Connor Schell is an American producer of television and film. He is the co-creator and

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 ...

of the ''

30 for 30 ''30 for 30'' is the title for a series of documentary films airing on ESPN, its sister networks, and online highlighting interesting people and events in sports history. This includes three "volumes" of 30 episodes each, a 13-episode series un ...

'' series for

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

. and for which he has won multiple Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award. He has executive produced more than 90 episodes of that series. He is also a creator and executive producer of ''30 for 30'' shorts for which he also won an Emmy Award. Schell was also an Executive Producer of the documentary film '' O.J.: Made in America''. From 2017–2020, Schell took on a role as executive vice president and head of content at ESPN. At ESPN, he was responsible for overseeing ESPN's content creation across television, digital (Espn.com and the ESPN App), and print platforms including live event programming and studio programming. He is a member of the

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...

s board of directors. Schell left ESPN in 2020 to start a joint venture with

Chernin Entertainment Chernin Entertainment is an American film and television production company founded and owned by former News Corporation president and chief operating officer Peter Chernin, also CEO and chairman of the company. Jenno Topping is the current Head o ...

, founding the non-fiction production studio Words and Pictures in 2021.

Education and personal life

Schell holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

and a Master's in Business Administration (with a focus in Media and Entertainment) from

Columbia Business School Columbia Business School (CBS) is the business school of Columbia University, a Private university, private research university in New York City. Established in 1916, Columbia Business School is one of six Ivy League business schools and is one ...

. He lives in New York, and is married with three children.

Films

Connor is a producer of the Academy Award-winning 2016 documentary film '' O.J.: Made in America'' along with

Ezra Edelman Ezra Benjamin Edelman (born August 6, 1974) is an American documentary producer and director. He won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for Nonfiction Programming for directing ' ...

, Caroline Waterlow, Libby Geist, Tamara Rosenberg and Nina Krstic. ''O.J.: Made in America'' premiered on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

on June 11, 2016. The film won an Oscar, a Peabody Award, and Best Documentary honors at the

Gotham Awards The Gotham Awards () are American film awards, presented annually to the makers of independent films at a ceremony in New York City, the city first nicknamed "Gotham" by native son Washington Irving, in an issue of ''Salmagundi'', published on ...

, the

Independent Spirit Awards The Independent Spirit Awards (abbreviated Spirit Awards and originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards), founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with Poly(methyl m ...

, the

IDA Award International Documentary Association (IDA), founded in 1982, is a non-profit 501(c)(3) that promotes nonfiction filmmakers, and is dedicated to increasing public awareness for the documentary genre. Their major program areas are: Advocacy, Filmm ...

s, the Producer's Guild Awards,

National Board of Review The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures is a non-profit organization of New York City area film enthusiasts. Its awards, which are announced in early December, are considered an early harbinger of the film awards season that culminat ...

, and NY Film Critics. ''OJ: Made in America'' was also honored with special recognition from the AFI and a

Dupont Award DuPont de Nemours, Inc., commonly shortened to DuPont, is an American multinational chemical company first formed in 1802 by French-American chemist and industrialist Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours. The company played a major role in ...

for Journalism. The documentary originated from conversations between Schell and Edelman in early 2014, and is the longest film ever to win an Oscar. The film was also nominated for six

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

s. Along with

Bill Simmons William John Simmons III (born September 25, 1969) is an American sports analyst, author, podcaster, and former sports writer who is the founder and CEO of the sports and pop culture website '' The Ringer''. Simmons first gained attention with ...

, Mark Ciardi, Gordon Gray and

Joe Roth Joseph Emanuel Roth is an American film executive, producer and director. He co-founded Morgan Creek Productions in 1988 and was chairman of 20th Century Fox (1989–1993), Caravan Pictures (1993–1994), and Walt Disney Studios (1994–200 ...

, Connor served as an Executive Producer of the 2014

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

film ''

Million Dollar Arm ''Million Dollar Arm'' is a 2014 American biographical sports drama film directed by Craig Gillespie and produced by Walt Disney Pictures from a screenplay written by Tom McCarthy. The film is based on the true story of baseball pitchers Rinku ...

''. Schell also served as an Executive Producer for the 2016 Disney film ''

Queen of Katwe ''Queen of Katwe'' is a 2016 American biographical sports drama film directed by Mira Nair and written by William Wheeler. Starring David Oyelowo, Lupita Nyong'o, and Madina Nalwanga, the film depicts the life of Phiona Mutesi, a girl living in ...

'', the first Disney film on which

ESPN Films ESPN Films, formerly known as ESPN Original Entertainment (EOE), is an American production company which produces and distributes sports films and documentaries. It is owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which ow ...

has a presentation credit.

Television production

The ''30 for 30'' series, created by Schell and

, was created in 2007 and has aired since 2009. It has won four Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award. In 2012, Simmons and Schell announced the creation of ''30 for 30'' shorts. Working with Maura Mandt and MaggieVision productions, Schell is the executive producer of the annual ESPY Awards on ABC. He has been the executive producer of the show since 2013. In 2014, the

Disney XD Disney XD is an American pay television channel owned by the Disney Branded Television and Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution units of The Walt Disney Company. The channel is aimed primarily at older children ages six to eleven years ...

channel premiered the series ''Becoming'' which was created by Schell, Bill Simmons, Erin Leyden and Gentry Kirby. ''Becoming'' is a series of 30 minute documentaries profiling today's superstar athletes, including

LeBron James LeBron Raymone James Sr. (; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is widely considered one of the greatest pl ...

Alex Morgan Alexandra Morgan Carrasco (born Alexandra Patricia Morgan; July 2, 1989) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a striker and captains for San Diego Wave FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the highest division of ...

, Tim Howard, Henrik Lundquist,

Chris Paul Christopher Emmanuel Paul (born May 6, 1985), nicknamed "CP3" and “The Point God”, is an American professional basketball player who plays for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Paul is widely regarded as one o ...

and

CC Sabathia Carsten Charles Sabathia Jr. (born July 21, 1980) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 19 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily with the New York Yankees. He also played for the Cleveland Indians and Milwauke ...

. The show is executive produced by Schell and Simmons along with Libby Geist, Maverick Carter and LeBron James. In 2008, Schell served as an Executive Producer on Dan Klores' four-hour film ''Black Magic'', the first film to run under the

brand. ''Black Magic'' won a Peabody Award in 2008.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schell, Connor Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American film producers American television producers Columbia Business School alumni Harvard College alumni Peabody Award winners Primetime Emmy Award winners Sports Emmy Award winners