Hannah Friedman is an American writer, producer, musician and director.
She is known for writing and producing roles in film and television, including projects with ABS, Amazon, CBS, Comedy Central, Conaco, Disney, DreamWorks, Hasbro, Imagine, Keshet, Lionsgate, NBC, Netflix, Pixar, Showtime, Titmouse, Universal TV, Warner Brothers and Wizards of the Coast. Her writing has also been featured in Newsweek and Cosmopolitan. Her memoir, ''Everything Sucks'', was published in 2009.
Friedman has worked as a feature writer on the Pixar Braintrust and at Disney Feature Animation. She is the co-executive producer for ''
Willow
Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist s ...
'' on Disney+, and a consulting producer/writer on ''
Obi-Wan Kenobi
Obi-Wan Kenobi () is a fictional Character (arts), character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. Within the Star Wars original trilogy, original trilogy, Obi-Wan is a Jedi Master as a supporting character and is portrayed by English actor Alec Guinn ...
'' for
Lucasfilm
Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC is an American film and television production company and a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is a business segment of The Walt Disney Company. The studio is best known for creating and producing the ''Star Wars'' and ' ...
, starring
Ewan McGregor
Ewan Gordon McGregor ( ; born 31 March 1971) is a Scottish actor. His accolades include a Golden Globe Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and the BAFTA Britannia Humanitarian Award. In 2013, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British ...
.
Articles and books
In 2004 Friedman's article ''When Your Friends Become The Enemy'' was published in
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 ...
Magazine. It described the difficulties of the college application process. Friedman remains one of the youngest people to have been published in Newsweek.
Friedman's debut book, ''Everything Sucks'', was a teen memoir released by HCI Books in August 2009. It recounts her adolescence being homeschooled on a tourbus, as well as her struggle to fit in at a boarding school on scholarship, leading to what the author describes as a story of "sex, drugs, and
SAT
The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and scoring have changed several times; originally called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, it was later called the Schol ...
s".
''Everything Sucks'' was reviewed on
Salon.com
''Salon'' is an American politically progressive/liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events.
Content and coverage
''Salon'' covers a variety of topics, including re ...
, concluding, "Not only is Friedman's writing striking for its blunt, unromantic realism; her prose also displays a self-aware wit that is all too rare in the genre".
Performance
Friedman has made appearances on Comedy Central's ''This Is Not Happening'', (2016) ''Don’t Tell My Mother!'' (2016), ''The Moth'' (2017), Netflix's
''Wet Hot American Summer: First Day Of Camp'' (2015) and
Lake Bell
Lake Siegel Bell (born March 24, 1979) is an American actress, screenwriter and director. She has starred in various television series, including '' Boston Legal'' (2004–2006), ''Surface'' (2005–2006), ''How to Make It in America'' (2010–2 ...
’s
''I Do Until I Don’t'' (2017).
Musical career
Friedman is a musician and lyricist. She was a writer and co-composer with Benj Pasek, Mark Sonnenblick and Shaina Taub for StoryCourse's ''
Saturday Night Seder
The Saturday Night Seder was a Passover Seder held on April 11, 2020 by StoryCourse in response to the COVID-19 pandemic; to provide relief and support to the public in an effort to combat the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The seder was sponsored b ...
''.
Friedman wrote the script for ''My Silent Night'', a musical, which premiered at the Salzburg State Theatre in 2018, a project with composer
John Debney
John Cardon Debney (born August 18, 1956) is an American composer and conductor of film, television, and video game scores. His work encompasses a variety of mediums and genres including comedy, horror, thriller, and action-adventure. He is a ...
and songwriter
Siedah Garrett
Deborah Christine "Siedah" Garrett (born June 24, 1960) is an American singer and songwriter who has written songs and performed backing vocals for many recording artists in the music industry, such as Michael Jackson, the Pointer Sisters, Brand N ...
.
In October 2009, Friedman was asked to perform at the 35th Anniversary Celebration of the
National Coalition Against Censorship
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC), founded in 1974, is an alliance of 50 American non-profit organizations, including literary, artistic, religious, educational, professional, labor, and civil liberties groups. NCAC is a New York-bas ...
, a charity benefit gala hosted by
Judy Blume
Judith Blume ( née Sussman; born February 12, 1938) is an American writer of children's, young adult and adult fiction. Blume began writing in 1959 and has published more than 25 novels. Among her best-known works are '' Are You There God? It's ...
. Friedman wrote and performed an original comedy song called ''Party Like It's 1984''.
Friedman was an early adopter
YouTuber
A YouTuber is an online personality and/or influencer who produces videos on the video-sharing platform YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006.
Influence
Influent ...
using her account ''WritingHannah''
to share comedy songs and sketches.
Early life and education
Friedman was born in New York City. She is the elder of two children born to singer-songwriter
Dean Friedman
Dean Friedman (born May 23, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter who plays piano, keyboard, guitar and other instruments, including the harmonica.
Although considered a one-hit wonder in the US, he has had multiple singles chart in other terr ...
. Hannah's mother trained
monkeys
Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...
. While in this job, she adopted a
capuchin monkey
The capuchin monkeys () are New World monkeys of the subfamily Cebinae. They are readily identified as the " organ grinder" monkey, and have been used in many movies and television shows. The range of capuchin monkeys includes some tropical fores ...
named Amelia, who has lived with the family for almost thirty years.
Friedman studied theater at
Yale
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...
.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Friedman, Hannah
Living people
21st-century American comedians
21st-century American Jews
21st-century American screenwriters
21st-century American women
21st-century American women writers
American comedy writers
American memoirists
American stand-up comedians
American television producers
American television writers
American women comedians
American women memoirists
American women screenwriters
American women television producers
American women television writers
Comedians from New York City
Comedians from New York (state)
Jewish American comedians
Jewish American comedy writers
Jewish American female comedians
Jewish American screenwriters
Jewish American musicians
Jewish American writers
Screenwriters from New York (state)
Television producers from New York City
Television producers from New York (state)
Year of birth missing (living people)