Patric Verrone

Patric Verrone

Patric Verrone at the 2010 Comic Con in San Diego.
Born (1959-09-29) September 29, 1959
Glendale, Queens, New York
Occupation President of Writers Guild of America, west
Television writer
Historical figurine sculptor
Nationality American

Patric Miller Verrone (born September 29, 1959) is an American television writer and labor leader. He served as a writer and producer for several animated television shows, most notably Futurama.

Schooling and pre-television career

Verrone graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College in 1981 where he was an editor of the Harvard Lampoon. He graduated from Boston College Law School in 1984 after serving as editor of the Boston College Law Review. He practiced law in Florida and California before becoming a television writer.

Career in television

Verrone began his career as a variety show writer, which included a late 1980s job as monologue writer for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.[1] Shortly after his work on The Tonight Show, Verrone wrote for the popular animated program Rugrats in 1991. From there, he worked for the entirety of The Critic's run on television, before moving on to write for Muppets Tonight (for which he won an Emmy[2]) and Pinky and the Brain. Eventually, Verrone became a major contributor for Futurama. Subsequently, he wrote an episode of The Simpsons (Milhouse of Sand and Fog (2005)), developed the Cartoon Network series Class of 3000 (including writing the pilot episode Home (2006)), and co-executive produced all four feature length Futurama direct-to-DVD movies.

The Critic

While editor of The Harvard Lampoon, Verrone met writers Al Jean and Mike Reiss. Jean and Reiss, who had just served as co-show runners for The Simpsons, were creating a new animated show called The Critic. They asked Verrone to work on it and, as he says, "[He] could hardly refuse."[1]

While working on two seasons of The Critic, Verrone would serve as co-producer and writer of three episodes:

  1. A Pig Boy and His Dog
  2. All the Duke's Men
  3. I Can't Believe It's a Clip Show

Futurama

Verrone has written for Futurama since the first season. The fourth season episode "The Sting," written by Verrone, garnered nominations for an Emmy Award, Annie Award and a Writers Guild of America Award.[3] In the original series, Verrone served as producer for fifty-nine episodes, but has been co-executive producer since the series' fifth season. Verrone has also scripted seven issues of Futurama Comics, published by Bongo Comics.

Verrone's writing credits for Futurama include:

Writers Guild of America, West

On October 23, 2002, The Animation Writers Caucus (AWC) of the Writers Guild of America, West awarded Verrone a Lifetime Achievement honor of the Animation Writing Award.[4]

In 2005, Verrone was elected president of the Writers Guild of America, west with 68 percent of the vote, after pledging to devote up to 30 percent of the Guild's budget to organizing writers in reality television, animation, cable, and independent film. He had previously served as secretary-treasurer for the organization and on the board of directors.[5]

Reelected president with more than 90 percent of the vote in September 2007, Verrone subsequently led the Writers Guild through a strike from November 5, 2007, to February 12, 2008.

Verrone could not seek reelection in 2009 due to term limits under union rules. John Wells, a former WGAw president from 1999–2001, won the election to succeed him. In 2011, Verrone ran for a third term for President, and lost to Chris Keyser by a 20 percent margin. In 2013, Verrone ran for and was elected to a seat on the union's board of directors.[6]

Historical figurines business

Aside from his work with the WGA and on television, Verrone also sculpts, paints, and sells historical figurines. His LinkedIn bio states:

"I spend eight hours a day running a Hollywood labor union, eight hours making a living writing and producing television animation or sculpting and selling historical figurines on eBay, leaving eight hours to eat, sleep, and spend time with my wife and kids."[7]

The figurines are made to match sets made by Louis Marx and Company in the 1950s and 60s.

Verrone has crafted the associate justices currently serving on the Court, as well as all the other Chief Justices, and a few historically significant and recent justices. He says his long term intention is to create a figurine of each of the 110 justices in the Court's history.

He also has sculpted figurines of the six presidents that Marx never made, every major party presidential nominee since 1944, and a series of famous American figurines including Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Mark Twain, and Frederick Douglass.

Personal life

In 1989, Verrone married television writer and novelist Maiya Williams. They have three children and live in Pacific Palisades, California.[8]

Political Candidacy

In March 2014 Verrone became a candidate for California State Senate in SD 26 on the west side of Los Angeles, other candidates include former assembly member Betsy Butler and women's reproductive rights advocate Sandra Fluke. Verrone lost in the primary to Ben Allen (D) and Sandra Fluke (D).[9]

References

  1. 1 2 Patric Verrone interview with Shannon Muir for digitalmediaFX.com (2nd paragraph) Accessed January 31, 2007
  2. ↑ Awards for Muppets Tonight on IMDB.com Accessed on February 1, 2007
  3. ↑ Awards for Futurama on IMDB.com Accessed January 31, 2007
  4. ↑ Animation Writers Honor Patric Verrone With Lifetime Achievement Award Accessed January 31, 2007
  5. ↑ 2005 WGAw Officer and Board Election Results Accessed January 31, 2007
  6. ↑ "WGAW Announces Final Results of 2009 Officers and Board of Directors Election".
  7. ↑ Patric Verrone Bio on LinkedIn.com Accessed September 3, 2008
  8. ↑ Patric Verrone Bio on IMDB.com Accessed January 31, 2007
  9. ↑ http://ballotpedia.org/California_State_Senate_District_26

External links

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