I Hope You Dance:
The Wolper Organization
The Wolper Organization, under the leadership of David Wolper and his son Mark Wolper, has been responsible for the creation of over 500 films, which have won more than 150 awards, including two Oscars, 50 Emmys, seven Golden Globes, five Peabodys, and recognition and retrospectives from The Festival De Cannes and other respected international film festivals. David Wolper is also credited for creating the television miniseries, with 1967s The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, and for creating the docudrama, with that same years They've Killed President Lincoln.
Currently, the Wolper's have over 25 hours of longform programming in development at various broadcast and cable networks. They are producing the runaway hit Penn & Teller's BULLSH*T!, hosted by the famous magicians and devoted skeptics for SHOWTIME. Throughout its history, The Wolper Organization has created innovative and breathtaking ways to bring important and meaningful stories to the public. With an emphasis on quality, the Wolper's have found ongoing success in the entertainment business.
Mark Wolper has been producing for television and film for over 20 years and, as president of the Wolper Organization, he has been involved in some of the most influential projects in entertainment including the Academy Award(r)-winning "L.A. Confidential" starring Russell Crowe, Kevin Spacey and Kim Basinger; the multiple Emmy(r)-nominated mini-series "The Mists of Avalon" starring Anjelica Huston, Julianna Margulies and Joan Allen; the miniseries Queen, which was nominated for eight Emmys; and the Emmy-winning Murder in Mississippi. "The Thornbirds," starring Richard Chamberlain and Amanda Donohoe; and the Emmy(r)-nominated and NAACP-winning mini-series "Queen" starring Halle Berry.
Mark Wolper began his producing career for television and film in 1981 as an independent producer working with studios such as Warner Bros., Showtime Networks, MGM and Disney on a variety of projects ranging from short films and documentaries to mini-series and foreign feature films. Wolper has steered the Wolper Organization into feature film production with Murder in the First, starring Christian Slater and Kevin Bacon; Surviving Picasso, starring Anthony Hopkins; and the Academy Award(r)-winning L.A. Confidential.
In 1987, he joined his father David Wolper, himself a well-known figure in the entertainment industry who founded the company in 1958, in leading The Wolper Organization.