Mark Tinker

Born into a television family, Mark Tinker grew up to become a heralded television writer, director, and producer on a number of notable and award winning shows. The son of former head of NBC Grant Tinker, Mark started out as a television producer promptly after graduating from Syracuse University. He worked on the popular sitcom "The Bob Newhart Show" and acclaimed sports drama series "The White Shadow," which earned him his first Emmy nod. Throughout the 1980s he worked as a producer on the hit series "St. Elsewhere," which earned him a number of awards and nominations along with notoriety within the industry. By the 1990s he started directing, first TV series and then TV movies, steadily working his way up to helming such hits as "L.A. Law" and "Chicago Hope." Tinker was an Executive Producer on the entire run of the 1990s staple "NYPD Blue" and directed a number of episodes of the popular procedural. In the 2000s, he partnered with visionary David Milch on the critical smash "Deadwood" for HBO, a racy western series that he directed and helped produce. After this ended abruptly after three seasons, the two worked on their next project, the short-lived psychedelic surfer drama "John from Cincinnati." Meanwhile, Tinker was working on producing the "Grey's Anatomy" spin-off "Private Practice," a romantic dramedy series that proved to be a massive success.