Brian Volk-Weiss (born May 28, 1976) is an American

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

and

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of video production on a television show, television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television net ...

and

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

. He is the founder and current

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

(CEO) of The Nacelle Company and its subsidiary company, Comedy Dynamics. Volk-Weiss is the creator, producer, and occasional director of the current

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

series, ''

The Toys That Made Us ''The Toys That Made Us'' is an American documentary streaming television series created by Brian Volk-Weiss. The first four episodes of the series began streaming on Netflix on December 22, 2017, and the next four were released on May 25, 2018. T ...

'' and ''

The Movies That Made Us ''The Movies That Made Us'' is an American documentary streaming television series created by Brian Volk-Weiss Brian Volk-Weiss (born May 28, 1976) is an American film and television producer and director. He is the founder and current chief ...

'', along with the television specials, ''

Kevin Hart's Guide to Black History ''Kevin Hart's Guide to Black History'' is a Netflix variety special starring Kevin Hart. Premise ''Kevin Hart's Guide to Black History'' is a guide to African-American black history through re-enactments with a familial sitcom set-up and archiv ...

'' and ''Discontinued'' (originally on

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

). Through Comedy Dynamics, he has produced and directed numerous stand-up specials and comedy albums for comedians like

Kevin Hart Kevin Darnell Hart (born July 6, 1979) is an American comedian and actor. Originally known as a stand-up comedian, he has since starred in Hollywood films and on TV. He has also released several well-received comedy albums. After winning se ...

Jim Gaffigan James Christopher Gaffigan (born July 7, 1966) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. His material often addresses fatherhood, laziness, food, religion, and general observations. He is regarded as a "clean" comic, using l ...

Ali Wong Alexandra Dawn Ali Wong (born April 19, 1982) is an American stand-up comedian and actress. She is best known for her Netflix stand-up specials ''Baby Cobra'' (2016), ''Hard Knock Wife'' (2018), and ''Don Wong'' (2022). She starred in the film ' ...

Tiffany Haddish Tiffany Sara Cornilia Haddish (born December 3, 1979) is an American stand-up comedian and actress. After guest-starring on several television series and lead role on a cable drama, Haddish gained prominence for her role as Nekeisha Williams on ...

Ilana Glazer Ilana Glazer (born April 12, 1987) is an American comedian, director, producer, writer, and actress. She co-created and co-starred, with Abbi Jacobson, in the Comedy Central series ''Broad City'', which is based on the web series of the same name ...

, and many others. Volk-Weiss has also produced several television shows including ''

Join or Die with Craig Ferguson ''Join or Die with Craig Ferguson'' is an American panel show hosted by Scottish-American comedian Craig Ferguson. The sole season, consisting of 22 episodes, began airing on History on February 18, 2016. The show features Ferguson and a panel of ...

'', ''

Behind the Attraction ''Behind the Attraction'' is a documentary TV series by Brian Volk-Weiss for Disney+ produced by Dwayne Johnson's Seven Bucks Productions and Volk-Weiss's The Nacelle Company. The first five episodes were released on July 21, 2021, with the re ...

'' on

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and deligh ...

, ''A Toy Store Near You'', ''The Center Seat: 55 Years of Star Trek'', and ''

Down to Earth with Zac Efron ''Down to Earth with Zac Efron'' is an American web documentary series that premiered on Netflix on July 10, 2020. It stars Zac Efron and Darin Olien, who also act as executive producers of the series. The documentary revolves around Efron and h ...

''. He also serves as

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...

on the revival of the 1992 TV series, ''

Mad About You ''Mad About You'' is an American television sitcom starring Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt as a married couple in New York City. It initially aired on NBC from September 23, 1992, to May 24, 1999, winning numerous awards including four Golden Glob ...

''.

Early life and education

Volk-Weiss was born and grew up in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. He has described himself as coming from "a family of dentists and lawyers." He attended the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

and graduated in 1998. Soon after graduation, he moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

to pursue a career in film and television.

