "Samuel Goldwyn Films Obtains Rights to 'It Had To Be You' – Rock My World". Rock My World. 2016-09-23. Retrieved 2016-10-20.