User:Deschain0192837465/Joseph Freed

JOSEPH FREED

Joseph Freed is an Emmy-Award winning American television producer, director and voice-over artist. A veteran producer of non-fiction and reality television, Freed is the founder and President of Marwar Junction Productions, a production company based in Los Angeles, co-owned by Emmy nominated producer Allison Berkley.

Early Career

While still a college student, Freed was drafted by CBS Television Distribution's syndicated series Entertainment Tonight. Initially working as a production assistant, Freed was promoted to producer and director, and ultimately spent eight seasons with the long running entertainment news magazine, writing copy for Mary Hart and Leonard Maltin, among others. During Freed's eighth season at Entertainment Tonight, Executive Producer Linda Bell Blue offered him the opportunity to produce a new sister show, Hot Ticket, a movie review series starring Leonard Maltin. Hot Ticket ran for three seasons in first run syndication.

Little People Big World

Upon leaving Entertainment Tonight, Freed developed and became Executive Producer of Little People Big World, the long-running documentary series from TLC and Gay Rosenthal Productions.

The series chronicles the lives of the Roloff family, which owns and operates Roloff Farms near Portland, Oregon. Matt Roloff, Amy Roloff and their son Zachary Roloff have all been diagnosed with dwarfism, and the series explores their struggle to succeed in the average-sized world.

Between 2006 and 2010, and average of 74 million viewers watched the series each year. Even so, in August of 2010, TLC announced the series was coming to an end after more than 200 episodes. However, TLC didn't keep the Roloff family off the air, producing a number of specials and relaunching the series as Little People Big World: Wedding Farm in November of 2012. After a single '"Wedding Farm"' season, the series returned to its original Little People Big World format and new episodes premiered on October 29th of 2013. The series' 10th season premiered on September 2, 2014, and focused on Jeremy Roloff's engagement and marriage to Audrey Botti.

Critical Reception

When Little People, Big World premiered in 2006, TV Guide scored it 8 out of 10, saying: "Studying its subjects without sensationalizing them, Little is as much about humanity as height." Entertainment Weekly awarded an A- grade, saying: "The intimate series is an unpatronizing look at the challenges and successes in the lives of little people Matt and Amy Roloff and their Oregon family." The Washington Post said: "The first hour might make you want to tune in for all 20 weeks," and The New York Post called it: "…compelling… uplifting… you will love this family."

The series has also been praised for its ability to educate. Common Sense Media has said: "Parents need to know that this reality series provides an extraordinary opportunity for kids to learn about a family composed of both little (the parents and one child are affected by dwarfism) and averaged-sized people."

Ratings

The September 20, 2014 finale of Little People, Big World's 10th season broke series records. 2.3 million total viewers tuned in to watch Jeremy Roloff marry his long-time girlfriend, Audrey Botti.

The finale was the highest rated episode in six years among women 25-54 and was No. 1 on cable in the 10:00pm timeslot among women 18-49 and women 18-34. The wedding finale capped the series' highest rated season, in which it averaged 1.9 million viewers per episode.

Rachael Ray

While still an Executive Producer of Little People Big World, Freed served as Executive Producer of Rachael Ray, the syndicated daytime talk show from CBS Television Distribution. Beginning his tenure as Senior Supervising Producer, Freed launched the series in 2006 with Executive Producer Janet Annino.

When Freed and fellow producer Shane Farley were promoted to Executive Producer three seasons later, the series' host Rachael Ray told Broadcasting and Cable: "I am thrilled that both Joseph and Shane have received promotions on the show they helped turn into the success it is today. It is obvious they love what they do. My name is 'on the door' as they say, but I know it takes a great team to make Rachael Ray work and these guys are key to creating an entertaining experience for our viewers." Freed ultimately produced more than 1,000 episodes, and was nominated for five Emmy awards, winning back-to-back Emmys for Outstanding Talk Show in 2008 and 2009.

Critical Reception

Upon the series' debut in 2006, the New York Times wrote: "The frantically busy new talk-show format gives Ms. Ray's outsize personality more room to crow… For her legions of passionately devoted fans, there is even more of her to love. For the not-so-silent minority of people who find her unbearable, the cooking parts, at least, are mercifully brief."

Ratings

The series debuted in 2006 with a 2.3 average rating and ranked as the highest rated first-run syndicated talk show since the 2002 premiere of Dr. Phil.

Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge

Freed is the Co-Creator and Executive Producer of Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge, a reality-competition series that premiered on the Syfy network in the spring of 2014. The series pits 10 aspiring special effects artists against each other in a series of challenges to design and build fantasy creatures, incorporating puppetry and animatronics.

According to Brian Henson, son of Jim Henson and Chairman of The Jim Henson Company, Freed was instrumental in the creation of the series: "For years we've thought that doing some sort of reality series around these artists would be exciting and interesting to the general public but it wasn't until I met Joe Freed, an Executive Producing partner on the show who comes from a reality background and shared the exact same enthusiasm, that we had someone with the right experience to really put it all together into a television show."

Critical Reception

In a review of the series' premiere episode, Newsday rated it with an A-, saying: "We don't just watch art being made, we come to understand the process." Entertainment Weekly awarded it an "A" rating, calling it "Wildly refreshing…" and saying "...you've never seen a reality show like this." While TV Guide's Matt Roush complained the series often felt like a copy of Face Off, he concluded: "What Creature Shop may lack in originality it makes up for in creative energy. The climactic "Screen Test" reveals are fun to watch, and the critiques are smartly constructive."

Ratings

Upon its premiere on March 25, 2014, Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge became Syfy's highest-rated unscripted premiere among Adults 25-54 since July of 2013. During the premiere broadcast, the series averaged 1.12 million total viewers, excluding DVR viewing. Proving especially strong among female demographics, the series was Syfy's highest-rated Tuesday night reality premiere ever among Women 25-54.

External links

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