Career

Volk-Weiss began his career as a

production assistant A production assistant, also known as a PA, is a member of the film crew and is a job title used in filmmaking and television for a person responsible for various aspects of a production. The job of a PA can vary greatly depending on the budget ...

and worked in the wardrobe department for the 2000 film, ''

Cast Away ''Cast Away'' is a 2000 American survival drama film directed and produced by Robert Zemeckis and starring Tom Hanks, Helen Hunt, and Nick Searcy. Hanks plays a FedEx troubleshooter stranded on an uninhabited island after his plane crashes in ...

''. He later took a job as an assistant at the Barry Katz Entertainment Group (BKEG), a

talent management Talent management (TM) refers to the anticipation of required human capital for an organization and the planning to meet those needs. The field has been growing in significance and gaining interest among practitioners as well as in the scholarl ...

company. While at the company, he eventually began managing comedians, like

Whitney Cummings Whitney Cummings (born September 4, 1982) is an American stand-up comedian, actress, writer, director, producer, investor and podcaster. A native of Washington, DC, Cummings pursued a comedy career in Los Angeles after graduating from the Univer ...

Jeff Ross Jeffrey Ross Lifschultz (born September 13, 1965) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is best known as the "Roastmaster General" for his insult comedy, his multiple appearances at celebrity roasts held by the New York Friars Club, the ...

, and

Dane Cook Dane Jeffrey Cook (born March 18, 1972) is an American stand-up comedian and film actor. He has released six comedy albums: ''Harmful If Swallowed''; ''Retaliation''; '' Vicious Circle''; '' Rough Around the Edges: Live from Madison Square Garde ...

. In 2003, he was promoted to senior vice president. In the position, he was responsible for producing film and television projects. BKEG was acquired by New Wave Entertainment in October 2003 and it became the new company's talent management and production division. Volk-Weiss continued to manage comedians and produce films and television shows with

Barry Katz Barry Katz is a television producer, film producer and talent manager. He was the owner and founder of the Boston Comedy Club in New York City and helped launch the careers of many successful comedians, including Bill Burr, Dane Cook, Louis C.K ...

as part of New Wave. He was a producer on the Dane Cook films, '' Employee of the Month'', ''

Good Luck Chuck ''Good Luck Chuck'' is a 2007 comedy film starring Dane Cook and Jessica Alba, with screenplay by Josh Stolberg and directorial debut by long-time film editor Mark Helfrich. In the film, women find their "one true love" after having sex with a d ...

'', and '' My Best Friend's Girl''. He also produced the Dane Cook-led

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

documentary series, ''

Tourgasm ''Tourgasm'' is an American documentary television series that aired on HBO in 2006. The series follows the 2005 30-day 20-show stand-up comedy tour featuring Dane Cook and three of his best friends in the industry: Robert Kelly, Gary Gulman, ...

''. During that time, he also began producing comedy specials. In 2007, he produced the first stand-up special for New Wave. In 2008, he founded New Wave Dynamics (which would later become Comedy Dynamics) as a production and distribution company of New Wave Entertainment. By 2009, he had become the head of production for New Wave Entertainment. By 2012, Volk-Weiss had produced HBO,

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programming ...

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

, and

stand-up specials for numerous comedians, including

Aziz Ansari Aziz Ismail Ansari (; born February 23, 1983) is an American actor and stand-up comedian. He is known for his role as Tom Haverford on the NBC series ''Parks and Recreation'' (2009–2015) and as creator and star of the Netflix series ''Master ...

, Whitney Cummings,

D.L. Hughley Darryl Lynn Hughley (; born March 6, 1963) is an American actor and stand-up comedian. Hughley is best known as the original host of BET's ''ComicView'' from 1992 to 1993, the eponymous character on the ABC/ UPN sitcom ''The Hughleys'', and as ...

