![Dmanson-lrg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Dmanson-lrg.jpg)
David Manson (born 1952) is a Peabody Award-winning American film and television producer, screenwriter and director.
He is perhaps best known for his work on a trio of acclaimed
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: ''
House of Cards
A house of cards (also known as a card tower or card castle) is a structure created by stacking playing cards on top of each other, often in the shape of a pyramid. "House of cards" is also an expression that dates back to 1645 meaning a structu ...
'', ''
Bloodline
Heredity, also called inheritance or biological inheritance, is the passing on of traits from parents to their offspring; either through asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction, the offspring cells or organisms acquire the genetic inform ...
'', and ''
Ozark
The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and the extreme southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover a significant portio ...
'', for which he has received multiple
Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
and
Writers Guild Award
The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949.
Eligibility
The ...
nominations.
Early life
Manson was born in New York City to two musicians who had met as students at the Juilliard School. His father, Eddy Manson (''né'' Eddy Lawrence Manson; 1919–1996), a harmonica virtuoso, moved the family to Los Angeles in 1965 to pursue his career as a film composer.
Manson attended the University of California at Santa Cruz on full scholarship before transferring to the University of California at Irvine, where he graduated magna cum laude.
Career
Manson began his career in the theater and worked in various capacities for such venues as the
Mark Taper Forum
The Mark Taper Forum is a 739-seat thrust stage at the Los Angeles Music Center designed by Welton Becket and Associates on the Bunker Hill section of Downtown Los Angeles. Named for real estate developer Mark Taper, the Forum, the neighboring ...
,
Playwrights Horizon and the
Manhattan Theater Club
Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC) is a theatre company located in New York City, affiliated with the League of Resident Theatres. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Producer Barry Grove, Manhattan Theatre Club has gr ...
.
He started in the film business at Dick Berg's Stonehenge Productions where he produced his first film,
''The Spell'' (1977), for NBC, at the age of twenty-four. As Senior Vice President of Stonehenge, he produced several movies and miniseries including the first major television miniseries about Vietnam, ''
A Rumor of War
A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes' ...
'' (1980), which ''The New York Times'' called "unusually ambitious and admirable" and the ''Washington Post'' referred to "as true as a movie is going to get".
In 1980, Manson formed his own company
Sarabande Productions aimed at creating a platform for prestigious writers. He has since worked with Pulitzer Prize winners including
Michael Chabon
Michael Chabon ( ;
born May 24, 1963) is an American novelist, screenwriter, columnist, and short story writer. Born in Washington, DC, he spent a year studying at Carnegie Mellon University before transferring to the University of Pittsburgh, gr ...
,
Donald Margulies
Donald Margulies (born September 2, 1954) is an American playwright and academic. In 2000, he won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play ''Dinner with Friends''.
Background and education
Margulies attended John Dewey High School in Brookly ...
and
Jules Feiffer
Jules Ralph Feiffer (born January 26, 1929)''Comics Buyer's Guide'' #1650; February 2009; Page 107 is an American cartoonist and author, who was considered the most widely read satirist in the country. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1986 as North- ...
, and acclaimed screenwriters such as
Joan Tewkesbury
Joan Tewkesbury (born April 8, 1936) is an American film and television director, writer, producer, choreographer and actress. She had a long association with the celebrated director Robert Altman, writing the screenplays for '' Thieves Like Us ...
,
Barbara Turner,
John Sacret Young
John Sacret Young (May 24, 1946 – June 3, 2021) was an American author, producer, director, and screenwriter primarily in television, perhaps best known for his work on the show ''China Beach''. Young was nominated for seven Emmy Award, Emmys ...
, and National Book Award recipient
Denis Johnson
Denis Hale Johnson (July 1, 1949 – May 24, 2017) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and poet. He is perhaps best known for his debut short story collection, '' Jesus' Son'' (1992). His most successful novel, ''Tree of Smoke'' (2007) ...
.
In features, he executive-produced and developed the
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...
Special Jury Prize Winner ''
Birdy'' (1984) starring
Matthew Modine
Matthew Avery Modine (born March 22, 1959) is an American actor and filmmaker, who rose to prominence through his role as U.S. Marine Private/Sergeant J.T. "Joker" Davis in ''Full Metal Jacket''. His other film roles include the title character ...
and
Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Kim Coppola (born January 7, 1964), known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and film producer. Born into the Coppola family, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Gu ...
