Charlie Corwin is an American media executive and a producer of numerous movies and television series. He is the former CEO of Imagine Entertainment and former Co-Chairman and CEO of Endemol Shine Americas. His productions have been nominated for Academy awards, Golden Globes, Emmys and Spirit awards.
Life and career
Corwin was born and raised in New York City. He is a graduate of Horace Mann School, The University of Wisconsin, and New York University School of Law. Corwin began his career as an entrepreneur in 1999 at the Internet start-up Live Music Channel, a pioneer in video streaming and a leading provider of live concert performances for television and the internet. He was Co-Founder and President. In 2002 Corwin co-founded Original Media, a production company based in New York. While serving as CEO, he created multiple hit TV series and formats, as well as critically acclaimed box office successes. In television, Corwin is widely considered an innovator for his creation of subculture specific docu-series such as "Miami Ink” and its popular spinoffs, "LA Ink" and "NY Ink," as well as the breakout successes "Swamp People” and “Storm Chasers”. He also co-created “Comic Book Men" with Kevin Smith and "The Rachel Zoe Project”. In 2009, he co-created the scripted drama “The Philanthropist” for NBC with Tom Fontana and Jim Juvonen. Corwin has produced numerous feature films that have been nominated for a total of 14 Spirit Awards, 3 Golden Globes, and 2 Academy Awards. Among them, “The Squid and the Whale,” “Half Nelson,” “A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints,” “August,” “Twelve” and “Sunlight Jr.” Endemol acquired a majority stake in Original Media in November 2007, after which Corwin remained CEO and continued to grow the business. In 2013 Endemol purchased the remaining ownership in the company from Corwin and appointed him Co-Chairman and CEO of Endemol North America. As Co-Chairman and CEO of Endemol Shine North America, together with his partner Cris Abrego, Corwin and Abrego lead the North American division of Endemol Shine Group, the merged global independent content creator, producer and distributor with a diverse portfolio of companies that are behind some of the most prominent hit television formats and series in the world. Corwin and Abrego were in charge of the division's unscripted programming, including hits such as CBS’ “Big Brother” and FOX's “MasterChef” as well as scripted series from its Endemol Shine Studios, producers of AMC's “Hell on Wheels,” DirecTV's “Kingdom” and HBO's drama “Utopia". They also oversaw live event specials including "Pitbull's New Year's Revolution" on FOX, and syndicated series "Steve Harvey" and "Page Six TV". Also under their purview was Endemol Beyond USA, the company's digital unit, which launched global lifestyle network ICON with Michelle Phan and subsidiary production companies including Authentic Entertainment, Original Media, True Entertainment and 51 Minds Entertainment. In 2014 Endemol announced a joint venture with 21st Century Fox company Shine Group and Apollo's CORE Media Group. Corwin and Abrego oversaw the merger and integration of Endemol and Shine in the Americas. Corwin left Endemol Shine at the end of 2016 and in January 2017 became the CEO of Imagine Entertainment, reporting to founders Brian Grazer and Ron Howard. He joined shortly after a $100m investment from Raine Group. As of December 2018, Corwin has joined the advisory board of Uproxx Media Group. In 2019, Corwin has joined “Crazy Rich Asians” producer SK Global as co-CEO. SK Global co-chairmen Sidney Kimmel and Robert Friedland and CEO and president John Penotti made the announcement Thursday, March 7 and said the hire is part of SKE's push to aggressively expand its worldwide production of premium content for all platforms.