, Jim Gaffigan,

Tom Papa Thomas Papa Jr. (born November 10, 1968) is an American comedian, actor, and radio host. He hosts the Sirius XM Satellite Radio show ''Come to Papa'' and, in July 2019, he and Fortune Feimster started hosting the Sirius XM show ''What a Joke wit ...

Bill Burr William Frederick Burr (born June 10, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, filmmaker, and podcaster. He has released multiple stand-up comedy specials, most notably ''Why Do I Do This?'' (2008), ''Let It Go'' (2010), '' You People Are ...

, and others. He had also served as a producer on shows like

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Commun ...

's ''Stevie TV'' and

Investigation Discovery Investigation Discovery (stylized and branded on-air as ID since 2008) is an American multinational pay television network dedicated to true crime documentaries owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. As of February 2015, approximately 86 million Ameri ...

's '' True Grime: Crime Scene Clean Up''. In July 2013, he was named president of production at New Wave. At that time, New Wave Dynamics was renamed "Comedy Dynamics" and Volk-Weiss became a partner in the company. It was producing around 20 to 30 stand-up specials per year at that point. In 2014, two Volk-Weiss-produced comedy albums (''That's What I'm Talkin' About'' by

Bob Saget Robert Lane Saget (May 17, 1956 – January 9, 2022) was an American stand-up comedian, actor, and television host. Saget played Danny Tanner on the ABC sitcom ''Full House'' (1987-1995), and reprised the role for its Netflix sequel '' Fuller ...

and ''

I'm Here to Help ''I'm Here to Help'' is the fifth comedy album and third DVD-comedy album by Scottish-American comedian Craig Ferguson. This Sound recording and reproduction, live audio recording is from the film ''Craig Ferguson: I'm Here to Help'', released on ...

'' by

Craig Ferguson Craig Ferguson (born 17 May 1962) is a Scottish-born American comedian, actor, writer, and television host. He is best known for hosting the CBS late-night talk show ''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'' (2005–2014), for which he won a ...

) were nominated for the

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

for

Best Comedy Album The Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement in comedy." The award was awarded yearly from 1959 to 1993 and then from 2004 to presen ...

. He had also produced a range of other new stand-up specials that year for comedians like

Kathleen Madigan Kathleen Madigan is an American comedian and TV personality. In addition to her stand up comedy performances, she is a regular guest on a variety of U.S. television programs. Early life and education Kathleen Madigan is one of seven children in t ...

Marc Maron Marcus David Maron (born September 27, 1963) is an American stand-up comedian, podcaster, writer, actor, and musician. In the 1990s and 2000s, Maron was a frequent guest on the '' Late Show with David Letterman'' and has appeared more than forty ...

Mike Birbiglia Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and document ...

Doug Stanhope Doug Stanhope (born March 25, 1967) is an American stand-up comedian, author, political activist and podcast host. His stand-up material favors caustic and often obscene observations of life in the style of Bill Hicks and Bill Burr, which he del ...

, and

Brian Posehn Brian Edmund Posehn (; born July 6, 1966) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, voice actor, musician, and writer. After numerous appearances as a television guest star, Posehn acquired his first major recurring role in HBO's ''Mr. Show with ...

. By July 2014, Comedy Dynamics had produced over 100 stand-up specials and 125 comedy albums. That month, the company also launched its own comedy channel on

Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...

Roku Roku ( ) is a brand of hardware digital media players manufactured by American company Roku, Inc. They offer access to streaming media content from online services. The first Roku model, developed in collaboration with Netflix, was introduce ...

, and

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

platforms. In 2015, Volk-Weiss produced

Louis C.K. Louis Alfred Székely (; born September 12, 1967), known professionally as Louis C.K. (), is an American stand-up comedian, screenwriter, actor, and filmmaker. C.K. won three Peabody Awards, three Grammy Awards, six Primetime Emmy Awards, and a ...

