David T. Friendly (born May 1, 1956) is an American film producer best known for co-producing the

2006 film The following is an overview of events in 2006, including the highest-grossing films, award ceremonies and festivals, a list of films released and notable deaths. Evaluation of the year Legendary film critic Philip French of ''The Guardian'' de ...

Little Miss Sunshine ''Little Miss Sunshine'' is a 2006 American tragicomedy road film and the feature film directorial debut of the husband–wife team of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris. The screenplay was written by first-time writer Michael Arndt. The film sta ...

'', for which he was nominated for an

Academy Award for Best Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since the awards debuted in 1929. This award goes to the producers of the film and is the only category ...

Career

After graduating from

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

's Medill School of Journalism in 1978, Friendly became a journalist, a staff writer at

newsmagazine A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio or television program, usually published weekly, consisting of articles about current events. News magazines generally discuss stories, in greater depth than do newspapers or new ...

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

''. He moved to the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' in 1985 where he wrote about the entertainment industry and had a weekly column exploring the business side of the film industry until 1987, when he was approached by Imagine Entertainment co-founders Brian Grazer and

Ron Howard Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He first came to prominence as a child actor, guest-starring in several television series, including an episode of ''The Twilight Zone''. He ...

, and he became Imagine's Vice President of Motion Pictures. With Imagine, he executive produced '' My Girl'', '' My Girl 2'', '' For Love or Money'', '' Greedy'', and '' The Chamber''. In 1994, Friendly joined Davis Entertainment as President, where he produced ''

Daylight Daylight is the combination of all direct and indirect sunlight during the daytime. This includes direct sunlight, diffuse sky radiation, and (often) both of these reflected by Earth and terrestrial objects, like landforms and buildings. Sunligh ...

'' and ''

Digging to China ''Digging to China'' is a 1997 American drama film that marked the cinematic directorial debut of actor Timothy Hutton and the screen debut of Evan Rachel Wood. The screenplay by Karen Janszen focuses on the friendship forged between a pre-teen gi ...

'', as well as overseeing the development and production of many other Davis films. With his own independent company, Friendly Productions, he has produced the

2000 film The year 2000 in film involved some significant events. The top grosser worldwide was '' Mission: Impossible 2''. Domestically in North America, '' Gladiator'' won the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Actor ( Russell Crowe). ''Dinosaur'' ...

'' Here on Earth''. Friendly and producer/financier

Marc Turtletaub Marc Jay Turtletaub (born January 30, 1946) is an American film producer and former president and CEO of The Money Store. Early life and education Born in Lakewood, New Jersey, he grew up in Perth Amboy, New JerseyOrtner, Sherry, B''Not Hollyw ...

founded Deep River Productions in September 2000 and, after working at

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

for three years where he produced ''

Big Momma's House ''Big Momma's House'' is a 2000 American buddy cop comedy film, directed by Raja Gosnell, and written by Darryl Quarles and Don Rhymer. The film stars Martin Lawrence as an FBI agent who is tasked with tracking down an escaped convict and his l ...

'', they produced their first feature, '' Laws of Attraction''. Friendly went on to produce '' Duane Hopwood'', ''

The Honeymooners ''The Honeymooners'' is an American television sitcom which originally aired from 1955 to 1956, created by and starring Jackie Gleason, and based on a recurring comedy sketch of the same name that had been part of Gleason's variety show. It fol ...

'' and '' Big Momma's House 2'' with Deep River under different labels before producing the

'' with Turtletaub, Ron Yerxa, Albert Berger and

Peter Saraf Peter Saraf is an American film producer whose feature film credits include '' Adaptation'' (2002), '' Little Miss Sunshine'' (2006), ''Our Idiot Brother'' (2011), and ''The Kings of Summer'' (2013). In 2004, he co-founded the film production co ...

, for which they were all nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

for Best Picture and a BAFTA Award for Best Film, as well as winning an Independent Spirit Award for Best Feature and a

PGA Award The Producers Guild of America (PGA) is a 501(c)(6) trade association representing television producers, film producers and New Media producers in the United States. The PGA's membership includes over 8,000 members of the producing establishment w ...

for a Theatrical Motion Picture. After the release of ''Little Miss Sunshine'', which had been in production at Deep River Productions for six years, Friendly and Turtletaub split and left the company to work elsewhere and Friendly made a two-year producing deal with

that landed him producing roles on the

2008 film The year 2008 involved many major film events. ''The Dark Knight'' was the year's highest-grossing film, while ''Slumdog Millionaire'' won the Academy Award for Best Picture (out of 81st Academy Awards, eight Academy Awards). Evaluation of the y ...

Meet Dave ''Meet Dave'' is a 2008 American science fiction comedy film directed by Brian Robbins and written by Bill Corbett and Rob Greenberg. It stars Eddie Murphy in the title role, Elizabeth Banks, Gabrielle Union, Ed Helms, Scott Caan and Kevin Hart ...

'' and '' Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son''. He is also set to produce the upcoming projects ''

Office Romance ''Office Romance'' (russian: links=no, italic=yes, Служебный роман, Sluzhebny roman) is a 1977 Soviet comedy film directed by Eldar Ryazanov. The film's plot is based on the stageplay ''Co-workers'' (') written by Ryazanov and Emil B ...

'', '' Q School'', and ''

The Warden ''The Warden'' is a novel by English author Anthony Trollope published by Longman in 1855. It is the first book in the '' Chronicles of Barsetshire'' series, followed by '' Barchester Towers''. Synopsis ''The Warden'' concerns Mr Septimus Ha ...

''.

Personal life

Friendly is the son of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

American journalist

Fred W. Friendly Fred W. Friendly (born Ferdinand Friendly Wachenheimer, October 30, 1915 – March 3, 1998) was a president of CBS News and the creator, along with Edward R. Murrow, of the documentary television program '' See It Now''. He originated the concep ...

, the president of CBS News from 1964 to 1966 (whom

George Clooney George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by George Clooney, numerous accolades, including a British Academy Film Awards, British Academy Film A ...

portrayed in the

2005 film 2005 in film is an overview of events, including the highest-grossing films, award ceremonies, festivals, a list of country-specific lists of films released, notable deaths and film debuts. Evaluation of the year Renowned American film critic a ...

Good Night, and Good Luck ''Good Night, and Good Luck'' (stylized as ''good night, and good luck.'') is a 2005 historical drama film about American television news directed by George Clooney, with the movie starring David Strathairn, Patricia Clarkson, Jeff Daniels, Ro ...

''). His brother is fellow producer Andy Friendly. He is married to

film editor Film editing is both a creative and a technical part of the post-production process of filmmaking. The term is derived from the traditional process of working with film which increasingly involves the use of digital technology. The film edit ...

Priscilla Nedd-Friendly.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

*
Profile of David T. Friendly
by ''Northwestern Magazine'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Friendly, David 1956 births Living people American film producers Medill School of Journalism alumni