David Manson (producer)

David Manson (born 1952) is a Peabody Award-winning American film and television producer, screenwriter and director.

American producer, screenwriter, and director David Manson.

He is perhaps best known for his work on a trio of acclaimed Netflix series: House of Cards, Bloodline, and Ozark, for which he has received multiple Emmy Award and Writers Guild Award nominations.

Early life

Manson was born in New York City to two musicians who had met as students at the Juilliard School. His father, Eddy Manson ( Eddy Lawrence Manson; 1919–1996), a harmonica virtuoso, moved the family to Los Angeles in 1965 to pursue his career as a film composer.

Manson attended the University of California at Santa Cruz on full scholarship before transferring to the University of California at Irvine, where he graduated magna cum laude.

Career

Manson began his career in the theater and worked in various capacities for such venues as the Mark Taper Forum, Playwrights Horizon and the Manhattan Theater Club.

He started in the film business at Dick Berg's Stonehenge Productions where he produced his first film, The Spell (1977), for NBC, at the age of twenty-four. As Senior Vice President of Stonehenge, he produced several movies and miniseries including the first major television miniseries about Vietnam, A Rumor of War (1980), which The New York Times called "unusually ambitious and admirable"[1] and the Washington Post referred to "as true as a movie is going to get".[2]

In 1980, Manson formed his own company, Sarabande Productions, aimed at creating a platform for prestigious writers. He has since worked with Pulitzer Prize winners including Michael Chabon, Donald Margulies and Jules Feiffer, and acclaimed screenwriters such as Joan Tewkesbury, Barbara Turner, John Sacret Young, and National Book Award recipient Denis Johnson.

In features, he executive-produced and developed the Cannes Film Festival Special Jury Prize Winner Birdy (1984) starring Matthew Modine and Nicolas Cage. He then produced the Sting documentary, Bring On the Night (1985), directed by Michael Apted, which earned a Grammy Award for best long form video; he also executive-produced The Cemetery Club (1993), starring Ellen Burstyn, and produced the Drew Barrymore film, Mad Love (1995), both for Disney/Touchstone Pictures where his company was housed for several years.

Sarabande has also inked overall deals with MGM/UA, Sony, 20th Century Fox, FX Productions, and most recently Paramount Television Studios. Through the 1980s and 1990s, Manson, through Sarabande, executive-produced a number of television movies, including Rising Son (1990) starring Matt Damon in his first major role, the Christopher Award-winning NBC film, Eye on the Sparrow (1987), and Nightjohn (1996), directed by Charles Burnett, which was the recipient of a Special Citation Award from the National Society of Film Critics and which The New Yorker named the best American movie of the year.

Manson entered into the series business as co-creator/executive producer of Against the Law (1990) for FOX and made his directorial debut with the ABC television movie, Those Secrets (1992). He then co-created, produced, and directed the controversial drama, Nothing Sacred (1997), about an irreverent Catholic priest, which was the subject of an advertiser boycott instituted by the conservative pressure group, The Catholic League.[3] The series won not only the Peabody Award, but also a Humanitas Award, the Writers Guild Award, and the Viewers for Quality Television Founders Award.[4]

Later in the 1990s, he produced several films with his wife, writer/producer Arla Sorkin Manson, including the highly rated CBS telefilm, The Wedding Dress (2001). He also executive-produced two films for TNT: Thicker Than Blood (1998) with Mickey Rourke, based on Bill Cain's award-winning play, Stand-Up Tragedy; and Baby (2000), starring Farrah Fawcett and Keith Carradine, for which Manson received his first Writers Guild Award nomination. After 2000, Manson focused more on showrunning television series. He served as a consulting producer/writer on the hit HBO series, Big Love (2006), was the showrunner on the FX series, Thief (2006), starring the Emmy Award-winning Andre Braugher, and created, wrote, directed and executive produced the EMT drama, Saved (2006), for TNT.

