Neil Mandt is an American producer o
The Golden Globe Awards director and technology entrepreneur. He started becoming involved in film and TV in the 1990s. He has written, directed, produced, and acted in many different films and TV shows. Mandt has received 10 Emmy nominations and has won 5 Emmy Awards.
Early life
At the age of 20, Mandt was a winner of a College Emmy Award and then subsequently landed a job as the Entertainment Reporter at
WDIV-TV
WDIV-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Detroit, Michigan, United States, affiliated with NBC. It serves as the flagship broadcast property of the Graham Media Group subsidiary of Graham Holdings Company. WDIV-TV maintains studio facili ...
4, the NBC affiliate in Detroit.
Television and film
At 24, after being born in Czechoslovakia, Mandt moved to Los Angeles, where he became a field producer for
ABC News
ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...
; one of his first assignments was to produce ABC's coverage of the
O.J. Simpson criminal trial. In November 1995, Mandt made the move to movies: he wrote, produced, directed, and starred in feature film, ''
Hijacking Hollywood'', starring
Henry Thomas
Henry Jackson Thomas Jr. (born September 9, 1971) is an American actor. He began his career as a child actor and had a lead role in the film '' E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (1982), for which he won a Young Artist Award and received Golden Globe ...
and
Scott Thompson.
Mandt spent the rest of the 1990s directing two movies ''
The Million Dollar Kid'' and ''
Arthur's Quest'' before returning to television. Mandt then worked for NBC as a producer for its coverage of the
2000 Summer Olympics
The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...
; his work earned him an Emmy Award from the
National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences
The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) is an American professional service organization founded in 1955 for "the advancement of the arts and sciences of television and the promotion of creative leadership for artistic, edu ...
. The following spring Mandt partnered with his brother
Michael Mandt, creating
Mandt Bros. Productions
Mandt Bros. Productions is a Los Angeles-based production company founded by brothers Neil and Michael Mandt.
The brothers are partners in the Los Angeles based creative studio and are the Producers of thGolden Globe Awards The company was form ...
. Within weeks of creating the company the two sold two different series to ESPN; ''
Reel Classics Uncut'' and the network's first reality show ''
Beg, Borrow & Deal''.
In 2003 the Mandt Brothers created the ESPN show "
Jim Rome is Burning
''Jim Rome Is Burning'' (originally titled ''Rome Is Burning'' and often abbreviated as ''JRIB'') is a sports conversation and opinion show hosted by Jim Rome. Debuting on May 6, 2003, as ''Rome Is Burning'', it was originally a weekly show in pri ...
" starring sports radio superstar
Jim Rome
James Phillip Rome (born October 14, 1964) is an American sports radio host. His talk show, ''The Jim Rome Show'', is syndicated by CBS Sports Radio.
Broadcasting from a studio near Los Angeles, California, Rome hosts ''The Jim Rome Show'' on ...
; in 2004 they created the series "My Crazy Life" for E! Entertainment Television and in 2007 they created ''
Destination Truth
''Destination Truth'' is an American paranormal reality television series that premiered on June 6, 2007, on Syfy. Produced by Mandt Bros. Productions and Ping Pong Productions, the program follows paranormal researcher Josh Gates around the wor ...
'' for the
Sci Fi Channel
Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Lau ...
.
In 2006 Mandt returned to feature films when he wrote, directed, produced and starred in the indie flick, ''
Last Stop for Paul
''Last Stop for Paul'' is a 2006 independent film by Neil Mandt. It chronicles the journey of two men to the Full Moon Party in Thailand. The film is notable in that there was no crew and no casting.
Plot
Two buddies set out on a low-budget road ...
''. It won a top award, Best Picture or Best Screenplay, at 50 plus festivals it screened at in 2006 and 2007. Mandt created a separate internet version of the movie as a series of webisodes housed on the film's website www.laststopforpaul.com as well as Revver and Ifilm. ''Last Stop for Paul'' was released theatrically in North America on March 3 of 2008, making it the first internet web series ever to go from the web to the theaters.
In 2007 Mandt produced and directed the web series ''Tim’s Dates'', which went on to be nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award.
In 2009 Mandt and his brother Michael created the television show ''Sports Jobs with Junior Seau'' for the Versus Network. Ten episodes of season one were produced and aired in 2009 and 2010, each following Seau performing a variety of behind the scenes sports jobs.
