John Powers Middleton
Middleton in 2016
Born (1984-01-01) January 1, 1984 (age 40)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Occupation(s)Film producer, television producer
Years active2010–present
Employer(s)The Middleton Media Group, The Affleck/Middleton Project, Vertigo Entertainment, Good Universe, Warner Brothers Entertainment, Univision Radio

John Powers Middleton (born January 1, 1984) is an American film and television producer. He began his film career as an executive producer for Oldboy (2013) before executive producing the A&E television series, Bates Motel (2013), and co-producing The Lego Movie (2014).[1] Middleton's production company, The Affleck/Middleton Project, produced the film Manchester by the Sea (2016), which was nominated for six Oscars, including Best Picture. The film won Oscars for Best Original Screenplay and Best Actor.[2]

Early life

John Powers Middleton is from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is the son of John S. Middleton, principal owner and general partner of the Philadelphia Phillies.[3] Middleton attended The Haverford School and later enrolled at Duke University and The University of Pennsylvania prior to pursuing a career in film.[4]

Career

John Powers Middleton began his career as an intern, assistant, and script supervisor for a number of companies and productions before partnering with Roy Lee under his Vertigo Entertainment banner in the fall of 2010.[1] In 2012, Middleton created and launched The Alfonso Aguilar Show, a 2-hour, drive time, nationally syndicated show on Univision Radio, and the first nationally syndicated conservative, Spanish language talk show in history.[5] In February 2013, Middleton and Lee entered a joint venture with Joe Drake and Nathan Kahane to launch Good Universe, an independent full-service film financing, production, and global sales company.[1][6]

John Powers Middleton with Tommy Wiseau, The Disaster Artist

John Powers Middleton and Casey Affleck formed a production company, The Affleck/Middleton Project, in June 2014.[1] While running the production company, Middleton continued to produce with Vertigo Entertainment, Good Universe, Univision Radio,[5] Warner Brothers Entertainment,[7] and Fox 21 Television Studios, the latter of which he left for Warner Bros. Television.[1][8]

Through these partnerships Middleton produced: The Lego Movie (2014), the A&E show Bates Motel, a reboot of the classic horror film Poltergeist, the Liam Neeson/Ed Harris thriller Run All Night, and Spike Lee's Oldboy, among others.[9] He also worked on Manchester by the Sea, which starred his producing partner, Casey Affleck.[10][11] The film was named the second best movie of 2016 by Rolling Stone,[12] and 2016 film of the year by the National Board of Review.[13] Middleton was a co-producer on The Lego Batman Movie (2017) and The Lego Ninjago Movie (2017),[14] and has also worked on the new Stephen King adaptation of It. In the future, he will produce The Stand, many Lego film sequels and the film adaptation of the video game Minecraft. [15] Middleton was an executive producer on The Disaster Artist (2017),[16] which was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards, including the Best Musical or Comedy Motion Picture. The film won the Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy.[17] The film was also nominated at the 2018 Oscars for Best Adapted Screenplay.[18]

During the 2017 and 2018 award season, two of Middleton's five films received recognition, including The Lego Batman Movie[19] which received a total of 41 nominations and The Disaster Artist received a total of 44 nominations across multiple categories and ceremonies.[20]

Political life

Middleton is active in Republican fundraising, political strategy, the youth movement, and media, with his first effort in creating and producing The Alfonso Aguilar Show.[5] He served as national co-chair for a year, from age 25, of the Republican National Committee's Young Eagles program.[21] In support of the Republican Party, Middleton has hosted a variety of events, including a 2015 fundraising event for the Jeb Bush candidacy for the Republican nomination in the 2016 United States presidential election.[22]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Credit
2013 Oldboy Executive producer
Undroppable Producer
2014 The Lego Movie Co-producer
The Voices Executive producer
Flight 7500
2015 Poltergeist
Hidden
Run All Night
2016 The Boy
2017 Sleepless
The Lego Batman Movie Co-producer
Death Note Executive producer
The Lego Ninjago Movie Co-producer
The Disaster Artist Executive producer
2018 The Stand
2019 Light of My Life Producer
Good Boys Executive producer
2020 The Grudge
The Turning
Desperados
2023 Nimona
Television
Year Title Credit
2013–2017 Bates Motel Executive producer (2013–2014)
Consulting producer (2015–2017)
Radio
Year Title Credit
2012–present The Alfonso Aguilar Show Creator, producer

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Ford, Rebecca (June 6, 2014). "Casey Affleck, John Powers Middleton's Production Company Hires John Ridley (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  2. ^ Donnelly (February 29, 2016). "Oscar Winners 2016: See The Complete List".
  3. ^ Narducci, Marc. "Children of Phillies managing partner John Middleton contribute to PHL COVID-19 Fund". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  4. ^ Goldman, Laura (June 2, 2015). "Sen. Ron Johnson Will Be Stunned to Find Out Who's Behind 'The Lego Movie' Conspiracy". The Huffington Post. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  5. ^ a b c Martin, Johnathan. "Alfonso Aguilar's Spanish talk-radio show debuts". American Principals Project. American Principles Project. Retrieved February 2, 2016.
  6. ^ McNary, Dave (January 27, 2013). "Middleton, Lee invest in Good Universe". Variety. Variety. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  7. ^ "Run All Night". Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
  8. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (March 4, 2013). "Vertigo Entertainment Inks First Look Deal With Fox 21 For Cable Series". Deadline. Deadline. Retrieved February 2, 2016.
  9. ^ Chang, Justin (March 10, 2015). "Film Review: 'Run All Night'". Variety. Variety. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
  10. ^ ""Manchester by the Sea" Wins at the Oscars". Boston Magazine. February 26, 2017. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  11. ^ Lapin, Andrew (March 8, 2017). "Could Your Production Company Be Donating to Trump Without Your Knowledge?". IndieWire. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  12. ^ "20 Best Movies of 2016". Rolling Stone. December 5, 2016. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  13. ^ Lang, Brent (November 29, 2016). "'Manchester by the Sea' Named Best Film of the Year by National Board of Review". Variety. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  14. ^ "The Lego Batman Movie (2017) - Financial Information". The Numbers. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  15. ^ Thompson, Anne (June 6, 2014). "Casey Affleck and John Powers Middleton Launch TV/Film Production Company". IndieWire. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  16. ^ "'The Disaster Artist': Film Review | SXSW 2017". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  17. ^ France, Lisa Respers. "Golden Globes: The winners list". CNN. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  18. ^ "Writing (Adapted Screenplay) Nominee | The Disaster Artist". oscar.go.com. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
  19. ^ "Lego Batman Movie: Nominations and awards - The Los Angeles Times". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  20. ^ "The Disaster Artist: Nominations and awards - The Los Angeles Times". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  21. ^ "National Republican Committee" (PDF). Portland Mercury. Portland Mercury. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
  22. ^ "Right to Rise super PAC". Political Party Time. Political Party Time. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
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