Charles Duncan Ebersol (born December 30, 1982) is an American television and film producer and director. Ebersol is best known as the co-founder of The Company with Justin Hochberg, executive producer of

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...

's ''NFL Characters Unite'' and a co-producer of '' The Profit'' on

CNBC CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk sho ...

. He is also the co-founder and CEO of the now-defunct

Alliance of American Football The Alliance of American Football (AAF) was a professional American football minor league. The AAF consisted of eight centrally owned and operated teams in the southern and western United States, seven of which were located in metropolitan are ...

. In 2012, Ebersol was named by ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' as one of Reality Television's 50 Most Powerful Producers.

Early life

Charlie Ebersol was born in

Torrington, Connecticut Torrington is the most populated municipality and only city in Litchfield County, Connecticut, Litchfield County, Connecticut and the Northwest Hills (Connecticut), Northwest Hills region. It is also the core city of Greater Torrington, one of the ...

, the son of actress

Susan Saint James Susan Saint James (born Susan Jane Miller; August 14, 1946) is an American actress and activist, most widely known for her work in television during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, especially the detective series ''McMillan & Wife'' (1971–1976) and ...

and senior television executive

Dick Ebersol Duncan "Dick" Ebersol (; born July 28, 1947) is an American television executive and a senior adviser for NBC Universal Sports & Olympics. He had previously been the chairman of NBC Sports, producing large-scale television events such as the O ...

.John Ouran
“Young Ebersol finds his place in TV production”
"Sports Business Journal", April 1, 2013

Plane crash

On November 28, 2004, during Charlie Ebersol's senior year at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

, a private chartered jet carrying Dick Ebersol and his two sons Charlie and Teddy crashed during takeoff. Charlie rescued his father from the wreckage, but Charlie's younger brother, Teddy, along with the pilot and a flight attendant were killed. The injuries the Ebersols sustained in the plane crash were extensive; Dick Ebersol fractured six vertebrae,

sternum The sternum or breastbone is a long flat bone located in the central part of the chest. It connects to the ribs via cartilage and forms the front of the rib cage, thus helping to protect the heart, lungs, and major blood vessels from injury. Sh ...

, three ribs,

pelvis The pelvis (plural pelves or pelvises) is the lower part of the trunk, between the abdomen and the thighs (sometimes also called pelvic region), together with its embedded skeleton (sometimes also called bony pelvis, or pelvic skeleton). The ...

, and

coccyx The coccyx ( : coccyges or coccyxes), commonly referred to as the tailbone, is the final segment of the vertebral column in all apes, and analogous structures in certain other mammals such as horses. In tailless primates (e.g. humans and othe ...

, and Charlie Ebersol burned his arm and suffered a less severe back injury. Charlie Ebersol returned to Notre Dame shortly after the plane crash to finish his senior year and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree on May 15, 2005.

Early projects

While studying at Notre Dame, Ebersol created his first documentary entitled '' Ithuteng: Never Stop Learning'' in 2006. The movie received critical acclaim, winning the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...

's first OneXOne award and inspired

Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954), or simply Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', br ...

to donate $1.14 million to the Ithuteng Trust School. He produced the documentaries ''Don't Look Down'', about the life of Olympian

Shaun White Shaun Roger White (born September 3, 1986) is an American former professional snowboarder and skateboarder. He is a five-time Olympian and a three-time Olympic gold medalist in half-pipe snowboarding. He holds the world record for the most X G ...

after he won Olympic Gold in 2006, and ''Tradition Never Graduates'', a film about

Notre Dame Football The Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is the intercollegiate football team representing the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana, north of the city of South Bend, Indiana. The team plays its home games at the campus' Notre Dame ...

. In 2009, Ebersol formed and sold Saint James Films and also co-created and executive produced

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 ...

's ''The Wanted'', a primetime show in which Ebersol and producing partner

Adam Ciralsky Adam Ciralsky (born September 22, 1971) is an American journalist, television and film producer and attorney. Many of his original reports have been optioned and adapted for film and television through his production company P3 Media. In 2018, Cir ...

led a team of former

Navy Seals The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the United States Navy, U.S. Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the United States Naval Special Warfare Command, Naval Special Wa ...

, a former

UN Ambassador A permanent representative to the United Nations (sometimes called a "UN ambassador")"History of Ambassadors", United States Mission to the United Nations, March 2011, webpagUSUN-a. is the head of a country's diplomatic mission to the United Nati ...

and a former Lieutenant

Green Beret The green beret was the official headdress of the British Commandos of the Second World War. It is still worn by members of the Royal Marines after passing the Commando Course, and personnel from other units of the Royal Navy, Army and RAF wh ...

around the world in search of the most wanted terrorists and war criminals.

