Biografia
Jerry Biederman's career in writing began in his late teens when his first book proposal was accepted by one of the top New York agents and shopped to major publishers.
He became a best-selling author of eight mainstream nonfiction books. Hollywood discovered Biederman's popular, high-concept books and began to option them for television. Among the major showrunners and outlets that have made TV/film offers on Biederman's books are: Twentieth Century Fox Television, CBS, ABC, Lifetime Television, HBO, FX, KingWorld, Nash Entertainment, Cosgrove/Meurer Productions, Mark Schwan / Brillstein-Grey, and Davis Entertainment).
Jerry Biederman has collaborated on several successful books with his wife, author Lorin Michelle Biederman. The writing couple's critically-acclaimed book, Earth Angels: True Stories About Real People Who Bring Heaven to Earth (Broadway Books / Random House), was the inspiration behind Oprah Winfrey's "Oprah's Angel Network." It was serialized in Woman's Day magazine, and the focus of a national publicity campaign. "Earth Angels" was optioned by Lifetime Television and Executive Produced as a Holiday Special by Jerry Biederman and Chris Owens (in partnership with Mark Wolper, The Wolper Organization / Warner Bros.). It starred Muhammad Ali's daughter, May May Ali.
One of Biederman's most popular works,Secrets Of A Small Town (Dell), was the true story of his journey to a small town "somewhere in America," where he went on "a scavenger hunt" for strangers' secrets. It was a Book-of-the-Month Club selection, was syndicated to more than 400 newspapers, and was the recipient of a prestigious international award for the best portrayal of the English language in literature. "Secrets of a Small Town" was produced as a pilot for a Reality TV Series by Fox Television (Steven Nalevansky, executive). In May 2001, it was acquired by Cosgrove/Meurer Productions (to be their next "Unsolved Mysteries"). In 2017, it is being produced as a motion picture.
Biederman's first book, The Do-It-Yourself Bestseller (Doubleday) included original stories written by such best-selling authors as Stephen King, Isaac Asimov, Erskine Caldwel, Ken Follett, Robin Cook, John Jakes, Belva Plain, Barbara Taylor Bradford, and Irving Wallace (Biederman's uncle). Irving Wallace, who mentored Biederman's start in writing, was considered one of the top five novelists in the world. Wallace was also an established screenwriter, as well as a celebrated writer of nonfiction (including The People's Almanac and The Book of Lists series).
Another Biederman collection, My First Real Romance (Stein and Day), was a gathering of true stories about the first real-life romances of the world's 20 best-selling romance writers. This award-winning book reached the Waldenbooks national bestseller list .
Other books in the Biederman catalog include 101 Ways To See The Light, Your First Romance, He's A Girl, and Parent School.
Biederman comes from a family of successful writers. In addition to uncle Irving Wallace, aunt Sylvia Wallace, and cousins Amy Wallace and David Wallechinsky - all best-selling authors - Jerry's mother, Esther Wallace Biederman, was a writer at TV Guide and editor at Dell Publishing, and his brother, Danny Biederman, is a successful screenwriter and author as well (most recently, The Incredible World of Spy-Fi / Chronicle Books).
Early in his writing career, The Washington Post dubbed Jerry Biederman a "West Coast Wunderkind." He has collaborated on various other literary ventures with such well-known authors as Roald Dahl , Richard Adams, P.L. Travers, Madeleine L'Engle, Rebecca West and Clare Boothe Luce. Biederman has garnered a reputation among New York publishers and readers for his ability to bring together ordinary people (in the tradition of Studs Terkel), as well as prominent personalities in any given field (from Hollywood celebrities to U.S. presidents). Biederman's books have been featured on "Good Morning America" and written about in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today and People magazine.
Today, Jerry Biederman is a TV series creator/producer. He and his TV/movie partner, Chris Dane Owens, were discovered for television by former William Morris agent Ben Silverman ("Survivor," "Big Brother," "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire"). His company, Biederman/Owens Entertainment has created more than 300 reality formats. They have both unscripted and scripted option deals and development relationships with major production companies, studios and syndicates, as well as major cable and broadcast networks.
He was nominated for an Emmy Award for the series "Instant Beauty Pageant," which he co-created and Executive Produced. It was Style Network's most successful series at the time, hosted by Debbie Matenopoulos and Cameron Mathison. His series "Earth Angels," based on his book by the same name (by Jerry Biederman and Lorin Michelle Biederman) was a Holiday Special on Lifetime Television. It was optioned by ABC Network and was the inspiration behind Oprah Winfrey's "Oprah's Angel Network." Biederman/Owen's first series was Animal Planet's "Who Gets the Dog?" It was the largest advertising draw in the network's history.
Jerry Biederman lives with his wife and their three young children, Jennifer, David and Molly in Los Angeles, California.
