# Gary Goetzman

Gary Michael Goetzman (born November 6, 1952) is an American film and television producer and actor, and co-founder of the production company Playtone with actor Tom Hanks.

## Life and career

Born in Los Angeles, Goetzman began his career as a child actor. He had starred in the film Yours, Mine and Ours with Lucille Ball, appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, and eventually started a waterbed company and a pinball arcade. Goetzman at one time delivered a waterbed to Jon Peters's home. His exploits as a performer and a salesman inspired his friend Paul Thomas Anderson's 2021 film Licorice Pizza.
In 1984, he produced the Talking Heads concert film Stop Making Sense with director Jonathan Demme. That initiated a successful run as a music supervisor, on such films as Something Wild, Colors, Modern Girls, and Married to the Mob; among many others. In 1991, producer Goetzman and director Demme again collaborated to make The Silence of the Lambs, which garnered the top five Academy Awards including Best Picture.
In 1993, Goetzman was executive producer of Demme's Philadelphia, starring Tom Hanks, beginning a working relationship with Hanks. Goetzman co-produced Hanks's 1996 directorial debut, That Thing You Do! The two then co-founded Playtone in 1998. Since then, Goetzman has produced hit films including My Big Fat Greek Wedding, The Polar Express, Charlie Wilson's War, and Mamma Mia! Goetzman has also received several Emmy Awards for HBO mini-series Band of Brothers, The Pacific, John Adams, Game Change, and Olive Kitteridge.
Aside from producing films, Goetzman has been known to play small parts in movies he is connected to.
He has also enjoyed a successful parallel career as a music composer and producer, working with such artists as Smokey Robinson, Natalie Cole, Jane Child, Thelma Houston, and The Staples Singers.
He currently sits on the National board of directors for the Producers Guild of America.
Goetzman is executive producer (with Tom Hanks and Mark Herzog) of the CNN exclusive documentary miniseries The Sixties (2014), The Seventies (2015), The Eighties (2016), and The Nineties (2017).

## Filmography

He was a producer in all films unless otherwise noted.

### Film

Producer
* Modern Girls (1986)
* Miami Blues (1990)
* Amos & Andrew (1993)
* Devil in a Blue Dress (1995)
* That Thing You Do! (1996)
* Beloved (1998)
* My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)
* The Polar Express (2004)
* The Ant Bully (2006)
* Starter for 10 (2006)
* Charlie Wilson's War (2007)
* The Great Buck Howard (2008)
* Mamma Mia! (2008)
* City of Ember (2008)
* Where the Wild Things Are (2009)
* Larry Crowne (2011)
* Parkland (2013)
* Ricki and the Flash (2015)
* My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 (2016)
* A Hologram for the King (2016)
* The Circle (2017)
* Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018)
* Greyhound (2020)
* News of the World (2020)
* A Man Called Otto (2022)
* My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 (2023)
Executive producer
* The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
* Philadelphia (1993)
* Evan Almighty (2007)
* My Life in Ruins (2009)
* Ithaca (2015)

#### As an actor

| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1967 | Divorce American Style | Jonathan Harmon | |
| 1968 | Yours, Mine and Ours | Greg Beardsley | |
| 1974 | Caged Heat | Sparky | Uncredited |
| 1977 | Handle with Care | RV Salesman | |
| 1979 | Last Embrace | Tour Guide | |
| 1980 | Melvin and Howard | Melvin's Cousin Fred | |
| 1981 | The Incredible Shrinking Woman | Newscaster | |
| 1981 | Bustin' Loose | Store Manager | |
| 1984 | Swing Shift | 'Swing Shift' Bandleader | |
| 1986 | Modern Girls | Undercover Cop | |
| 1986 | Something Wild | Guido Paonessa | |
| 1988 | And God Created Woman | Al Lawrence | |
| 1988 | Married to the Mob | The Guy at the Piano | |
| 1990 | Miami Blues | Hotel Desk Clerk | |
| 1991 | The Silence of the Lambs | Guido Paonessa | Uncredited |
| 1993 | Family Prayers | Irate Driver | |
| 1993 | Philadelphia | Guido Paonessa | |

#### Music department

| Year | Film | Role |
| 1982 | Jinxed! | Radio source music |
| 1984 | Swing Shift | Lyricist: Additional original songs |
| 1986 | Something Wild | Musical consultant |
| 1988 | And God Created Woman | Music supervisor |
| 1988 | Colors | Music consultant |
| 1988 | Married to the Mob | Music supervisor |
| 1988 | The Prince of Pennsylvania | Music supervisor |
| 1989 | Lost Angels | Music supervisor |
| 1989 | Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills | Music supervisor |
| 1989 | Little Monsters | Music supervisor |
| 1990 | A Shock to the System | Music supervisor |
| 1990 | Catchfire | Music supervisor |
| 1990 | The Hot Spot | Music supervisor |
| 1990 | Reversal of Fortune | Music supervisor |
| 1991 | Queens Logic | Music supervisor |
| 1991 | Point Break | Music supervisor |
| 1991 | Until the End of the World | Music supervisor |
| 1992 | Freejack | Music supervisor |