Manson was the showrunner and wrote several episodes of the FOX series New Amsterdam (2008), directed multiple episodes of Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2009), and then executive-produced a pilot for FX, Outlaw Country (2011), starring Mary Steenburgen and John Hawkes.

In 2013, Manson became co-showrunner on the celebrated series, House of Cards, starring Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright. He received Golden Globe Award, Writers Guild Award, and Emmy Award nominations for his work. This began an association with Netflix which included executive producing/writing on both the critically hailed Kyle Chandler series, Bloodline, and the hit series, Ozark, starring Jason Bateman and Laura Linney, for which he received Emmy Award and Writers Guild Award nominations.

More recently, he was an executive producer/writer on the Apple TV+ series, Shantaram, starring Charlie Hunnam, based on Gregory Roberts’ best-selling novel.[5]

NameTV/FilmYearPositionAwardsNotes
Shantaram TV 2022 Executive Producer/Writer
Ozark TV 2017-2018 Executive Producer/Writer Emmy Nomination: Outstanding Drama Series, Writers Guild Award Nomination: Episodic Drama (The Precious Blood of Jesus), Producers Guild Nomination: Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Drama
BloodlineTV2015-2017Executive Producer/Writer/Director
HokeTV2014Executive Producer
House of CardsTV2013Executive Producer/WriterEmmy Nomination: Outstanding Drama Series, Golden Globe Nomination: Best Television Series, Drama, Producers Guild Nomination: Best Drama, Writers Guild Nomination: Best Drama
The DivideTV2012Executive Producer/Writer
Outlaw CountryTV2011Executive Producer
DamagesTV2011Consulting Producer
Law & Order: Criminal IntentTV2009Director
LifeTV2009Consulting Producer/Writer
New AmsterdamTV2008Executive Producer/Writer
SavedTV2006Creator/Executive Producer/Writer/Director
ThiefTV2006Executive Producer/Writer
Big LoveTV2006Consulting Producer/WriterGolden Globe Nomination: Best Television Series, Drama
John DoeTV2003Consulting Producer/Writer
The Wedding DressFilm2001Executive Producer
BabyFilm2000Executive Producer/WriterWriters Guild Nomination, Christopher Award
Mind GamesFilm1998Executive Producer
Thicker Than BloodFilm1998Executive ProducerALMA Award
Nothing SacredTV1997–1998Co-Creator/Executive Producer/Writer/DirectorPeabody Award, Humanitas Award, Producers Guild Nomination, Viewers for Quality Television: Founders Award
NightjohnFilm1997Executive ProducerNational Society of Film Critics: Special Citation
Mad LoveFilm1995Producer
Original SinsFilm1995Executive Producer
The Cemetery ClubFilm1993Executive Producer
Those SecretsFilm1992Executive Producer/Director
Against The LawTV1990–1991Co-Creator/Executive Producer/Writer
Rising SonFilm1990Executive Producer
Eye on the SparrowFilm1987Executive ProducerChristopher Award
The King of LoveFilm1987Executive Producer
Bring On the NightFilm1985ProducerGrammy Award: Best Long Form Video
BirdyFilm1984Executive ProducerCannes Film Festival: Special Jury Prize
Best Kept SecretsFilm1984Producer
SessionsFilm1983Producer
A Rumor of WarTV1980Producer
The WordTV1978Producer
A Love Affair: The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig StoryFilm1978Producer
Night CriesFilm1978Producer
The SpellFilm1977Producer

References

  1. "Saved". Archived from the original on March 16, 2012. Retrieved July 18, 2011.
  2. Suid, Lawrence H. (June 14, 2002). Guts & Glory: The Making of the American Military Image in Film. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0813190185.
  3. "'Nothing Sacred' Keeps Faith Despite Boycott Push: Catholic League Claims Credit for Pressuring Advertisers to Drop ABC Show". October 20, 1997.
  4. "Viewers for Quality Television Awards (1998)". IMDb. Retrieved November 29, 2022.
  5. Shantaram (TV Series 2022– ) - IMDb, retrieved November 11, 2022
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