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John Powers Middleton

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John Powers Middleton
Middleton in 2017
Born (1984-01-01) January 1, 1984 (age 40)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
EducationDuke University
University of Pennsylvania
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]

Middleton was co-producer on the animated action-adventure film, The Lego Batman Movie (2017), which won or has been nominated for over 80 awards.[3] He also served as an executive producer on The Disaster Artist (2017), which was chosen by the National Board of Review as one of the top ten films of 2017.[4] At the 75th Golden Globe Awards, James Franco won the award for Best Actor – Musical or Comedy for his role in the film, which was also nominated for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.[5] Franco received a nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role at the 24th Screen Actors Guild Awards, and the film earned a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay at the 90th Academy Awards.[6]

In 2023, Middleton executive produced the animated feature Nimona, which garnered nominations for Best Animated Feature at the Critics' Choice Awards, Annie Awards, and Academy Awards.[7]

As of 2024, Middleton's 30 films and 2 television series have a cumulative box office of $1.59 billion.[8] These projects have been nominated for 1,008 awards, winning 314, including 9 Academy Award nominations (with 2 wins) and 8 Golden Globe nominations (with 2 wins).[9]

Middleton is also a co-owner of the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team.[10]

Early life

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John Powers Middleton is from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is the son of John S. Middleton, principal owner and general partner of the Philadelphia Phillies.[11] Middleton attended The Haverford School and later enrolled at Duke University and The University of Pennsylvania prior to pursuing a career in film.[12]

Career

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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.[13] 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][14]

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,[13] Warner Brothers Entertainment,[15] and Fox 21 Television Studios, the latter of which he left for Warner Bros. Television.[1][16]

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.[17] He also worked on Manchester by the Sea, which starred his producing partner, Casey Affleck.[18][19] The film was named the second best movie of 2016 by Rolling Stone,[20] and 2016 film of the year by the National Board of Review.[21] Middleton was a co-producer on The Lego Batman Movie (2017) and The Lego Ninjago Movie (2017),[22] 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.[23] Middleton was an executive producer on The Disaster Artist (2017),[24] 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.[25] The film was also nominated at the 2018 Oscars for Best Adapted Screenplay.[26]

During the 2017 and 2018 award season, two of Middleton's five films received recognition, including The Lego Batman Movie[27] which received a total of 41 nominations and The Disaster Artist received a total of 44 nominations across multiple categories and ceremonies.[28]

Political life

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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.[13] He served as national co-chair for a year, from age 25, of the Republican National Committee's Young Eagles program.[29] 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.[30]

As of June 2016, John Powers Middleton was the top donor to Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.[31]

Filmography

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Film
Year Title Credit
2013 Oldboy Executive Producer
2013 Undroppable Producer
2014 Flight 7500 Executive producer
2014 The Lego Movie Co-producer
2014 The Voices Executive producer
2014 The Woman in Black 2 Executive producer
2015 Hidden Executive producer
2015 Poltergeist Executive producer
2015 Run All Night Executive producer
2016 The Boy Executive producer
2016 Manchester by the Sea Special Thanks
2017 Can't Take it Back Executive producer
2017 Death Note Executive producer
2017 Sleepless Executive producer
2017 The Disaster Artist Executive producer
2017 The Lego Batman Movie Co-producer
2017 The Lego Ninjago Movie Co-producer
2018 Extinction Executive producer
2018 The Stand Executive producer
2019 Always Be My Maybe Executive producer
2019 Good Boys Executive producer
2019 Light of My Life Producer
2019 Long Shot Executive producer
2019 The Grudge Executive producer
2020 Desperados Executive producer
2020 The Turning Executive producer
2023 Nimona Executive producer
2024 The Waterboyz Executive producer
Television
Year Title Credit
2013–2017 Bates Motel Executive producer (2013–2014)
Consulting producer (2015–2017)
2022 Women of the Movement Executive producer
Radio
Year Title Credit
2012–present The Alfonso Aguilar Show Creator, producer

