Anonymous Content founder and CEO Steve Golin, who earned three Academy Award nominations as a producer, including a Best Picture Oscar win for Spotlight in 2016, has passed away at the age of 64, reportedly of cancer.
Golin made an indelible industry mark in varied content forms, including features, TV, commercials and music videos–first as co-founder of Propaganda Films and then with Anonymous Content. At Anonymous, he meshed production of TV, features and commercials with talent management.
In a SHOOT interview back in 2015, Golin spoke of Anonymous’ multi-faceted development of directorial careers. While a number of Anonymous Talent and Lit Management clients were repped for spots by other production houses, many maintained continuity with the company across production and talent management. Golin said he ideally liked to have filmmakers repped and managed by Anonymous, making for “a 360-degree involvement…We are involved in quite a bit of feature and TV development with a lot of our directors. We want them to be completely diversified in advertising and entertainment production. That’s our model and it’s what we continue to pursue.”
Golin's efforts yielded top drawer work as reflected in not only the alluded to trio of Oscar nominations (the other two being for Best Picture for The Revenant in 2016 and Babel in 2007, both directed by Alejandro Inarritu) but also three primetime Emmy Award noms–The Alienist for Outstanding Limited Series in 2018; and Outstanding Drama Series nods in 2016 for Mr. Robot and in 2014 for the groundbreaking first season of True Detective, the latter with director Cary Fukunaga who had made his commercialmaking debut with Anonymous.
Golin’s other notable producing credits included director Spike Jonze’s Being John Malkovich, Michel Gondry’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and earlier endeavors such as David Lynch’s Wild At Heart, Jane Campion’s The Portrait of a Lady, David Fincher’s The Game and Neil LaBute’s Your Friends & Neighbors. Golin also produced or exec produced such TV series as Beverly Hills 90210, The L Word, The Knick, Lynch’s seminal Twin Peaks and the brand new Catch-22, which is set to premiere on Hulu next month.
Golin was also a staunch proponent of commercialmaking as an artform. He chaired the 2009 AICP Show, describing his serving in that role as “a wonderful honor.” He observed, “This is more than just an awards show–not only does it honor and celebrate the craft of commercial filmmaking, but through being archived at MoMA, contributes to our understanding of advertising and its place in our culture.”
At Anonymous Content, Golin’s directors also scored numerous honors for their spotmaking, including Inarritu who won the DGA Award in 2013 for Procter & Gamble’s tug-at-the-heartstrings “Best Job” saluting Olympic athletes’ moms, out of Wieden+Kennedy.
Among assorted other awards, Golin received the American Film Institute’s 2009 Franklin J. Schaffner Alumni Medal, which recognizes the extraordinary creative talents of a graduate of the AFI Conservatory who symbolizes the legacy of revered Oscar winner Schaffner.
