Paul Lieberstein
Paul Bevan Lieberstein (born February 22, 1967) is an American actor, screenwriter, and television producer. A Primetime Emmy Award winner, he is best known as writer, as executive producer, and as supporting cast member Toby Flenderson on the NBC sitcom The Office. He served as the series' showrunner from seasons five to eight.
Paul Lieberstein | |
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 Lieberstein in 2008 | |
| Born | Paul Bevan Lieberstein February 22, 1967 Westport, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Occupation | Screenwriter, television producer, actor |
| Alma mater | Hamilton College (BA) |
| Genre | Situation comedy |
| Years active | 1992–present |
| Spouse | Janine Serafin Poreba
(m. 2008) |
| Relatives | Warren Lieberstein (brother) Susanne Daniels (sister) Greg Daniels (brother-in-law) |
Early life
Lieberstein grew up in Westport, Connecticut,[1][2] the son of Judith and Stanley Lieberstein.[3] He is Jewish.[4]
He attended Staples High School where he wrote his first sitcom with some friends and played the vibraphone in band.[1] He then attended Hamilton College, where he joined Chi Psi and graduated in 1989[5] with a major in economics[5] (he "wanted to be a financier of some kind").[2] Lieberstein wrote references to the fact that Office character Andy Bernard was a Chi Psi from Cornell into the storyline of several episodes of the show.
After college, Lieberstein moved to New York City, where his first job was as an auditor at Peat Marwick International, a job that lasted six months.[1][5] He followed that with part-time work at his father's law firm, "working as little as [he] could so [he] could write".[5]
Career
Lieberstein and a writing partner got an agent with William Morris and moved to Los Angeles, living just off Hollywood Blvd.[1] He landed his first writing job on Clarissa Explains It All, but was fired after one season when he and his writing partner split up.[1]
Lieberstein then had short stints in a few other writer rooms, including Weird Science and The Naked Truth, before his brother-in-law Greg Daniels asked him to join the King of the Hill staff.[1]
Lieberstein served as a co-executive producer for 25 episodes in Season 6 of The Drew Carey Show, and also served as a supervising producer for two episodes in that season: the season opening "Drew Pops Something on Kate" (which he also wrote, along with "Drew and the Motorcycle" and "Drew and the Activist, Part I"), and "Buzzie Wuzzie Liked His Beer".
Lieberstein also worked as producer on the third and final season of the television drama series The Newsroom.[6] In November 2017, it was announced that he would replace Kevin Etten as showrunner of Ghosted.[7] In 2018, Lieberstein wrote and directed his first feature film, Song of Back and Neck, which made it into Tribeca Film Festival.[1] On April 3, 2020, he announced plans for a sitcom about office life while isolated due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Office
On June 12, 2008, Variety magazine reported that Lieberstein would become one of the executive producers of The Office.[8] He worked in the writer's room from the start of the US adaptation and was asked by Greg Daniels to act as well, as Greg wanted some of the writers to know what it was like on the other side of the camera.[1] Lieberstein has said he "attended 'The Office' acting school" and was often thrown by Steve Carell's improv during scenes.[1]
On March 22, 2012, it was announced that Lieberstein would step down from his showrunner role to focus on a planned spin-off series featuring Rainn Wilson as Dwight Schrute, tentatively called The Farm.[9] Lieberstein was set to be the showrunner,[10] but in October 2012, it was announced that NBC was not accepting the series.[11]
In a SuicideGirls interview, Lieberstein said that "as an actor, which is just a very small percentage of me, I don’t feel Toby while I’m writing. It’s the hardest of the characters to access".[2] In an interview for his alma mater, Hamilton College, he commented on the bigger picture:[5]
When we are in pre-production, this is the best job in the world. Working 10 to 7, sitting around and brainstorming with the other writers, making things funnier and writing and rewriting scenes—that's as fun as it gets. Adding acting on top of all that makes for incredibly long, grueling days, sometimes 6 to midnight. But acting has its own rewards. Comedy becomes intensified in short scenes. Doing a scene with Steve Carell, trying to keep up with him, is as tough and fun and weird as any part of the process.
Personal life
Lieberstein's sister Susanne is the president of programming for YouTube Premium (previously holding this position at MTV), and is married to screenwriter and producer Greg Daniels.[2] His brother, Warren Lieberstein, was married to his co-star Angela Kinsey. His cousin is Paul Faust, on whom the character "Cool Guy Paul" was based, as seen in The Office episode "Chair Model."
Lieberstein was married for a second time, to Janine Serafin Poreba, on July 19, 2008, at the New York City restaurant Battery Gardens.[3] They reside in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California.
Lieberstein has served on the advisory board of directors for Young Storytellers, an arts education nonprofit organization based in Los Angeles.[12]
Awards
Lieberstein's first Emmy Award was as a producer, sharing a 1999 Emmy for "Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming One Hour or Less)" for his work in King of the Hill.
