Robert Nathan "Rob" Fried is an American film producer, screenwriter, studio executive and media entrepreneur. He is the founder of Fried Films and Spiritclips, LLC, a division of Hallmark Cards which includes Hallmark eCards and Feeln. He previously served as president and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

Savoy Pictures Savoy Pictures Entertainment, Inc. was an American independent motion picture company in operation from 1992 to 1997. Among Savoy Pictures' noteworthy feature films were ''A Bronx Tale'', '' No Escape'', ''Last of the Dogmen'' and ''Serial Mom''. ...

, executive vice president of production for

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

, director of film finance and special projects for Columbia Pictures and director of business development at

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

. He became the CEO of

ChromaDex ChromaDex is a dietary supplement and food ingredient company based in Los Angeles, California founded in 1999 that is publicly traded on the NASDAQ. In 2011, ChromaDex licensed patents from Dartmouth College, Cornell University, and Washington U ...

in 2018.

Career

From 1983 to 1990, Fried held various executive positions. He served as executive vice president of production for

, during the days when

Dawn Steel Dawn Leslie Steel (August 19, 1946 – December 20, 1997) was an American film studio executive and producer. She was one of the first women to run a major Hollywood, California, Hollywood film studio, rising through the ranks of merchandising ...

was served as president of Columbia Pictures in 1987, director of film finance and special projects for Columbia Pictures and director of business development at

Orion Pictures Orion Pictures (legal name Orion Releasing, LLC) is an American film production and distribution company owned by Amazon through its Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) subsidiary. In its original operating period, the company produced and released films ...

hired Fried as vice president of production in 1986. He founded Fried Films, a production company, in 1990 and served as founding CEO. Fried won an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

in 1992 for his short film, '' Session Man''. His film '' Rudy'' won the

Christopher Award The Christopher Award (established 1949) is presented to the producers, directors, and writers of books, films and television specials that "affirm the highest values of the human spirit". It is given by The Christophers, a Christian organization ...

that year. He was president and CEO of

from December 1994 to June 1996. In 1996, Fried founded WhatsHotNow, an e-commerce company that sells entertainment memorabilia. He was chairman and CEO of the company until June 2001. In 2005, '' Collateral'', a movie Fried produced, won an

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

award. Fried launched Spirit EMX, an internet video content company, in 2007. Hallmark Cards acquired Spirit EMX and rebranded it as SpiritClips, LLC. He serves as CEO of the company. Fried served as co-chairman of Tiger Media from October 2009 to August 2011. In 2018, he was named CEO of

Personal life

Fried holds a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

and a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business. In 1994, he married actress

Nancy Travis Nancy Ann Travis (born September 21, 1961) is an American actress. She began her career on Off-Broadway theater, before her first leading screen role in the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television miniseries ''Harem'' opposite Omar Sharif. ...

, who appeared in Fried's '' So I Married An Axe Murderer'' (1993). They have two sons.

Filmography

References

External links

*
Spiritclips.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Friend, Robert American film producers American film studio executives American male screenwriters Columbia Business School alumni Cornell University alumni Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) Directors of Live Action Short Film Academy Award winners American chief executives