Harpo Productions
Encyclopedia
Harpo Productions, Inc. is an incorporated
US-based
multimedia
production company founded by Oprah Winfrey
(the name 'Harpo' is 'Oprah' spelled backwards, and was the name of her on-screen husband in The Color Purple
). It also includes Harpo Films (the company's film production company) & Harpo Radio, Inc. (the company's radio division). It is based in Chicago
, and Harpo Studios (the company's TV production studio) is located in the Near West Side
neighborhood of Chicago
.
The land where the studio now sits once housed the 2nd Regiment Armory that was used as a makeshift morgue for victims of the capsizing of the steamer SS Eastland. The 88000 square feet (8,175.5 m²) facility was renovated and opened in the late 1980s for use by The Oprah Winfrey Show
.
. Harpo Films is based in Los Angeles, California
.
In late 2008, Harpo Films signed an exclusive output pact
with HBO. Previously, Harpo films had a deal with ABC
,
which included production of Oprah Winfrey Presents: Mitch Albom's For One More Day
.
Harpo Radio, Inc. is the holding company for the Oprah & Friends channel (156 on XM Satellite Radio
\DirecTV
Channel 807). Oprah & Friends features a broad range of daily and weekly programming on a variety of topics including self improvement, nutrition
, fitness
, parenting
, health
, home
, finance
and current events hosted by personalities from The Oprah Winfrey Show
and O, The Oprah Magazine
.
Regular presenters includes specialists from a variety of fields, including Dr. Maya Angelou
, Dr. Robin Smith
, Marianne Williamson
, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Bob Greene
, Nate Berkus
, Jean Chatzky, Gayle King
, Rabbi Shumley Boteach, Holly Robinson Peete and Rodney Peete, and Michael Losier. Oprah, herself, also personally interviews some of the most influential voices in the spiritual realm on her weekly program, Oprah's Soul Series.
Harpo Radio, Inc. produces and broadcasts the Oprah & Friends channel from an XM studio in Chicago, Illinois, from New York, New York.
. The company also published O at Home, which Hearst officially folded in 2008 after a four-year run.
located in Near West Side
neighborhood of Chicago
. The set now houses The Rosie Show
, an American evening television talk show hosted and produced by actress and comedienne Rosie O'Donnell, airing on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network. Harpo Studios has Emmy Award
-winning teams in production designs, lighting
, camera
work
, editing
, audio
direction and graphic design
. It also served as the location for the set of The Women of Brewster Place
. Scenes from Beloved were also filmed on a set in Harpo Studios.
, Inc (50%). The network replaced the Discovery Health Channel
, a cable channel previously owned by Discovery Communications, Inc. The network boasts a variety of new shows, including some hosted by the stable of experts Winfrey has cultivated on her daytime talk show including: The Gayle King
Show, Our America with Lisa Ling
, In The Bedroom with Dr. Laura Berman and Enough Already! with Peter Walsh
.
Incorporation (business)
Incorporation is the forming of a new corporation . The corporation may be a business, a non-profit organisation, sports club, or a government of a new city or town...
US-based
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
multimedia
Multimedia
Multimedia is media and content that uses a combination of different content forms. The term can be used as a noun or as an adjective describing a medium as having multiple content forms. The term is used in contrast to media which use only rudimentary computer display such as text-only, or...
production company founded by Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist. Winfrey is best known for her self-titled, multi-award-winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011...
(the name 'Harpo' is 'Oprah' spelled backwards, and was the name of her on-screen husband in The Color Purple
The Color Purple (film)
The Color Purple is a 1985 American period drama film directed by Steven Spielberg, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name by Alice Walker. It was Spielberg's eighth film as a director , and was a change from the summer blockbusters for which he had become famous...
). It also includes Harpo Films (the company's film production company) & Harpo Radio, Inc. (the company's radio division). It is based in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, and Harpo Studios (the company's TV production studio) is located in the Near West Side
Near West Side, Chicago
The Near West Side, one of the 77 defined community areas of Chicago, is located , adjacent to the downtown central business district . The rich history of the Near West Side of Chicago has its genesis in the Hull House phenomenon...
neighborhood of Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
.
