Brian Grazer

Brian Grazer is an American producer, film director, and the co-founder of Imagine Entertainment. With his co-founder and business partner Ron Howard, Grazer has been responsible for a myriad of movies, including but not limited to: Splash, Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, and The Da Vinci Code. Grazer is also the author of the popular autobiographical books A Curious Mind: The Secret to a Bigger Life, Face to Face: Twelve Ways to Sonic You With Potential, and co-author of the book with known publicist Charles Fishman, Power of the Story.

Grazer was born in Los Angeles, and raised in Encino in a middle-class home. Although Grazer is an Ashkenazi Jew and his family are from Eastern Europe, Grazer was raised as a Christian by his parents. Grazer was a part of the debate team in high school, and eventually studied at USC graduating with a degree in psychology. Though his dreams of being accepted into law school failed, he instead decided to use his intelligence and entertainment talent to pursue a career in Hollywood.

In 1982 Grazer and Ron Howard co-founded Imagine Entertainment, which went on to gain immediate success with their first movie Adaptation. Over the years, Grazer has become a prolific producer, having directed many hit films throughout the 1990s, including Apollo 13 and A Few Good Men. Grazer also produced Arrested Development, which ran on Fox from 2003-2006, Parenthood, which is currently in its sixth season on NBC, and 24, which is in its 10th season and can be viewed on Fox. Grazer also dipped into television production and adapted the Friday Night Lights movie into a six-season drama series in 2006.

Brian Grazer’s writing endeavors branch out far beyond the screen, though. In the 2015 New York Times Best Seller, A Curious Mind: The Secret to a Bigger Life, Grazer gives readers a chance to gain insight into his creative process. Through anecdotes and revelations about Grazer’s lifelong practice of “curiosity conversations” with scientists, entrepreneurs, and actors, Grazer expounds on how his approach to learning has shaped his success as a producer. Grazer also provides readers with numerous exercises and action items to apply to everyday life in hopes of cultivating a “curiosity mindset”. Grazer’s book is a must-read for those interested in uncovering their own creative potential and better understanding the science behind it.

Grazer has gone on to write further books in recent years, such as the 2019 Face to Face: Twelve Ways to Sonic You with Potential. This book is crafted around the idea of “sonicing”, a term Grazer uses as a corollary to “networking”, but in lieu of emphasizing quantity of contacts, places value over quality relationships. This book emphasizes how “sonicing” can open yourself up to opportunities and how it can take back control of your destiny in a largely unpredictable and ever-changing industry.

Overall, Brian Grazer has had an incredibly illustrious and noteworthy career in the film and television industries. His books offer a refreshingly unique insight into his creative processes. Grazer’s works are both entertaining and informative and are truly a must-read for entrepreneurs, creative planners, and anyone that is striving for success.