ACTOR FUN FACTS & BIO
Executive Producer: Fax Bahr
Comedy veteran and executive producer of NBC's new improv comedy series, "Thank God You're Here," Fax Bahr started out as a documentary filmmaker.
Bahr's documentary, "Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse," which he co-directed with Eleanor Coppola, chronicled the making of Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocalypse Now." The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and won numerous accolades for Bahr, including a Primetime Best Director Emmy, the D.W. Griffith Award, and Best Documentary Award from the National Film Board of Canada. Gene Siskel called it "The best film of 1991."
He and producing partner, Adam Small, began working together on the writing staff of "In Living Color"; and went on to create "Mad TV" for Fox (currently in 12th season), "Blue Collar TV" and "The Jamie Kennedy Experiment" for the WB, and the UPN claymation series "Gary & Mike." They have also written and produced for the big screen, including "Malibu’s Most Wanted" for Warner Brothers and "Son-In-Law" for Disney.
While writing for "In Living Color," Bahr and Small teamed up with the cast to create some of the show's premier characters, including Jim Carrey’s Fire Marshal Bill. They wrote two of the four original sketches in the landmark Super Bowl half-time special, and were segment directors for many of the sketches shot on location. Their two seasons resulted in two Emmy nominations and two NAACP Image Awards.
Bahr and Small left "In Living Color" to co-write and executive produce the pilot for the John Leguizamo sketch comedy series "House of Buggin'." Soon after, they co-wrote the hit film "Son-In-Law" for Disney’s Hollywood Pictures. They were then hired by Quincy Jones and David Salzman to create and executive produce the late-night sketch comedy "MAD TV" (270 episodes and counting). After spending three seasons establishing the series, they went to create and executive produce the stop-motion animated series "Gary & Mike" for UPN, hailed as “a worthy heir to 'The Simpsons'” by Rolling Stone Magazine.
Next, they teamed up with Jamie Kennedy to create the groundbreaking hidden camera series "The Jamie Kennedy Experiment" for the WB. While producing the series, they wrote and produced "Malibu’s Most Wanted" for Warner Brothers, featuring Jamie Kennedy as Brad Gluckman, one of his stand out characters from the show. They then partnered up with stand up comedy stars Jeff Foxworthy, Larry The Cable Guy and Bill Engvall to create the sketch series "Blue Collar TV" for the WB.
Bahr and Small recently completed writing "All For One," their original comedy screenplay for Universal Pictures and Bedford Falls, and in September '06, launched "Foxworthy's Big Night Out," a variety series for CMT starring Jeff Foxworthy, featuring comedy and musical performances from country music's biggest stars.
Regarding his experience as executive producer of the tightrope, high wire improv world of "Thank God You're Here," Bahr says, "I've never had so much fun staking my career on a show that, while you tape the show, you have no idea how it's going to turn out."
Read more about Fax's producing partner, Adam Small.