Jean Doumanian (; born 1937) is an American stage, television and film producer.

Early life

Doumanian was born Jean Karabas and grew up in Chicago, Her father was a restaurateur. a promoter for Capitol Records. While out with her husband, who was scouting new talent in the clubs of Chicago, One of Doumanian's writers, Terry Sweeney, would become a cast member on the show in 1985 after Lorne Michaels returned to replace Ebersol.

On February 15, 2015, Doumanian attended the SNL 40th anniversary special.

Film

After leaving SNL, Doumanian was a producer for several of Woody Allen's films:

  • Bullets over Broadway (1994)
  • Mighty Aphrodite (1995)
  • Everyone Says I Love You (1996)
  • Deconstructing Harry (1997)
  • Celebrity (1998)
  • Sweet and Lowdown (1999)
  • Small Time Crooks (2000)

She co-produced the 1994 made-for-television film Don't Drink the Water and the 1997 documentary, Wild Man Blues, a film about a tour by Woody Allen's jazz band. During production of The Curse of the Jade Scorpion in 2000, however, she reportedly shocked Allen with the abrupt announcement that he had 48 hours to find alternative funding for the film. In May 2001, Allen filed a lawsuit against Doumanian and her business partner and long-time boyfriend Jacqui Safra, before Judge Ira Gammerman in the New York Supreme Court, claiming their production company had skimmed profits off of the movies. The lawsuit was settled in 2002 for an undisclosed amount.

Other films which Doumanian has produced or co-produced include The Spanish Prisoner, All the Real Girls, and The Ox, which was nominated for an Academy Award (Best Foreign Language Film) in 1992. She produced the 2013 film August: Osage County, which garnered Academy Award nominations for its stars, Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts.

Theater

Doumanian has been producer on many Broadway productions, including Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, Amour, Jumpers, Democracy, the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning August: Osage County, Mary Stuart, Superior Donuts, the Tony Award-winning Book of Mormon, The Motherfucker with the Hat, The House of Blue Leaves, The Mountaintop, the Tony Award-winning 2012 revival of Death of a Salesman, Nice Work If You Can Get It, and The Testament of Mary.

Off-Broadway, she produced David Cromer's acclaimed production of Our Town, which garnered Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Production and Outstanding Direction and an Obie Award for Outstanding Director. She also produced David Cromer's production of Tribes, which won the 2011-2012 New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Play as well as the 2012 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play. Additional Off Broadway credits include Bat Boy: The Musical. On London's West End, she produced The Mountaintop, winner of the 2010 Olivier Award for Best New Play, and Chimerica.

References

  • Jean Doumanian's current production company