Lee Caplin

Lee Evan Caplin (born September 8, 1946) is an American entrepreneur, entertainment and communications industry executive, attorney & philanthropist. He is the Founder of Picture Entertainment Corporation, and serves as Chairman and CEO. With famed director Luis Valdez, Caplin creates CA State University's Department of film, television & theater, and was honored by the University's President as Founding Faculty. Caplib founded iSTAR (Immersive Studio for Altered Reality), and The Lee Caplin School of Journalism & Media, both at Florida International University) in Miami. He previously Co-Founded and served as a Director with Jay Penske of Velocity Services Inc., later rebranded Mail.com Media Company, and finally rebranded Penske Media which owns Variety, Rolling Stone, Hollywood Reporter, Billboard, magazines, and additional iconic entertainment brands and festival venues.

Early Years and Education

Caplin was born in New York City, to Mortimer Caplin, former U.S. Commissioner of the IRS under President John F. Kennedy, and Founder of Caplin& Drysdale, one of tge Nation's leading tax law firms, and to Ruth Sacks Caplin, a fashion designer, psychologist and screenwriter.

Caplin attended St. Albans School In Washington, D.C., where his classmates included The future U.S. Vice President Al Gore, and Future FCC Chairman Reed Hunt. He later received his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Government at Duke University, and his Juris Doctorate at the University of Virginia Law School, where he was an Editor of the Virginia Law Review.

Law

After a post graduate period in Central America and South America, Caplin served as a tax litigator at the U.S. Internal Revenue Service in San Francisco, returned to Washington D.C. served as Special Counsel to Common Cause Chairman John Gardner, where he participated in its successful Amicus Curiae brief in the landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court decision 418 U.S. 683 (1974) ordering President Richard Nixon to surrender the subpoenaed tape recordings to the Watergate scandal. He also served as Environmental Protection Agency's Legal Counsel to the U.S. Department of Justice prosecution of violations under the Clean Water Act 33 USC Section 404 and Clean Air Act 42 USC Section 7401 et seq., with emphasis on wetlands protection and methane gas elimination.

The Business of Art

Following his legal career, Caplin worked at President Jimmy Carter's Transition Team on taxes and the arts. He later was appointed Special Assistant Chairman at the National Endowment for the Arts in Washington D.C., where he created and operated a joint NEA/US Small Business Administration National Program entitled The Business of Art and the Artist,, that taught artists small business skills. In the wake of this program Caplin produced the book "The Business of Art", https://www.amazon.com/Business-Art-30th-Anniversary-ebook/dp/B006414C26?dplnkId=047e7151-3645-4012-88e6-83b69320b5a3&nodl=1 initially published by Prentice Hall, that became an Best Seller and over 40 years is a bible in the field at universities across the country. In the year that followed his government service, Caplin launched a series called "The Great American Art Game" on the short-lived CBS Cable Television. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0285584/?ref_=ext_shr_sms Caplin's publishing companies, in addition to his 17 year business with Penske, have published over 200 titles in comics & graphic novel, including True Detective, Pulp Fiction, LA Confidential & Dime Detective.

Picture Entertainment Corporation

Caplin founded PEC in 1984. Beginning with "The Great American Art Game@ & "Andy Warhol: Made in China", he went on to originate & Executive Produce the $135 million Sony Columbia Pictures hit "Ali", which received multiple Academy Award nominations. Following that were a dozen festival award winning independent films, including "Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont" starring Academy Award nominated Joan Plowright, which Roger Ebert called "a delight, in ways both expected and rare " PEC has evolved into a multifaceted entertainment entity, spanning literary rights, sports, and immersive media including XR, animation, Volumetric Capture, and AI-enhanced advertising.

William Faulkner

Caplin is Executor of Nobel Laureate William Faulkner's Literary Estate for over 25 years. As the executive producer of all Faulkner-based plays, television and films. Formerly Partnered for with one of television's most iconic writers, David Milch, and with two-time Academy Award winner Horton Foote, he has brought the Faulkner name to the Cannes and Venice Film Festivals plus an Academy Award, an Emmy TV Award, and an Obie Off-Broadway Award.

Producing

Caplin was instrumental in originating, and Could-Produces HBO's multi-Emmy and Golden Globe Award winning series "True Detective". Currently he is finishing production of "Dime Detective" starring Terrence Howard. He also has begun development of a Broadway-bound Blues Musical in the tradition of "Porgy and Bess", inspired by the Faulkner film classic "The Long Hot Summer" starring Paul Newman.