#### Soundtrack

| Year | Film | Role |
| 1984 | Heavenly Bodies | Producer: "At Last You're Mine" |
| 1985 | Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment | Producer: "Temporary Insanity"Writer: "Dirty Work" |
| 1985 | Just One of the Guys | Writer: "Gone Too Far" |
| 1985 | Fright Night | Producer: "Boppin' Tonight"Writer: "Boppin' Tonight" |
| 1986 | Thrashin' | Producer: "Don't Think Twice""Dancin' in Jamaica"Writer: "Arrow Through My Heart""Dancin' in Jamaica" |
| 1986 | Something Wild | Lead vocal: "Before the Next Teardrop Falls" |
| 1988 | Dominick and Eugene | Writer: "Game of Love""Lucky at Love" |
| 1990 | Miami Blues | Writer: "Island Blues""Floatin'" |
| 1993 | Philadelphia | Performer: "All the Way" |
| 1996 | That Thing You Do! | Writer: "Mr. Downtown""Voyage Around the Moon""Hold My Hand, Hold My Heart""Will You Marry Me?" |
| 2000 | Big Momma's House | Writer: "Radio" |

#### Production manager

| Year | Film | Role |
| 1974 | Caged Heat | Unit manager |

#### Thanks

| Year | Film | Role |
| 1991 | Straight Out of Brooklyn | Thanks |
| 1991 | Fires Within | Special thanks |
| 2002 | The Truth About Charlie | Very special thanks |
| 2005 | The Wedding Date | Thanks |
| 2008 | Surfer, Dude | Very special thanks |
| 2009 | I Hate Valentine's Day | Special thanks |
| 2014 | Inherent Vice | Thank you |
| 2018 | Hotel Artemis | Special thanks |
| 2019 | A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood | The producers wish to thank |
| 2021 | Licorice Pizza | Special thanks |

### Television

| Year | Title | Credit | Notes |
| 2000 | West Point | Executive producer | |
| 2001 | Band of Brothers | Co-executive producer | |
| 2001 | We Stand Alone Together | Co-executive producer | Television special |
| 2006 | We're with the Band | Executive producer | Television special |
| 2007 | Big Love: In the Beginning | Executive producer | |
| 2008 | John Adams | Executive producer | |
| 2008 | David McCullough: Painting with Words | | Television special |
| 2009 | 25th Anniversary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concerts | Executive producer | Television special |
| 2010 | The Pacific | Executive producer | |
| 2006−11 | Big Love | Executive producer | |
| 2011 | The 3 Minute Talk Show | Executive producer | |
| 2012 | Game Change | Executive producer | Television film |
| 2012 | The 2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony | Executive producer | Television special |
| 2012 | Electric City | Executive producer | |
| 2013 | The 2013 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony | Executive producer | Television special |
| 2013 | The Assassination of President Kennedy | Executive producer | Documentary |
| 2014 | The Sixties | Executive producer | Documentary |
| 2014 | Olive Kitteridge | Executive producer | |
| 2014 | The Concert for Valor | Executive producer | Television special |
| 2015 | The Seventies | Executive producer | Documentary |
| 2016 | The 2016 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony | Co-executive producer | Television special |
| 2016 | The Eighties | Executive producer | Documentary |
| 2017 | The 2017 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony | Executive producer | Television special |
| 2017 | The Nineties | Executive producer | Documentary |
| 2018 | Notes from the Field | Executive producer | Television film |
| 2018 | The 2018 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony | Executive producer | Television special |
| 2018 | 1968: The Year That Changed America | Executive producer | Documentary |
| 2018 | The 2000s | Executive producer | Documentary |
| 2019 | The 2019 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony | Executive producer | Television special |
| 2019 | The Movies | Executive producer | Documentary |
| 2020 | My Gift: A Christmas Special from Carrie Underwood | Executive producer | Television special |
| 2022 | 'Tis the Season: The Holidays on Screen | Executive producer | Documentary |
| 2023 | The 2010s | Executive producer | Documentary |
| 2024 | Masters of the Air | Executive producer | |

#### As an actor

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1965 | McHale's Navy | Tonio | |
| 1979 | Hot Rod | Security Guard | Television film |
| 1978−80 | Family | Steven / Sam | |
| 2012 | Electric City | — | |

#### Soundtrack

| Year | Title | Role |
| 1984 | Kidd Video | Writer: "Video Romeo" |

#### Miscellaneous crew

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2014 | The Concert for Valor | Tribute film executive producer | Television special |
| 2023 | A Grammy Salute to the Beach Boys | For: Tom Hanks | Television special |

#### Thanks

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2012 | POV | Special thanks | |
| 2021 | A Night in the Academy Museum | Filmmaker acknowledgement | Television special |