The land where the studio now sits once housed the 2nd Regiment Armory that was used as a makeshift morgue for victims of the capsizing of the steamer SS Eastland. The 88000 square feet (8,175.5 m²) facility was renovated and opened in the late 1980s for use by The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....
.
Harpo Films, Inc.
Harpo Films, Inc. is the biggest division of Harpo Productions, Inc. It is an active supplier of motion pictures, developing and producing award-winning features and long-form television programs, including the "Oprah Winfrey Presents" telefilms for the ABC television networkAmerican Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
. Harpo Films is based in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
.
In late 2008, Harpo Films signed an exclusive output pact
with HBO. Previously, Harpo films had a deal with ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
,
which included production of Oprah Winfrey Presents: Mitch Albom's For One More Day
Oprah Winfrey Presents: Mitch Albom's For One More Day
For One More Day is a 2007 television film adaptation of the Mitch Albom's novel by the same title, which was a The New York Times Best Seller. Produced by Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Productions, the film stars Michael Imperioli and Ellen Burstyn as leads. Director Lloyd Kramer, also directed the TV...
.
Feature Films
- BelovedBeloved (film)Beloved is a 1998 film based on Toni Morrison's 1987 novel of the same name. It was directed by Jonathan Demme, and was produced by Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Productions. The film stars Oprah Winfrey and Danny Glover.-Plot:...
(1998) - The Great DebatersThe Great DebatersThe Great Debaters is a 2007 American biopic period drama film directed by and starring two-time Academy Award winner Denzel Washington and produced by Oprah Winfrey and her production company, Harpo Productions...
(2007) - Precious: Based on the Novel Push by SapphirePrecious (film)Precious , is a 2009 American drama film directed by Lee Daniels. Precious is an adaptation by Geoffrey S. Fletcher of the 1996 novel Push by Sapphire. The film stars Gabourey Sidibe, Mo'Nique, and Paula Patton...
(2009)
Telefilms
- Oprah Winfrey Presents: Mitch Albom's For One More DayOprah Winfrey Presents: Mitch Albom's For One More DayFor One More Day is a 2007 television film adaptation of the Mitch Albom's novel by the same title, which was a The New York Times Best Seller. Produced by Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Productions, the film stars Michael Imperioli and Ellen Burstyn as leads. Director Lloyd Kramer, also directed the TV...
- Tuesdays with Morrie
- Their Eyes Were Watching GodTheir Eyes Were Watching God (2005 television)Their Eyes Were Watching God is an American Broadcasting Company television movie aired on March 6, 2005 at 9pm based upon Zora Neale Hurston's 1937 novel of the same name...
- Amy & Isabelle
- The WeddingThe Wedding (TV miniseries)The Wedding is a 1998 television miniseries directed by Charles Burnett. Based on a novel by Dorothy West, it stars Halle Berry, Eric Thal, and Lynn Whitfield, and was produced by Harpo Productions...
- Before Women Had Wings
- The Women of Brewster PlaceThe Women of Brewster Place (1989 television)The Women of Brewster Place is a TV miniseries that aired on March 19,1989 & March 20,1989 on ABC. The miniseries is based upon the 1982 novel by Gloria Naylor. It was produced by Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Productions with a teleplay by Karen Hall...
Harpo Radio, Inc.
XM Satellite Radio
XM Satellite Radio is one of two satellite radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Radio. It provides pay-for-service radio, analogous to cable television. Its service includes 73 different music channels, 39 news, sports, talk and entertainment channels, 21 regional...
\DirecTV
DirecTV
DirecTV is an American direct broadcast satellite service provider and broadcaster based in El Segundo, California. Its satellite service, launched on June 17, 1994, transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States, Latin America, and the Anglophone Caribbean. ...
Channel 807). Oprah & Friends features a broad range of daily and weekly programming on a variety of topics including self improvement, nutrition
Nutrition
Nutrition is the provision, to cells and organisms, of the materials necessary to support life. Many common health problems can be prevented or alleviated with a healthy diet....
