Vin Di Bona
Vin Di Bona | |
---|---|
Born | Vincent John Di Bona April 10, 1944 Cranston, Rhode Island, U.S. |
Other names | Johnny Lindy |
Alma mater | Emerson College University of California, Los Angeles |
Occupation | Television producer |
Employer(s) | Vin Di Bona Productions FishBowl Worldwide Media |
Notable work | MacGyver Entertainment Tonight America's Funniest Home Videos Dancing with the Stars |
Spouses |
Erica Gerard (m. 2006) |
Children | 1 |
Vincent John "Vin" Di Bona[1] (born April 10, 1944) is an American television producer of the television shows MacGyver, Entertainment Tonight, America's Funniest Home Videos and Dancing with the Stars. He runs an eponymous production company called Vin Di Bona Productions. In 2010, Di Bona launched a second business, FishBowl Worldwide Media, an independent production company developing properties for film, television, digital platforms and brands.
Early life
A native of Cranston, Rhode Island,[2] Di Bona began his career in the entertainment industry as a singer, under the stage name Johnny Lindy (the last name was taken from the Cranston area restaurant owned by his parents and where Di Bona worked as a pre-teen); releasing two records by the age of 16, which became hits regionally. However Di Bona turned his aspirations to making film and television in 1962, later saying "Guys who sang romantic ballads were up a creek without a paddle. So I adapted."[2]
Personal life
In 2006, Di Bona married Erica Gerard, a television production executive he had known from his days at CBS. He has a daughter, Cara Di Bona Swartz, and a step-daughter, Jamie Goldstein.
Education
He received an education at
Career
After he left WBZ-TV, Vin moved with his family to
Di Bona is considered one of the pioneers of
Di Bona's first two television series creations were spawned from Japanese programs. Di Bona developed the ABC series
America's Funniest Home Videos, currently in its thirty-fourth year and the longest-running primetime entertainment show on ABC, reached a milestone 600 episodes in 2017.
Di Bona was chair for The Caucus for Television Producers, Writers and Directors for four years. Having served for many years on the board of trustees for his alma mater, Emerson College, he is now the Board's vice-chairman. He is also chairman of Emerson's 2013 fund-raising committee and donated one million dollars to kick-start the effort. Di Bona received the 2,346th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Thursday, August 23, 2007. In 2009, objects from America's Funniest Home Videos were accepted into the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, including the camcorder used to shoot the first winning video in 1989.
Vin Di Bona is executive producer of Upload with Shaquille O'Neal, which features the basketball superstar and TNT NBA analyst Shaquille O'Neal. The show consists of O'Neal and friends rounding up the week's online video clips, as well as creating their own viral videos and commenting on and parodying current pop culture stories. [7] The TruTV show also counts executive producers Bruce Gersh, Susan Levison, attorney-executive producer Ellen Stiefler, and writer-executive producer Yahlin Chang among its staff. Vin Di Bona is bringing Dr. Mimi Guarneri's book The Heart Speaks to television at ABC as a weekly medical television drama with Sony Pictures Television.[8]
Controversy
In 1992, Arleen Sorkin, who was white, was fired as co-host from the television show America's Funniest People by Di Bona. In response, Sorkin filed a lawsuit against Di Bona, claiming that she was dismissed from the show due to her race, after ABC Chairman Dan Burke had suggested to Di Bona that Sorkin be replaced by an African-American or a person of another ethnic minority. Sorkin sought $450,000 for lost earnings and an additional unspecified amount for harm to her professional reputation and emotional injury. Sorkin additionally claimed that after she denounced the move as unfair, Di Bona changed plans and hired new cohost Tawny Kitaen, who is also white.[9]
In an interview for
In March 2019, DiBona's two production companies, Vin Di Bona Entertainment, Inc. and Fishbowl Worldwide Media, Inc., along with individual defendant Phil Shafran, were sued for sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual abuse, and retaliation by three former female employees. The lawsuit, Case No. 19STCV09487 is pending in Los Angeles Superior Court.[13]
References
- ^ Littleton, Cynthia. "Putting the fun in 'Home Videos'; Vincent John Di Bona, executive producer of television program America's Funniest Home Videos, Broadcasting & Cable, May 20, 1996.
- ^ a b c d Emily Benedek. "How the 'Funniest' Thing Happened; Vin Di Bona, Making 'Home Videos' Into a Sunday-Night Smash.", The Washington Post, April 3, 1990.
- ^ a b "Battle of the Network Reality Stars". Variety. 2008. Archived from the original on April 3, 2008.
Thirty two reality show celebrities engage in competitive physical and mental challenges against one another.
- ^ "Vin di Bona to get star on Hollywood Walk of Fame". Los Angeles Daily News. 23 August 2007.
- ^ "NBC sweeps up another win". USA Today. November 29, 1989. p. 3D. Retrieved July 19, 2020 – via ProQuest.
- ISBN 1-56980-008-1.
- ^ "Shaquille O'Neal TruTV series". Deadline Hollywood. 11 July 2012. Archived from the original on 12 September 2014.
- ^ "THE HEART SPEAKS". Variety. September 2012.
Yahlin Chang ("Pan Am") is on board to pen the hour, which is set up at Sony Pictures Television. She'll executive produce alongside Fishbowl Worldwide Media's Vin Di Bona, Bruce Gersh and Susan Levison as well as Ellen Stiefler.
[dead link] Alt URL - ^ "Former TV Co-Host Suing Producer". Buffalo News. 1993-04-18. Archived from the original on 2012-11-05. Retrieved 31 October 2010.
- ^ "Primetime Propaganda: DiBona Celebrates Blacklisting Conservatives". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2016-12-21.
- ^ Bond, Paul (2011-06-02). "TV executives confirm Hollywood's liberal agenda". Reuters. Retrieved 2016-12-21.
- ^ Goldstein, Patrick (2011-06-13). "'Propaganda' is hard to prove". Retrieved 2016-12-21.
- ^ "LA Court".