John Phillip Landgraf (born May 20, 1962) is the Chairman of

FX Networks FX Networks, LLC, is a company consisting of a network of cable channels plus a production company and a subsidiary of the Disney General Entertainment Content segment of The Walt Disney Company. Originally a part of 21st Century Fox, the compan ...

. He is also 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, which is presented by the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication The Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication is a constituent college of the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, United States. Established in 1915, Grady College offers undergraduate degrees in journalism, advertising, public re ...

. Previously he was President and General Manager of

FX Network FX is an American pay television channel owned by FX Networks, LLC, a subsidiary of the Disney General Entertainment Content unit of The Walt Disney Company. It is based at the Fox Studios lot in Century City, California. FX originally launch ...

, a position he held since 2005. TV critic

Alan Sepinwall Alan Sepinwall (born October 19, 1973) is an American television reviewer and writer. He spent 14 years as a columnist with ''The Star-Ledger'' in Newark until leaving the newspaper in 2010 to work for the entertainment news website HitFix. He th ...

jokingly refers to Landgraf as "the Mayor of TV".

Early life

Landgraf was born in California to father John R. Landgraf, Ph.D., a pastor, and Barbara Landgraf (née Joslin). When he was very young, his parents traveled constantly, performing as backup singers for the gospel evangelist Rev. Mel Dibble, who was part of Billy Graham Crusades. When he was 5 years old, his mother completed an M.A. in social work and his father completed his PhD in family counseling. In 1969, when he was seven years old, his parents divorced. After spending much of his childhood moving, Landgraf spent his high school years in

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, and graduated from Skyline High in 1980. In 1984, Landgraf received a B.A. in Anthropology from

Pitzer College Pitzer College is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California. One of the Claremont Colleges, the college has a curricular emphasis on the social sciences, behavioral sciences, international programs, and media studies. Pitzer is k ...

, one of the

Claremont Colleges The Claremont Colleges (known colloquially as the 7Cs) are a consortium of seven private institutions of higher education located in Claremont, California, United States. They comprise five undergraduate colleges (the 5Cs)—Pomona College, Scr ...

Career

Early career

During and after college, Landgraf did an internship, worked in sales and eventually worked on the production side of the video production company J-Nex Media, a Los Angeles company that made commercial and industrial video. In 1988, Landgraf was Director of Development at Sarabande Productions, where he eventually became Senior Vice President. From 1994 to 1999, Landgraf was Vice President of Primetime at

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

where he oversaw the development of ''

The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American serial (radio and television), serial political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the ...

,'' and other popular TV shows that included ''

Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa ...

'' and '' JAG.''

Producing

Landgraf founded the production company Jersey Television with

Danny DeVito Daniel Michael DeVito Jr. (born November 17, 1944) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He gained prominence for his portrayal of the taxi dispatcher Louie De Palma in the television series ''Taxi'' (1978–1983), which won him a Gold ...

Michael Shamberg Michael Shamberg (born 1945?) is an American film producer and former Time–Life correspondent. Life and career His credits include ''Erin Brockovich'', ''A Fish Called Wanda'', '' Garden State'', ''Gattaca'', ''Pulp Fiction'' and '' The Big ...

and

Stacey Sher Stacey Sher (born November 30, 1962) is an American film producer. Early life Sher was born to a Jewish family in New York City and raised in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She graduated and got her bachelor's degree from University of Southern Cal ...

. Jersey Television was responsible for producing shows like

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programming ...

's ''

Reno 911! ''Reno 911!'' is an American comedy television series airing on Comedy Central. It is a mockumentary-style parody of law enforcement documentary shows, specifically '' Cops'', with comic actors playing the police officers. Thomas Lennon, Rober ...

'' and ''

Karen Sisco ''Karen Sisco'' is an American crime drama television series starring Carla Gugino in the title role. The series was created by novelist Elmore Leonard, based on a character who had appeared in several of his written works, as well as one film ad ...

''.