, fitness
Physical fitness
Physical fitness comprises two related concepts: general fitness , and specific fitness...
, parenting
Parenting
Parenting is the process of promoting and supporting the physical, emotional, social, and intellectual development of a child from infancy to adulthood...
, health
Health
Health is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...
, home
Home
A home is a place of residence or refuge. When it refers to a building, it is usually a place in which an individual or a family can rest and store personal property. Most modern-day households contain sanitary facilities and a means of preparing food. Animals have their own homes as well, either...
, finance
Finance
"Finance" is often defined simply as the management of money or “funds” management Modern finance, however, is a family of business activity that includes the origination, marketing, and management of cash and money surrogates through a variety of capital accounts, instruments, and markets created...
and current events hosted by personalities from The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....
and O, The Oprah Magazine
O, The Oprah Magazine
O: The Oprah Magazine, sometimes simply abbreviated to O, is a monthly magazine founded by Oprah Winfrey and Hearst Corporation.-Overview:...
.
Regular presenters includes specialists from a variety of fields, including Dr. Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou is an American author and poet who has been called "America's most visible black female autobiographer" by scholar Joanne M. Braxton. She is best known for her series of six autobiographical volumes, which focus on her childhood and early adult experiences. The first and most highly...
, Dr. Robin Smith
Robin Smith (psychologist)
Robin Smith is a psychologist, author, seminary professor and frequent contributor to Oprah Winfrey's media. She has a Ph.D...
, Marianne Williamson
Marianne Williamson
Marianne Williamson is a spiritual activist, author, lecturer and founder of The Peace Alliance, a grass roots campaign supporting legislation currently before Congress to establish a United States Department of Peace. She is also the founder of Project Angel Food, a meals-on-wheels program that...
, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Bob Greene
Bob Greene
Robert Bernard Greene, Jr. is an American journalist. He worked for 24 years for the Chicago Tribune newspaper, where he was an award-winning columnist. Greene has written books on subjects varying from Michael Jordan, to small towns, to U.S. presidents. His Hang Time: Days and Dreams with Michael...
, Nate Berkus
Nate Berkus
Nathan Jay "Nate" Berkus is an American interior designer and daytime television host. He runs the Chicago interior design firm Nate Berkus Associates and has been a regular guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show, offering design advice to viewers. May 25, 2010, was his last day on The Oprah Winfrey Show...
, Jean Chatzky, Gayle King
Gayle King
Gayle King is editor-at-large for O, The Oprah Magazine and the best friend of Oprah Winfrey. She has previously worked as a television news anchor and talk show host...
, Rabbi Shumley Boteach, Holly Robinson Peete and Rodney Peete, and Michael Losier. Oprah, herself, also personally interviews some of the most influential voices in the spiritual realm on her weekly program, Oprah's Soul Series.
Harpo Radio, Inc. produces and broadcasts the Oprah & Friends channel from an XM studio in Chicago, Illinois, from New York, New York.
Harpo Print, LLC
Together with Hearst Magazines, Harpo Print LLC publishes O, the Oprah MagazineO, The Oprah Magazine
O: The Oprah Magazine, sometimes simply abbreviated to O, is a monthly magazine founded by Oprah Winfrey and Hearst Corporation.-Overview:...
. The company also published O at Home, which Hearst officially folded in 2008 after a four-year run.
Harpo Studios
Harpo Studios was the home to The Oprah Winfrey ShowThe Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....
located in Near West Side
Near West Side, Chicago
The Near West Side, one of the 77 defined community areas of Chicago, is located , adjacent to the downtown central business district . The rich history of the Near West Side of Chicago has its genesis in the Hull House phenomenon...
neighborhood of Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. The set now houses The Rosie Show
The Rosie Show
The Rosie Show is an American evening television talk show hosted and produced by actress and comedian Rosie O'Donnell, airing on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network...
