Robert N. Fried
Encyclopedia
Robert N. Fried is an American film producer, screenwriter, studio executive and media entrepreneur.
as well as the popular films So I Married an Axe Murderer
, Boondock Saints and Collateral
. Fried has also produced numerous short films and won an Academy Award in 1992 for his short film Session Man. Other film credits include Only You
, Godzilla
, Winchell
, The Man
, Man of the Year
and Two Can Play That Game
.
As a studio executive, Fried served as President and CEO of Savoy Pictures
in the mid-1990s and was responsible for numerous films including Soul Food
, A Simple Plan
, The Adventures of Pinocchio, A Thin Line Between Love and Hate
. Prior to Savoy, he was Vice President at Orion Pictures working for Mike Medavoy and Executive Vice President of Columbia Pictures working for Dawn Steel. His films of responsibility during that period included Hoosiers
, Bull Durham
, Mississippi Burning
, Throw Momma from the Train
, Robocop
, Colors
, and Casualties of War
.
In 1996, as a media entrepreneur, Fried founded Precision Entertainment, later named WhatsHotNow.com and later named WHN. By 2000, WHN was the leading e-commerce service provider to the entertainment industry and employed over 230 people. Clients included MTV
, Comedy Central
, Paramount Pictures
, Sony Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, Playboy
, TV Guide
, The US Winter Olympics, Kmart
stores, and many others.
In 2007, Fried founded Spirit EMX and the subscription streaming site Spiritclips.com, which is devoted to life-affirming content about hope and inspiration. The site features nearly 100 original, in-house written, produced and edited shorts that have received great accolades and recognition. It also features hundreds of other professionally-produced films, shorts, documentaries and lectures that share a similar sensibility.
, they have two sons. Fried is an alumnus of Cornell University
and Columbia University
Career
His film credits include the sports film RudyRudy (film)
Rudy is a 1993 American sports film directed by David Anspaugh. It is an account of the life of Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger, who harbored dreams of playing football at the University of Notre Dame despite significant obstacles...
as well as the popular films So I Married an Axe Murderer
So I Married an Axe Murderer
So I Married an Axe Murderer is a 1993 American comedy-horror film starring Mike Myers and Nancy Travis. Myers plays Charlie McKenzie, a man afraid of commitment until he meets Harriet , who works at a butcher shop and may be a serial killer...
, Boondock Saints and Collateral
Collateral (film)
Collateral is a 2004 crime thriller film starring Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx. It was directed by Michael Mann and written by Stuart Beattie. It was Mann's first feature film to be shot mostly with high-definition cameras. Mann had previously used the format for portions of Ali and for his CBS drama...
. Fried has also produced numerous short films and won an Academy Award in 1992 for his short film Session Man. Other film credits include Only You
Only You (1994 film)
Only You is a 1994 romantic comedy film written by Diane Drake and directed and coproduced by Norman Jewison. It stars Marisa Tomei as a young woman who searches for a man whom she believes is her soulmate and Robert Downey Jr. as a young man she meets along the way...
, Godzilla
Godzilla (1998 film)
Godzilla is a 1998 science fiction monster disaster film film co-written and directed by Roland Emmerich. It is a loose remake of the 1954 giant monster classic Godzilla. The storyline was conceived from a screenplay written by Emmerich and Dean Devlin. The film relates a tale of a nuclear incident...
, Winchell
Winchell (film)
Winchell is an HBO television film which dramatizes the life of columnist Walter Winchell based on the book Walter Winchell: His Life and Times by Herman Klurfeld; ; Rich Zinman, co-executive producer; Rob Fried, executive producer...
, The Man
The Man (2005 film)
The Man is a 2005 comedy crime film starring Eugene Levy, Samuel L. Jackson, and Miguel Ferrer.The Man is directed by Les Mayfield and produced by Rob Fried from a screenplay by Jim Piddock, Margaret Oberman and Steve Carpenter, based on the story by Jim Piddock and Margaret Oberman...
, Man of the Year
Man of the Year (2006 film)
Man of the Year is a 2006 Comedy film directed and written by Barry Levinson and starring Robin Williams in the lead role. In addition to Williams, the film features Christopher Walken, Laura Linney, Lewis Black and Jeff Goldblum....
and Two Can Play That Game
Two Can Play That Game
Two Can Play That Game is a 2001 romantic comedy film written and directed by Mark Brown. The film stars Vivica A. Fox, Morris Chestnut, and Anthony Anderson.-Plot:...