In 2010 Mandt wrote, directed, produced and starred in a TV series for Showtime called ''Next Stop for Charlie'', which was based on his feature film ''Last Stop for Paul''. Later that same year Mandt sold the TV series Ice Brigade, a docu-soap about an ice sculpting company to the Food Network and also an all encompassing car show to Speed Channel. ''The Car Show'', as it's called, stars
Adam Carolla
Adam Carolla (born May 27, 1964) is an American radio personality, comedian, actor and podcaster. He hosts '' The Adam Carolla Show'', a talk show distributed as a podcast which set the record as the "most downloaded podcast" as judged by ''Guin ...
,
Dan Neil,
Matt Farah and
John Salley
John Thomas Salley (born May 16, 1964) is an American former professional basketball player, talk show host, and actor. He was the first player in NBA history to win championships with three franchises (since joined by Robert Horry, Danny Green ...
and premiered in the summer of 2011 on Speed.
In February 2011 Mandt sold a pilot to the Fuel Network that will star the BMX riders Zachary Alexander Yankush aka Catfish and Mike Escamilla aka Rooftop as they travel around the world joining the wildest clubs and organizations. The show received a 13 episode order and premiered in the Fall of 2011.
Season 2 of Strangers in Danger premiered on July 11, 2012. As for Next Stop for Charlie, Season 2 premiered on Friday, November 30, 2012 at 12:30am on Showtime and aired each week at the same time for 9 weeks, which marked the ending of the series.
In June 2011, Mandt and his brother entered into a partnership agreement with
Ranik Ultimate Fighting Federation China, the only government sanctioned MMA League in China. Neil oversaw financing, creative strategy and content production for live events and multiple TV series in English and Chinese languages. Ruff crowned the only national MMA champions in the history of China.
In the Spring of 2012 the Mandt brothers became co-producers of ''
Million Dollar Arm
''Million Dollar Arm'' is a 2014 American biographical sports drama film directed by Craig Gillespie and produced by Walt Disney Pictures from a screenplay written by Tom McCarthy. The film is based on the true story of baseball pitchers Rinku ...
'', In 2008, multi Emmy Award-winning television sports producers, Neil & Michael Mandt began documenting the training and try outs that Singh and Patel were undergoing at the USC campus. Once the boys were signed by the Pirates, Neil Mandt, a feature film director in his own right, viewed the project as a feature film and he and his brother used their production team, and the original footage they had shot, to create a 9-minute trailer for a movie that had yet to be made. In December 2008, the Mandt brothers joined forces with seasoned movie producers Mark Ciardi, Gordon Gray and Joe Roth to shop the project. In early 2009, the screen rights to Singh and Patel's life story were purchased by Sony Pictures Entertainment for development at Columbia Pictures.
Sony hired Mitch Glazer to write the screenplay.
0The film is scheduled for release in May 2014.
In the summer of 2013 the brother's second reality series with the Food Network went into production. The Shed followed the Orrison BBQ family in Mississippi, as they brought their fun brand of family hijinks to TV.
Based on the huge success of the movie Frozen, Neil and his brother were contracted by Disney, in December 2014, to produce the ''Disney Parks Frozen Christmas Celebration'', which aired on Christmas Day on ABC. The two-hour special featured music performances from Train, Gavin DeGraw, Ariana Grande, Lucy Hale, Sabrina Carpenter, Laura Marano and Tricia Yearwood and was the highest rated Christmas special on ABC since 2008.
In February 2015 Neil and his brother Michael joined with the Oprah Winfrey Network to produce ''The Black Women in Hollywood Awards Show''. The event was the eighth annual presented by Essence Magazine and was an important stop for celebrities during the pre-Oscar week. John Legend and Common performed the Oscar Award Winning song Glory the last time before they won their statue at 87th Academy Awards.
At the top of 2016 Neil sold a pilot to the Esquire Network and was contracted by Verizon to be responsible for creating all of the content for Boston baseball legend, Big Papi's brand new mobile channel. Production began in April and the content is now available on the Verizon Go90 mobile app. Mandt and his team are set to develop more channels for the network throughout the year.
In Spring 2016, Neil had added another feature film to his credits, when his movie Dog Years, starring
Burt Reynolds
Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. (February 11, 1936 – September 6, 2018) was an American actor, considered a sex symbol and icon of 1970s American popular culture.
