In 1995, Grazer’s Apollo 13 exploded onto the silver screen and garnered four Golden Globe Awards and nine Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, Best Screenplay and Best Performance by a Supporting Actor (Ed Harris) and Supporting Actress (Kathleen Quinlan). The film went on to win Best Achievement in Sound and Best Achievement in Editing. Grazer’s film continued to achieve Favorite Motion Picture and Favorite Dramatic Picture by the People’s Choice Awards and Best Cast and Best Supporting Actor by the Screen Actors Guild Awards. The Producers Guild of America chose to honor Grazer with the coveted Darryl F. Zanuck Motion Picture Producer of the Year Award for his work on the film. To date, the film has grossed over $335,000,000. Securing his stature as a Hollywood heavyweight in 1996, Mr. Grazer produced the 5th and 6th highest-grossing movies of the year: Ransom and The Nutty Professor. Ransom, which to date has grossed over $300 million worldwide, stars Mel Gibson, Rene Russo, Gary Sinise and is directed by Ron Howard. The Nutty Professor, starring Eddie Murphy and directed by Tom Shadyac, grossed over $270 million worldwide and went on to win an Academy Awardâ for Best Makeup and The People’s Choice Award for Favorite Comedy Motion Picture. In 1997, Grazer produced Liar Liar, starring Jim Carrey and directed by Tom Shadyac, which was the biggest opening weekend for a March release at $32 million dollars and has currently grossed beyond $300 million worldwide. In 1998 alone, Grazer took home the Emmy for Outstanding Mini-Series for his work on HBO’s From the Earth to the Moon, joined the exclusive rankings of producers recognized by the Chamber of Commerce with a star on Hollywood Boulevard and received the Cubby R. Broccoli Award, which is presented annually to a creative talent who has demonstrated consistent quality and vision throughout his or her career, at the cinema Expo in Amsterdam. Showing no signs of slowing down, Grazer continues to produce several highly anticipated projects for 1999 including Nutty 2, starring Eddie Murphy; EDtv, starring Matthew McConaughey; Curious George; Bowfinger, directed by Frank Oz, starring Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy; Detox, directed by Jim Gillespie, starring Sylvester Stallone; Sea Wolf to be directed by Ron Howard, starring Nicholas Cage; and Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas to be directed by Ron Howard and starring Jim Carrey. During his early days as a producer, Grazer hired Ron Howard to first direct Night Shift and then the romantic comedy Splash, which starred Tom Hanks, Daryl Hannah and John Candy. The latter garnered Grazer his first Academy Award for Best Screenplay while both films firmly established him a s skillful feature film producer with a flair for comedy. Commercially, Grazer’s success has been endless. He began his impressive career as a producer by developing television projects with Edgar J. Sherick and Daniel Blatt. During his two-year tenure, he produced top-rated NBC Television features Zuma Beach and Thou Shall Not Kill. In 1980, he signed a development/production deal for Paramount Pictures, an association that led to his segue into motion pictures. While creating and executive-producing several television pilots for Paramount, Grazer met Ron Howard, who was just completing his seven-year run on the hit series Happy Days.
Later that same year, Grazer was named NATO/ShoWest Producer of the Year, an award which acknowledges not only Grazer’s extraordinary producing abilities, but also his skill at combing stories with stars to produce many of today’s most successful and entertaining motion pictures. Additional film credits include: Psycho, starring Anne Heche, Julianne Moore, William H. Macy and Vince Vaughn and directed by Gus Van Sant; The Paper, starring Michael Keaton, Glenn Close and Robert Duvall; My Girl, starring Macaulay Culkin and Anna Chlumsky; Kindergarten Cop, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger; Backdraft, starring Kurt Russell and Robert DeNiro and directed by Ron Howard (which was nominated for four Academy Awardsâ); Real Genius, starring Val Kilmer; Clean and Sober, starring Michael Keaton; Spies Like Us, starring Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd; Armed and Dangerous, starring Meg Ryan; John Water’s Cry Baby, starring Johnny Depp; CB4, starring Chris Rock; and The Doors, starring Val Kilmer and Meg Ryan, directed by Oliver Stone. In addition to his phenomenal success on film, Grazer has created an impressive resume in television as well. Some of his recent entries into the competitive television arena include the critically-acclaimed Felicity for the WB, starring Keri Russell and Scott Speedman; the ABC comedy Sports Night, which stars Josh Charles and Peter Krause; Paul Reubens Untitled on NBC, starring Paul Reubens and Monica Gannis; and the FOX animated series The PJ’s, starring the voices of Eddie Murphy.
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With over 19 Academy Award nominations, 17 Emmy Award nominations and as the recipient of countless distinguishing tributes, BRIAN GRAZER (Producer) has established himself as one of the most creative and prolific producers in the entertainment industry. With a keen ability for spotting new talent as well as an ease with the written word, Grazer has been responsible for some of the industry’s most critically-acclaimed projects as well as the driving force behind some of Hollywood’s biggest box office blockbusters. To date, his films have grossed over 3 billion dollars worldwide.
Grazer and Howard officially joined forces in 1986, as co-chairmen and founders of Imagine Films Entertainment, Inc. a public company that they eventually took private in 1993 as Imagine Entertainment. In 1989, the then-public company released its first film, The Burbs, a wacky comedy about suburban living starring Tom Hanks. The Burbs kicked off what was to become a very profitable year for Imagine. The company released two additional features in 1989, the successful comedies The Dream Team (Michael Keaton) and Parenthood. An ensemble comedy, headed by Steve Martin, about the ups and downs of raising children, Parenthood became a box office phenomenon. It was the number one attraction in its first two weeks of release and went on to gross over $100 million and was nominated for two Academy Awards.