Sam Sokolow

Sam Sokolow
Born (1969-07-03) July 3, 1969 (age 55)
Manhattan, New York, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Alma materBoston University (1991)
Occupation(s)Film and television producer
President of EUE/Sokolow
Chairman of Nice Media Studios
Years active1997–present
Spouse
Julia Fowler
​
(m. 2003)​
RelativesAlec Sokolow (brother)

Sam Sokolow (born July 3, 1969) is an American film and television producer and Chairman of Nice Media Studios, a production company based in Los Angeles, CA.[1]

Early life

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Samuel Wolfe Sokolow was born and raised in Manhattan, New York City in 1969. His father Mel Sokolow (1933–1992)[2] and his mother Diane were both producers on various film and television programs in the 1970s. His older sister, Betsy, is a publicist and producer.[3] His older brother, Alec Sokolow, is an Oscar-nominated screenwriter. He spent a significant portion of his childhood socializing with his parents’ actor and producer friends. He credits these early years with his decision to be a producer.[4]

Sokolow attended Boston University largely because that was the only school he could find that allowed him to begin a hands-on film curriculum as a freshman. He graduated with a Communications degree in 1991. Though he bounced around between various jobs, even working as a journalist and crime reporter for a time, Sokolow eventually decided to enter the entertainment industry full-time in 1997.[5][6]

Career

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Sokolow started working on commercials as a producer at different ad agencies before moving onto feature film work. In the late ‘90s, he and Rob Lobl partnered to create SokoLobl Entertainment.[7] The two wrote, produced, and directed an independent film called The Definite Maybe (later retitled No Money Down). They self-distributed the film over the internet. At the time, this practice was unheard of. As a result, Sokolow and Lobl were credited as poster boys of online film distribution in the independent film scene, with Sokolow saying "I don't need Hollywood anymore to have 35 million people take a look."[8][9] Shortly thereafter, Sokolow moved to Los Angeles to focus more on television production. During this period, he produced unscripted TV series for MTV and Oxygen.[10]

In 2010, Sokolow and Jeffrey Cooney, the son of EUE/Screen Gems CEO George Cooney, co-founded EUE/Sokolow.[11] This new subsidiary focuses on independent television production by attaching talent to projects before pitching them to larger studios. Their first major project was producing an adaptation of Walter Isaacson's biography of Albert Einstein, Einstein: His Life and Universe.[5] Sokolow and Cooney pitched the project to Ron Howard. Coincidentally, Howard had been looking to make an Einstein project for years. With Howard's backing, EUE/Sokolow teamed with Imagine Entertainment to create National Geographic's first scripted series, Genius, with Geoffrey Rush in the role of Einstein.[12] The series was a critical success, earning 10 Emmy nominations, including a nomination for Outstanding Limited Series. Though the original intent was to create a limited series based only on Einstein's life, the success of the project caused National Geographic to commission the series as an ongoing anthology with a different subject each season. Season 2 followed Pablo Picasso, played by Antonio Banderas, and earned 8 Emmy nominations. Season 3 will center on Aretha Franklin.[13]

Besides Genius, Sokolow is currently working on a number of TV and film projects[10] and producing a film written by his brother centered on the legacy of Chuck Taylor and Converse.[14]

Personal life

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Sokolow married actress and author Julia Fowler in 2003.[15] They currently reside in Venice, California.[16]

Sokolow's older brother Alec Sokolow is an Oscar-nominated screenwriter known for Toy Story.

References

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  1. ^ "Nice Media Leadership". Retrieved January 29, 2019.
  2. ^ "Melvin L. Sokolow, Agent, TV Producer And an Athlete, 58". The New York Times. June 15, 2003. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  3. ^ "Betsy Sokolow and Len Sherman". The New York Times. September 1996. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
  4. ^ "It's All Relative: Sam Sokolow And "Genius"". Retrieved October 19, 2018.
  5. ^ a b "The Alum behind National Geographic's Genius". Retrieved September 29, 2018.
  6. ^ "Sam Sokolow Interview – AfterBuzz TV's Spotlight On" (Podcast). July 25, 2017. Retrieved October 13, 2018 – via YouTube.
  7. ^ "Filmmakers team for SokoLobl". Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  8. ^ "Yahoo! sets 'Net fest". September 28, 1999. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  9. ^ Pollack, Andrew (January 4, 2000). "Indie Films And Shorts Find the Web A Good Ally". The New York Times. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  10. ^ a b "Sam Sokolow's IMDb page". IMDb. Retrieved September 29, 2018.
  11. ^ "EUE/Sokolow homepage". Retrieved September 29, 2018.
  12. ^ "'Genius' Producers Complete Decades-Long Journey With Nat Geo Einstein Series". April 26, 2017. Retrieved September 29, 2018.
  13. ^ "'Genius: Aretha Franklin' Greenlighted As Third Installment Of Nat Geo Series; Suzan-Lori Parks Set As Showrunner – TCA". February 10, 2019. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  14. ^ "ALEC SOKOLOW TO DEVELOP 'THE ALL STARS' THE ULTIMATE SNEAKERHEAD MOVIE". September 17, 2018. Retrieved October 12, 2018.
  15. ^ "Julia Fowler's IMDb page". IMDb. Retrieved September 29, 2018.
  16. ^ "WEDDINGS/CELEBRATIONS; Julia Fowler, Samuel Sokolow". The New York Times. June 15, 2003. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
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