Energy & Technology

Caplin in Co-Founder of iStar Energy, LLC, which is immersed in oil & natural gas extraction, sulphur filtration and international distribution. His firm also is a major force in clean air maintenance through its multi-state work in eliminating methane gas pollution from abandoned wells.

Personal life

caplin resides in Miami, with his wife, concert pianist Gita Katasik, whom he married in 1975. Together they have one don, Daniel Alexander, born in 1988.

Early years and education

Caplin was born in New York City to Mortimer Caplin, a prominent tax attorney and founder of Caplin & Drysdale, and screenwriter, Ruth Sacks Caplin. He is the grandson of Daniel Caplin, New York City teacher and fight manager, and the great-nephew of Jewish gangster Nathan Kaplan.

Caplin moved with his family to Charlottesville, VA in 1951 when his father accepted a professorship at the University of Virginia School of Law. In 1961, his father was appointed Commissioner of Internal Revenue under the Kennedy Administration, and the family again relocated to Washington, DC. Caplin graduated from St. Albans School in 1965. He went on to earn his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Duke University in 1969, and his Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1972, where he was an editor of the Law Review.

Career

Law

Upon earning his Juris Doctor, Caplin was special counsel to Common Cause and oversaw Appellate litigation enforcing the Clean Water Act with the Environmental Protection Agency.

The Business of Art

Caplin worked as a Special Assistant Chairman with the National Endowment for the Arts. In conjunction with the U.S. Small Business Administration, in developing The Business of Art and the Artist, a national program designed to teach business skills to America's artists. This effort culminated in Prentice Hall Trade publishing Caplin's textbook, The Business of Art, a 3-time bestseller. Caplin's publishing companies have produced over 200 titles of illustrated educational and children's books.

Picture Entertainment

Caplin founded Picture Entertainment Corporation (PEC) in 1984. Beginning with projects like The Great American Art Game and Andy Warhol: Made in China, Caplin went on to executive produce Ali, starring Will Smith, with Sony Pictures Entertainment and Columbia Pictures in 2001. Will Smith and Jon Voight both received Academy Award nominations for their performances.

In 2005, Caplin's mother, Ruth Sacks Caplin, wrote an adaptation of a 1971 Elizabeth Taylor novel. Caplin purchased the film rights and produced Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont, directed by Dan Ireland, starring Academy Award-nominated Joan Plowright opposite Rupert Friend in the title roles. Stephen Hunter of The Washington Post described Plowright's performance as "possibly her best role in the flickers," and Roger Ebert called the film "a delight…in ways both expected and rare."

PEC has evolved into a multifaceted operation spanning the entertainment, literary, and sports industries. PEC's subsidiary, Picture Entertainment Sports, focuses on Pay Per View boxing, mixed martial arts, and soccer.

William Faulkner

Caplin is the Executor of the Literary State of Nobel Prize, author William Faulkner. In this role, he produces motion picture, television, and theatrical productions based on Faulkner's works, and oversees the development of the William Faulkner brand.

In 2003, Caplin granted the rights to Aaron Schneider to bring Faulkner's 1942 short story, Two Soldiers, to the screen. Schneider's adaptation went on to win the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film at the 76th Academy Awards.

In 2013, Caplin produced James Franco's directorial debut, As I Lay Dying, adapted from Faulkner's 1930 novel of the same name The film premiered at the 66th Annual Cannes Film Festival. In 2014, Caplin partnered with James Franco once more to produce The Sound and the Fury (2014 film), the second film adaptation of Faulkner's 1929 novel of the same name. The film was selected to screen out of competition at the 71st Annual Venice International Film Festival.

Producing

Caplin co-produces HBO's True Detective. The critically acclaimed series has been nominated for numerous awards, and has won the Primetime Emmy Awardfor Outstanding Main Title Design, Outstanding Cinematography, Outstanding Makeup, Outstanding Casting, and Outstanding Directing. True Detective received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television, and Woody Harrelson, Matthew McConaughey, and Michelle Monaghan received nominations for their Season 1 performances.

Other work

Caplin was a Founding Faculty member of the California State University at Monterey Bay (CSUMB). He, with Luis Valdez, established CSUMB's Cinematic Arts & Technology department. He continues to lecture and offer courses in film and television, communications, art, business, and law. Caplin is co-owner of Keystone Studios, the successor to America's first motion picture studio, founded by Mack Sennett in 1912.

Personal life

Caplin currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife, concert pianist Gita Karasik, whom he married in 1975. Together, they have one son, Daniel Alexander (born 1988).