Ben Karlin (born c. 1971) is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television producerThe primary role of a television producer is to control all aspects of production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...
.
He is an eight time Emmy-winning
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
writer and executive producer best known for his work in
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and
The Colbert ReportThe Colbert Report is an American satirical late night television program that airs Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central in the United States and on both The Comedy Network and CTV in Canada...
. He is one of three co-creators of
The Colbert Report (along with
Stephen ColbertStephen Tyrone Colbert is an American political satirist, writer, comedian and television host. He is the host of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, a satirical news show in which Colbert portrays a caricatured version of conservative political pundits.Colbert originally studied to be an actor,...
and
Jon StewartJonathan "Jon" Stewart is an American political satirist, writer, television host, actor, media critic and stand-up comedian...
). Karlin left Comedy Central in December 2006. His book, released February 2008, is a collection of essays entitled
Things I've Learned From Women Who've Dumped Me.
Ben Karlin (born c. 1971) is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television producerThe primary role of a television producer is to control all aspects of production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...
.
He is an eight time Emmy-winning
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
writer and executive producer best known for his work in
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and
The Colbert ReportThe Colbert Report is an American satirical late night television program that airs Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central in the United States and on both The Comedy Network and CTV in Canada...
. He is one of three co-creators of
The Colbert Report (along with
Stephen ColbertStephen Tyrone Colbert is an American political satirist, writer, comedian and television host. He is the host of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, a satirical news show in which Colbert portrays a caricatured version of conservative political pundits.Colbert originally studied to be an actor,...
and
Jon StewartJonathan "Jon" Stewart is an American political satirist, writer, television host, actor, media critic and stand-up comedian...
). Karlin left Comedy Central in December 2006. His book, released February 2008, is a collection of essays entitled
Things I've Learned From Women Who've Dumped Me. It contains essays by
Andy RichterPaul Andrew "Andy" Richter is an American actor, writer and comedian. He is best known for his sidekick role on Late Night with Conan O'Brien between 1993 and 2000...
,
Will ForteOrville Willis Forte IV, best known as Will Forte is an American actor, writer, and comedian.-Early life:Forte was born in Alameda County, California, the son of Patricia C. and Orville Willis Forte III. He was raised in Lafayette, California and graduated from Acalanes High School and UCLA with...
,
David WainDavid Benjamin Wain is an American comedian, writer, actor and director. He is best known for the feature films Role Models, Wet Hot American Summer, the 1990s' sketch comedy series The State, and the Comedy Central show Stella...
,
Stephen ColbertStephen Tyrone Colbert is an American political satirist, writer, comedian and television host. He is the host of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, a satirical news show in which Colbert portrays a caricatured version of conservative political pundits.Colbert originally studied to be an actor,...
,
Patton OswaltPatton Oswalt is an American stand-up comedian, writer and actor.-Personal life:Oswalt was born in Portsmouth, Virginia, to Carla and Larry J. Oswalt. He grew up in Sterling, Virginia and is a 1987 graduate of Broad Run High School in Ashburn, Virginia...
,
Bob OdenkirkRobert "Bob" Odenkirk is an American comedian, actor, writer, director and producer. Odenkirk is best known as the co-creator and co-star of the HBO sketch comedy series Mr. Show.-Early life:...
, and many others.
Karlin is also the co-editor of
America (The Book)America : A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction is a 2004 non-fiction book written by Jon Stewart and other writers of The Daily Show that parodies and satirizes American politics and worldview...
alongside
Jon StewartJonathan "Jon" Stewart is an American political satirist, writer, television host, actor, media critic and stand-up comedian...
and
David JaverbaumDavid Javerbaum is an American comedy writer and former executive producer of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He was hired as a staff writer there in 1999, promoted to head writer in 2002 and attained EP status at the end of 2006. He has won eleven Emmy Awards, two Peabody Awards and Television...
. He wrote for
Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and
The OnionThe Onion is an American "news satire" organization. It features satirical articles reporting on international, national, and local news as well as an entertainment newspaper and website known as The A.V. Club...
from 1993-1996.
Born and raised in
Needham, MassachusettsNeedham is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. A suburb of Boston, its population was 28,911 at the 2000 census. The population as of August 10, 2008 is 31,834.- History :...
, Karlin is a
University of Wisconsin–MadisonThe University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
Alumnus. Karlin majored in journalism at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and served as a reporter at the
1992 Summer OlympicsThe 1992 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain in 1992.-Host city selection:...
in Barcelona. At
The OnionThe Onion is an American "news satire" organization. It features satirical articles reporting on international, national, and local news as well as an entertainment newspaper and website known as The A.V. Club...
Karlin is credited with coining the term "Area Man". After leaving the
The OnionThe Onion is an American "news satire" organization. It features satirical articles reporting on international, national, and local news as well as an entertainment newspaper and website known as The A.V. Club...
, he moved to
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the municipality of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123.445 inhabitants...
and worked as a
script doctorA script doctor is a skilled screenwriter called in to assist a film project by rewriting parts of the screenplay to improve dialogue, pacing and other elements...
for movies, including
Ice Age,
MonkeyboneMonkeybone is a 2001 film that combines live-action with stop-motion animation. It was based on Kaja Blackley's graphic novel Dark Town...
and
Titan A.E.Titan A.E. is a 2000 animated post-apocalyptic science fiction adventure film directed by both Don Bluth and Gary Goldman. The title refers to the spacecraft that is central to the plot, with A.E. meaning "After Earth."...
.
In his post-
The Daily Show life, Karlin has filed a lawsuit against Frappe Inc. for backing out of a book contract connected to a TV show hosted by
Mario BataliMario Batali is an American chef, writer, restaurateur and media personality.-Personal history:Batali was born in Yakima, Washington, of Italian, English, and French Canadian ancestry. He moved to Spain with his family in 1975 and returned to the U.S. in 1978 to attend Rutgers University...
and
Gwyneth PaltrowGwyneth Kate Paltrow is an American actress.The daughter of Bruce Paltrow and Blythe Danner, Paltrow dropped out of her university to follow an acting career. She began her career in theatre in 1990, and made her film debut the following year...
. In a counter-complaint filed on behalf of Frappe, Inc., e-mails are revealed as court evidence in which Ben Karlin is self-described as an “asshole” and “difficult.” Additionally, Karlin has been involved in public conflicts with creative peers/partners such as Benjamin Wallace over ownership of production rights to a wine-fraud related movie.
In August 2007, Karlin signed a deal with HBO to produce series, specials and telepics under the banner of
PicturehousePicturehouse was a specialty film production and distribution company formed in as a joint-venture of New Line Cinema and HBO Films, both divisions of Time Warner. In , Picturehouse was shut down....
and Karlin's own company, Superego Industries. In December 2008 it was revealed that SuperEgo Industries was the company behind WonderGlen, a comedy website purporting to be the company intranet for an eccentric group of Los Angeles TV and film producers.
External links