Jim Finnerty

Jim Finnerty is an American television producer specializing in gritty crime television. He is best known for co-producing along with Barry Levinson, the NBC cop drama "Homicide: Life On the Street" and the HBO prison drama "Oz." Finnerty began his collaboration with Levinson in 1993 as a unit production manager on "Homicide: Life On the Street," moving up to co-executive producer for the series' final season in 1998. Finnerty maintained the title of co-executive producer in his succeeding credits with Levinson. In 1997, he began work on the groundbreaking HBO prison series "Oz," as a co-executive producer in 1997-98 and returning as an executive producer in 2002-2003. In 2000 Finnerty worked with Levinson of the UPN series "The Beat," a police show with Celeste Holm and Mark Ruffalo that lasted for 13 episodes. They worked again on the 2001 HBO movie "Shot in the Heart," based on the life of executed robber Gary Gilmore. In 2004, Finnerty worked with Levinson on the Fox courtroom drama "The Jury," which lasted for 10 episodes. In 2006 he was the executive producer of the college-themed WB drama series "The Bedford Diaries," with co-creator Tom Fontana.