Lieberstein's work on The Office has resulted in numerous awards. In June 2007, Lieberstein shared in a Daytime Emmy Award for "Outstanding Broadband Program – Comedy", for his work on The Office: Accountants webisodes.[13] As an actor, Lieberstein shared in a 2006 Screen Actors Guild Award for "Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series"; as a writer, he shared a 2006 Writers Guild of America Award for the series, in addition to a WGA Award nomination for "The Coup". As co-executive producer, he shared a 2006 Emmy Award for "Outstanding Comedy Series".
Lieberstein received an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts degree from Hamilton College on May 22, 2011.[14]
Filmography
Acting
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005–2013 | The Office | Toby Flenderson | 141 episodes |
| 2008 | The Office: The Outburst | 2 episodes | |
| 2009 | The Office: Blackmail | Episode "Pay Day" | |
| The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard | Selleck Last Customer | ||
| 2014 | Bad Teacher | Evaluator | Episode "Evaluation Day" |
| The Newsroom | Richard Westbrook | 2 episodes | |
| 2016 | Togetherness | Greg | Episode "Geri-ina" |
| The Mindy Project | Cuddle Spot Man | Episode "Mindy Lahiri is DTF" | |
| 2017 | People of Earth | Assessor | 5 episodes |
| 2018 | Song of Back and Neck | Fred | Also director, writer, and producer |
| 2019 | The Big Break | Ted | Short film |
| Top Shelf Singles | Evan Caldwell | Post-production; short film |
Directing
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2007–2014 | The Office | 7 episodes |
| 2013–2014 | The Mindy Project | 3 episodes |
| 2014 | The Newsroom | Episode "Oh Shenandoah" |
| 2018 | Song of Back and Neck | Also writer and producer |
Writing
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Clarissa Explains It All | Episode "President Ferguson" |
| 1994 | Weird Science | 3 episodes |
| 1995–1996 | The Naked Truth | 3 episodes |
| 1997–2000 | King of the Hill | 12 episodes |
| 2000-2001 | The Drew Carey Show | 3 episodes |
| 2002 | Greg the Bunny | Episode "Greg Gets Puppish" |
| 2002–2003 | The Bernie Mac Show | 2 episodes |
| 2003 | Dead Like Me | Episode "The Bicycle Thief" |
| 2005–2013 | The Office | 16 episodes |
| 2006 | The Office: The Accountants | 10 episodes |
| 2018 | Song of Back and Neck | Also director and producer |
| Ghosted | Episode "The Wire" | |
| 2020 | Space Force | Episode "It's Good to Be Back on the Moon" |
Producing
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1998–2000 | King of the Hill | 50 episodes |
| 2000–2001 | The Drew Carey Show | 27 episodes |
| 2002 | Greg the Bunny | 2 episodes |
| 2002–2003 | The Bernie Mac Show | 22 episodes |
| 2005–2013 | The Office | 166 episodes |
| 2014 | The Newsroom | 6 episodes |
| 2018 | Song of Back and Neck | Also director and writer |
| Ghosted | 6 episodes | |
| 2020 | Space Force | 4 episodes |
References
- "BA #227: Paul Lieberstein". the Box Angeles podcast. May 14, 2018.
- 2006 interview with Paul Lieberstein by Daniel Robert Epstein, at the SuicideGirls website
- New York Times New York Times Wedding Announcement
- "The Top Ten Jews On Television - Jewcy". jewcy.com. 13 December 2010.
- Roll Credits Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine, a profile of Lieberstein from the Hamilton College website
- Rose, Lacey (January 13, 2014). "Aaron Sorkin's 'Newsroom' Renewed for Third and Final Season". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
- Andreeva, Nellie (29 November 2017). "'Ghosted' Gets 6 More Episodes From Fox, Taps Paul Lieberstein As New Showrunner". Deadline. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
- Aziz Ansari hired for 'Office' spinoff, a June 12, 2008 article from Variety magazine
- Poniewozik, James. "Back to the Land: NBC's The Farm Spinoff Failed, But Networks Shouldn't Abandon the Country". Retrieved 9 December 2015.
- Itzkoff, Dave (March 22, 2012). "Producer's Exit Adds to Uncertainty at 'The Office'". nytimes.com. Retrieved October 31, 2012.
- Itzkoff, Dave (October 30, 2012). "NBC Is Not Moving Ahead With 'Office' Spinoff 'The Farm'".
- "Our Team - Young Storytellers". Young Storytellers. Archived from the original on 2017-04-22. Retrieved 2017-05-03.
- 34th Annual Creative Arts & Entertainment Emmy Awards Archived 2007-12-09 at the Wayback Machine, from the Emmy Awards website
- http://www.hamilton.edu/commencement/honorary-degree-recipients%5B%5D
External links
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