Feig, Paul

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FEIG, Paul

PERSONAL: Born in Royal Oak, MI. Education: Attended Wayne State University; graduate of University of Southern California Film School.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Author Mail, Three Rivers Press, New York Office, 1745 Broadway, New York, NY 10019.

CAREER: Writer, director, and producer. Worked as a stand-up comedian, studio tour guide, script reader, and script writer; actor in films and television, with television roles in Dirty Dancing, 1988, Good Sports, 1991, The Jackie Thomas Show, 1992, The Louie Show, 1996, and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, 1996.

AWARDS, HONORS: Two Emmy nominations.

WRITINGS:

(And supervising producer) Freaks and Geeks (television series), Apatow Productions/Dreamworks, National Broadcasting Company (NBC), 1999.

Kick Me: Adventures in Adolescence (autobiographical essays), Three Rivers Press (New York, NY), 2002.

SIDELIGHTS: Paul Feig worked as an actor and comedian for twenty years before producing the television series Freaks and Geeks, which was based on his experiences during adolescence. Kick Me: Adventures in Adolescence is similar in content, featuring a collection of essays in which Feig reveals what it was like to be an underage geek. A Kirkus Reviews contributor said that Feig is "Gifted with a remarkable ability to remember the specific and singular torments of youth." To name a few examples, Feig writes about his sadistic gym teacher, his brief experiment with cross-dressing, and the horrors of dating. A Publishers Weekly reviewer called Feig's book an "originally written, imaginatively comic missive," and described Freaks and Geeks as "a sort of Wonder Years for the 'Dungeons and Dragons'" set.

Feig began his career as a stand-up comedian. Being under eighteen at the time, he had to bring a parent to clubs where he performed. He was active in local and college theater, and at the end of his freshman year, he decided to move to Los Angeles to pursue his dreams. His first job was as a tour guide for Universal Studios.

In an interview with Kenneth Plume, for Film Force online, Feig said his life changed when he went on opening day to see Raiders of the Lost Ark while still working as a guide. Inspired, he attended University of Southern California Film School, then got a job as a script reader for Michael Phillips, who produced such films as Taxi Driver and The Sting. Feig longed to be back on stage, however, though he couldn't manage two jobs at once. He auditioned to be on $25,000 Pyramid, one of his favorite shows, and when he won $29,000, he quit his job to become a full-time comedian.

Feig honed his craft and became moderately successful. At the same time, he wrote scripts and went to auditions. In 1989, he made the decision to give up touring in order to stay in Los Angeles. He had small roles in many films and ongoing roles in half a dozen television series. He also opened for Jay Leno and worked with top comedians like Dennis Miller and Bill Maher.

Feig told an interviewer for the Freaks and Geeks Web site that he had always wanted to write a film that reflected his own high school experience, which stands in stark contrast to the usual portrayals of kids whose only concerns are popularity. "For me," said Feig, "high school was about trying to get through the day without getting beaten up or humiliated or having your self-esteem destroyed." Feig's friend, Judd Apatow, brought Feig's proposal for the show to Dream Works, and a pilot was quickly produced. In the series, the character of Sam Weir comes closest to representing Feig's own life.

New York Times writer Eric Schmuckler called the series, set in 1980, "one of those rare birds, a dramedy that manages to be brutally honest, unexpectedly hilarious and often touching all at once." Variety contributor Ray Richmond called the show "a dramatic comedy that perhaps gets it a tad too right. Freaks and Geeks carries a sheen of bleakness, of sadness and depression that strives to equate the lives of middle teens with those of infantrymen on the front lines. For the proud few who navigated that social minefield and lived to tell the tale, the poignant and wise Freaks and Geeks feels plenty real."

Episodes touch on marijuana smoking, cross-dressing, and other daring subjects. Schmuckler wrote that Garth Ancier, NBC president for entertainment, "voiced his concern to the producers that it is almost too brutal in its realism." Indeed, the show lasted just one season in spite of good reviews. Even with a change in the time slot, it never managed to receive the ratings necessary to carry it. But with Kick Me, Feig lays out the real-life situations upon which the show was based. Library Journal's Joe Accardi said Kick Me "is certain to release a rash of memories in all who have finally come to grips with the awkwardness of having grown up." Similarly, Booklist reviewer Kristine Huntley wrote that "whether he's triumphant or humiliated, Feig is a droll storyteller."