.
As a studio executive, Fried served as President and CEO of Savoy Pictures
Savoy Pictures
Savoy Pictures Inc. was an independent motion picture company in operation from 1992 to 1997.-History:Victor A. Kaufman became chairman and chief executive officer of Savoy Pictures in 1992 along with vice chairman executive, Lewis J. Korman...
in the mid-1990s and was responsible for numerous films including Soul Food
Soul food
Soul food cuisine consists of a selection of foods traditional in the cuisine of African Americans. It is closely related to the cuisine of the Southern United States...
, A Simple Plan
A Simple Plan
A Simple Plan is a novel by American author Scott Smith that was published in 1993. A film based on the novel, directed by Sam Raimi, was released in 1998....
, The Adventures of Pinocchio, A Thin Line Between Love and Hate
A Thin Line Between Love and Hate
A Thin Line Between Love and Hate is a 1996 dark comedy-romance film that was directed and co-written by Martin Lawrence, who also stars in the film. Lawrence co-wrote the screenplay alongside Kenny Buford, who has also written for Lawrence's hit television sitcom, Martin...
. Prior to Savoy, he was Vice President at Orion Pictures working for Mike Medavoy and Executive Vice President of Columbia Pictures working for Dawn Steel. His films of responsibility during that period included Hoosiers
Hoosiers
Hoosiers is a 1986 sports film about a small-town Indiana high school basketball team that wins the state championship. It is loosely based on the Milan High School team that won the 1954 state championship....
, Bull Durham
Bull Durham
Bull Durham is a 1988 American romantic comedy baseball film. It is based upon the minor league experiences of writer/director Ron Shelton and depicts the players and fans of the Durham Bulls, a minor league baseball team in Durham, North Carolina....
, Mississippi Burning
Mississippi Burning
Mississippi Burning is a 1988 American crime drama film loosely based on the FBI investigation into the real-life murders of three civil rights workers in the U.S. state of Mississippi in 1964. The film focuses on two fictional FBI agents who investigate the murders...
, Throw Momma from the Train
Throw Momma from the Train
Throw Momma from the Train is a 1987 American black comedy film. It was inspired by the 1951 Alfred Hitchcock thriller Strangers on a Train, which also plays a role in the film...
, Robocop
RoboCop
RoboCop is a 1987 American science fiction-action film directed by Paul Verhoeven. Set in a crime-ridden Detroit, Michigan in the near future, RoboCop centers on a police officer who is brutally murdered and subsequently re-created as a super-human cyborg known as "RoboCop"...
, Colors
Colors (film)
Colors is a 1988 police procedural crime film starring Sean Penn and Robert Duvall and directed by Dennis Hopper. The story takes place in South Central Los Angeles, and is about Bob Hodges , an experienced LAPD Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums Police Officer III, and his rookie partner,...
, and Casualties of War
Casualties of War
Casualties of War is a 1989 war drama directed by Brian De Palma, with a screenplay by David Rabe, based on the actual events of the incident on Hill 192 in 1966 during the Vietnam War. It starred Michael J. Fox and Sean Penn....
.
In 1996, as a media entrepreneur, Fried founded Precision Entertainment, later named WhatsHotNow.com and later named WHN. By 2000, WHN was the leading e-commerce service provider to the entertainment industry and employed over 230 people. Clients included MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
, Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
, Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
, Sony Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
, TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
, The US Winter Olympics, Kmart
Kmart
Kmart, sometimes styled as "K-Mart," is a chain of discount department stores. The chain acquired Sears in 2005, forming a new corporation under the name Sears Holdings Corporation. The company was founded in 1962 and is the third largest discount store chain in the world, behind Wal-Mart and...
stores, and many others.
In 2007, Fried founded Spirit EMX and the subscription streaming site Spiritclips.com, which is devoted to life-affirming content about hope and inspiration. The site features nearly 100 original, in-house written, produced and edited shorts that have received great accolades and recognition. It also features hundreds of other professionally-produced films, shorts, documentaries and lectures that share a similar sensibility.
Personal life
In 1994, Fried married actress Nancy TravisNancy Travis
Nancy Ann Travis is an American actress. She is known for her roles in films Three Men and a Baby and its sequel, Three Men and a Little Lady , Married to the Mob , Air America , Internal Affairs , So I Married an Axe Murderer , Greedy , and Fluke...
, they have two sons. Fried is an alumnus of Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
and Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...