. He then produced the
Sting
Sting may refer to:
* Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger
* Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself
Fictional characters and entities
* Sting (Middle-eart ...
documentary, ''
Bring On the Night
''Bring On the Night'' is the first live album by Sting recorded over the course of several live shows in 1985 and released in 1986. The title is taken from a song by the Police from their 1979 album ''Reggatta de Blanc''. The songs performed ...
'' (1985), directed by
Michael Apted
Michael David Apted, (10 February 1941 – 7 January 2021) was a British television and film director and producer.
Apted began working in television and directed the '' Up'' documentary series (1964–2019). He later directed '' Coal Miner's ...
, which earned a
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 long form video; he also executive-produced ''
The Cemetery Club
''The Cemetery Club'' is a 1993 American comedy film directed by Bill Duke. The film stars Olympia Dukakis, Ellen Burstyn, Diane Ladd and Danny Aiello. Jerry Orbach and Lee Richardson appear in a brief prologue sequence.
Plot
Based on the pla ...
'' (1993), starring
Ellen Burstyn
Ellen Burstyn (born Edna Rae Gillooly; December 7, 1932) is an American actress. Known for her portrayals of complicated women in dramas, she is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Tony Award, and two Primetime Em ...
, and produced the
Drew Barrymore
Drew Blythe Barrymore (born February 22, 1975) is an American actress, director, producer, talk show host and author. A member of the Barrymore family of actors, she is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a ...
film, ''
Mad Love'' (1995), both for Disney/Touchstone Pictures where his company was housed for several years.
Sarabande has also inked overall deals with MGM/UA, Sony, 20th Century Fox, FX Productions, and most recently
Paramount Television Studios
Paramount Television Studios (formerly known as Paramount Television from 2013 to 2020) is an American television production and distribution company, that is a division of Paramount Pictures, a subsidiary of Paramount Global.
It is the success ...
. Through the 1980s and 1990s, Manson, through Sarabande, executive-produced a number of television movies, includin
''Rising Son''(1990) starring
Matt Damon
Matthew Paige Damon (; born October 8, 1970) is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. Ranked among ''Forbes'' most bankable stars, the films in which he has appeared have collectively earned over $3.88 billion at the North Americ ...
in his first major role, the Christopher Award-winning NBC film, ''Eye on the Sparrow'' (1987), and ''
Nightjohn'' (1996), directed by
Charles Burnett, which was the recipient of a Special Citation Award from the National Society of Film Critics and which ''The New Yorker'' named the best American movie of the year.
Manson entered into the series business as co-creator/executive producer of ''
Against the Law'' (1990) for FOX and made his directorial debut with the
ABC television ABC Television most commonly refers to:
*ABC Television Network of the American Broadcasting Company, United States, or
*ABC Television (Australian TV network), a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia
ABC Television or ABC ...
movie, ''Those Secrets'' (1992). He then co-created, produced, and directed the controversial drama, ''
Nothing Sacred'' (1997), about an irreverent Catholic priest, which was the subject of an advertiser boycott instituted by the conservative pressure group, The Catholic League. The series won not only the Peabody Award, but also a
Humanitas Award
The Humanitas Prize is an award for film and television writing, and is given to writers whose work explores the human condition in a nuanced and meaningful way. It began in 1974 with Father Ellwood "Bud" Kieser—also the founder of Paulist P ...
, the Writers Guild Award, and the Viewers for Quality Television Founders Award.
Later in the 1990s, he produced several films with his wife, writer/producer Arla Sorkin Manson, including the highly rated CBS telefilm, ''The Wedding Dress'' (2001). He also executive-produced two films for TNT:
''Thicker Than Blood'' (1998) with
Mickey Rourke
Philip Andre "Mickey" Rourke Jr. (; born September 16, 1952) is an American actor and former boxer who has appeared primarily as a leading man in drama, action, and thriller films.
During the star of the 1980s, Rourke played supporting roles i ...
, based on Bill Cain's award-winning play, ''Stand-Up Tragedy''; and ''Baby'' (2000), starring
Farrah Fawcett
Farrah Leni Fawcett (born Ferrah Leni Fawcett; February 2, 1947 – June 25, 2009) was an American actress. A four-time Primetime Emmy Award nominee and six-time Golden Globe Award nominee, Fawcett rose to international fame when she playe ...
and
Keith Carradine
Keith Ian Carradine ( ; born August 8, 1949) is an American actor who has had success on stage, film, and television. He is known for his roles as Tom Frank in Robert Altman's film ''Nashville'', Wild Bill Hickok in the HBO series '' Deadwood ...
