Brad Alan Grey (December 29, 1957 – May 14, 2017) was an American television and film producer. He co-founded Brillstein-Grey Entertainment (nowBrillstein Entertainment Partners), and afterwards became the chairman and CEO ofParamount Pictures, a position he held from 2005-2017.^[1] Grey graduated from theState University of New York at Buffalo School of Management. Under Grey's leadership, Paramount finished No. 1 in global market share in 2011 and No. 2 domestically in 2008, 2009, and 2010, despite releasing significantly fewer films than its competitors.^[2][3] He also produced eight out of Paramount's 10 top-grossing films of all time after having succeededSherry Lansing in 2005.^[4]

Grey was born to aJewish family in theBronx,^[5][6][7] the youngest child of agarment district salesman. He majored in business and communications at theUniversity at Buffalo.^[8]

While attending the university, he became agofer for a youngHarvey Weinstein, who was then a concertpromoter. The first show Grey produced (at age 20) was a concert byFrank Sinatra at Buffalo'sBuffalo Memorial Auditorium in 1978. He traveled toManhattan on weekends to look for youngcomics atThe Improv. Grey brought comedianBob Saget to New York, thus making Saget his first client.^[9]

In 1984, Grey met talent managerBernie Brillstein inSan Francisco, California, at a televisionconvention. Having convinced Brillstein that he could deliver fresh talent, he was taken on as a partner and the Bernie Brillstein Company was re-christenedBrillstein-Grey Entertainment.^[10] Grey beganproducing for television in 1986 with theShowtime hit,It's Garry Shandling's Show. In the late 1990s, Shandling sued Grey for breach of duties and related claims. Shandling complained that his TV show lost its best writers and producers when Brad Grey got them deals to do other projects, and that Grey commissioned these other deals, while Shandling did not benefit from them. Grey denied the allegations and countersued, saying the comedian breached his contract onThe Larry Sanders Show by failing to produce some episodes and indiscriminately dismissing writers, among other actions.^[11] Both suits were settled avoiding a trial.^[12] Shandling did testify about Grey during the 2008 trial of private investigatorAnthony Pellicano who worked on Grey's defense team.^[13][14] The value of the settlement to Shandling was later disputed by attorneys as being either $4 million or $10 million.^[15][16]

In 1996, Brillstein sold his shares of the Brillstein-Grey company to Grey, giving Grey full rein over operations; the company's television unit was subsequently rechristened "Brad Grey Television". Grey produced shows such asEmmy Award-winningThe Sopranos andThe Wayne Brady Show. Other shows developed in the 1990s under the Brillstein-Grey banner includedGood Sports,The Larry Sanders Show,Mr. Show,Real Time with Bill Maher,The Sopranos,NewsRadio, andJust Shoot Me! Grey also ventured into film by producing theAdam Sandler hitHappy Gilmore.

In 1996, actressLinda Doucett alleged that Grey and Shandling fired her fromThe Larry Sanders Show after her personal relationship with Shandling ended.^[17] Doucett reportedly received a $1 million settlement in this matter in 1997.

In July 2000 - on the day ofScary Movie's opening - Grey andBrillstein-Grey were sued by Bo Zenga and his Boz Productions in what became known as the 'Scary' suit.^[18] Zenga, at the time an unknown bit-part actor,^[19] "claimed he had an oral agreement with Grey's management firmBrillstein-Grey Entertainment, giving him equal profits on the film".^[18]Scary Movie went on to make $278m worldwide.^[20]

The pre-trial discovery process "revealed that major parts of Zenga's resume were fabricated. Brillstein-Grey said in a court filing that Zenga presented himself as a successful investment banker who became a prize-winning screenwriter to satisfy his creative urges."^[18] "Far from being a successful investment banker, Zenga once filed for personal bankruptcy" and "according to court papers, the only writing award he won was in a phony contest he set up himself."^[18] After denying under oath that he knew who owned the company that ran the contest, Bo Zenga recanted a day later, admitting his ownership of the company and "saying he had been 'overmedicated.'"^[21] When questioned about "an accusation from his former business partner that he coerced her to lie for him,"^[18] Zenga "in a highly unusual move for a plaintiff in a film-profits case — asserted hisFifth Amendment right not to answer hundreds of questions." Zenga's suit was thrown out of court for lack of evidence. L.A. Superior Court Judge Robert O'Brien "noted it was only the second time in all his years on the bench that he had granted a non-suit and taken a case away from a jury."^[18]