Reynolds first rose to prominence when he starred in television series such as ' ...
and
Ariel Winter and directed by
Adam Rifkin
Adam Rifkin (born December 31, 1966), sometimes credited as Rif Coogan, is an American filmmaker, and actor. His career ranges from broad family comedies to dark and gritty urban dramas. He is best known for writing family-friendly comedies lik ...
, was greenlit. The movie centered around an aging movie star coming to terms with the choices he made in life, when he connects with a young girl who is just entering into adulthood and is making all of the wrong decisions. The film's world premiere was at the 2017
Tribeca Film Festival
The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by TriBeCa Productions, Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive progra ...
.
In late 2015, Mandt became the CEO and founder of MANDT VR, a Los Angeles-based virtual reality and
360-degree video
360-degree videos, also known as surround video, or immersive videos or spherical videos, are video recordings where a view in every direction is recorded at the same time, shot using an omnidirectional camera or a collection of cameras. During pl ...
production company. MANDT VR created over 20 original serialized series for 360-degree video in 2016, and has partnered with
PodcastOne
LiveOne (formerly known as LiveXLive) is a music streaming platform that combines audio and (sometimes live) video available in the US and Canada. Users can access the service on the web through mobile apps on smartphones and over-the-air device ...
,
Oklahoma State University
Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...
, and
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
to create immersive content.
In January 2017, Neil Mandt and MANDT VR, alongside partner PodcastOne, finalized a deal with
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
to produce 40 episodes of serialized content. Also in January 2017, Neil and MANDT VR formed a partnership with the
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...
to create a series of videos in which viewers will be immersed in "stories and traditions that provide an all-access pass to one of the best game day experiences in the
NFL." In April 2017, Neil and MANDT VR announced a partnership with
College Football Playoff
The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual postseason knockout invitational tournament to determine a national champion for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the highest level ...
to create a series of videos showcasing the 2017
College Football Playoff National Championship
The College Football Playoff National Championship is a post-season college football bowl game, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), which began play in the 2014 college football season. ...
.
As the summer of 2017 drew to a close, IndyCar announced that the league would be partnering with MANDT VR to create both AR and VR content for the racing series.
In March 2018, Neil's feature film producing efforts were rewarded with a theatrical release, as his latest efforts hit the big screen. Mandt's collaboration with writer/director Adam Rifkin, on what would be Burt Reynolds last significant starring role in a movie, The Last Movie Star, was picked up for a worldwide release. The project debuted the previous spring at the Tribeca Film Festival and was subsequently purchased by the indie studio A24 in a bidding war. The movie has since received acclaim. The movie featured the original song "To Get Here," written by 8 time Oscar Nominee Diane Warren and was performed by country legend Willie Nelson.
Later in the spring of 2018 Mandt collected his first Clio Award for the 360° video production of ''The Road to the Super Bowl'', starring the Philadelphia Eagles. The project gave viewers unprecedented access to the NFL's top team through immersive media.
On the night before the 2018 midterm elections Neil was tasked with executive producing and showrun the star studded Telethon for America event, which was streamed live across social channels for Ellen, Comedy Central, MTV and BET, amongst others. The non-partisan project was backed by Michelle Obama's organization When We All Vote and featured Charlize Theron, Natalie Portman, Jane Fonda, Pete Davidson, Jessica Alba, Dr. Phil, Chelsea Handler, Judd Apatow, Debra Messing, Sean Hayes, Tyler Oakley, Larry King and Amy Schumer, amongst others. The show was hosted by Ben Gleib and Olivia Munn.
On January 10, 2020 Neil and his wife Lauren Mandt officially released the CrimeDoor App on IOS and Android. CrimeDoor is the only True Crime platform available that offers users the ability to consume more than 500,000 hours of free videos, articles, photos, police reports and podcasts related to real crime stories around the world. The app also features groundbreaking Augmented Reality features that allow a user to open an AR doorway anywhere and then walk directly into a 3-dimensional crime scene. All AR crime scene experiences are accurate, as they are based on the actual photos of that tragedy. On February 26, 2020 CrimeDoor secured the #4 position of all News apps in the App Store.
[https://www.ttownmedia.com/news/state/crimedoor-breaks-top-5-of-most-downloaded-news-apps/article_b2adde63-4030-59f2-a50f-e27440d380dd.html ]
In January, 2022 Neil produced the Golden Globe Awards, celebrating the best in movies and TV.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mandt, Neil
Living people