This article relies on references to primary sources or sources affiliated with the subject, rather than references from independent authors and third-party publications. Please add citations from reliable sources. (August 2011)

Nickelodeon Studios, Burbank is listed as the California location of Frederator Studios

Frederator Studios is an independent American production company founded by Fred Seibert in 1997, with its first series launching in 1998. The studio focuses primarily on artists who write their own shorts, series, and movies. Their slogan is "Original Cartoons since 1998." The studio has locations in New York City and Hollywood.

History[link]

The company was formed as Frederator Incorporated in 1997 (its first cartoons were released in 1998), and was housed at a temporary location of the Nickelodeon Animation Studios, in North Hollywood, California.^[1] Frederator's debut production was the cartoon short incubator, a television series called Oh Yeah! Cartoons, which later spun off three series: The Fairly OddParents, ChalkZone, and My Life as a Teenage Robot, in addition to 51 original short cartoons by a group of creators including the first films by creators like Butch Hartman, Rob Renzetti, Tim Biskup, Larry Huber, Pat Ventura, Seth MacFarlane, and Carlos Ramos. Oh Yeah! Cartoons was based on Seibert's What A Cartoon! series of shorts from Hanna-Barbera Cartoons and Cartoon Network, which brought Hanna-Barbera its first hit series in 10 years, Dexter's Laboratory, Johnny Bravo, Cow & Chicken, I Am Weasel, The Powerpuff Girls, and Courage the Cowardly Dog.

In 2002, Frederator created a joint venture for pre-school cartoons with producer Susan Miller's Mixed Media Group, Inc. and produced their first pre-school series, Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!.

Frederator Studios created a television series and competition The Nicktoons Film Festival (now known as the Nicktoons Network Animation Festival) for the Nicktoons network, which debuted October 24, 2004.

On November 1, 2005, Frederator launched the first cartoon podcast,^[2] named Channel Frederator. This weekly animation network features submitted films from around the world, and quickly became one of the top video podcasts on Apple Inc.'s iTunes. In quick succession, The Wubbcast was launched for pre-schoolers in January 2006, and ReFrederator featuring vintage public domain cartoons in April 2006. Channel Frederator is now part of media company Next New Networks and reaches almost 4,000,000 video views monthly.

On June 25, 2007 Variety article announced the studio had formed Frederator Films, dedicated to creating animated feature films budgeted under $20 million.^[2] Frederator's first feature is set up at Paramount Pictures, co-produced with J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot Productions. They have also set up their first two animated features in a first look production arrangement for Sony Pictures Animation.^[3]

The studio produced its first original internet cartoons with independent animator Dan Meth. The Meth Minute 39 launched on September 5, 2007, featuring 39 of Meth's original character shorts. (The first cartoon was "Internet People," a video on the viral video sites YouTube and MySpaceTV that featured some of the best internet memes and internet people.) A spin-off, Nite Fite, debuted in October 2008. These series have totaled over 35,000,000 video views to date.

Random! Cartoons is the latest Frederator series of short cartoon series, airing on Nicktoons; it spawned the TV series Fanboy and Chum Chum and Adventure Time.

Productions[link]

Television series[link]

For Nickelodeon:

• Oh Yeah! Cartoons (1998–2001)
• The Fairly OddParents (2001–2006, 2008–present)
• ChalkZone (2002-2009)
• My Life as a Teenage Robot (2003-2006)
• Fanboy & Chum Chum (2009-present)

For Nicktoons:

• Random! Cartoons (2008)
• Ape Escape (2009)

For Cartoon Network:

• Adventure Time (2010-present)

Movies[link]

All movies are made by Frederator's subsidiary, Frederator Films, except for A Fairly Odd Movie: Grow Up, Timmy Turner!.

