Marc Platt (producer)

Marc Platt
Born	(1957-04-14) April 14, 1957 (age 67) Pikesville, Maryland, U.S.
Alma mater	University of Pennsylvania NYU School of Law
Occupation(s)	Film, television and theatre producer
Known for	Filmography
Spouse	Julie Beren
Children	5, including Ben
Awards	Two Tony Awards Two Primetime Emmy Awards BAFTA Award Winner

Marc E. Platt (born April 14, 1957) is an American producer who has worked in film, theatre, and television. He has received numerous accolades including two Tony Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, as well as nominations for three Academy Awards.

Early life

Platt was born and raised in a Conservative Jewish home^[1][2][3] in Pikesville, Maryland, the son of Sue Ellen (née Sezzin), a schoolteacher, and Howard Platt, who worked in the retail shoe business.^[1][4] He has an older brother and a younger sister.^[4] He graduated from Pikesville High School in 1975 and the University of Pennsylvania in 1979, where he was a member of the University of Pennsylvania Glee Club. He then earned his Juris Doctor from the New York University School of Law and began his career as an entertainment attorney.^[5]

Career

Marc Platt Productions

Logo used since 2005
Industry	Film Production Television Stage
Founded	2001
Founder	Marc Platt
Headquarters	Universal City, California , U.S.
Key people	Marc Platt (Principal) Adam Siegel (President)
Website	marcplattproductions.com

Platt started producing in theatre, before moving into film. Platt was a business-affairs lawyer for (ICM) In- ternational Creative Management's superagent Sam Cohn, laying the essential groundwork of entertainment contacts. He was thirty-three years old when he replaced Mike Medavoy, at Orion Pictures, as production chief. After Orion,^[6] he served as president of production for two more movie studios:TriStar Pictures, and Universal Studios. Platt has since formed his own production company, Marc Platt Productions, within the Universal realm and continues to pursue creative projects. His company is responsible for the Legally Blonde films and the HBO miniseries Empire Falls.^[7]

Platt has produced a variety of feature films beginning with the 1987 comedy Campus Man. His films include Legally Blonde (2001), Wanted (2008), Rachel Getting Married (2008), Nine (2009), Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010), Drive (2011), The Girl on the Train (2016), and Cruella (2021). He also produced critically acclaimed films such as Steven Spielberg's Cold War drama Bridge of Spies (2015), Damien Chazelle's musical La La Land (2016), and Aaron Sorkin's legal drama The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020), all of which earned him Academy Award for Best Picture nominations.

He was executive producer of the two-part docudrama The Path to 9/11, shown on ABC on the fifth anniversary of 9/11 on September 10 and 11, 2006. The film was controversial and accused of having a political agenda and fictionalizing the events leading up to the September 11, 2001 attacks, especially those involving the Clinton administration.

He collaborated with Walt Disney Pictures producing numerous musicals for the studio including Into the Woods (2014), Mary Poppins Returns (2018), Aladdin (2019, as an executive producer), The Little Mermaid (2023) and the upcoming Snow White (2025), as well as Universal's Wicked films (2024–2025). In 2021 he produced a film adaptation of the musical Dear Evan Hansen (2021) which featured a leading performance from his son Ben Platt, who originated the title role on Broadway. This casting, however, led to accusations of nepotism against them for having Ben, at age 27, reprise his role as the teenage title character in the film.^[8][9] For his work on television he produced Grease Live! (2016), Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert (2018), and Rent: Live (2019) as well as the HBO projects Empire Falls (2005), and Oslo (2021).

Platt has produced numerous productions on the Broadway stage with his first official credit being Wicked earning his first Tony Award for Best Musical nomination. He was also nominated for Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical for Pal Joey in 2009 and Tony Award for Best Play for Indecent in 2017. He won the Tony Award for Best Musical for The Band's Visit in 2018 and for A Strange Loop in 2022.^[10] He will also produce the upcoming stage adaptation of La La Land.^[11]

Personal life

Platt and his wife Julie (née Beren) also a Penn graduate and trustee of the university,^[12] live in the Los Angeles area. They funded the construction of a performing arts rehearsal and performance space on the campus, the Platt Student Performing Arts House. Platt is a Penn Glee Club alumnus and supporter. His company has taken at least one Penn student intern a year since its inception.^[13]

The Platts have five children, including actor and singer Ben Platt.^{[citation needed]}

Filmography

He was a producer in all films unless otherwise noted.

Film

Year	Film	Credit	Notes
1987	Campus Man	Executive producer
2001	Josie and the Pussycats
	Legally Blonde
2003	Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde
	Honey
2005	Happy Endings	Co-producer
	The Perfect Man
2007	The Seeker
2008	Wanted
	Rachel Getting Married
2009	Legally Blondes		Direct-to-video
	The Other Woman
	Nine
2010	Cop Out
	Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
	Charlie St. Cloud
2011	Drive
	Honey 2	Executive producer
2013	Evidence
	2 Guns
2014	Song One
	Winter's Tale
	We'll Never Have Paris	Executive producer
	Lost River
	Mockingbird
	Into the Woods
	Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks	Executive producer
2015	Ricki and the Flash
	Bridge of Spies
2016	La La Land
	Honey 3: Dare to Dance	Executive producer	Direct-to-video
	The Girl on the Train
	Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk
2018	Hotel Artemis
	Nappily Ever After
	Mary Poppins Returns
2019	Aladdin	Executive producer
2020	The Trial of the Chicago 7
2021	Thunder Force
	Cruella
	Dear Evan Hansen
2022	Better Nate Than Ever
	Babylon
2023	The Little Mermaid
2024	Players
	Wicked
2025	Snow White
	How to Train Your Dragon
	Wicked: For Good

