James Lawrence Brooks (born May 9, 1940) is a producer, screenwriter, director, and occasional actor whose works are usually critical hits. He is friends and a frequent collaborator with music composer
Hans Zimmer. He also has his own production company.
Won
Academy Awards for picture, director and screenplay for
Terms of Endearment, and was also nominated for producing
Broadcast News,
Jerry Maguire, and
As Good as It Gets and for writing
Broadcast News and
As Good as It Gets. He is one of only seven directors to win for writing, directing and producing a film.
note The others are Leo McCarey (Going My Way), Billy Wilder (The Apartment), Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather Part II), Peter Jackson (Return of the King) and The Coen Brothers (No Country for Old Men). Outside of his films, Brooks is also known as one of the executive producers and original creators of the long-running FOX animated sitcom
The Simpsons (joining
Matt Groeningnote who created the characters and did write a few episodes in its early days, mostly the season one episodes and season three's "Colonel Homer" and the late Sam Simon).
Gracie FilmsBrooks' production company, established in 1984 and named for comedienne Gracie Allen.
The
Vanity Plate takes place in a cinema room where a lady shushes noisy attendees as the lights dim, and the words "GRACIE FILMS" appear on screen while accompanied by a
catchy, jazzy, jingle composed by Jeffrey Townsend. On
The Simpsons Halloween episodes ("Treehouse of Horror"), the lady's "Shh!" is changed to a scream while the catchy, jazzy jingle is replaced with creepy organ music.
Some people have said that the jingle was inspired by the chorus of the
Go West! song "The King of Wishful Thinking,"
but the logo and jingle actually predate the song by a couple of years.
Notable works with the involvement of Brooks and or Gracie Films...or just Brooks:
