| David T. Friendly | |
| Birth Date: | 1 May 1956 |
| Birth Place: | New York, U.S. |
| Years Active: | 1987–present |
| Occupation: | film producer |
| Awards: | Independent Spirit Award for Best Film 2007 Little Miss Sunshine |
| Spouse: | Priscilla Nedd-Friendly |
| Alma Mater: | Northwestern University (BA) |
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.
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 .[4] He is also set to produce the upcoming projects Office Romance, Q School, and The Warden.[4]
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]
| Title | Role | Director | Release date | Co-production | Production company | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| My Girl | Executive producer | November 27, 1991 | |||||
| For Love or Money | Executive producer | October 1, 1993 | |||||
| My Girl 2 | Executive producer | Howard Zieff | February 11, 1994 | Columbia Pictures | |||
| Greedy | Executive producer | March 1, 1994 | Universal Pictures | ||||
| Courage Under Fire | Producer | July 12, 1996 | |||||
| The Chamber | Executive producer | October 11, 1996 | Imagine Entertainment | Universal Pictures | |||
| Daylight | Producer | December 6, 1996 | Davis Entertainment | ||||
| Out to Sea | Producer | 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 | March 24, 2000 | |||||
| Big Momma's House | Producer | June 2, 2000 | |||||
| Laws of Attraction | Producer | April 30, 2004 | |||||
| The Honeymooners | Producer | June 10, 2005 | |||||
| Duane Hopwood | Producer | November 11, 2005 | |||||
| Big Momma's House 2 | Producer | January 27, 2006 | Regency Enterprises | 20th Century Fox | |||
| Little Miss Sunshine | Producer | August 18, 2006 | Big Beach Bona Fide Productions Deep River Productions Third Gear Productions | ||||
| Meet Dave | Producer | July 11, 2008 | Regency Enterprises | 20th Century Fox | |||
| Soul Men | Producer | November 7, 2008 | |||||
| Producer | John Whitesell | February 18, 2011 | Regency Enterprises | 20th Century Fox | |||
| Sneakerheadz | Producer | David T. Friendly Mick Patridge | August 7, 2015 | ||||
| I.T. | Producer | September 23, 2016 | Voltage Pictures Irish Dreamtime Friendly Films Fastnet Films 22h22 | ||||
| The First to Do It | Executive Producer | Coocie Simmons Chike Ozah | February 2018 | Diario Films | |||
| Drunk Parents | Executive Producer | April 19, 2019 |