Erik Weiner
Encyclopedia
Erik Weiner is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 actor, comedian, and writer best known for co-creating the play The Bomb-itty of Errors
The Bomb-itty of Errors
The Bomb-itty of Errors is a hip hop theatre retelling of Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors. Written and performed by Jordan Allen-Dutton, Jason Catalano, GQ, and Erik Weiner, the show has been performed in New York City , London , Chicago, Dublin, Edinburgh, Florida, Aspen, Syracuse,...

and his role as Agent Sebso on HBO's Boardwalk Empire.

Biography

Erik was born and raised in San Francisco. He graduated from New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...

. In 1999 he co-created and starred in The Bomb-itty of Errors
The Bomb-itty of Errors
The Bomb-itty of Errors is a hip hop theatre retelling of Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors. Written and performed by Jordan Allen-Dutton, Jason Catalano, GQ, and Erik Weiner, the show has been performed in New York City , London , Chicago, Dublin, Edinburgh, Florida, Aspen, Syracuse,...

, an adaptation of Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors, blending hip-hop and Shakespeare. The show has been performed in New York (Off-Broadway), London (West End), Chicago, Los Angeles, Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Dublin, Florida, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and continues to play around the world.

Erik was invited to be a fellow at the Sundance Institute
Sundance Institute
Sundance Institute is a non-profit organization founded by Robert Redford in 1981 that actively advances the work of filmmakers and storytellers worldwide...

's Screenwriting Lab in 2002.

In 2002 Erik co-created and starred in the MTV sketch comedy series, Scratch & Burn. Erik made his feature film debut in the 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...

 romantic comedy, Brown Sugar (2002 film). The film stars Taye Diggs
Taye Diggs
Scott Leo "Taye" Diggs is an American theatre, film and television actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the Broadway musical Rent, the motion picture How Stella Got Her Groove Back, and the television series Private Practice...

, Mos Def
Mos Def
Dante Terrell Smith is an American actor and Emcee known by the stage names Mos Def and Yasiin Bey. He started his hip hop career in a group called Urban Thermo Dynamics, after which he appeared on albums by Da Bush Babees and De La Soul. With Talib Kweli, he formed the duo Black Star, which...

 & Queen Latifah
Queen Latifah
Dana Elaine Owens , better known by her stage name Queen Latifah, is an American singer, rapper, and actress. Her work in music, film and television has earned her a Golden Globe award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Image Awards, a Grammy Award, six additional Grammy nominations, an Emmy...

.

In 2005 Erik acted on HBO's Unscripted
Unscripted
Unscripted is an American comedy-drama series that aired on HBO in early 2005. Its title referred to the fact that the series was largely improvised by its performers...

, directed and executive produced by George Clooney
George Clooney
George Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. For his work as an actor, he has received two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award...

.

Erik's music video "Shawshank In A Minute", directed by John Landis
John Landis
John David Landis is an American film director, screenwriter, actor, and producer. He is known for his comedies, his horror films, and his music videos with singer Michael Jackson.-Early life and career:...

, won Jib-Jab's Great Sketch Experiment in 2006.

His musical comedy, NERDS, written with collaborator Jordan Allen-Dutton and music composed by Hal Goldberg, won Barrymore Awards for Outstanding New Play and Outstanding Original Music in 2007.

Erik received two Emmy Award nominations in 2007 and 2008 for writing on Robot Chicken
Robot Chicken
Robot Chicken is an American stop motion animated television series created and executive produced by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich along with co-head writers Douglas Goldstein and Tom Root. Green provides many voices for the show...

.

Erik has produced such shows as America's Best Dance Crew
America's Best Dance Crew
America's Best Dance Crew, often abbreviated as ABDC, is an American competitive dance reality television series that features street dance crews from the United States and around the world. It is produced by American Idol judge Randy Jackson and airs on MTV...

, Snoop Dogg's Fatherhood, The Sing-Off
The Sing-Off
The Sing-Off is an American television singing competition featuring a cappella groups. It premiered on NBC on December 14, 2009, and is produced by Sony Pictures Television....

, and served as the Head Writer on the MTV Movie Awards
MTV Movie Awards
The MTV Movie Awards is a film awards show presented annually on MTV . It also contains movie parodies that used official movie footage with hosts and other celebrities and music performances. The nominees are decided by producers and executives at MTV. Winners are decided online by the general...

 in 2010 and 2011. He was Creative Producer of the 2011 Emmy Awards.

Erik recorded several songs and music videos that are online. One Line on the Sopranos is a tribute to the actual one line he had on The Sopranos
The Sopranos
The Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads...

, playing a store manager who said, "Leon, take your break at two." I Google Myself details the difficulties of dating online. Erik's brother, Mark Weiner, produced the music and sang back-up. Jordan Allen-Dutton wrote the songs with Erik. RickMill Productions produced the videos.

In 2010, Erik played Agent Sebso on HBO's Boardwalk Empire, executive produced by Terence Winter
Terence Winter
Terence Winter is an American writer and producer of television and film. He is the creator, writer, and executive producer of the HBO television series Boardwalk Empire...

 and Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...

. Winter saw his video, "One Line on the Sopranos", and this led to Erik being cast on the series. In 2011, Erik won a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance By An Ensemble In A Drama Series for Boardwalk Empire.

External links

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