• A Fairly Odd Movie: Grow Up, Timmy Turner! (completed; 2011)
• Samurai Jack (in development)
• The Seven Deadly Sins (in development)
• Animal Antics (in development)
• Castlevania: Dracula's Curse
• The Neverhood

Headquarters[link]

Frederator's New York headquarters are in the Bowker Building in Midtown Manhattan, New York City.^[4][5] after moving from 253 Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan in 2004.^[6] The Hollywood offices are located at Nickelodeon Animation in Burbank, California.^[7]

See also[link]

• Klasky Csupo
• Games Animation

References[link]

External links[link]

	New York City portal
	Greater Los Angeles portal
	Companies portal

• Official website

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (October 2011)

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Mark Burnett
Burnett in July 2009
Born	17 July 1960 London, England, United Kingdom
Occupation	Television producer & Executive producer
Spouse	Dianne J. Burnett (nee Valentine) divorced 2003 Roma Downey (m. 2007) «start: (2007)»"Marriage: Roma Downey to Mark Burnett" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Mark_Burnett)
Children	James and Cameron Burnett; Reilly Anspaugh

Mark Burnett (born 17 July 1960) is a British television producer, based in Los Angeles. He is best known as the producer of Survivor and the creator of the Apprentice. Burnett is currently the executive producer of five network television series with seven hours of network programming. His current series are Survivor, Celebrity Apprentice, The Voice, Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?, Shark Tank, and The People's Choice Awards. Works with which Burnett is associated have won multiple awards and recognition. Burnett himself has also won four Emmy Awards and four People's Choice Awards.

Three new upcoming series for Burnett are Robogeddon on Discovery with film director, James Cameron^[1], Stars Earn Stripes, a collaboration with Dick Wolf for NBC that features military and law enforcement personnel teamed with celebrities ^[2], and an Alaska themed docu-series for Discovery. ^[1]

During his career, Burnett has worked closely with many influential producers and stars, including Steven Spielberg, Tom Cruise, Oprah Winfrey, Martha Stewart, Sarah Palin, and Jeff Foxworthy, among others. ^[3]

Early life[link]

Mark Burnett was born on 17 July 1960 in the east end of London, England, the only child of two Ford Motors factory workers.^[4] He was raised in Dagenham, Essex. At the age of seventeen, he enlisted in the British Army, and became a Section Commander in the Parachute Regiment. From 1978 to 1982 he served with the 3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (3 PARA) and saw action during the Falklands War.^[4]

Early career[link]

In October 1982, Burnett decided to leave Britain for the United States where he met up with a friend, Nick Hill, who had also immigrated from Britain a few years earlier and was working as a nanny and chauffeur^{[citation needed]}. Hill knew of an open position for a live-in nanny position with the Jaeger family in Beverly Hills, the interview for which was that night. Though he had no experience in that field, Burnett took the opportunity, and because of his military background, the Jaegers, realizing the advantage of having a nanny and security at the same time, hired him. After a year of working for the Jaegers, he moved on to another family in Malibu, taking care of two boys for $250 a week^{[citation needed]}. He was eventually given a position in the insurance office owned by Burt, the father of the two boys.

Two years later, he decided to rent a portion of a fence at Venice Beach and sell T-shirts for $18 each during weekends. Realizing he made more money selling t-shirts, Burnett left his insurance job^{[citation needed]}.

In 1991, Burnett, along with four others, joined a French adventure competition called the Raid Gauloises. After competing, Burnett saw a business opportunity in holding similar competitions. He purchased the format rights and brought a similar competition, Eco Challenge, to America. Eco Challenge launched Burnett's career as a television producer.^[4]

Productions[link]

Mark Burnett is best known for producing the hit reality show, Survivor, which premiered in the summer of 2000 and was the most watched summer series since Sonny and Cher.^[5] Survivor was also named the Number 1 reality series of all time by Entertainment Weekly in 2009.^[6]

Burnett has produced several other television franchises in addition to Survivor. He is the creator of The Apprentice and serves as the executive producer of The Voice, the reality singing competition series for NBC. Carson Daly hosts the show, while Christina Aguilera, Adam Levine, Cee-Lo Green and Blake Shelton serve as coaches.^[7] Other series produced by Burnett include; Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, Shark Tank, Oprah's All-Stars, Martha Stewart, Sarah Palin's Alaska, The Contender, On the Lot (a collaboration with Steven Spielberg), The Restaurant, Rock Star, Combat Missions, My Dad Is Better Than Your Dad, Bully Beatdown, Starmaker, Expedition Africa, Toughest Cowboy, Wedding Day, How'd You Get So Rich?, and Expedition Impossible. Burnett has completed the milestone of having a renewed series on each of the four major broadcast networks.