FX Network

In 2004, Landgraf was President of Entertainment of

, responsible for original TV shows that included critically acclaimed shows like ''

The Shield ''The Shield'' is an American crime drama television series starring Michael Chiklis that premiered on March 12, 2002, on FX in the United States, and concluded on November 25, 2008, after seven seasons. Known for its portrayal of corrupt poli ...

'' and the

Denis Leary Denis Colin Leary (born August 18, 1957) is an American actor and comedian. A native of Massachusetts, Leary first came to prominence as a stand-up comedian, especially through appearances on MTV (including the comedic song "Asshole (song), Assh ...

-starring show, '' Rescue Me.'' In 2005, Landgraf was promoted to President and General Manager of

, a position that oversees the management FX, FX HD, the Fox Movie Channel and FX Prods. In this position Landgraf is responsible for the operations, programming, development, scheduling, and marketing of the TV channels he oversees. In 2013, Landgraf launched

FXX FXX is an American basic cable channel owned by the Walt Disney Television unit of The Walt Disney Company through FX Networks, LLC. It is the partner channel of FX, with its programming focusing on original and acquired comedy series and fe ...

. Since Landgraf took on his leadership role at FX, the number of original programs has increased. During the 2015

Television Critics Association The Television Critics Association (TCA) is a group of approximately 200 United States and Canadian television critics, journalists and columnists who cover television programming for newspapers, magazines and web publications. The TCA accepts app ...

presentations, Landgraf expressed concern that while television is undergoing a golden age, there is simply too much television.

Personal life

In 1997, Landgraf married actress

Ally Walker Allene Damian "Ally" Walker (born August 25, 1961) is an American actress. She made her television debut in the NBC daytime soap opera '' Santa Barbara'' (1988) before landing the leading roles on the short-lived dramas '' True Blue'' (1989–199 ...

. They have three sons and live in

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...

. Landgraf plays the flute. He also sang in a barbershop quartet during his time at

Filmography

* 1990: ''Rising Son'' (TV movie) - associate producer * 1992: ''Those Secrets'' (TV movie) - co-producer * 1995: '' Mad Love'' - co-producer * 1996: '' Nightjohn'' (TV movie) - co-producer * 1998: ''Mind Games'' (TV movie) - co-producer * 2000: ''Celebrity'' (TV movie) - executive producer * 2001: ''

Kate Brasher ''Kate Brasher'' is an American drama television series created by Stephen Tolkin, that was broadcast on CBS from February 24 until April 14, 2001. It premiered at 9:00pm ET/PT on Saturday, February 24, 2001 and was cancelled after six episodes ...

'' (TV series) - executive producer * 2002: ''

The American Embassy ''The American Embassy'' is an American drama series that aired on Fox from March to April 2002. The series was created by James D. Parriott, and executive produced by Danny DeVito. Synopsis The series follows the personal and professional lif ...

'' (TV series) - executive producer * 2001-2004: '' UC: Undercover'' (TV series) - executive producer, 4 episodes * 2002: ''The Funkhousers'' (TV movie) - executive producer * 2003: ''Other People's Business'' (TV movie) - executive producer * 2004-2009: ''

'' - executive producer, 13 episodes * 2004: ''

'' (TV series) - executive producer, 1 episode; writer, 1 episode: "No One's Girl" * 2005-2008: '' 30 Days'' - executive producer * 2007: '' Reno 911!: Miami'' - producer

Awards

* 1984-1985: Coro Fellowship * Chair Appointee to the Executive Committee of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Board of Governors * 2012: NCTA Vanguard Award for Programming * 2013: ''

Adweek ''Adweek'' is a weekly American advertising trade publication that was first published in 1979. ''Adweek'' covers creativity, client–agency relationships, global advertising, accounts in review, and new campaigns. During this time, it has cover ...

''’s TV Executive of the Year. * 2014: ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

s Creative Leadership Award

Works and publications

References

External links

John Landgraf
at

21st Century Fox Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc., doing business as 21st Century Fox (21CF), was an American multinational mass media corporation that was based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was one of the two companies formed on June 28, 2013, f ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Landgraf, John Pitzer College alumni Television producers from California American television executives Living people 1962 births