Brian Grazer

For most of his long and illustrious career, Brian Grazer worked behind the scenes as director Ron Howard's dynamic producing partner, forming one of the most powerful and successful filmmaking duos working in Hollywood. Ever since teaming up with Howard on "Night Shift" (1982) and "Splash" (1984), Grazer developed a reputation as a highly influential creative with a strong sense for commercial stories and a sharp eye for emerging talent. In fact, Grazer has often been credited with having launched or boosted the careers of Michael Keaton, Tom Hanks, Val Kilmer, Meg Ryan and John Candy. Though he started in television production during the late 1970s, Grazer found his niche in features, churning out hit after hit while elevating his status through his partnership with Howard on Academy Award-worthy material like "Apollo 13" (1995), "A Beautiful Mind" (2002) and "Frost/Nixon" (2008). He eventually translated his feature success to the small screen with shows like "Arrested Development" (Fox, 2003-06), "24" (Fox, 2001-2010) and "Friday Night Lights" (NBC/DirecTV, 2006-11), but it was the many successful big screen projects that made Grazer one of the top producers for several decades.