Ben Karlin

Ben Karlin (born c. 1971) is an American television producer. He is an eight time Emmy-winning American writer and executive producer best known for his work in The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report. He is one of three co-creators of The Colbert Report along with Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart. Karlin left Comedy Central in December 2006.

His book, released February 2008, is a collection of essays entitled Things I've Learned From Women Who've Dumped Me. It contains essays by Andy Richter, Will Forte, David Wain, Stephen Colbert, Patton Oswalt, Bob Odenkirk, and many others. Karlin is also the co-editor of America (The Book) alongside Jon Stewart and David Javerbaum. He wrote for Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and The Onion from 1993-1996.

Contents

Background

Born and raised in Needham, Massachusetts, Karlin is a University of Wisconsin–Madison Alumnus. Karlin majored in journalism and served as a reporter at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. At The Onion Karlin is credited with coining the term "Area Man". After leaving The Onion, he moved to Los Angeles and worked as a script doctor for movies, including Ice Age, Monkeybone and Titan A.E..

After Comedy Central

In his post-The Daily Show life, Karlin has filed a lawsuit against Frappe Inc. for backing out of a book contract connected to a TV show hosted by Mario Batali and Gwyneth Paltrow.[1][2] In a counter-complaint filed on behalf of Frappe, Inc., e-mails are revealed as court evidence in which Ben Karlin is self-described as an “asshole” and “difficult.”[3][4] Additionally, Karlin has been involved in public conflicts with creative peers/partners such as Benjamin Wallace[5] over ownership of production rights to a wine-fraud related movie.

In August 2007, Karlin signed a deal with HBO to produce series, specials, and telepics under the banner of Picturehouse and Karlin's own company, Superego Industries.[6] In December 2008 it was revealed that SuperEgo Industries was the company behind WonderGlen, a comedy website purporting to be the company intranet for an eccentric group of Los Angeles TV and film producers.[7]

References

  1. ^ 'Daily Show' Alumnus Sues Over Batali Show from The New York Sun
  2. ^ Writer sues over Paltrow, Batali TV road trip from the Reuters
  3. ^ Ben Karlin: "I Can Be an Asshole. I Recognize That." from the Vanity Fair
  4. ^ N.Y. State Supreme Court Records (e-mails provided on page 20 of July 1, 2008 filing)
  5. ^ Oenophile Row: Brooklyn Stoopmates Race to Produce Wine-Fraud Flick from The New York Observer
  6. ^ "Daily Show" writer heads to HBO from Variety
  7. ^ Former Daily Show Producer Karlin is Humorist Behind WonderGlen Comedy Site from Xconomy

External links

Ian Frazier (1997) · The Onion (1999) · David Sedaris (2001) · Christopher Buckley (2004) · Jon Stewart, Ben Karlin and David Javerbaum (2005) · Alan Zweibel (2006) · Joe Keenan (2007) · Larry Doyle (2008) · Ian Frazier (2009) · Steve Hely (2010) · David Rakoff (2011)