Meet HBO's "Entourage" Creator & Showrunner: Doug Ellin

In 2012 I was working at Content Partners when I placed a cold to Doug Ellin to pitch our company’s investor Mark Cuban for a guest appearance on “Entourage.” I didn’t know Doug at the time and frankly, I barely knew Mark. Doug took my call that day and a year later, Mark was on the show! In my view, that first appearance on “Entourage” launched Cuban’s on-camera career. It illustrates that everyone, even billionaires, need the right connections to get hired in Hollywood. Making connections and building relationships is my specialty.

In that spirit, I’d like to introduce you to Doug Ellin, the creator and showrunner behind HBO’s mega hit series “Entourage.”

During Covid lockdowns, I hosted group informational meetings with industry professionals to answer questions from my students about what they did for a living, how they did it and give it advice to those who’d like to do it too. We recorded 174 episodes and today, I’m featuring the conversation about writing for film and TV with my students and our special guest, Doug Ellin.

Doug was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York and earned his Bachelor’s from Tulane's School of Liberal Arts. Upon graduating in 1990, he moved to Los Angeles to become a stand-up comedian but instead a job in the mail room at New Line Cinema. There, he met a producer who funded his first short film (starring the then unknown David Schwimmer) which got him accepted into AFI. 10 turbulent years later after graduating from AFI in 1994, Ellin made the smash hit Entourage for HBO, which then went on for 8 seasons and led to a spin-off movie in 2015. Now, he’s the iconic co-host of “Victory: The Podcast” alongside Entourage stars Kevin Dillion and Kevin Connolly.

In this episode of “Coffee with KP,” you’ll learn how an assistant can become a staff writer, how to sell a show without an agent (Doug doesn’t have one), and 3 books on writing you must read! You’ll hear Doug answer direct questions from students and recent grads that will most definitely pertain to you. His advice is fantastic.

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