Since 2007, Burnett has served as the executive producer for the MTV Movie Awards and has also executive produced the 2010, 2011, and 2012 People's Choice Awards. In September 2011, Burnett produced the Emmy Awards for Fox^{[citation needed]}.

New in 2012, Burnett is joining forces with film director, James Cameron, to produce a new series for Discovery Channel called Robogeddon. ^[1]. Burnett is also working with Law & Order producer, Dick Wolf, for a new NBC reality series that partners military veterans, active-duty servicemen, and law enforcement personnel with celebrities to train and then compete alongside in missions adapted from real exercises. ^[2]

Another upcoming project for Burnett is a documentary series about the state of Alaska. This untitled Alaska project will air on Discovery. ^[1]

In addition to his ongoing productions, Mark Burnett and his wife, Roma Downey, are producing The Bible, a 10 hour History Channel drama based upon stories of the Bible ^[8]

Personal life[link]

In January 2004, Mark began dating actress Roma Downey, and in November 2006, while the two were vacationing with their children in Zihuatanejo, Mexico, he proposed to her.^[9] They wed on 28 April 2007 in their Malibu home. The ceremony was officiated by Downey's former costar, Della Reese.^[10] They currently live in Malibu, California with their three children.

Mark's first marriage was to Dianne Burnett (née Valentine) and produced two sons, James and Cameron.^[11] During their marriage the two formed DJB as the rights holding company to Survivor. The couple divorced in December 2003.^[11]

Awards and nominations[link]

Personal recognition[link]

Time called Burnett one of the Most Influential People in the World Today.^[12] Burnett was also named “Philanthropist of the Year” by the Reality Cares Foundation. Furthermore, Burnett has won both Brandweeks’s Marketer of the Year Award, the prestigious Rose d’Or Frapa Format Award, the Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Award and the Norman Lear Award from the Producers Guild of America. He also served two years on the Board of Directors for the British Film and Television Academy. ^[13]

In November 2007, Burnett was elected into the Broadcast and Cable Hall of Fame and in 2008, it was announced that he would be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. On 8 July 2009 Burnett received a star at 6664 Hollywood Blvd.^[14]

In June 2011, Burnett was elected into the Producer's Guild of America Council Board of Delegates and currently serves on the Producers Council. He is also ambassador for Operation Smile.

• 2004: Reality Cares Foundation 'Philanthropist of the Year'^[15]
• 2004: Time Magazine: 'Time 100: 100 Most Influential People in the World Today'
• 2009: Producers Guild of America 'Norman Lear Award'^[16]
• 2009: Hollywood Walk of Fame Star: 'Excellence in Television'^[17]
• 2010: Producers Guild of America 'Lifetime Achievement Award in Television'

Project recognition[link]

Since 2001, projects with which Burnett is associated have been nominated for 69 shared Emmy Awards and have won 4. They have also won 4 shared People's Choice Awards, a Banff Rocky, and the prestigious Rose D'Or Frapa Format Award.

Primetime Emmy Awards^[18] 

• 2001, won 'Outstanding Non-Fiction Programming', Special Class, for Survivor: The Australian Outback;
• 2001, won 'Outstanding Sound Mixing for Non-Fiction Programming, for Survivor: The Australian Outback
• 2002, 4 nominations, Survivor: Africa and Survivor: Marquesas (judged as one show)
• 2003, 4 nominations, Survivor: Thailand and Survivor: Amazon (judged as one show)
• 2004, 4 nominations, The Apprentice
• 2005, nomination for 'Outstanding Reality Competition Show' for Survivor
• 2005, 5 nominations, The Apprentice
• 2006, nomination for 'Outstanding Reality Competition Show' for Survivor

Young Artist Award^[19] 

• 2008, won 'Best Family Television Reality Show, Game Show or Documentary for Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?

Teen Choice Awards^[20][21] 

• 2004, nomination 'Breakout TV Show' for The Apprentice
• 2008, nominated 'Choice TV Game Show' for Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?