Controversy

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Middleton owns two properties in the Hollywood Hills that were attacked by trespassers and vandals on September 18 and 21, 2024. The vandals tagged both houses wall to wall with graffiti, which became an international news story.[32]

Both mansions were repainted and repaired within a week.[33]

References

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  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. ^ The Lego Batman Movie (2017) - Awards - IMDb. Retrieved August 23, 2024 – via www.imdb.com.
  4. ^ National Board of Review Admin (November 28, 2017). "NATIONAL BOARD OF REVIEW ANNOUNCES 2017 AWARD WINNERS". National Board of Review. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  5. ^ Huff, Lauren (January 7, 2018). "Golden Globes: James Franco, Tommy Wiseau Accept Award for Best Actor for 'The Disaster Artist'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
  6. ^ "After years of criticism, the hashtag for this year's Oscar nominations could be #ItsAboutTime". Los Angeles Times. January 23, 2018. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
  7. ^ Giardina, Carolyn (January 11, 2024). "'Nimona' Leads Annie Awards Animated Feature Competition With Nine Noms; Snubs Include 'Wish,' Which Was Shut Out". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  8. ^ "Home". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  9. ^ "John Powers Middleton | Producer". IMDb. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  10. ^ Gelb, Matt. "The Phillies sold 16% of the team: What it means for owner John Middleton, the club's future". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 28, 2024.
  11. ^ Narducci, Marc (May 7, 2020). "Children of Phillies managing partner John Middleton contribute to PHL COVID-19 Fund". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  12. ^ 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.
  13. ^ a b c Martin, Johnathan. "Alfonso Aguilar's Spanish talk-radio show debuts". American Principals Project. American Principles Project. Retrieved February 2, 2016.
  14. ^ McNary, Dave (January 27, 2013). "Middleton, Lee invest in Good Universe". Variety. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  15. ^ "Run All Night". Warner Bros. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
  16. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (March 4, 2013). "Vertigo Entertainment Inks First Look Deal With Fox 21 For Cable Series". Deadline. Retrieved February 2, 2016.
  17. ^ Chang, Justin (March 10, 2015). "Film Review: 'Run All Night'". Variety. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
  18. ^ ""Manchester by the Sea" Wins at the Oscars". Boston Magazine. February 26, 2017. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  19. ^ Lapin, Andrew (March 8, 2017). "Could Your Production Company Be Donating to Trump Without Your Knowledge?". IndieWire. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  20. ^ "20 Best Movies of 2016". Rolling Stone. December 5, 2016. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  21. ^ 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.
  22. ^ "The Lego Batman Movie (2017) - Financial Information". The Numbers. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  23. ^ Thompson, Anne (June 6, 2014). "Casey Affleck and John Powers Middleton Launch TV/Film Production Company". IndieWire. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  24. ^ "'The Disaster Artist': Film Review | SXSW 2017". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  25. ^ France, Lisa Respers. "Golden Globes: The winners list". CNN. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  26. ^ "Writing (Adapted Screenplay) Nominee | The Disaster Artist". oscar.go.com. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
  27. ^ "Lego Batman Movie: Nominations and awards - The Los Angeles Times". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  28. ^ "The Disaster Artist: Nominations and awards - The Los Angeles Times". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  29. ^ "National Republican Committee" (PDF). Portland Mercury. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
  30. ^ "Right to Rise super PAC". Political Party Time. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
  31. ^ "Top Donors for Donald Trump, 2016 cycle". OpenSecrets.org. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
  32. ^ "Two abandoned mansions owned by a Hollywood producer are covered in graffiti". NBC News. September 25, 2024. Retrieved September 30, 2024.
  33. ^ Chidbachian, Alexi (September 26, 2024). "Graffiti-filled Hollywood Hills mansions cleaned up". FOX 11. Retrieved September 30, 2024.
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