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David Janollari — This producer nurtured the Warner Bros. Television hits Friends and The Drew Carey Show, and with business partner Robert Greenblatt, he produced HBO's Six Feet Under.

In 2004, Janollari became president of entertainment at the WB television network, which was a pioneer in the treatment of gay characters such as Jack on Dawson's Creek and Willow on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Janollari was named to Out magazine's list of 100 most influential people in 2002.

Cool Quote: “These are changed times, and in both broadcast and cable there is a much more open environment to gay characters.” (The Advocate, Sept. 28, 2004)

Michael Patrick King — This writer, director and producer for Sex and the City was also a writer for Murphy Brown, Will & Grace and Lisa Kudrow's HBO series The Comeback. King received multiple Emmy and Directors Guild nominations for his work on Murphy Brown and Sex and the City.

Cool Quote: “We used men in the first few years [of Sex and the City] the way most shows use women — just in and out and goodbye.” (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, May 29, 2001 )

Rick Leed — Former president of Wind Dancer Production Group, the company behind the long-running hit Home Improvement, Leed is now head of his own production company, Content Provider, and has produced the trivia game show On the Cover for PAX TV. He sits on the Board of Directors for the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center and is involved with the Family Pride Coalition, a gay parents' rights group. He lives in Los Angeles with his partner and two adopted children.

Cool Quote: “The closet exists for actors, absolutely, but I don't believe it exists for writers, directors and producers. If you're talented and you can deliver to a studio a quality movie — and, hopefully, a quality movie that makes money — nobody cares.” (San Francisco Chronicle, Jan. 28, 1996)

Bryan Lourd — Superagent to the stars Bryan Lourd has been partner and managing director of the Creative Artists Agency since 1995, and currently also serves as a director of InterActiveCorp, an online media company. Lourd came out — and gained some tabloid fame in the process — when he broke off his three-year romance with actress Carrie Fisher in the 1990s and immediately started a relationship with another man.

Cool Quote: “Suzanne Vale had a problem … She'd had a child with someone who forgot to tell her he was gay. He forgot to tell her, and she forgot to notice.” — Carrie Fisher (The Best Awful)

Rob Marshall — Director of Memoirs of a Geisha and Academy Award-winning Chicago, Marshall also directed the Broadway musical Seussical: The Musical and choreographed and co-directed the 1998 revival of Cabaret. He has received six Tony Award nominations.

In 2003, Marshall headlined a fundraiser in his home town of Pittsburgh for the Pittsburgh International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival. Marshall lives in New York City with his long-time partner, John DeLuca, a performer and choreographer.

Cool Quote: “I really feel that when Pittsburgh calls, it's hard to say no.” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 24, 2003)

Ryan Murphy — Creator of the current FX television series Nip/Tuck, Murphy recently wrote and directed the movie version of gay author Augusten Burroughs' memoir, Running With Scissors. Murphy also created the WB series Popular, which received a GLAAD media award for its episodes dealing with homophobia. Early in his career as a journalist, Murphy conducted the final interview with screen legend Bette Davis.

Cool Quote: “You live by the knife, you die by the knife.'' (Los Angeles Times, Oct. 9, 2004)

Jonathan Murray — President of Bunim-Murray Productions, Murray is behind The Real World, which is the longest running series on MTV. In 1994, the cast included HIV-positive Pedro Zamora, who died after the end of the season at age 22. In his honor, Murray 's company produced A Tribute to Pedro Zamora. The Real World has continued to include gay characters to this day.

Murray also produced Making the Band (MTV), The Simple Life (Fox), The Real Cancun and the Emmy-winning Starting Over. The Real World has won three GLAAD Media Awards, a TV Guide Award and been nominated for an Emmy. Murray and his partner, Harvey Reese, have one son, Dylan.

Cool Quote: “Until the last few years, I didn't associate being gay with having a family. It's not about having it all but, rather, deciding what you want to have. One of the nice things about being gay is deciding that for yourself, and as I've gotten older, what I want has changed.” (The Advocate, June 22, 1999) 

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