Peoples Choice Awards^[22] 

• 2001, won 'Favorite Reality Based Television Program' for Survivor
• 2002, won 'Favorite Realty Based Television Program' for Survivor: The Australian Outback
• 2003, won 'Favorite Reality Based Television Program' for Survivor: Thailand
• 2004, won 'Favorite Reality Based Television Program' for Survivor
• 2008, nomination 'Favorite Game Show' for Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?

Kids Choice Awards^[23] 

• 2008, nomination 'Favorite Reality Show' for Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?

Daytime Emmy Awards^[24] 

• 2006, nomination 'Outstanding Service Show' for Martha
• 2007, nomination 'Outstanding Lifestyle Program' for Martha
• 2011, won 'Outstanding Lifestyle Program' for Martha

Family Television Awards^[25] 

(given by the Family Friendly Programming Forum):

• 2001, won 'Reality/Alternative Programming' for Survivor: The Australian Outback

Producer's Guild of America

• 2004, won 'Television Producer of the Year in Reality/Game/Informational Series' for Survivor

TV Critic's Association Awards

• 2004, won 'Program of the Year' for The Apprentice

TV Week's Annual Critics Poll

• 2003, won 'Number 1 Reality Show' for Survivor
• 2003, won 'Number 7 Favorite Show' for Survivor

Diversity Awards

• 2001, won 'Most Diverse Television Ensemble Cast' for Survivor: The Australian Outback

GLAAD Award

• 2001, won 'Recognition Award' for Survivor

Reggie Awards

• 2001, won 'Super Reggie' for 'Multi-Channel Integrated Promotion Involving Consumer and Trade Special' for Survivor

Publicists Guild of America

• 2001, won 'Maxwell Weinberg Publicists Showmanship Award for Television' for Survivor

Sports Emmy Awards

• 2000, won 'Best Program Achievement' for Eco-Challenge: Morocco

Cheeky Bastard Award

• 2012, won 'Cheekiest of Cheeky Bastards Alive' from Ricky Gervais

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mark Burnett

• Mark Burnett at the Internet Movie Database
• SWINDLE Magazine Interview with Mark Burnett

v t e The Voice National franchises Netherlands (original) Argentina Australia Belgium (Flanders & Waloon) Brazil Bulgaria Canada Chile China Denmark Finland France Germany Greece India Indonesia Ireland Israel Italy Lithuania Mexico Norway Philippines Poland Portugal Romania South Korea Spain Switzerland Sweden Thailand Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom United States Vietnam Regional franchises Albania & Kosovo Czech Republic & Slovakia Related articles John de Mol

Frederick "Fred" Seibert (born September 15, 1951, in Manhattan, New York) is a television and film producer and entertainment entrepreneur who owns Frederator Studios, and who has held leading positions with MTV Networks, Hanna-Barbera, and Next New Networks. Working in media innovation for thirty years (his official biography says he's had "five lives,"^[1]) he has directed breakthroughs in cable television,^[2] animation,^[3] and the internet.^[4]

Cable Television[link]

Seibert was MTV's first creative director and guided its original voice and visual identity, creating hundreds of promotions, advertisements, and station IDs for the channel, and responsible for a rethinking of how television channels promoted themselves as "brands." He also commissioned and approved the mutating MTV logo, despite network executives objections to a logo that did not remain constant.^[5][6] He led the team that developed one of the most famous advertising campaigns of the late 20th century, "I Want My MTV!"^[7]

In 1985, with partner Alan Goodman at Fred/Alan Inc., Seibert successfully overhauled the then-floundering children's cable channel Nickelodeon, moving it from worst to first in the ratings in six months;^[8] and conceived and executed the Nick-at-Nite concept.^[9] Fred/Alan became the first branding company in television, working closely with Showtime, The Movie Channel, VH-1, Lifetime, TV Heaven 41, Playboy, and Comedy Central. They are also credited with inventing the television marathon.

Animation & Cartoons[link]

Seibert became president of Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc., in 1992, and turned around the struggling animation studio by revamping its production and development process. He created Cartoon Network's What A Cartoon!, a showcase for new animated shorts which spun off several series including Cow and Chicken, Dexter's Laboratory, Johnny Bravo, The Powerpuff Girls, and Courage The Cowardly Dog. He remained at Hanna-Barbera until 1996, when H-B's parent company, Turner Broadcasting, merged with Time Warner.