The Company

In 2011, Charlie Ebersol co-founded The Hochberg-Ebersol (THE) Company with Justin Hochberg and

Mike Lanigan Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and documen ...

. Early projects included TNT's '' The Great Escape,'' executive produced with

Bertram van Munster Bertram van Munster (born 1940) is a Dutch-born American co-creator and executive producer of ''The Amazing Race''. He is also the creator of ''Profiles from the Front Line'' and was the Executive Producer on ''Oprah's Big Give'' and ''Take the M ...

Ron Howard Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He first came to prominence as a child actor, guest-starring in several television series, including an episode of ''The Twilight Zone''. He ...

and

Brian Grazer Brian Thomas Grazer (born July 12, 1951) is an American film and television producer and writer. He founded Imagine Entertainment in 1986 with Ron Howard. The films they produced have grossed over $15 billion. Grazer was personally nominated f ...

, and History's '' Off the Grid: Million Dollar Manhunt''. Ebersol created USA Network's '' The Moment'' in 2013, a show hosted by

Kurt Warner Kurtis Eugene Warner (born June 22, 1971) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons, primarily with the St. Louis Rams and Arizona Cardinals. His career, which saw him ascend fr ...

devoted to giving Americans a second chance to achieve their dreams. Ebersol was inspired to create the show after receiving his own second chance at life after surviving a plane crash in 2004. Ebersol co-created and executive produced ''NFL Characters Unite'', a yearly television special with USA Network and '' The Profit'' on CNBC. In 2013 he worked with

Dolph Lundgren Hans Lundgren (, ; born 3 November 1957), better known as Dolph Lundgren, is a Swedish actor, filmmaker and martial artist. His breakthrough came in 1985, when he starred in ''Rocky IV'' as the imposing Soviet boxer Ivan Drago. Since then, Lu ...

on the

Reelz Reelz (formerly known as Reelz Channel) is an American digital cable and satellite television network owned by Hubbard Broadcasting. The network's programming was formerly devoted to entertainment-oriented programming focusing on the Hollywood ...

competition show ''Race to the Scene''. The production company changed its name from THE Company to The Company in 2013, upon the exit of Justin Hochberg. Ebersol's stated mission with The Company is to bring "Joy, Happiness, and Change…to the world through entertainment." In 2014, The Company announced a production and finance partnership with Israeli production house

Dori Media Dori may refer to: Places * Dori, Burkina Faso, a city ** Dori Department ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Dori ** Dori Airport * Dori River, in Afghanistan and Pakistan * Dori, Dharwad, India, a village People Given name, nickname or stage name ...

. Ebersol executive produced ''The Untitled Yale Drama'' for USA Network along with

Rob Reiner Robert Norman Reiner (born March 6, 1947) is an American actor and filmmaker. As an actor, Reiner first came to national prominence with the role of Michael "Meathead" Stivic on the CBS sitcom ''All in the Family'' (1971–1979), a performanc ...

. Ebersol directed ''This Was the XFL'', a documentary in the ''

30 for 30 ''30 for 30'' is the title for a series of documentary films airing on ESPN, its sister networks, and online highlighting interesting people and events in sports history. This includes three "volumes" of 30 episodes each, a 13-episode series un ...

'' series about the

XFL XFL may refer to: Sports * XFL (2001), a defunct American football league that played its only season in 2001 * XFL (2020), a professional American football league Vehicles * Bell XFL Airabonita, a 1940 U.S. Navy experimental interceptor aircra ...

. He was chosen by

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

to direct the documentary because of his father's co-founding of the league, and he used the longtime friendship between Dick and

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

chairman

Vince McMahon Vincent Kennedy McMahon (; born August 24, 1945) is an American media proprietor and retired professional wrestling promoter, executive, and performer. From 1982 to 2022, he served as the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of WWE, the w ...

as the centerpiece for the film.

Alliance of American Football

In March 2018, Ebersol announced the creation of a new professional football league called the

. The announcement was made at a press event at the Park Hyatt in Manhattan, and was streamed live on Facebook. Ebersol co-founded the league, which started playing in 2019, with former NFL executive and

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coach ...

inductee Bill Polian. Ebersol's father, who co-founded rival league XFL and who led

NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division of the broadcast network NBC, owned and operated by NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and subsidiary of Comcast. The division is responsible for sports broadcasts on the network, and its d ...

and created ''Sunday Night Football'', sat on the league's board. The league was backed by investors such as

Peter Thiel Peter Andreas Thiel (; born 11 October 1967) is a German-American billionaire entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and political activist. A co-founder of PayPal, Palantir Technologies, and Founders Fund, he was the first outside investor in Fac ...

