James G Hirsch

James G. Hirsch, one of Hollywood’s most inventive and successful writer-producers, co-founded Papazian-Hirsch Entertainment with partner Robert A. Papazian in 1988. The partnership continues today as one of Holly- wood’s most productive and respected companies. In 2005, Papazian and Hirsch received the coveted ARPA International Film Festival Lifetime Achievement Award For outstanding and lasting contribution to the arts”. The award, given at a banquet at the Sheraton Universal Hotel and attended by over six hundred film enthusiasts, was the culmination of a long and storied career for both artists. Hirsch has been the executive producer, producer or writer of more than 40 television movies, series and miniseries, including The Rape of Richard Beck (ABC), for which he was nominated for a Writer’s Guild of America Award and for which Richard Crenna won the Emmy; a Media Access Award nomination for In the Best Interest of the Child (CBS). Other distinguished productions include The Outsiders (Fox TV), Willing to Kill: The Texas Cheerleader Story (ABC), Line of Fire: The Morris Dees Story (NBC), The China Lake Murders (USA Cable), Guts and Glory: The Rise and Fall of Oliver North (CBS), and The Deadly Tower (NBC). Papazian-Hirsch productions also include the long running CBS hit hour dramatic series Nash Bridges starring Don Johnson, the top-rated four-hour miniseries, The Invaders, starring Scott Bakula, and five Hart to Hart televi- sion movies starring Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers. Television movies include Crazy from the Heart (TNT) for which Christine Lahti won the coveted Ace Award; and the highly acclaimed ABC Theater Presentation, The Boys, star- ring John Lithgow and James Woods. Papazian-Hirsch was also responsible for the recent HBO series, Rome, serving as co-producers on the series. James Hirsch was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, where he worked summers as an assistant director at the CBS affiliate, KMOX. He attended the University of Wisconsin, where he studied creative writing under Nobel Prize laureate Isaac Bashevis Singer. After college Hirsch moved to California, where he sold his first original television script, No Place to Run to the ABC network. Since that time, he has been active as a writer, producer and show-runner on such productions as Joseph Wambaugh’s The Blue Knight, The Incredible Hulk, Starman and The Outsiders. In addition to their impressive productions, Jim and his P-H partner Bob Papazian created and co-founded their own motion picture and television facility in 1998. Ray-Art Stu- dios became a full-service, state of the art facility which housed many of Hollywood’s leading independent producers, major studios and TV networks, including MGM, Fox, Disney, Paramount, Warner Bros., NBC, ABC, TNT and Spelling, among others. In 2005, Bob and Jim became principals with GI Partners, the $526 million private equity fund, in the ownership of Hollywood’s legendary Sunset-Gower Studios, formerly Columbia Pictures and the private office domain of Columbia’s movie mogul Harry Cohn. The 18-acre facility along Sunset Boulevard, features 12 motion picture and television sound stages and was recently sold to new owners. Papazian and Hirsch served as Executive Producers on three motion pictures for Warner’s Home Video under the “Raw Feed label: Rest Stop, Sublime and The Believers. All three movies are currently in release. An independent film, LEAST AMONG SAINTS, hit theaters in 2013. The story of a marine returning home after two tours of duty in Iraq, and his unusual road to redemption, has gathered considerable attention. The Volunteers of America, The GE Veterans’ Network and many others have teamed with the filmmakers to promote the film in support of their work with returning Veterans. In the fall of 2005 Hirsch began teaching a master class in screenwriting at his alma mater, the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 2017 marks his 13th year as Adjunct Professor of Film and TV at UW-Madison. He has also joined the faculty of Arizona State University as an adjunct professor and a member of the Advisory Board for ASU’s new En- tertech division. Upcoming projects include: STORMS, a major feature film with director Roger Donald- son (No Way Out, 13 Days, November Man), and Charles Hannah (World’s Fastest Indian). A stage adaptation of the award winning TV movie; Love Among The Ruins, which starred Katharine Hepburn and Laurence Olivier and was directed by the legendary George Cukor. Gone To Wichita, starring Robert Wagner and Michael Bolton and directed by award winning director Simon Wincer. Orphan Train, in partnership with Mimi Rogers and Chris Ciaffa (Unstoppable).