Marshall Herskovitz
Marshall Herskovitz | |
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![]() Herskovitz at George Mason University, 2008 | |
Born | Marshall Schreiber Herskovitz February 23, 1952 |
Spouse | Susan Amanda Shilladay (1981–1993)[1] |
Marshall Schreiber Herskovitz (born February 23, 1952)[1] is an American film director, writer and producer, and currently the President Emeritus of the Producers Guild of America. Among his productions are Traffic, The Last Samurai, Blood Diamond, and I Am Sam. Herskovitz has directed two feature films, Jack the Bear and Dangerous Beauty. Herskovitz was a creator and executive producer of the television shows thirtysomething, My So-Called Life, and Once and Again, and also wrote and directed several episodes of all three series.
Life and career
Herskovitz was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to a Jewish family,[2] the son of Frieda (née Schreiber) and Alexander Herskovitz.[1] Herskovitz attended Brandeis University, graduating in 1973. He entered the AFI Conservatory in 1975, where he and Edward Zwick first met. He frequently collaborates with Zwick, with whom he runs the film and television production company The Bedford Falls Company, named for the fictional town in the classic film It's A Wonderful Life. Their most recent project is the film "Love and Other Drugs". In 2007 Herskovitz ventured into the world of broadband production with the original series Quarterlife, which debuted on MySpace and a dedicated social network also called "quarterlife". It garnered enough views to be picked up by NBC and aired in 2008, but was quickly canceled.
Since May 2005, he has been a contributing blogger at The Huffington Post. Herskovitz was featured in The Dialogue interview series. In this 90-minute interview with journalist Jay A. Fernandez, he delves into the mediocrity of the industry, the voices that writers hear in their heads and why it's best to write first and ask questions later.
Herskovitz served as president of the Producers Guild of America from 2006–2010.
He was married to screenwriter Susan Shilliday from 1981–1993. They have two daughters.
Herskovitz married photographer Landry Major in 2015.
Awards
Thirtysomething won numerous Emmy Awards including Outstanding Drama series in 1988. That year it also won Outstanding Writing in a Drama series for an episode that Herskovitz co-wrote with Paul Haggis. The show also received the Best Drama Series award at the Golden Globes that year. Herskovitz himself was honored by both the Writers Guild and Directors Guild for his work on the series.
Traffic was nominated for Best Picture at the 73rd Academy Awards in 2001.
Once and Again was nominated for Best Drama Series of 1999 at the Golden Globes.
Filmography
- Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016) (writer)
References
- ^ a b c "Marshall Herskovitz Biography (1952–)". Filmreference.com. Retrieved September 28, 2010.
- ^ Shandler, Jeffrey (March 20, 2009). "Television in the United States". Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia. Jewish Women's Archive. Retrieved August 10, 2013.
External links
- Marshall Herskovitz at IMDb
- Art Film Talk #23 Marshall Herskovitz – Interview about Quarterlife, November 30, 2007 (audio)
- 1952 births
- Living people
- American film directors
- American film producers
- American male screenwriters
- American television directors
- American television producers
- American television writers
- Brandeis University alumni
- American Jews
- Writers from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Writers Guild of America Award winners
- Directors Guild of America Award winners
- Primetime Emmy Award winners
- AFI Conservatory alumni
- Jewish American writers
- Male television writers