Richard Sakai (born January 28, 1954) is an American television and film producer. He is best known for his work on the

animated sitcom An animated sitcom is a subgenre of the sitcom that is animation, animated instead of live action and is generally made or created for adult animation, adult audiences in most cases. ''SpongeBob SquarePants'', ''The Simpsons'', ''South Park'', and ...

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...

'', for which he is one of the original producers. In 1997, Sakai 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 ...

for his work on the film ''

Jerry Maguire ''Jerry Maguire'' is a 1996 American romantic comedy-drama sports film written, produced, and directed by Cameron Crowe; it stars Tom Cruise, Cuba Gooding Jr., Renée Zellweger, and Regina King. Produced in part by James L. Brooks, it was inspi ...

'' (1996). Sakai began his career as an assistant to

James L. Brooks James Lawrence Brooks (born May 9, 1940) is an American director, producer, screenwriter and co-founder of Gracie Films. His television and film work includes ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'', ''Taxi'', ''The Simpsons'', '' Broadcast News'', ''As G ...

in 1977. In 1984, Brooks invited Sakai to become a producer in his new film production company,

Gracie Films Gracie Films is an American film and television production company founded by James L. Brooks in 1986. The company is primarily responsible for producing its long-running flagship animated series ''The Simpsons'', as well as the films ''Big'', ' ...

. Sakai ultimately produced many of Brooks' films, such as ''Jerry Maguire'', ''

As Good as It Gets ''As Good as It Gets'' is a 1997 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by James L. Brooks, who co-wrote it with Mark Andrus. The film stars Jack Nicholson as a misanthropic, bigoted, and obsessive–compulsive novelist, Helen Hunt ...

'' (1997), and ''

Spanglish Spanglish (a portmanteau of the words "Spanish" and "English") is any language variety (such as a contact dialect, hybrid language, pidgin, or creole language) that results from conversationally combining Spanish and English. The term is mos ...

'' (2004). Sakai also produced ''

Bottle Rocket ''Bottle Rocket'' is a 1996 American crime comedy film directed by Wes Anderson in his feature film directorial debut. The film is written by Anderson and Owen Wilson and is based on Anderson's 1994 short film of the same name. ''Bottle Rocket' ...

'' (1996) and ''

Riding in Cars with Boys ''Riding in Cars with Boys'' is a 2001 American biographical film based on the autobiography of the same name by Beverly Donofrio, about a woman who overcame difficulties, including being a teen mother, and who later earned a master's degree. The ...

'' (2001). Additionally, he was a producer for ''

The Simpsons Movie ''The Simpsons Movie'' is a 2007 American Animation, animated comedy film based on the long-running animated sitcom ''The Simpsons''. The film was directed by the show's supervising director David Silverman (animator), David Silverman and star ...

'' (2007). As a television producer and director, Sakai has worked on many different shows. He has directed episodes of ''

Taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice ...

'', ''

Newhart ''Newhart'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on CBS from October 25, 1982, to May 21, 1990, with a total of 184 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons. The series stars Bob Newhart and Mary Frann as an author and his wife, ...

'', and '' Who's the Boss?''. He has also produced episodes of ''

The Tracey Ullman Show ''The Tracey Ullman Show'' is an American television variety show starring Tracey Ullman. It debuted on Fox on April 5, 1987, the network's second original primetime series to air following '' Married... with Children'', and ran until May 26, ...

'', ''

The Critic ''The Critic'' was an American primetime adult animated sitcom revolving around the life of New York film critic Jay Sherman, voiced by Jon Lovitz. It was created by writing partners Al Jean and Mike Reiss, who had previously worked as writers a ...

'', ''

Phenom Phenom may refer to: * AMD Phenom, the 64-bit AMD desktop processor line based on the K10 microarchitecture ** Phenom II, a family of AMD's multi-core 45 nm processors using the AMD K10 microarchitecture * Phenom (electron microscope), a fast elec ...

'', and ''

What About Joan? ''What About Joan?'' is an American sitcom that aired on ABC for two seasons in 2001. It starred Joan Cusack as Joan Gallagher, a Chicago schoolteacher and the comedy of her day-to-day life. It co-starred Kyle Chandler. It was produced by James L ...

'' in addition to his work on ''The Simpsons'', for which he has won several

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 ...

s. On ''The Simpsons'', Sakai has been animated several times, most notably as: a

karaoke Karaoke (; ; , clipped compound of Japanese ''kara'' "empty" and ''ōkesutora'' "orchestra") is a type of interactive entertainment usually offered in clubs and bars, where people sing along to recorded music using a microphone. The music is ...

singer in the episode "

One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish "One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish" is the eleventh episode of the second season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 24, 1991. In the episode, H ...

"; an escaping prisoner in a commercial about "revolving door prisons" in "

Sideshow Bob Roberts "Sideshow Bob Roberts" is the fifth episode of the sixth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 9, 1994. Kelsey Grammer returns in his fourth major ...

"; and a jazz

vibraphone The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist,' ...

player in "

Jazzy and the Pussycats "Jazzy and the Pussycats" is the second episode of the eighteenth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on September 17, 2006. When Bart turns a quiet funeral in ...

". Sakai is currently president of

References

External links

* 1954 births Living people American film producers Gracie Films Television producers from California Businesspeople from San Francisco Emmy Award winners American people of Japanese descent {{Simpsons-stub