As an actor

Year	Title	Role
2022	Babylon	Producer

Thanks

Year	Film	Role
1991	The Addams Family	Special thanks
2013	Bananas	Special thanks; short film
2016	The Comedian	The producers wish to thank the following for their assistance

Cameo appearances

Year	Film	Notes
2001	Inside 'Legally Blonde'	Documentary
2003	The Hair That Ate Hollywood
2004	Wicked: The Road to Broadway
2007	ShowBusiness: The Road to Broadway
2020	Ben Platt Live from Radio City Music Hall	Concert film
2024	Wicked: The Real Story	Documentary

Television

Year	Title	Credit	Notes
2002	MDs	Executive producer
2003	Mr. Ambassador		Television film
	Legally Blonde		Television pilot
2005	Empire Falls
	Once Upon a Mattress		Television film
2006	The Path to 9/11
2009−10	Taking the Stage
2016	Grease: Live		Television special
2017	A Christmas Story Live!
2018	Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert
	A Very Wicked Halloween
2019	Rent Live!
2021	Oslo		Television film
2023	Scott Pilgrim Takes Off

As an actor

Year	Title	Role
2017	Curb Your Enthusiasm	Musical Director

Thanks

Year	Title	Role
2020	Saturday Night Seder	Special thanks
2024	Defying Gravity: The Curtain Rises on Wicked	With gratitude

Cameo appearances

Year	Title	Notes
2001	Backstage Pass
2004	Broadway: The American Musical	Episode: "Putting It Together"
2008	Max on Set: Wanted	Documentary
2024	Defying Gravity: The Curtain Rises on Wicked	Television special

Theatre

• 1983: Total Abandon (play, associate producer)
• 2003–present: Wicked (musical)
• 2006: Three Days of Rain (play)
• 2008–09: Pal Joey (musical, associate producer)
• 2014: If/Then (musical)
• 2016: Oh, Hello on Broadway (Play)
• 2017: War Paint (musical)
• 2017: Indecent (play)
• 2017–19: The Band's Visit (musical)
• 2021–23: A Strange Loop (musical)
• 2022-23: Topdog/Underdog (play)
• 2023: Fat Ham (play)
• 2024: Death Becomes Her (musical)
• 2025: Purpose (play)
• TBA: La La Land (musical)

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Production / Role	Result
2015	Academy Award	Best Picture	Bridge of Spies	Nominated
2016			La La Land	Nominated
2020			The Trial of the Chicago 7	Nominated
2004	Tony Award	Best Musical	Wicked	Nominated
2009		Best Revival of a Musical	Pal Joey	Nominated
2017		Best Play	Indecent	Nominated
2018		Best Musical	The Band's Visit	Won
2022			A Strange Loop	Won
2023		Best Revival of a Play	Topdog/Underdog	Won
2005	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Miniseries	Empire Falls	Nominated
2016		Outstanding Special Class Program	Grease Live!	Won
2018		Outstanding Variety Special (Live)	Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert	Won
2019			Rent: Live	Nominated
2021		Outstanding Television Movie	Oslo	Nominated
2021	People's Choice Awards	Drama Movie of the Year	Cruella	Won
2022	North Dakota Film Society	Best Picture	Babylon	Nominated

References

1. Berrin, Danielle (February 23, 2016). "Producer Marc Platt: The man behind "Wicked" and "Bridge of Spies" aspires to great art". The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. Platt grew up in an observant Conservative home in Maryland, where his family kept a kosher home, celebrated Shabbat and went to shul often.
2. Bloom, Nate (February 25, 2016). "The tribe at the Oscars, 2016". Times of Israel.
3. Wolfsiz, Francine (February 27, 2017). "La La Land: Who knew it was so Jewish". Times of Israel.
4. "On April 25, 2019, Sue Ellen Platt (née Sezzin); loving wife of Howard Platt; cherished mother of Dr. Jeffrey (Pamela) Platt, Marc (Julie) Platt, & Wendy (Scott) Newberger;". The Baltimore Sun. April 26, 2019.
5. Hughes, Samuel. "COVER STORY: Passion Plays". Pennsylvania Gazette. May/June 2006.
6. Lasswell, Mark (May 1991). "The Lost Tycoons". Spy (magazine). 5 (7): 71 – via Google Books.
7. Empire Falls cast biography. HBO Films.
8. "Ben Platt Is Facing Backlash Over His Latest Comments About The "Dear Evan Hansen" Film". BuzzFeed. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
9. "Dear Evan Hansen: Ben Platt, 27, hits back at 'rando jerks' after he's mocked with memes for portraying a teenager". The Independent. May 19, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
10. Jacobs, Julia (June 12, 2022). "Tony Awards 2022 Live Updates: 'A Strange Loop' Wins Best Musical". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 13, 2022.
11. Galuppo, Mia (February 7, 2023). "'La La Land' to Become a Broadway Musical". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 7, 2023.
12. "UPenn Trustees". University of Pennsylvania.
13. "Lead Gift Creates a Permanent Home for Student Performing Arts at Penn" Archived 2017-06-16 at the Wayback Machine. University of Pennsylvania (September 2005); accessed April 30, 2017.

External links

• Marc Platt at the Internet Broadway Database
• Marc Platt at IMDb
• Wicked biography