David T. Friendly (born May 1, 1956) is an American film producer best known for co-producing the 2006 film Little Miss Sunshine, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture.

David T. Friendly
Friendly at the 2016 ATX Television Festival presentation for Queen of the South
Born (1956-05-01) May 1, 1956 (age 68)
New York, U.S.
Alma materNorthwestern University (BA)
Occupationfilm producer
Years active1987–present
SpousePriscilla Nedd-Friendly
AwardsIndependent Spirit Award for Best Film
2007 Little Miss Sunshine

Career

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After graduating from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism in 1978, Friendly became a journalist, a staff writer at newsmagazine Newsweek.[1] He moved to the Los Angeles Times in 1985 where he wrote about the entertainment industry and had a weekly column exploring the business side of the film industry until 1987,[2] when he was approached by Imagine Entertainment co-founders Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, and he became Imagine's Vice President of Motion Pictures.[1] With Imagine, he executive produced My Girl, My Girl 2, For Love or Money, Greedy, and The Chamber. In 1994, Friendly joined Davis Entertainment as President, where he produced Daylight and Digging to China, as well as overseeing the development and production of many other Davis films. With his own independent company, Friendly Productions, he has produced the 2000 film Here on Earth.[1] Friendly and producer/financier Marc Turtletaub founded Deep River Productions in September 2000 and,[3] after working at 20th Century Fox for three years where he produced Big Momma's House, they produced their first feature, Laws of Attraction.[1]

Friendly went on to produce Duane Hopwood, The Honeymooners and Big Momma's House 2 with Deep River under different labels before producing the 2006 film Little Miss Sunshine with Turtletaub, Ron Yerxa, Albert Berger and Peter Saraf, for which they were all nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture and a BAFTA Award for Best Film, as well as winning an Independent Spirit Award for Best Feature and a PGA Award for a Theatrical Motion Picture.[4][5] After the release of Little Miss Sunshine, which had been in production at Deep River Productions for six years,[2] Friendly and Turtletaub split and left the company to work elsewhere and Friendly made a two-year producing deal with 20th Century Fox that landed him producing roles on the 2008 film Meet Dave and Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son.[4] He is also set to produce the upcoming projects Office Romance, Q School, and The Warden.[4]

Personal life

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Friendly is the son of Jewish American journalist Fred W. Friendly, the president of CBS News from 1964 to 1966 (whom George Clooney portrayed in the 2005 film Good Night, and Good Luck).[2] His brother is fellow producer Andy Friendly.[4] He is married to film editor Priscilla Nedd-Friendly.[1]

Filmography

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Film

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Title Role Director Release date Co-production Production company Notes
My Girl Executive producer Howard Zieff November 27, 1991 Imagine Entertainment Columbia Pictures
For Love or Money Executive producer Barry Sonnenfeld October 1, 1993 Universal Pictures
My Girl 2 Executive producer Howard Zieff February 11, 1994 Columbia Pictures
Greedy Executive producer Jonathan Lynn March 1, 1994 Universal Pictures
Courage Under Fire Producer Edward Zwick July 12, 1996 Davis Entertainment 20th Century Fox
The Chamber Executive producer James Foley October 11, 1996 Imagine Entertainment Universal Pictures
Daylight Producer Rob Cohen December 6, 1996 Davis Entertainment
Out to Sea Producer Martha Coolidge July 2, 1997 20th Century Fox
Digging to China Producer Timothy Hutton July 16, 1997 Moonstone Entertainment
Dr. Dolittle Producer Betty Thomas June 26, 1998 20th Century Fox
Here on Earth Producer Mark Piznarski March 24, 2000
Big Momma's House Producer Raja Gosnell June 2, 2000 Regency Enterprises
Laws of Attraction Producer Peter Howitt April 30, 2004 Mobius Pictures
Intermedia
Deep River Productions
Irish Dreamtime
Initial Entertainment Group
New Line Cinema
The Honeymooners Producer John Schultz June 10, 2005 Paramount Pictures
Duane Hopwood Producer Matt Mulhern November 11, 2005 Big Beach IFC Films
Big Momma's House 2 Producer John Whitesell January 27, 2006 Regency Enterprises 20th Century Fox
Little Miss Sunshine Producer Jonathan Dayton
Valerie Faris
August 18, 2006 Big Beach
Bona Fide Productions
Deep River Productions
Third Gear Productions
Fox Searchlight Pictures
Meet Dave Producer Brian Robbins July 11, 2008 Regency Enterprises 20th Century Fox
Soul Men Producer Malcolm D. Lee November 7, 2008 Dimension Films MGM
Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son Producer John Whitesell February 18, 2011 Regency Enterprises 20th Century Fox
Sneakerheadz Producer David T. Friendly
Mick Patridge
August 7, 2015 AT&T Originals
I.T. Producer John Moore September 23, 2016 Voltage Pictures
Irish Dreamtime
Friendly Films
Fastnet Films
22h22
RLJ Entertainment
The First to Do It Executive Producer Coocie Simmons
Chike Ozah
February 2018 Diario Films
Drunk Parents Executive Producer Fred Wolf April 19, 2019 Vertical Entertainment DirecTV

Television

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Title Creator Role Start date Last date Season Episode(s) Production company Network Notes
Queen of the South M.A. Fortin
Joshua John Miller
Executive producer June 23, 2016 (2016-06-23) June 9, 2021 (2021-06-09) 5 63 Frequency Films
Friendly Films
Fox 21 Television Studios
Universal Content Productions
USA Network

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Board of Directors: David Friendly – Advisory Board". US-Ireland Alliance. Archived from the original on October 7, 2007. Retrieved August 8, 2008.
  2. ^ a b c Haggerty, Ryan (December 7, 2007). "The Producer". Northwestern University. Retrieved August 8, 2008.
  3. ^ Fleming, Michael (September 2004). "Deep River funnels indies to Big Beach". Daily Variety. Retrieved August 8, 2008. [dead link]
  4. ^ a b c d Fleming, Michael (September 24, 2004). "Fox, Friendly ink production pact". Variety. Retrieved August 8, 2008.
  5. ^ Gardner, Chris (November 20, 2005). "Hopper flows to Deep River". Variety. Retrieved August 8, 2008.
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