, an American evening television talk show hosted and produced by actress and comedienne Rosie O'Donnell, airing on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network. Harpo Studios has Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
-winning teams in production designs, lighting
Lighting
Lighting or illumination is the deliberate application of light to achieve some practical or aesthetic effect. Lighting includes the use of both artificial light sources such as lamps and light fixtures, as well as natural illumination by capturing daylight...
, camera
Camera
A camera is a device that records and stores images. These images may be still photographs or moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the camera obscura , an early mechanism for projecting images...
work
Camera operator
A camera operator or cameraman is a professional operator of a film or video camera. In filmmaking, the leading cameraman is usually called a cinematographer, while a cameraman in a video production may be known as a television camera operator, video camera operator, or videographer, depending on...
, editing
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
, audio
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
direction and graphic design
Graphic design
Graphic design is a creative process – most often involving a client and a designer and usually completed in conjunction with producers of form – undertaken in order to convey a specific message to a targeted audience...
. It also served as the location for the set of The Women of Brewster Place
The Women of Brewster Place (1989 television)
The Women of Brewster Place is a TV miniseries that aired on March 19,1989 & March 20,1989 on ABC. The miniseries is based upon the 1982 novel by Gloria Naylor. It was produced by Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Productions with a teleplay by Karen Hall...
. Scenes from Beloved were also filmed on a set in Harpo Studios.
OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network
On January 1, 2011, OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network launched. It is partially owned by Harpo Studios (50%) and Discovery CommunicationsDiscovery Communications
Discovery Communications, Inc. is an American global media and entertainment company. The company started as a single channel in 1985, The Discovery Channel. Today, DCI has global operations offering 28 network entertainment brands on more than 100 channels in more than 180 countries in 39...
, Inc (50%). The network replaced the Discovery Health Channel
Discovery Health Channel
Discovery Health Channel is a website owned by Discovery Communications, created for people interested in health and wellness. Until December 31, 2010, it was a U.S. cable television specialty channel dedicated to television programming that highlights various aspects of health and wellness...
, a cable channel previously owned by Discovery Communications, Inc. The network boasts a variety of new shows, including some hosted by the stable of experts Winfrey has cultivated on her daytime talk show including: The Gayle King
Gayle King
Gayle King is editor-at-large for O, The Oprah Magazine and the best friend of Oprah Winfrey. She has previously worked as a television news anchor and talk show host...
Show, Our America with Lisa Ling
Our America with Lisa Ling
Our America with Lisa Ling is an American documentary television series. Each episode examines an aspect of American society that may be viewed as marginal or outside the mainstream...
, In The Bedroom with Dr. Laura Berman and Enough Already! with Peter Walsh
Enough Already! with Peter Walsh
Enough Already! with Peter Walsh is an American television series on the Oprah Winfrey Network . It has a format similar to Clean House...
.
Other Harpo Inc. productions
- The Oprah Winfrey ShowThe Oprah Winfrey ShowThe Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....
(1986-2011) - Oprah After the ShowOprah After The ShowOprah After the Show is a program on the Oxygen cable network from 2003 to 2006, and was an extra half-hour that allowed the audience to ask questions of the guests for that day's earlier episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show which aired in syndication, and for Oprah Winfrey to introduce extended...
(2003-2006) - Dr. PhilDr. Phil (TV series)Dr. Phil is a reality/talk television show hosted by Phil McGraw. After McGraw's success with his segments on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Dr. Phil debuted on September 16, 2002...
(2002-present) - Rachael Ray (2006-present)
- The Dr. Oz ShowThe Dr. Oz ShowThe Dr. Oz Show is an American syndicated television talk show, hosted by Dr. Mehmet Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon and teaching professor at Columbia University who became famous for his appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show from 2004 until 2009....
(2009-present) - The Nate Berkus ShowThe Nate Berkus ShowThe Nate Berkus Show, commonly referred to as The Nate Show, is a syndicated talk show hosted by interior designer Nate Berkus, which premiered on September 13, 2010....
(2010-present) - The Rosie ShowThe Rosie ShowThe Rosie Show is an American evening television talk show hosted and produced by actress and comedian Rosie O'Donnell, airing on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network...
(2011-present)