Seibert founded animation production company Frederator Studios in 1997. Frederator currently has a first look production deal with Nickelodeon, and its productions include The Fairly OddParents, ChalkZone, My Life as a Teenage Robot, Nicktoons Film Festival, Oh Yeah! Cartoons, Random! Cartoons, Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!. In 2009 he launched Frederator's (and Nickelodeon's) first original television CG comedy, Fanboy and Chum Chum to record ratings; and in early 2010 he produced his company's first Cartoon Network's Adventure Time with Finn and Jake, had the highest rated comedy premiere in the network's history.

Internet Television & Video[link]

In addition to his Frederator duties, Seibert returned to MTV Networks in 1999, and was president of MTV Networks Online, president of the MTVi Group, and president of Nickelodeon Online. After the dot-com bubble burst, he returned to Frederator full-time in 2001.

In November 2005 Seibert launched his innovative online network, the world's first cartoon video podcast, which he calls Channel Frederator. Filmmakers submit animated films for weekly exhibition. In quick succession was 'The Wubbcast' for pre-schoolers (with Bolder Media, in January 2006) and 'ReFrederator' with vintage cartoons (April 2006).

Building on this new media success, in 2007 Seibert conceived and founded Next New Networks (with Emil Rensing, Herb Scannell, Tim Shey, and Jed Simmons),^[10] the leading online television company, with over 2 billion all time video views^[11] and over 200 million views every month (as of 2010). Along with their affiliated Indy Mogul, Barely Political (home of Obama Girl), Channel Frederator and several other networks, the company's superdistribution has allowed it to become among the most widely-distributed video in the world, and to become YouTube's top professional content provider. By the end of 2010, Next New Networks had the globe's top two videos viewed on YouTube.^[12] In March 2011, Next New Networks was acquired by YouTube.^[13][14][15]

Movies[link]

In June 2007, Fred Seibert founded Frederator Films to produced animated feature films.^[16] They are currently in pre-production on Genndy Tartakovsky's Samurai Jack with co-producer J.J. Abrams, and have set up their first two animated features in a first look production arrangement for Sony Pictures Animation.^[17]

Early career[link]

Seibert began his media career at Columbia University's WKCR-FM in 1969 as a board engineer and producer/host of world music, jazz and pop shows. He recorded the majority of the station's live jazz broadcasts which led to the formation of his independent blues and jazz label. Roots musician and producer Tom Pomposello and Seibert formed Oblivion Records in 1972 (with third partner Dick Pennington), producing releases by blues musicians Mississippi Fred McDowell (Live in New York), Johnny Woods, and Charles Walker (Blues from the Apple); and jazz musicians Joe Lee Wilson and Marc Cohen (now known as Marc Copland). He was a producer (and/or engineer) of over 30 jazz records (for independent labels like Muse Records and the Jazz Composer's Orchestra) between 1971 and 1978 by artists as diverse as Hank Jones, Cecil Taylor, Dom Salvador and Willis Jackson.

In 1977 and 1978 he was the road manager and sound engineer for tours with pianist/composer Carla Bley, before joining the innovative media executive Dale Pon at New York's WHN radio. Pon introduced Seibert to his WNBC Radio colleague Robert Pittman as Pittman was becoming an early cable television pioneer at the Warner Amex Satellite Company (WASEC), now named MTV Networks Siebert became the first creative director for the channel. Seibert was born in Manhattan, raised in Halesite, New York. He initially studied at Columbia University's College of Pharmaceutical Sciences 1969-1971, then minored in History at Columbia College, Columbia University, 1971-1973.

See also[link]

• List of AIGA medalists

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official site
• Frederator Studios
• Channel Frederator
• Next New Networks
• Fred Seibert at the Internet Movie Database
• Animation World News interview (2003)
• Essay by Steven Heller at AIGA.org (American Institute of Graphic Arts) (PDF)
• The MTV Logo

This article's lead section may not adequately summarize its contents. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of the article's key points. (July 2009)

Bryan Singer
Singer at WonderCon 2006
Born	Bryan Jay Singer (1965-09-17) September 17, 1965 (age 46) New York, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Film director and producer

Bryan Singer (born September 17, 1965) is an American film director, writer and producer. Singer won critical acclaim for his work on The Usual Suspects, and is especially well-known among fans of the science fiction and superhero genres for his work on the X-Men films and Superman Returns.

