Wagner, Paula 1946(?)–

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Wagner, Paula 1946(?)–

PERSONAL

Original name, Paula Kauffman; born December 12, 1946 (some sources cite 1948), in Youngstown, OH; daughter of Edmund Jamison and Sue Kauffman; married Robin Wagner (a set designer and production designer; divorced); married Rick Nicita (an agent and agency executive), 1984; children: Jesse, Zachary. Education: Carnegie Mellon University, B.F.A.

Addresses:

Office—Cruise/Wagner Productions (C/W Productions), 10250 Constellation Way, 11th Floor, Century City, CA 90067.

Career:

Producer. Cruise/Wagner Productions (C/W Productions), Century City, CA, partner; United Artists film studio, chief executive officer, beginning 2006. Worked as an actress and playwright. Worked as a talent agent and at Creative Artists Agency. Hollywood Film Festival, cochair, 2003, 2004, and 2005; Venice International Film Festival, head of a jury, 2006. American Cinematheque, member of the board of directors; National Film Preservation/Library of Congress, member of the board; Carnegie Mellon University, member of the board of trustees; University of California, Los Angeles, School of Theater Film and Television, member of the executive committee.

Awards, Honors:

Nova Award (with Tom Cruise), most promising producer in theatrical motion pictures, Golden Laurel awards, Producers Guild of America, 1997, for Mission: Impossible; Women in Hollywood Icon Award, Premiere magazine, 2001; Motion Picture Producer of the Year Award nomination (with others), Golden Laurel awards, Producers Guild of America, 2004, for The Last Samurai; Wagner and Cruise named billion dollar producers, Daily Variety, 2004.

CREDITS

Film Executive Producer:

The Others (also known as Les autres and Los otros), Dimension Films, 2001.

Narc (also known as Narco), Lions Gate Films, 2002.

Shattered Glass, Lions Gate Films, 2003.

War of the Worlds (also known as Out of the Night, Party in Fresno, and Uncle Sam), Paramount, 2005.

Film Producer:

Mission: Impossible (also known as Mission Impossible), Paramount, 1996.

Without Limits (also known as Pre), Warner Bros., 1998.

Mission: Impossible II (also known as Mission: Impossible 2 and M:I–2), Paramount, 2000.

Vanilla Sky, Paramount, 2001.

The Last Samurai (also known as The Last Samurai: Bushidou and Samurai), Warner Bros., 2003.

Suspect Zero (also known as Suspect 0), Paramount, 2004.

Elizabethtown, Paramount, 2005.

Ask the Dust, Paramount Classics, 2006.

Mission: Impossible III (also known as M:i:III), Paramount, 2006.

The Eye, Lions Gate Films, 2007.

Film Work; Other:

Project consultant, Murder in the First (also known as Meurtre a Alcatraz), Warner Bros., 1995.

Television Executive Producer:

"Dolan's Cadillac" segment, Nightmares and Dreamscapes: From Stories of Stephen King (miniseries), TNT, 2006.

Executive producer of The Bondswoman's Narrative, HBO. Some sources cite Wagner as the executive producer of The P.J.s.

Television Appearances; Miniseries:

Roxanne, Loose Change, NBC, 1978.

Television Appearances; Specials:

"Out of Our Father's House," Great Performances, PBS, 1978.

Herself, A Look Inside: The Others (documentary), 2001.

Herself, Women on Top: Hollywood and Power, American Movie Classics, 2003.

Herself, E! Entertainment Special: Tom Cruise (also known as "Tom Cruise," E! Entertainment Special), E! Entertainment Television, 2004.

Television Appearances; Episodic:

Gina Corey, "Life Begins at 300," Space Academy, CBS, 1977.

Herself, "The Last Samurai: An Epic Journey," HBO First Look, HBO, 2003.

Stage Appearances:

Appeared in productions at the Yale Repertory Theatre, New Haven, CT, as well as in Broadway and off–Broadway productions.

RECORDINGS

Videos:

Herself, Behind the Mission: The Making of "M:I–2" (short; also known as Behind the Mission: The Making of "Mission: Impossible II"), Paramount Home Video, 2000.

Herself, Narc: Shooting Up (short), Paramount Home Video, 2003.

Herself, "War of the Worlds" : Production Diaries, East Coast—Exile (short), DreamWorks Home Entertainment, 2005.

Herself, "War of the Worlds" : Revisiting the Invasion (short), DreamWorks Home Entertainment, 2005.

Video Work:

Producer, Hitting It Hard (short), Paramount Home Video, 2002.

WRITINGS

Teleplays; Specials:

(With Eve Merriam and Jack Hofsiss) "Out of Our Father's House" (based on their stage production of the same name and Merriam's book Growing Up Female in America: Ten Lives), Great Performances, PBS, 1978.

Writings for the Stage:

(With Eve Merriam and Jack Hofsiss) Out of Our Father's House (based on Merriam's book Growing Up Female in America: Ten Lives), produced on stage, published by Samuel French, 1975, later broadcast on Great Performances, PBS, 1978.

OTHER SOURCES

Periodicals:

Urban Cinefile, November, 2001.

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