Production Partners, Inc. was founded in 1990. Since its inception, PPI has produced an array of award winning and critically acclaimed programming in a variety of media. Whether it’s stand-up comedy specials or original series, Production Partners continually produces shows of the highest quality. They’ve been operating as a team since 1984 and there is almost no area within the entertainment industry that has not been touched by one or more of them.
Most recently PPI has developed television concepts with notable talents such as TAYLOR DAYNE… PAUL SORVINO… KARAMO BROWN (MTV)… STEVE WILSON (The DL Hughley Show) and JILL MICHELE-MELEAN (MAD TV) and their most exciting venture is creating their new music division COWBOY RECORDS (Burbank). Recording the album “Cowboy” with their first signed artist HOYT HUGHES from Lakeland Florida, and landing multi-platinum award winning record producer KEVIN SAVIGAR… were some highlights of the new division’s first project. Included on the album are duets with TAYLOR DAYNE and CARNIE WILSON. Many more projects on the horizon for Cowboy Records!
PPI is proud to have produced and directed a television special with popular late night talk show host Craig Ferguson. CRAIG FERGUSON: Does This Need to Be Said? premiered on the exciting EPIX HD channel followed by a run on Comedy Central.
Members of the PPI Team were brought on board the Renegade 83 production of OUTSIDERS INN for the CMT network (a half-hour hybrid comedy/reality series) starring Maureen McCormick, Carnie Wilson and Bobby Brown.
PPI produced and directed RITA RUDNER: Live from Las Vegas in association with Rita Rudner and Martin Bergman’s RitMar Productions. This groundbreaking stand-up comedy special is the first ever for PBS.
PPI teamed with Bravo and Kathy Griffin, the hilarious, self-proclaimed D-Lister to produce KATHY GRIFFIN: Straight to Hell, which was nominated for a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Special. This special is the sixth collaboration for PPI, Griffin and Bravo following up the specials: Everybody Can Suck It, Strong Black Woman, KATHY GRIFFIN Is…Not Nicole Kidman, Allegedly and The D-List. In addition, PPI also produced the Bravo special for NBC’s Last Comic Standing winner JON REEP.
PPI had three other comedy specials air on Bravo. JOAN RIVERS: Before Melissa Pulls the Plug, CAROLINE RHEA: Rhea’s Anatomy, and PAULA POUNDSTONE: Look What the Cat Dragged In showcased three leading ladies of comedy performing their own unique brands of stand-up. These specials were taped over three consecutive nights at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles for Bravo’s Funny Girls series.
PPI produced FAT ACTRESS, Showtime’s highly acclaimed comedy series starring two-time Emmy Award winner Kirstie Alley. This irreverent and unique show found Alley playing a fictionalized version of herself, battling the weight and dodging the tabloids while looking for love and work in a Hollywood that prefers its stars petite. Fat Actress is now available on DVD.
Prior to Fat Actress, PPI produced CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM for HBO. Their team produced the first two critically acclaimed seasons of the breakthrough improvisational comedy series from Larry David, the co-creator of “Seinfeld”. In July 2002, Curb received its first Primetime Emmy nomination for “Outstanding Comedy Series” after already taking home “Comedy Series of the Year” at the 2002 AFI Awards.
No stranger to accolades, PPI is proud to have produced and directed three of Chris Rock’s HBO stand-up specials. Their first with Rock, CHRIS ROCK: Big Ass Jokes, received the CableACE award in the standup comedy category. Their second, CHRIS ROCK: Bring the Pain, garnered them a 1997 Primetime Emmy for “Outstanding Music, Variety, or Comedy Special.” Their last special with Rock, CHRIS ROCK: Bigger and Blacker, was nominated for six 2000 Primetime Emmys including “Outstanding Music, Variety, or Comedy Special” and “Outstanding Directing for a Variety or Music Program” for Keith Truesdell.
PPI has worked with today’s top comedians. They produced BEN STILLER’S Wake Up Your Smile, a comedy infomercial starring Ben Stiller, Janeane Garofalo, Andy Dick, and William Shatner, which aired on Comedy Central to promote the DVD release of “The Ben Stiller Show”. They also produced the popular HBO concert special ADAM SANDLER: What The Hell Happened To Me?
PPI has produced over 50 comedy specials for HBO, Showtime, NBC and Bravo, earning 9 Emmy and 13 CableACE nominations. They’ve won an Emmy (CHRIS ROCK: Bring The Pain) and three CableACE Awards (RICHARD JENI: Platypus Man, CHRIS ROCK: Big Ass Jokes, and JUDY GOLD: Comedy Half Hour). Their cutting edge late night music/variety series for Walt Disney Television, The LA Thing with JOHN DOE, which aired on KCAL was nominated for a 1996 Los Angeles Emmy Award and was critically supported by the Los Angeles artistic community. HOWIE MANDEL’S Sunny Skies, a 13 episode sketch show series for Showtime, broke the mold of traditional television production by taping all 13 episodes in five weeks. Howie Mandel was nominated for a CableACE as “Best Actor in a Comedy Series”.
Aside from directing most of PPI’s productions, partner Keith Truesdell directed the Netflix series “With Bob And David” (Bob Odenkirk, David Cross) and helped launch and direct half of the episodes from seasons 1-5 of the highly rated ABC Family series THE SECRET LIFE OF THE AMERICAN TEENAGER. He launched and directed the first season of the critically acclaimed HBO series Real Time With BILL MAHER. He directed episodes for the CW shows EVERYBODY HATES CHRIS for 3 seasons as well as GIRLFRIENDS and 7TH HEAVEN. In addition; MY BOYS for TBS, GROUNDED FOR LIFE for the WB and The TRACY MORGAN Show for NBC. He was also a regular director for JIMMY KIMMEL Live when it was actually live!
The list of talent PPI has worked with includes:
CHRIS ROCK, ADAM SANDLER, LARRY DAVID, BEN STILLER,
CRAIG FERGUSON, TAYLOR DAYNE, CARNIE WILSON, KIRSTIE ALLEY, BILL MAHER,
RAY ROMANO, JULIA LOUIS-DREYFUS, KATHY GRIFFIN, JOHN TRAVOLTA, KELLY PRESTON, KID ROCK,
CARMEN ELECTRA, SHAQUILLE O’NEAL, JASONALEXANDER,TEDDANSON,MARYSTEENBURGEN,
DAVEATTELL,MARGARETCHO, BOBBY BROWN, MAUREEN MCCORMICK, STEVE WILSON,
WANDA SYKES, CARLOS MENCIA, JEFF FOXWORTHY, JANEANE GAROFALO, DAVID SPADE,
D.L.HUGHLEY,SANDRABERNHARD,KEVINNEALON,MICHAELMCDONALD,ROBREINER,
DANACARVEY,RITARUDNER,MAREWINNINGHAM,ANDYDICK,HOWIEMANDEL,
WILLIAM SHATNER, MERV GRIFFIN, CONNIE STEVENS, MELISSA GILBERT,
DAVID CROSS, BOB ODENKIRK, RICHARD LEWIS
and many many more.
