James L. Brooks

A producer, screenwriter, director, and occasional actor whose works are usually critical hits.

Friends and collaborators with music composer Hans Zimmer.

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.^[1]

Gracie Films is Brooks' 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.

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.

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Notable works with the involvement of Brooks and or Gracie Films...or just Brooks:

Film

• Starting Over (1979)
• Terms of Endearment (1983) - Best Picture winner
• Broadcast News (1987) - Best Picture nominee
• Big (1988)
• The War of the Roses (1989)
• I'll Do Anything (1994)
• Jerry Maguire (1996) - Best Picture nominee
• As Good as It Gets (1997) - Best Picture nominee
• Spanglish (2004)
• The Simpsons Movie (2007)
• How Do You Know (2010)

Television Series

• Room 222 (1969-1974)
• The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970-1977)
• Rhoda (1974-1978)
• Lou Grant (1977-1982)
• Taxi (1978-1983)
• The Tracey Ullman Show (1987-1990)
• The Simpsons (1989-)
• The Critic (1994-1995)

1. ↑ 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).