Robert Greenblatt
Robert Greenblatt | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1959/1960 (age 59-60)[1] |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | University of Southern California University of Wisconsin University of Illinois Boylan Catholic High School[2] |
| Occupation | Television executive |
| Notable work | 9 to 5 |
| Television | The Voice Parenthood Chicago Fire |
| Awards | Norman Felton Producer of the Year Award in Episodic Television Drama |
Robert Greenblatt (born 1959/1960) is an American television executive, former chairman of NBC Entertainment[3][4][5] and former chairman of WarnerMedia Entertainment. He has since launched his production company, The Green Room.[6]
Early life and education
[edit]Greenblatt was born and raised in Rockford, Illinois, USA.[1] He was raised Catholic and attended Boylan Catholic High School.[7][2] He earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in theatre management from the University of Illinois and a Master of Arts in arts administration from the University of Wisconsin's Madison School of Business. He also earned a Master of Fine Arts from the USC School of Cinema-Television's Peter Stark Producing Program.[4]
Career
[edit]Greenblatt began his television career at the Fox Broadcasting Company, where he ran prime-time programming and developed such shows as the original Beverly Hills, 90210 and Melrose Place, The X-Files, and Party of Five.[3][4]
From 1997 to 2003, Greenblatt was a producer (along with David Janollari through their production company, The Greenblatt Janollari Studio) of over a dozen series for various networks, including Six Feet Under, along with the 2005 miniseries Elvis and Gregory Nava's American Family for PBS.[3][4]
From 2003 to 2010, Greenblatt was President of Entertainment for Showtime.[8] He supervised a slate of original programming that dramatically repositioned the pay channel as a leader in the premium cable business. Under his leadership, he developed and supervised award-winning shows like Weeds, Dexter, Californication, The Tudors, Nurse Jackie, and United States of Tara.[3][4]
As a theatrical producer, Greenblatt developed the musical stage adaptation of 9 to 5, which premiered on Broadway in April 2009 and closed September 2009, with the National Tour starting in September 2010. It was nominated for four Tony Awards.[3][4]
Greenblatt was the chairman of NBC Entertainment. He succeeded Jeff Gaspin in January 2011 after Comcast took control of the newly renamed NBCUniversal.[3][9]
On March 4, 2019, Greenblatt was named as the chairman of WarnerMedia Entertainment as part of AT&T's reorganization of WarnerMedia. He oversaw HBO, Cinemax, TBS, TNT and TruTV.[10] He was responsible for helping oversee the development of HBO Max, the company's streaming service which launched in May 2020.[11] He was fired from WarnerMedia in August 2020 amid restructuring.[12][13] More recently, he launched his own production company with a deal at Lionsgate.[14]
Politics
[edit]In August 2016, Greenblatt labeled then presidential candidate Donald Trump as "toxic" and "demented".[15]
Personal life
[edit]Greenblatt is the first and only openly gay broadcast TV president.[16]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Stoeffel, Kat (22 March 2011). "Bob Greenblatt's Season of Fiats at NBC". New York Observer. Archived from the original on 25 March 2011.
- ^ a b Baum, Geraldine (30 April 2009). "TV Exec Turns Back the Clock to Stage '9 to 5'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f "Robert Greenblatt, Chairman NBC Entertainment". NBCUniversal. NBCUniversal, Inc. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f "Showtime Executive Biography: Robert Greenblatt". Sho.com. Archived from the original on 29 June 2009. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
- ^ Schechner, Sam (13 July 2011). "NBC Names Jennifer Salke New Entertainment President". Wall Street Journal.
- ^ "Comcast/NBC fired and insulted Trump and now faces a grudge-holding president". Variety. August 17, 2021.
- ^ "NBC's Greenblatt rebuilds network long in disarray". WWSB. Archived from the original on October 4, 2018. Retrieved January 4, 2013.
Greenblatt boils down his background this way: a gay, Catholic kid with a Jewish last name who grew up in rural Rockford, Ill.
- ^ Stelter, Brian (25 June 2010). "Showtime's President Is Said to Be Stepping Down". New York Times.
- ^ Carter, Bill (21 November 2010). "Comcast's Plans for Executives Offer Clues to Future of NBC". New York Times.
- ^ Flint, Joe (4 March 2019). "AT&T considers combining HBO, Turner units, adding Robert Greenblatt". MarketWatch.
- ^ Frank Pallotta (27 May 2020). "HBO Max chief on launching the new service during a pandemic". CNN. Retrieved 2020-07-10.
- ^ "Bob Greenblatt, Kevin Reilly Out Amid Major WarnerMedia Restructuring | Hollywood Reporter". www.hollywoodreporter.com. 7 August 2020. Retrieved 2020-08-17.
- ^ Smith, Ben (2020-08-16). "The Week Old Hollywood Finally, Actually Died". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-09-26.
- ^ Baysinger, Tim (2021-08-17). "Bob Greenblatt Launches Production Company, Sets First-Look Deal With Lionsgate". TheWrap. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
- ^ "Comcast/NBC fired and insulted Trump and now faces a grudge-holding president". The Philadelphia Inquirer. January 13, 2017.
- ^ Jensen, Michael (7 April 2011). "Interview: Robert Greenblatt Says His Being First Gay Broadcast TV President is No Big Deal. We Beg to Differ!". AfterElton.com.