Jef Kleeman (Executive Producer) graduated from Yale University with a B.A. in English. He curated exhibits at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences and in 1987 joined Paramount Pictures where he was a development and production executive on Internal Affairs, The Hunt for Red October, Shirley Valentine and Star Trek 6.

In 1991, Kleeman became Vice President of Production for Francis Ford Coppola's American Zoetrope, where he worked on Bram Stoker’s Dracula, initiated Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow, was associate producer on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, co-producer on Kidnapped, and executive producer on Haunted and The Titanic.

Kleeman joined MGM/UA in 1993, where he was Executive Vice President of Production. He was responsible for overseeing the revitalization of the James Bond franchise, beginning with Goldeneye, then Tomorrow Never Dies and The World Is Not Enough. He oversaw the development and production of Rob Roy, Hackers and The Thomas Crown Affair, and was responsible for the acquisition of Leaving Las Vegas. While at MGM/UA, Kleeman also developed Cold Mountain, Heartbreakers and The Pink Panther.

In 2005, Kleeman co-created/show-ran Misconceptions, a multi-camera sitcom for The WB. In 2006, he wrote a single-camera comedy, Roll with It, for Fox Television. In 2007, he wrote a one-hour drama pilot, Sleeping Beauty, for ABC, Marshall Herskovitz and Ed Zwick. He also returned to MGM/UA as Executive Vice President of Motion Picture Production.

In September 2008, Kleeman joined David Dobkin as President of Big Kid Pictures. He executive produced the films The Judge for Warner Bros, The Change-Up for Universal and Vacation for New Line. Kleeman was Executive Producer on the single-camera half-hour series Friends with Benefits, which aired on NBC in 2011. He is a writer on the Guy Ritchie-directed The Man From U.N.C.L.E. feature, released in 2015.

In August 2012, Kleeman became President of Ellen Degeneres’s company, A Very Good Production. The have recently produced Little Big Shots, One Big Happy and the forthcoming First Dates for NBC, Repeat After Me for ABC, Ellen’s Design Challenge for HGTV and Hello/Goodbye on the Travel Channel. They are currently in production on Green Eggs & Ham for Netflix.

Kleeman is a member of the USC Cinema School faculty, where he teaches graduate courses on film development, production and the studio system. He has lectured at Yale, UCLA and Northwestern, and at several film conferences as well as taught Film Independent’s Screenwriter’s Lab. Kleeman has chaired Film Independent’s Spirit Awards Nominating Committee. He has served on the board of directors of The Sundance Channel, IFP West and The Los Angeles Film Festival Advisory Committee, and served as a judge for the International Thriller Writers Best Screenplay Award. Kleeman currently chairs the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Screening Committee. He is a member of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, The Writer’s Guild of America, The Producers Guild of America, The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and The British Academy of Film & Television.

Speaking on: Trendwatch: Kids Get the Darndest Ratings