, for which Manson received his first
Writers Guild Award
The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949.
Eligibility
The ...
nomination. After 2000, Manson focused more on showrunning television series. He served as a consulting producer/writer on the hit HBO series, ''
Big Love
''Big Love'' is an American drama television series that aired on HBO from March 12, 2006 to March 20, 2011. It stars Bill Paxton as the patriarch of a fundamentalist Mormon family in contemporary Utah that practices polygamy, with Jeanne Tripp ...
'' (2006), was the showrunner on the FX series, ''
Thief
Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for some ...
'' (2006), starring the Emmy Award-winning
Andre Braugher
Andre Keith Braugher (; born July 1, 1962) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Detective Frank Pembleton in the police drama series '' Homicide: Life on the Street'' (1993–1999), used car salesman Owen Thoreau Jr. in the com ...
, and created, wrote, directed and executive produced the EMT drama, ''
Saved'' (2006), for TNT.
Manson was the showrunner and wrote several episodes of the FOX series ''
New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam ( nl, Nieuw Amsterdam, or ) was a 17th-century Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island that served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The initial trading ''factory'' gave rise ...
'' (2008), directed multiple episodes of ''
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
''Law & Order: Criminal Intent'' is an American police procedural Drama (film and television), drama television series set in New York City, where it was also primarily produced. Created and Executive producer#Motion pictures and television, p ...
'' (2009), and then executive-produced a pilot for FX, ''Outlaw Country'' (2011), starring
Mary Steenburgen
Mary Nell Steenburgen (; born February 8, 1953) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and songwriter. After studying at New York's Neighborhood Playhouse in the 1970s, she made her professional acting debut in 1978 Western comedy film ''Goin' ...
and
John Hawkes.
In 2013, Manson became co-showrunner on the celebrated series, ''
House of Cards
A house of cards (also known as a card tower or card castle) is a structure created by stacking playing cards on top of each other, often in the shape of a pyramid. "House of cards" is also an expression that dates back to 1645 meaning a structu ...
'', starring
Kevin Spacey
Kevin Spacey Fowler (born July 26, 1959) is an American actor. He began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, obtaining supporting roles before gaining a leading man status in film and television. Spacey has received various accolades ...
and
Robin Wright
Robin Gayle Wright (born April 8, 1966) is an American actress. She has won a Golden Globe Award and a Satellite Award, and has received eleven Emmy Award nominations for her work in television.
Wright first gained attention for her role in t ...
. He received
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...
,
Writers Guild Award
The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949.
Eligibility
The ...
, and
Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
nominations for his work. This began an association with
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 ...
which included executive producing/writing on both the critically hailed
Kyle Chandler
Kyle Martin Chandler (born September 17, 1965) is an American actor. Making his screen acting debut in a 1988 television film, '' Quiet Victory: The Charlie Wedemeyer Story'', Chandler's first regular television role was in the ABC drama '' Hom ...
series, ''
Bloodline
Heredity, also called inheritance or biological inheritance, is the passing on of traits from parents to their offspring; either through asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction, the offspring cells or organisms acquire the genetic inform ...
'', and the hit series, ''
Ozark
The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and the extreme southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover a significant portio ...
'', starring
Jason Bateman
Jason Kent Bateman (born January 14, 1969) is an American actor, director and producer known for his roles of Michael Bluth in the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox/Netflix sitcom ''Arrested Development (TV series), Arrested Development'' and of Mart ...
and
Laura Linney
Laura Leggett Linney (born February 5, 1964) is an American actress. Having studied acting at Juilliard School (1986-1990), she became known for her complex and multilayered performances on stage and screen. She has received various accolades, ...
, for which he received
Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
and
Writers Guild Award
The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949.
Eligibility
The ...
nominations.
More recently, he was an executive producer/writer on the Apple TV+ series,
''Shantaram'', starring
Charlie Hunnam
Charles Matthew Hunnam (; born 10 April 1980) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Pete Dunham in ''Green Street Hooligans'' (2005) and as Jax Teller in the FX series ''Sons of Anarchy'' (2008–2014). For the latter, he was ...
, based on
Gregory Roberts’ best-selling
novel
A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...
.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Manson, David
Film producers from California
Television producers from California
Living people
1952 births
American television writers
American male television writers
Peabody Award winners
University of California, Irvine alumni
Writers from New York City
Writers from Los Angeles
Screenwriters from New York (state)
Screenwriters from California
Television producers from New York City
Film producers from New York (state)