A Big Production... Trivia Quiz

Answer: Sidney Glazier

Oops! Did you think it was Mel Brooks? Logical mistake; while he has his own production company, Brooksfilms, he 'only' directed and wrote this movie. Sidney Glazier (1916-2002) produced this wonderful comedy which starred Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder as Bialystock and Bloom, trying to make money by producing a 'sure-fire' flop.

When Mel Brooks pitched "Springtime for Hitler" to Glazier, he couldn't stop laughing and promised to make the movie. Prior to that, in 1965, Glazier won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, "The Eleanor Roosevelt Story".

Answer: J.J. Abrams

While all of the producers above have their own production companies, the three incorrect choices are eponymous, i.e., one of Kelley's logos shows an old lady in a chair watching TV with a remote; Bruckheimer has a view of a road and a tree with lightning striking; Bochco has the violinist playing. J.J. Abrams company, Bad Robot, has a picture of a red robot with a rectangular head and yellow eyes...if you've never seen it, either you don't watch TV or movies or you never stay to see the credits. Among the TV shows Abrams has produced are "Alias" and "Lost"; among the movies are "Mission: Impossible III" and "Star Trek Into Darkness".

Answer: Brad Pitt

Plan B Entertainment, Inc. was a production company founded in Los Angeles, CA. in 2002 by Brad Pitt, Brad Grey and Jennifer Aniston (in the 'pre-Jolie' days). Among some of the big-names films they have produced are: "Troy" (2004), "The Departed" (2006), "Eat, Pray, Love" (2010), "12 Years a Slave" (2013) and "Selma" in 2014.

The incorrect choices and their production companies are: Ben Affleck and LivePlanet, Will Smith and Overbrook and Ben Stiller with Red Hour - probably way more than you needed to know...

Answer: Imagine

Imagine Entertainment is responsible for decades of entertainment in both movies (with Universal Pictures) and television (with 20th Century Fox). The list is far too long to include all the movies and TV shows, so I will mention just a small sampling: "Parenthood" (1989), "Cry-Baby" (1990), "A Beautiful Mind" (2001) and "American Gangster" (2007), along with TV shows like "Arrested Development" (2013) and "Empire" in 2015.

In case you were wondering, Spielberg was one of the co-founders of both Amblin and Dreamworks, while George Lucas founded the visual effects company ILM.

Answer: Drew Barrymore

Drew Barrymore and Nancy Juvonen founded Flower Films which produces both films and television programs. Among the movies are some you might expect, e.g., "Charlie's Angel's" in 2000, "50 First Dates" in 2004 and "Fever Pitch" in 2005, along with the unexpected mind-bending "Donnie Darko" in 2001.

They have also produced several unremarkable TV shows. In keeping with my 'full disclosure', here are the incorrect people and their companies, i.e. Julia Roberts and Red Om, Angelina Jolie and Legendary Pictures and Sofia Vergara with Latin World Entertainment Holdings.

Answer: Queen Latifah

Tough, eh? Could be any of the choices, but the correct answer is Dana Owens, a.k.a. Queen Latifah, who started Flavor Unit Entertainment with Shakim Compere in Jersey City, New Jersey. The company has since relocated to Miami, Florida and has produced such movies as "Beauty Shop" in 2005, and the television show "The Queen Latifah Show" from 1999-2001 (surprise, surprise!). Jennifer Lopez has a company called Nuyorican Productions; Beyonce's organization is called Parkwood Entertainment and Jennifer Hudson has a label called Arista Japan.

Answer: TriBeCa Productions

Founded by Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal in 1989, TriBeCa is named for the 'Triangle Below Canal Street' in lower Manhattan in New York City. They are also responsible for what has become the well-known Tribeca Film Festival, and they can take credit for creating jobs in NYC by having companies film in and around the city (instead of Toronto or Vancouver, Canada).
Quentin Tarantino is associated with A Band Apart; Henry Winkler founded Fair Dinkum, and 40 Acres and a Mule belongs to Spike Lee.

Answer: Leonardo DiCaprio

Among other movies, DiCaprio's Appian Way has produced "Public Enemies" with Johnny Depp in 2009, "Shutter Island" in 2010, and "The Wolf of Wall Street" in 2013 both starring (you'll never guess) Leonardo DiCaprio! In 2014 Netflix announced a partnership with Appian Way to produce a documentary film titled "Virunga", about endangered gorillas in Africa. DiCaprio is known as an environmentalist...I wonder if he still owns a Prius?
Companies for the other choices are: Lynch - Asymmetrical Productions, Clooney - SmokeHouse Productions and for Reiner - Castle Rock.

Answer: Norman Lear/Bud Yorkin

The answer is the prolific team of writer Norman Lear and director Bud Yorkin who founded Tandem Productions in 1958. Their innovative shows changed the face of situation comedy forever! Among the shows they produced are "All in the Family" (1971) based on the British sitcom "Till Death Us Do Part", "Maude" (1972-1978), "Good Times" (1974-1979) and "Sanford and Son" (1974-1977). Unlike the older comedies, where the biggest tragedy was not having a date for the prom, Lear and Yorkin touched on 'hot-button' issues like prejudice and abortion, and introduced us to stars like Carroll O'Connor, Esther Rolle, Charlotte Rae and, of course, 'Weezie'.

Answer: Worldwide Pants, Inc.

Worldwide Pants first production was, not surprisingly, "Late Night with David Letterman". The company also produced the "Late Late Show" (with Tom Snyder, Craig Kilborn and Craig Ferguson) and the wonderful sitcom "Everybody Loves Raymond", with Ray Romano, from 1996 through 2005.
Dog Eat Dog is Michael Moore; Panda Productions is Leonard Goldberg;
Happy Madison Productions, as you might suspect, belongs to Adam Sandler.
The only question left is...is there anyone who doesn't have a production company?