Robert Cohen
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Robert Cohen | |
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| Citizenship | Canadian |
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| Organization | Media Headquarters Film & Television Inc |
Robert Cohen is a Canadian television producer, director, and writer. He is the founder and chief executive officer of Media Headquarters, a Toronto-based production company specializing in unscripted and documentary programming. Cohen is best known as the creator of Canada's Smartest Person, a reality competition format for CBC Television that became one of the broadcaster’s most successful original series and later spawned spinoffs and international adaptations.[1][2]
Career
Cohen began his career directing and producing documentaries. His early short Zen Turkey received positive coverage in The Globe and Mail, which described it as a "glorious gem of Canadian comedy".[3]
He went on to produce Le Mozart Noir (2003), a documentary about the 18th-century composer Joseph Boulogne. The film was praised in The Globe and Mail as "great TV for your malnourished mind" and won the Banff Rockie Award for Best Arts Documentary.[4]
In 2006, Cohen produced and directed The Great Polar Bear Adventure, a family animated television film starring Howie Mandel in a lead voice role. The special was broadcast internationally and received strong praise. It was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Family Special and multiple Gemini Awards, including Best Direction in a Children’s or Youth Program or Series; it also claimed Best Children’s Production at the Yorkton Film Festival.[5]
In 2008, Cohen produced and originated the political mini-series The Summit for CBC Television. The project was a co-production between Media Headquarters and Shaftesbury Films, based on Cohen’s concept inspired by the G8 summit protest movement in 2002.[6] The series won the 2010 Gemini Award for Best Dramatic Mini-Series.[7]
Following this scripted work, Cohen expanded his focus on series unscripted formats and docu-reality series. Over the course of his career, he has produced and executive produced many factual entertainment and reality programs across family, lifestyle, docuseries, and competition formats. His credits include Outlaw In-Laws, Tessa & Scott, Salvage Kings, and The Brigade: Race to the Hudson.[8]
In 2012, Cohen developed Canada’s Smartest Person for CBC Television. The series became a ratings hit, named the network’s number-one new show.[9] It was later adapted into Canada’s Smartest Person Junior and sold to more than a dozen international territories. The series was the only original Canadian format nominated in 2016 for the Golden Screen Award for highest-rated reality series.
Media Headquarters
Cohen is the founder and CEO of Media Headquarters Film & Television Inc., a Canadian independent production company. The company has produced documentaries, factual entertainment, and both scripted and unscripted series.
In 2017, Media Headquarters was acquired by Kew Media Group as part of its expansion across leading Canadian production companies.[10] Following Kew’s collapse in 2020, Cohen reacquired full ownership of Media Headquarters.[11]
Recognition and industry activity
Cohen has been recognized as a creator of unscripted formats. He has been invited to speak at industry events including the Banff World Media Festival, the Canadian Media Producers Association’s Prime Time conference, and the Realscreen Summit, offering commentary on format creation and international format exploitation.
Selected filmography
- Zen Turkey (short) – director
- Atom Egoyan: A Road to Elsewhere (1999) – director
- The Traveller: This Land Is Your Land (2001) – producer/director
- Le Mozart Noir (2003) – producer – Winner, Banff Rockie Award for Best Performing Arts Program
- Souvenir of Canada (2005) – producer/writer
- The Four Seasons Mosaic (2005) – producer
- Modern Love (2005) – producer
- The Great Polar Bear Adventure (2006) – producer/director – Emmy and Gemini Award nominations
- Outlaw In-Laws (2007–2011) – creator/executive producer
- The Summit (2008) – creator/producer – Winner, Gemini Award for Best Dramatic Mini-Series
- Canada’s Smartest Person (2012–2018) – creator/executive producer – Nominee, Golden Screen Award for highest-rated reality series
- Tessa & Scott (2014–2015) – creator/executive producer
- Red Button (2017) – creator/executive producer
- Salvage Kings (2019–2023) – creator/executive producer
- The Brigade: Race to the Hudson (2019–2021) – creator/executive producer
- Canada’s Smartest Person Junior (2019) – creator/executive producer
- Got To Get Out (2024) – executive producer
- Million Dollar Secret (2024) – executive producer
References
- ↑ Kennedy, Mark (2014-09-28). "What makes someone smart? The creator of the CBC show Canada's Smartest Person explains". Toronto Star.
- ↑ "Is this Canada's Smartest Person?". The Globe and Mail. 2014-09-28.
- ↑ "Nothing serious please, we're talking turkey". The Globe and Mail. 1997-10-16.
- ↑ "Finally, great TV for your malnourished mind". The Globe and Mail. 2003-02-28.
- ↑ "Media Headquarters". Media Headquarters.
- ↑ "The Summit mini-series comes to CBC July 19, 26". TV, eh?. 2009-06-29.
- ↑ "25th Gemini Awards". Wikipedia.
- ↑ "Media Headquarters hires/promotes". C21 Media. 2021-07-08.
- ↑ "CBC's Canada's Smartest Person season 2..." University of Alberta. 2015-04-20.
- ↑ "Frantic Films, BGM among six to be acquired by Kew Media". Playback. 2017-02-02.
- ↑ "Media Headquarters CEO Robert Cohen buys back prodco from Kew Media Group". Playback. 2020-03-12.
External links
This article "Robert Cohen" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical. Articles taken from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be accessed on Wikipedia's Draft Namespace.