Ken Peragine
- Writer
- Producer
Ken grew up on the East Coast where he appeared as a panelist on William F. Buckley Jr.'s TV show "Firing Line." Although Ken and Buckley butted heads, their mutual respect grew into a friendship. Looking at life through an oblique lens, Ken started writing comedy material for various stand-up comedians. Jerry Seinfeld's manager, George Shapiro, a fan, encouraged him to write scripts. Interestingly, it was George and his partner, Howard West, Seinfeld producers, who later represented Ken and his pilot script that ended up in negotiations with Imagine Entertainment, packaged by CAA agent, Joe Cohen.
Ken's first script sale was a Newhart episode produced while he was still in college. Ken learned to rein in his surrealistic writing impulses to fit a more conventional template. He moved on to pen numerous TV comedies (executive-story editor), TV network pilots (ABC, CBS), TV movies (Disney, Lifetime), and feature films (Warner Bros). During this period, he had overall deals at Viacom and Disney to write and produce.
Independently, Ken's been employed as a script doctor, and has authored projects for producers Laura Ziskin, Steve Stark, Margaret French Isaac and Mike Medavoy.
Ken's friends in the industry include Jay Leno, Nicole Fox, and before their passing, Bob Saget and Richard Lewis. Ken used to call Bob his older, wiser brother and Richard one of his closest friends. Ken has kept all of the texts and emails from Bob and Richard and considers them a calming presence in his life. He even held on to a funny, rambling 30 minute answering machine message once left by Richard. And if you run into Ken, ask him about the time Richard introduced him to Larry David, for Ken to pitch a Seinfeld episode to Larry over the phone. During their conversation, a bird flew into Ken's head, causing him to go to Urgent Care. Of course, Ken used the incident in a script.
Due to a DMV scandal involving identity theft where Ken and others were victims of online misinformation, Ken was advised to restrict contact information and some personal details from the Bio.
Ken's first script sale was a Newhart episode produced while he was still in college. Ken learned to rein in his surrealistic writing impulses to fit a more conventional template. He moved on to pen numerous TV comedies (executive-story editor), TV network pilots (ABC, CBS), TV movies (Disney, Lifetime), and feature films (Warner Bros). During this period, he had overall deals at Viacom and Disney to write and produce.
Independently, Ken's been employed as a script doctor, and has authored projects for producers Laura Ziskin, Steve Stark, Margaret French Isaac and Mike Medavoy.
Ken's friends in the industry include Jay Leno, Nicole Fox, and before their passing, Bob Saget and Richard Lewis. Ken used to call Bob his older, wiser brother and Richard one of his closest friends. Ken has kept all of the texts and emails from Bob and Richard and considers them a calming presence in his life. He even held on to a funny, rambling 30 minute answering machine message once left by Richard. And if you run into Ken, ask him about the time Richard introduced him to Larry David, for Ken to pitch a Seinfeld episode to Larry over the phone. During their conversation, a bird flew into Ken's head, causing him to go to Urgent Care. Of course, Ken used the incident in a script.
Due to a DMV scandal involving identity theft where Ken and others were victims of online misinformation, Ken was advised to restrict contact information and some personal details from the Bio.