Founders Fund Founders Fund is a San Francisco-based venture capital firm. Formed in 2005, Founders Fund had more than $11 billion in aggregate capital under management as of 2022. The firm invests across all stages and sectors, including aerospace, artificia ...

The Chernin Group TCG Capital Management, LP, Doing business as, d/b/a as TCG or The Chernin Group, is an American investment advisory firm focused on private equity investments in the media, entertainment, technology, sports and consumer and digital media sectors. ...

and former NFL player

Jared Allen Jared Scot Allen (born April 3, 1982) is a former American football defensive end who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons. He played college football at Idaho State and was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the fourth ...

, and employed coaches Mike Singletary,

Brad Childress Bradley Childress (born June 27, 1956) is a former American football coach. He worked for over 40 years as a coach for various college programs and National Football League (NFL) franchises. He was the offensive coordinator for Wisconsin from 19 ...

and

Steve Spurrier Stephen Orr Spurrier (born April 20, 1945) is an American former American football, football quarterback and coach who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons before coaching for 38 years, primarily in college. He is often ...

as well as former NFL players including

Justin Tuck Justin Lee Tuck (born March 29, 1983) is a former American football defensive end. He played college football at Notre Dame, and was drafted by the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL) in the third round of the 2005 NFL Draft ...

Hines Ward Hines Edward Ward Jr. (born March 8, 1976) is an American football coach and former wide receiver of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at the University of Georgia and was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the ...

and

Troy Polamalu Troy Aumua Polamalu (; born Troy Benjamin Aumua; April 19, 1981) is an American former football strong safety who played his entire 12-year career for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football ...

who held executive roles. Games were played during the "

off-season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...

," from February to April, and aired on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

CBS Sports Network CBS Sports Network (a.k.a. CBSSN) is an American pay television network owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. When it launched in 2002 as the National College Sports Network (later College Sports Television also known as ...

NFL Network NFL Network (occasionally abbreviated on-air as NFLN) is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Football League (NFL) and is part of NFL Media, which also includes NFL.com, NFL Films, NFL Mobile, NFL Now and NFL ...

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...

B/R Live Bleacher Report (often abbreviated as B/R) is a website that focuses on sport and sports culture. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, with offices in New York City and London. Bleacher Report was acquired by Turner Broadcasting System in Aug ...

and the league's

mobile app A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on d ...

. After giving unilateral control of the league to Thomas Dundon, (owner of the Carolina Hurricanes NHL franchise) the league was suspended against the wishes of Ebersol and Polian. Eventually the league filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, and was closed permanently. Ebersol has since been accused of dishonesty and evasiveness regarding the league's financial matters. In 2019, he was listed among the 40 Under 40 List put out by ''

Connecticut Magazine ''Connecticut Magazine'' is an American monthly magazine covering the life, culture, politics, and style of the state of Connecticut. Founded in 1971, it was purchased in 2017 by the Hearst Corporation. It is a sister magazine of ''Connecticut Br ...

''."40 Under 40: The Class of 2019."
(''

'') (January 23, 2019) Retrieved March 5, 2019.

Philanthropy

For his 30th birthday, Ebersol held a party entitled "Charlieland" benefiting Charity: Water, raising nearly $60,000 for the charity. In 2014, Ebersol and The Company became entertainment partners of the veteran campaign Got Your 6 together with First Lady

Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. She was the first African-American woman to serve in this position. She is married t ...

and actor

Bradley Cooper Bradley Charles Cooper (born January 5, 1975) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award and two Grammy Awards, in addition to nominations for nine Academy Awards, si ...

Personal life

On March 17, 2017, Ebersol announced via Twitter his engagement to Melody Brooke McCloskey, Founder and CEO of StyleSeat. On July 29, 2017, Ebersol and McCloskey were married at Blackberry Farm in Walland, Tennessee.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ebersol, Charlie Living people American reality television producers 1982 births People from Torrington, Connecticut University of Notre Dame alumni Survivors of aviation accidents or incidents Jewish American philanthropists Alliance of American Football executives 21st-century American Jews Television producers from Connecticut