BILL WOLFF NAMED EXECUTIVE PRODUCER OF CHELSEA HANDLER'S NEW SERIES ON NETFLIX
Beverly Hills, Calif., September 2, 2015 -- Bill Wolff has been named executive producer of Chelsea Handler's radical refresh of the talk show for the global on-demand generation, premiering in all Netflix territories in 2016 for all members to enjoy however and whenever they like. It was also announced today that the show will be produced in Los Angeles.
The new talk show will feature an updated format that encompasses Chelsea's unfiltered opinions on topical entertainment and cultural issues, as well as her signature guest interviews.
"Bill is the visionary we have been looking for to create a dynamic new format that's global, informative and entertaining," said Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos. "He brings new creativity and fresh conversations to the talk show format that the on-demand generation and Chelsea's audience will care about."
"I could not be more thrilled to join Netflix and Chelsea Handler in transforming what we know to be the talk show," said Wolff. "Viewers love Chelsea and her ability to go to a place and ask the questions no one else will. I can't wait to work with these pioneers in the business to entertain and educate audiences around the world."
Wolff most recently served as executive producer of season 18 of ABC Television's The View. Prior to that, he was Vice President of Primetime Programming at MSNBC from 2005-2014 where he created and executive produced The Rachel Maddow Show from 2008 to 2014. He began his career at ESPN and won two Emmy Awards for Best Sports Journalism (1990 and 1996) for the network's Outside the Lines program. Following ESPN, Wolff embarked on a successful career as a screenwriter whose entrée to the field was the sale of Total Sports, a thriller about sports television and game fixing, to Scott Rudin at Paramount Pictures. He went on to write several studio scripts, including the 2005 Fox release Rebound.
In 2002, Wolff returned to television to create and produce ESPN's longstanding daily talk show Around the Horn. Wolff is an honors graduate of Harvard University, where he studied American history.
Chelsea Handler is one of the most exciting and successful figures in the entertainment industry. Handler was honored as one of Glamour Magazine's Women of the Year in 2011 and was also featured in TIME magazine's annual TIME 100. Both publications recognized Chelsea for her multiplatform success as a bestselling author, talk show host, stand-up comedian and actress.
As the host of E!'s Chelsea Lately, Handler was the only female to break into the otherwise male-dominated late night arena. She built Chelsea Lately into one of the highest rated shows on E! and ended her successful run on August 26th, 2014.
Handler is one of the leading nonfiction authors with five bestselling books currently in print and was named "one of the clear winners of 2010" by Publisher's Weekly. She recently released her fifth book Uganda Be Kidding Me about her travels, which was her fourth book to debut at #1 on the New York Times Bestseller List. In support of the release, Handler embarked on the "Uganda Be Kidding Me Live" tour, which included 35 cities in the U.S., Europe, Australia and New Zealand. The culmination of her aforementioned wildly popular international stand-up tour is now streaming as a Netflix original comedy special titled, Uganda Be Kidding Me, Live.
Uganda Be Kidding Me is the third book published by her Grand Central imprint "Borderline Amazing/A Chelsea Handler Book," the first was Lies That Chelsea Handler Told Me, and the second was Ross Mathew's book Man Up: Tales of My Delusional Self-Confidence which released in May 2013. On March 28th, 2010, Handler had three books ranked at #1, #2, and #3 on the Bestseller Lists simultaneously - a remarkable feat for any author.
She will next be seen starring in Chelsea Does, a Netflix documentary film series featuring Chelsea exploring four topics of personal and universal fascination: marriage, racism, technology, and drugs.
About Netflix
Netflix is the world's leading Internet television network with over 65 million members in over 50 countries enjoying more than 100 million hours of TV shows and movies per day, including original series, documentaries and feature films. Members can watch as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, on nearly any Internet-connected screen. Members can play, pause and resume watching, all without commercials or commitments.
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