Early life[link]

Singer was born in New York City, and was adopted by Grace Singer (née Sinden), an environmental activist, and Norbert Dave Singer, a corporate executive.^[1] He grew up in a Jewish household in West Windsor Township, New Jersey. He attended West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South (formerly just West Windsor-Plainsboro High School), graduating in 1984.^[2] For college, Singer studied filmmaking for two years at New York's School of Visual Arts and later transferred to the USC School of Cinematic Arts in Los Angeles.^[3] Actors Lori and Marc Singer are his cousins. He is openly gay and has said that his life experiences of growing up as a minority influenced his movies.^[4] He was diagnosed with dyslexia.^[5]

Professional career[link]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2010)

After graduating, Singer directed a short film called Lion's Den involving a number of friends, including actor Ethan Hawke whom he knew from his childhood in New Jersey^[6] and editor John Ottman who he had met while working on a friend's short film.^[7]

After a screening of Lion's Den, Singer was approached by someone who knew of a Japanese company that funded low-budget films. Singer wrote the concept for Public Access with high school friend Christopher McQuarrie, and fellow USC student Michael Feit Dougan wrote the first draft in ten days about a supposedly idyllic small town. Ottman again served as editor but this time also composed the score for the film. At the 1993 Sundance Film Festival the film was named as co-winner of the Grand Jury Prize.^[8][9]

While attending the 1993 Sundance Film Festival, Singer and McQuarrie began discussing an idea that McQuarrie had for a story where "five criminals meet in a police line-up". The film, The Usual Suspects, won a number of awards including the 1995 BAFTA Award for Best Film and Saturn Award for Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film. Writer McQuarrie won the Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay and the BAFTA Award for Best Screenplay, composer/editor Ottman won the BAFTA Award for Best Editing and the Saturn Award for Best Music and actor Kevin Spacey won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

In 1998, Singer directed Apt Pupil from a screenplay written by Brandon Boyce, another of his friends. The story, adapted from a Stephen King novella of the same name (collected in the book Different Seasons), tells of a young boy who develops a morbid fascination with a Nazi war criminal.

Singer was initially approached by 20th Century Fox to direct X-Men after directing The Usual Suspects, but not being a fan of comics and being unaware of the characters, Singer turned them down. However his friend, Tom DeSanto, a big fan of the comics and partner in his production company Bad Hat Harry Productions, eventually persuaded Singer to reconsider and, after reading the comics and becoming familiar with the characters, Singer signed on to direct. Rejecting all the scripts and storylines that were developed over a decade of failed production attempts, Singer developed the story for the film with DeSanto in a week and then worked on the script with writers Ed Solomon, Christopher McQuarrie, Joss Whedon, and finally David Hayter (who had started out as Singer's driver). Only Hayter received onscreen credit for writing the film. Singer won the 2000 Saturn Award for Best Direction for X-Men.

In early 2001, Singer was planning to direct Confessions of a Dangerous Mind with Johnny Depp in the lead role, from Charlie Kaufman's script based on the Chuck Barris book of the same name. Financial troubles delayed production and Singer moved on. The film was later directed by George Clooney for Miramax Films with Sam Rockwell in the lead role. Singer has said that he was "very impressed" by Clooney's debut as a director, and the film itself.

In late 2001, Singer was planning to help DeSanto produce a new Battlestar Galactica television series for Studios USA (now NBC Universal Television Studio) and the FOX network. Singer was scheduled to direct the mini-series which would have served as a backdoor pilot for a potential series. Speaking to Variety in February 2001, Singer said he was "confident that the Galactica brand is a sleeping giant. It was a show I watched during its initial run, from the pilot to the final episode. The essence and the brand name is quite potent in a climate where there's a great deficit of sci-fi programming."^[10] Despite his enthusiasm, production delays caused by the September 11, 2001 attacks meant Singer had to drop out due to his commitment to direct X-Men 2. FOX then lost interest in Galactica and Studios USA took the project to the Sci Fi Channel and a different production team. This resulted in the new Battlestar Galactica 2003 mini-series and 2004 television series.

