David Collins (born 1967) is an American television and film producer. He is best known for creating the reality television series '' Queer Eye''.

Early life

Collins was born in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. As a teenager, he was a member of the

Future Farmers of America National FFA Organization is an American 501(c)(3) youth organization, specifically a career and technical student organization, based on middle and high school classes that promote and support agricultural education. It was founded in 1925 at Vi ...

and planned to become a veterinarian. Collins attended Lakota High School, where he was class president and a member of the school choir. Collins studied film and television at

Ohio University Ohio University is a Public university, public research university in Athens, Ohio. The first university chartered by an Act of Congress and the first to be chartered in Ohio, the university was chartered in 1787 by the Congress of the Confeder ...

, graduating in 1989.

Career

His first job in the film industry was working as a production assistant on

Jodie Foster Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster (born November 19, 1962) is an American actress and filmmaker. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, three British Academy Film Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and the ho ...

's directorial debut, ''

Little Man Tate ''Little Man Tate'' is a 1991 American drama film directed by Jodie Foster (in her directorial debut) from a screenplay written by Scott Frank. The film stars Adam Hann-Byrd as Fred Tate, a seven-year-old child prodigy who struggles to self-act ...

''. Collins then moved to Boston and started Scout Productions with Michael Williams in 1994. Under the banner of Scout, Collins produced such films as ''

Six Ways to Sunday ''Six Ways to Sunday'' is a 1997 American crime drama film with elements of comedy directed by Adam Bernstein. It is based on Charles Perry's novel '' Portrait of a Young Man Drowning''. Plot Eighteen-year-old Harry (Norman Reedus), is an innoc ...

'' and ''

Session 9 ''Session 9'' is a 2001 American psychological horror film directed by Brad Anderson and written by Anderson and Stephen Gevedon. The film stars David Caruso, Peter Mullan, Brendan Sexton III, Josh Lucas, and Gevedon as an asbestos abatement cre ...

''. In 2001, Collins came up with the idea for a makeover series with a team of gay "experts" making over a straight man. ''Queer Eye'' debuted on July 5, 2003 on

Bravo Bravo(s) or The Bravo(s) may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Groups and labels *Bravo (band), a Russian rock band * Bravo (Spanish group), represented Spain at Eurovision 1984 *Bravo Music, an American concert band music publishing company ...

, attracting 1.6 million viewers. The series soon achieved a viewership of 2.3 million, becoming the highest-rated show on the network. ''Queer Eye'' ran for five seasons with Collins winning several awards for producing, including a

Producers Guild of America Award The Producers Guild of America Awards were originally established in 1990 by the Producers Guild of America as the Golden Laurel Awards, created by PGA Treasurer Joel Freeman with the support of Guild President Leonard Stern, in order to honor ...

and a

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Structured Reality Program The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Structured Reality Program is handed out annually at the Creative Arts Emmy Award ceremony. In 2014, Outstanding Reality Program was separated into two categories – Outstanding Unstructured Reality Prog ...

. Collins went on to produce the documentary series ''

Big Ideas for a Small Planet ''Big Ideas for a Small Planet'' is an American documentary series on the Sundance Channel which focuses on environmental innovations such as alternative fuel and green building techniques. The series premiered on the iTunes Store prior to its rel ...

'' and the television series ''Cheerleader Camp''. In 2017, he approached

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 ...

to reboot ''Queer Eye''. The first season was released on February 7, 2018 to largely positive critical reviews. The reboot earned Collins another Primetime Emmy Award in 2018. In addition to his work as a producer, Collins has also appeared in

American Express American Express Company (Amex) is an American multinational corporation specialized in payment card services headquartered at 200 Vesey Street in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The company was found ...

ads.

References

Ohio University alumni People from West Chester, Butler County, Ohio 1967 births Living people American film producers Television producers from Ohio Primetime Emmy Award winners {{US-tv-producer-stub