In 2002, Grey formedPlan B withBrad Pitt andJennifer Aniston, with afirst-look deal at Warner Bros. The company produced two films for Warner Bros:Tim Burton'sCharlie and the Chocolate Factory withJohnny Depp, andMartin Scorsese'sThe Departed, starringLeonardo DiCaprio,Matt Damon, andJack Nicholson. After Pitt and Aniston separated, Grey and Pitt moved the company to Paramount Pictures in 2005.^[22]

In May 2006, Zenga "filed a new suit against Grey personally,"^[23] in which he charged Grey with using notorious private investigatorAnthony Pellicano to illegally wiretap and conduct illegal background checks on Zenga during the original case. Grey denied any knowledge, testifying that "his dealings with Pellicano 'all came throughBert Fields' and that 'in every instance' Grey had never been given updates on the investigations by Pellicano."^[24] The suit was "dismissed, due to Zenga having lied and to statute of limitations issues."^[25] Zenga's appeal continued after Grey's death until being dismissed in December 2017.

Grey was namedchief executive officer of Paramount Pictures Corporation in 2005. In his position, Grey was responsible for overseeing allfeature film development and production for films distributed by Paramount Pictures Corporation including Paramount Pictures,Paramount Vantage,Paramount Classics, Paramount Insurge,MTV Films andNickelodeon Movies.^[26] He was also responsible for the worldwide business operations forParamount Pictures International,Paramount Famous Productions, Paramount Home Media Distribution, Paramount Animation, Studio Group and Worldwide Television Distribution.^[27]

Among the commercial and critical hit films Paramount produced and/or distributed during Grey's tenure were theTransformers,Paranormal Activity, andIron Man franchises,Star Trek,How to Train Your Dragon,Shrek the Third,Mission: Impossible III,Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol,An Inconvenient Truth,There Will Be Blood,No Country for Old Men,The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,Babel,Shutter Island,Up in the Air,The Fighter,True Grit,The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, andHugo.

During his time as chairman and CEO of Paramount, the studio's films were nominated for dozens of Academy Awards, including 20 in 2011^[28] and 18 in 2012.^[29]

After arriving at Paramount in 2005, Chairman and CEO Grey was credited with leading a return to fortune at the box office.^[30] He oversaw the creation and revitalization of several major franchises,Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,Star Trek, andParanormal Activity, which was made for $15,000 and generated $192 million at the global box office.^[3]Paranormal Activity 2 grossed $177 million worldwide, and the third installment in the franchise collected $205.7 million worldwide in 2011.^[31] A fourth installment was released in October 2012. The studio's 2011 results includedTransformers: Dark of the Moon, which grossed more than $1.1 billion worldwide, andMission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, whose $694 million global box office tally makes it the most successful entry in that franchise.^[32][33] Paramount's 2012 slate includedThe Dictator which earned $179 million on a $65 million budget.^[2][34]

During this period, Paramount forged productive relationships with top-tier filmmakers and talent includingJ. J. Abrams,Michael Bay andMartin Scorsese.^[35]

In 2011, based on the success ofRango, the studio's first original, computer-animated release, Grey oversaw the launch of a new animation division,Paramount Animation.^[36]

The 2010 Paramount slate achieved much success withShutter Island andTrue Grit reaching the biggest box office totals in the storied careers of Martin Scorsese and theCoen brothers, respectively. In addition, during Grey's tenure, Paramount launched its own worldwide releasing arm, Paramount Pictures International, and has released acclaimed films such asAn Inconvenient Truth,Up in the Air andThere Will Be Blood. The success ofParanormal Activity also led to the creation of a low-budget releasing labelInsurge Pictures, which releasedJustin Bieber: Never Say Never, which collected nearly $100 million in worldwide box office revenue.^[37]

Grey was ousted from Paramount Pictures shortly before his death, a result of a power struggle between his backers and the family of majority ownerSumner Redstone, along with a series of flops that cost the studio $450 million in losses.^[38]

Grey died on May 14, 2017, from fourth-stage metastatic lung cancer at hisHolmby Hills home inLos Angeles, California.^[39][40] He was 59.^[41][42]

Grey received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from SUNY during a visit to Buffalo and UB in 2003.^[43] Grey's Board appointments included:

• UCLA's Executive Board for the Medical Sciences^[44]
• USC School of Cinema-Television Board of Councilors^[45]
• Board of Directors for Project A.L.S.^[46]
• NYU's Tisch School of the Arts^[47]
• Los Angeles County Museum of Art^[48]

He was a producer in all films unless otherwise noted.

As writer

Miscellaneous crew

Thanks

• Brad Grey atIMDb
• Brad Grey onCharlie Rose
• Brad Grey atFind a Grave

• 1957 births
• 2017 deaths
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