In June 2002 filming began on X2 in Canada with Singer again directing, this time from a screenplay written by David Hayter, Dan Harris and Michael Dougherty. In 2004, X2 was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form, but lost to Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

In 2002, having learned that Singer was a lifelong Star Trek fan, Patrick Stewart arranged for Singer to visit the set of Star Trek Nemesis and appear in the finished film as a Starfleet officer on the bridge of the Enterprise.

On November 16, 2004, a new medical drama debuted on FOX called House, with Singer attached as an executive producer. He also directed the pilot and the third episode, then appeared in a brief cameo as himself in the twelfth episode.

In mid-2004, Singer was in negotiations to direct X-Men: The Last Stand for Fox. Fox and Singer could not meet an agreement and, after an extended détente, Singer was offered the chance to direct the new Superman film, which was ready to go. On July 19, 2004, Variety reported that Singer had signed on to direct Superman Returns for Warner Bros. In retaliation, Fox terminated their production deal with Bad Hat Harry Productions, Singer's production company.^[11] Superman Returns was filmed in Australia in 2005, and was released on June 28, 2006. Singer claims that though he had not read the comics, he had always admired and identified with the character, citing the fact that he and Superman are both orphans. He instead based Returns on his love of the 1978 film made by Richard Donner.^[12]

Before embarking on the Superman sequel, Singer openly discussed helming a smaller project going back to the days of thrillers The Usual Suspects and Apt Pupil. In late 2006, screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie presented to Singer a story that took place in World War II, Valkyrie. In the following months, the two collaborated on the project, an original thriller that would be a multi-character ensemble piece. In March 2007, the duo brought the project directly to United Artists partners Paula Wagner and Tom Cruise, who immediately agreed to finance the film. The script is based on the actual events of German generals plotting to assassinate Adolf Hitler during World War II. Singer invited Tom Cruise to take the lead role, which Cruise accepted. Filming began on July 19, 2007 in Berlin, and the movie was released on December 25, 2008.

Upon finishing Valkyrie at the end of 2007, Singer was scheduled to jump directly into the upcoming Superman sequel, which was to begin filming around March 2008. Attending the 2007 Saturn Awards along with Superman Returns writers Michael Dougherty, Dan Harris and producer Gil Adler, Singer stated that the story had been locked down, and the first draft would be completed near the end of 2007. Plans for the sequel included more action sequences, an alien villain, and Singer's promise to "go all Wrath of Khan on it". Production has not begun and plans for the movie are unclear.^[13] In February 2009, Production Weekly listed it as "in development".^[14]

In August 2009, Universal Pictures announced that Singer would direct and produce a big screen reimagining of the Battlestar Galactica television series of the late-1970s, which would not draw any material from the Syfy Channel reimagined series.^[15]

On September 10, 2009, it was announced NBC has partnered with Bryan Singer and Bryan Fuller to adapt Augusten Burroughs's Sellevision into a series. The one-hour dramatic comedy, to be written by Fuller and directed by Singer, will focus on the inner workings of a fictional home shopping network, according to The Hollywood Reporter.^[16]

At the premiere of James Cameron's Avatar on December 16, 2009, Singer confirmed that he will be directing a film called Jack the Giant Killer for Warner Bros., and that he signed on to do X-Men: First Class,^[17][18] but conflicts between the two projects led to Singer being only a producer and co-screenwriter on First Class,^[19] with Matthew Vaughn taking over directorial duties.^[20]

Bryan produced the commercials for the ice cream Magnum Gold, which star Benicio del Toro.^[21]

Filmography[link]

Actor

• Star Trek Nemesis (2002)
• X2 (2003)
• House (2004)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Bryan Singer at the Internet Movie Database
• Bad Hat Harry Productions at the Internet Movie Database
• Short The Movie Reporter video interview with Singer (2005)
• Tribute.ca Director Bio: Bryan Singer
• Bryan Singer at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)