's album, ''Live at Madison Square Garden'', which would go on to win the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album. In 2016, he produced several television series through Comedy Dynamics, including

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

's ''Join Or Die with Craig Ferguson'' and ''Kevin Hart Presents: The Black Man's Guide to History'',

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

's ''Spooning...With

Zac Efron Zachary David Alexander Efron (; born October 18, 1987) is an American actor. He began acting professionally in the early 2000s and rose to prominence in the late 2000s for his leading role as Troy Bolton in the ''High School Musical'' trilo ...

'', Hulu's ''Coming to the Stage'', and

Animal Planet Animal Planet (stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American multinational pay television channel owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. First established on June 1, 1996, the network is primarily dev ...

's ''Animal Nation with Anthony Anderson''. He also produced stand-up specials for

Tom Segura Thomas Weston Segura (born April 16, 1979) is an American stand-up comedian, writer, author, actor, and podcaster. Segura co-hosts the ''Your Mom's House'' podcast with his wife and fellow comedian Christina Pazsitzky. Segura also co-hosts the p ...

and

, among others. In January 2017, Volk-Weiss spun Comedy Dynamics off into a stand-alone company owned by the newly created Nacelle Company (of which Volk-Weiss is also CEO). In December 2017, his Netflix series, ''The Toys That Made Us'' premiered. A second season of the show premiered in May 2018. Volk-Weiss has directed some of the episodes. Also in 2018,

Dave Chappelle David Khari Webber Chappelle ( ; born August 24, 1973) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is best known for his satirical comedy sketch series ''Chappelle's Show'' (2003–2006), which he starred in until quitting in the middle of p ...

's Volk-Weiss-produced Netflix Records double album, ''The Age of Spin & Deep in the Heart of Texas'', won the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album. Volk-Weiss also produced Chappelle's follow-up, ''Equanimity & The Bird Revelation'', which again won the Grammy the following year. In December 2018, ''Discontinued'', a television special about discontinued products created by Volk-Weiss, premiered on

. Volk-Weiss also created and produced another Kevin Hart television special entitled ''Kevin Hart's Guide to Black History'' which began streaming on

in February 2019. In March 2019, it was announced that Volk-Weiss would serve as an executive producer with

Sony Pictures Television Sony Pictures Television Inc. (abbreviated as SPT) is an American television production and distribution studio. Based at the Sony Pictures Studios complex in Culver City, it is a division of Sony Entertainment's unit Sony Pictures Entertainm ...

on the revival of ''Mad About You'', the NBC series that aired from 1992 to 1999. The revival began airing on

Spectrum Originals Spectrum is a trade name of Charter Communications, used to market consumer and commercial cable television, internet, telephone, and wireless services provided by the company. The brand was first introduced in 2014; prior to that, these serv ...

in November 2019 with

Paul Reiser Paul Reiser (; born March 30, 1956) is an American actor, comedian, and television writer. He is known for his roles as Michael Taylor in the 1980s sitcom ''My Two Dads'', Paul Buchman in the NBC sitcom ''Mad About You'', Modell in the 1982 fi ...

and

Helen Hunt Helen Elizabeth Hunt (born June 15, 1963) is an American actress and director. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, four Primetime Emmy Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards. Hunt rose to fame portraying Jam ...

reprising their roles from the original. Also in November 2019, the third season of Volk-Weiss' ''The Toys That Made Us'' premiered on Netflix. A spin-off series that Volk-Weiss also created, executive produced, and directed called ''

'' premiered on Netflix later in the month. In May 2020, a new Volk-Weiss-created series entitled ''A Toy Store Near You'' debuted as a production of The Nacelle Company on various platforms. Recently, Volk Weiss signed deals with Sony Pictures and MLGPC.

Filmography and discography

Nominations and awards

References

External links

*
Brian Volk-Weiss
''

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

''
Comedy Dynamics website

The Nacelle Company website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Volk-Weiss, Brian Living people 1976 births American television producers American film producers University of Iowa alumni Television producers from Queens, New York