J. Todd Harris

J. Todd Harris (born March 30, 1957) is an American film producer. Harris is the founder and President of the production studio Branded Pictures Entertainment.[1][2][3] Harris has been a member of the Motion Picture Academy since 1999 and is a founding board member of the Napa Valley Film Festival.[4]

Life and career

J. Todd Harris was born in the Massachusetts city of Pittsfield to Robert N. Harris and Eugenie (Schosberg) Harris. His parents soon divorced and he and his mother moved to Manhattan where he lived until 1973. While growing up on Manhattan's upper east side, he attended PS 6, PS 198 and Allen Stevenson (grades 4-8). His mother remarried for the second time to Jeffrey Gross and they moved with Todd and new son Jason Gross to Putnam Valley, New York. Todd attended James O'Neill High School in Highland Falls, NY near West Point.

Todd attended Stanford University from 1977-1981. He earned his BA in Political Science and produced, directed and acted in numerous campus stage productions. He also produced concerts for the University and produced the first Stanford Film Festival in 1980. After graduating in 1981, he was named General Manager of TheatreWorks, the Palo Alto-based repertory theatre, where he worked for three years, eventually becoming the Managing Director. In 1984, he returned to Stanford, where he earned his MBA in 1986.

Todd moved to Los Angeles in 1986 and worked at TriStar Television before starting his own development fund called Skyline Entertainment Partners (inspired by his rustic college and business school residence in La Honda outside Palo Alto). He soon joined Davis Entertainment as an independent producer, where he stayed for 13 years, founding Davis Entertainment Filmworks, the company's independent film division. Partnered with John Davis, the company was based at 20th Century Fox. While there, he produced the first of many independent films, Denise Calls Up, which played the Cannes Film Festival's Critics Week[5] and won a Special Mention for the Camera D'Or.[6] For three years, he was partnered with the actor Tim Daly in Daly-Harris Productions based at Paramount Pictures. He went on to produce 5 Sundance Film Festival entries, including Bottle Shock and The Kids Are All Right.[7] The Kids Are All Right was nominated for four Oscars including Best Picture,[8] won two Golden Globe Awards[9] and received a 93% positive review rating from Rotten Tomatoes out of 205 reviews. In 2003, he joined Intellectual Properties Worldwide,[10] where he executive produced Piranha 3D[11] and a remake of It's Alive. The horror film Piranha 3D was produced for $24 million and earned over $83 million worldwide.[12]

On the New York stage, Todd produced Heathers: The Musical (musical), Doctor Zhivago (musical) and American Psycho (musical).

In 2014, he funded Branded Pictures Entertainment, an acquisitions and development company focused in popular and acclaimed intellectual properties including titles such as Danny and the Dinosaur,[13] Rift,[14] and Dance Dance Revolution.[15] He lives in Los Angeles with his wife Amy Powers (married in 1997) and two sons Jasper (born in 1998) and Cole (born in 2000). He has taught producing at Chapman University, the Los Angeles Film School, was an adjunct professor for Syracuse University's Los Angeles campus and has given private seminars around the country. He is a founding board member of the Napa Valley Film Festival.[16][17] He became a member of the Motion Picture Academy producers' branch in 1999. He joined The Broadway League in 2015 and Producers Guild of America in 2016. Harris has produced over 45 films.

Filmography

Producing filmography

Theatre and musical productions

References
  1. "Branded Pictures Entertainment". Brandedpicturesentertainment.com. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  2. "Executive Profiles". Variety.com. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  3. "Branded Pictures Entertainment [us]". IMDb.com. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  4. "Board of Directors". Napavalleyfilmfest.org. Nappa Valley Film Festival. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  5. "34th SELECTION OF LA SEMAINE DE LA CRITIQUE - 1995". Semainedelacritique.com. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  6. "J Todd Harris". Thefilmschool.com.
  7. Goldstein, Meredith; Shanahan, Mark (October 12, 2011). "J. Todd Harris has tips for moviemakers". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  8. "83rd Academy Awards Oscar Winners". Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  9. Brooks, Brian (January 17, 2011). ""Social Network," "Kids Are All Right" Lead Golden Globes". Indiewire.com. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  10. "Intellectual Properties Worldwide (I) [us]". IMDb.com.
  11. Collis, Clark (August 20, 2010). "Fishy Business: The behind-the-scenes story of the 'Piranha' movies (Part III)". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  12. "Piranha 3D". Boxofficemojo.com. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  13. Mcnary, Dave (April 20, 2017). "'Danny and the Dinosaur' Movie in Development at Branded Pictures (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  14. Kit, Borys (September 28, 2018). "Gay Icelandic Horror Movie, 'Rift,' to Be Remade by Orion (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  15. D'Alessandro, Anthony (October 2, 2018). "'Dance Dance Revolution' Movie In Works At Stampede; Company Ups Cara Fano To Director Of Development". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  16. McNary, Dave (August 27, 2014). "Napa Valley Film Festival Sets Lineup in Wake of Quake". Variety.com. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  17. Gachman, Dina (November 12, 2013). "SPOTLIGHT: NAPA VALLEY FILM FEST'S J. TODD HARRIS". Studio System News. Studio System News. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  18. McNary, Dave (May 15, 2014). "CANNES: Jason Alexander's 'Lucky Stiff' Goes on Sale (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety.com. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  19. "Wheelman (2017)". IMDb.com. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  20. Hetrick, Adam (March 31, 2014). ""What's Your Damage?": Heathers: The Musical, Based on Cult Film, Opens Off-Broadway March 31". Playbill.com. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  21. Brantley, Ben (April 1, 2014). "The Rich Girls Are Going to Lose, for Once". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  22. Cox, Gordon (December 10, 2013). "'Heathers' Musical Looks to Slay Off Broadway". Variety.com. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  23. Levine, Sydney (November 17, 2010). "Producers to Watch: J. Todd Harris - Creative Producer". Blogs.indiewire.com. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  24. Brantley, Ben (April 21, 2016). "Review:'American Psycho' Hits Broadway, So Smooth, So Rich, So Ruthless". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  25. "Branded Pictures Entertainment – Inside American Psycho the Musical & the Film SO B. IT Interview with President J. Todd Harris". Brandedpicturesentertainment.com. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  26. Mcnary, Dave (April 20, 2017). "'Danny and the Dinosaur' Movie in Development at Branded Pictures (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  27. News Desk, BWW (April 3, 2019). "One-Woman Show Based on Maya Angelou is in Development for Broadway". Broadway World. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
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