Paul Wernick
Encyclopedia
Television
Wernick created, executive-produced, and wrote The Joe Schmo ShowThe Joe Schmo Show
The Joe Schmo Show is a reality television parody show which aired on the American cable network Spike TV from 2003–2004. The show's premise is that a target person or persons are led to believe that they are contestants on a reality television show; in reality, all of the other participants in the...
with writing and producing partner Rhett Reese for Spike TV
Spike TV
Spike is an American cable television channel. It launched on March 7, 1983 as The Nashville Network , a joint venture of WSM, Inc...
. The critically acclaimed series drew Spike's highest ratings in history. Joe Schmo went on to be named to numerous "Best Of" lists, including Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
s "50 Best TV Shows Ever on DVD."
Reese and Wernick followed up with Joe Schmo 2. The Schmo format has sold internationally, in the UK, France, Spain, and New Zealand. Joe Schmo 2 was released on DVD in July, 2009.
On the heels of Joe Schmo 2, Spike TV fast-tracked the Reese and Wernick original series Invasion Iowa
Invasion Iowa
Invasion Iowa is a television mini-series that aired on Spike TV beginning on March 29, 2005, on ITV4 beginning on 3 November 2005 and The Comedy Channel in April 2007. The series depicts events from September 2004, in which William Shatner played a hoax on the small town of Riverside, Iowa by...
, a high concept, high stakes comedy hybrid starring William Shatner
William Shatner
William Alan Shatner is a Canadian actor, musician, recording artist, and author. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T...
. The show premiered on Spike in the first quarter of 2005 and aired internationally immediately following. Invasion Iowa was released on DVD in May, 2009.
Reese and Wernick created and executive-produced Stuck on ODB, a comedy reality show starring Ol' Dirty Bastard
Ol' Dirty Bastard
Russell Tyrone Jones was an American rapper and occasional producer, who went by the stage name Ol' Dirty Bastard or simply ODB...
(ODB) of the Wu Tang Clan. ODB died before the show ever aired.
Reese and Wernick also created, wrote and executive-produced the animated comedy pilot, "The Tomatoes," for MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
.
Film
Reese and Wernick wrote and executive-produced the critically acclaimed movie ZombielandZombieland
Zombieland is a 2009 American zombie comedy film directed by Ruben Fleischer from a screenplay written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. The film stars Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, and Abigail Breslin as survivors of a zombie apocalypse...
. The movie is produced by Sony Pictures and was released in theaters October 2, 2009.
Reese and Wernick sold their original feature pitch Earth Versus Moon to Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
, with Scott Stuber
Scott Stuber
-Biography:Stuber was Co-President of production at Universal Pictures with Mary Parent and in 2004, Stuber and Parent were named Vice Chairman of Worldwide Production for Universal Pictures. In 2005, Universal inked a production deal with the duo under the shingle Stuber/Parent Productions...
producing. They are slated to write and executive-produce this epic science fiction war movie.
Reese and Wernick are currently penning Venom
Venom (comics)
Eddie Brock is a fictional character created by David Michelinie and Todd McFarlane. A comic book supervillain, Brock's earliest appearance is a cameo in Web of Spider-Man #18 before making his first full appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #299 as Venom...
for Sony Pictures and Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
as well as writing the Deadpool script.
Reese and Wernick were hired to write the script for the sequel to G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.
Early career
Wernick has produced several network reality shows, including CBSCBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
's Big Brother 2
Big Brother 2
Big Brother 2 can refer to:*Big Brother , the 2002 Australian edition of Big Brother*Gran Hermano Argentina , the second 2001 Argentinian edition of Big Brother...
and ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's I'm a Celebrity... Get Me out of Here!.
Wernick has won three Emmy Awards for his work in news, which included producing stints at KVOA
KVOA
KVOA is a full-service NBC-affiliated television station serving Tucson, Arizona. It broadcasts in digital on UHF channel 23 from its transmitter on Mount Bigelow, northeast of Tucson. Per FCC regulations, the station identifies itself on television tuners as channel 4 through PSIP...
, KOLD
KOLD-TV
KOLD-TV is a full-service television station in Tucson, Arizona. It is the CBS affiliate in Tucson, Arizona, and is owned by Raycom Media. The station broadcasts in digital on UHF channel 32; it also carries Me-TV on digital subchannel 13.2...
, KTVK
KTVK
KTVK is a full-service, independent television station in Phoenix, Arizona. It broadcasts in digital on UHF channel 24 from a transmitter located on South Mountain in Phoenix, and can be seen across northern Arizona on a network of nearly two dozen translator stations...
, KSL
KSL-TV
KSL-TV, virtual channel 5, is an NBC-affiliated television station located in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. KSL-TV is owned by Bonneville International Corporation, which is in turn owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...
and KCAL
KCAL-TV
KCAL-TV, channel 9, is an independent television station in Los Angeles, California, USA, owned by the CBS Corporation. KCAL-TV shares its studio facilities with KCBS-TV inside CBS Studio Center in the Studio City section of Los Angeles, and its transmitter is located atop Mount Wilson.-Digital...
.
Reese and Wernick went to high school together in Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
.
Reese and Wernick partnered in 2001 to create Reese Wernick Productions, a company dedicated to the creation and production of entertainment in various media.