William Knoedelseder

Bill Knoedelseder is a veteran journalist, author and television news executive who spent 12 years as an investigative reporter for The Los Angeles Times, where his ground breaking coverage of the music industry formed the basis of his best-selling first book, “Stiffed: A True Story of MCA, the Music Business and the Mafia,” which was named Best Non-Fiction work of 1993 by Entertainment Weekly magazine.

In a subsequent 12-year television career, Knoedelseder served as the executive producer and creator of local and national news programs and documentaries for Fox Television, Disney, Knight Ridder and USA Broadcasting. For six of those years, he worked closely with Barry Diller, first at Fox and then at USA, where, as vice president of news, he created a critically-acclaimed nightly newscast in Miami, “The Times,” and a weekly reality series, “City Desk,” which was set inside The Miami Herald.

Knoedelseder also was the executive producer of two nationally televised documentaries: “Something’s Got to Give,” an award-winning two-hour special about Marilyn Monroe’s last, unfinished film that set a primetime ratings record for Fox in 1990; and “All the Presidents’ Movies,” a three-hour special for Bravo that chronicled the movie viewing habits of the modern U.S. Presidents-- what they watched, when they watched it, with whom, and what connection it had to world events-- based on the never-before-seen private logs of the official White House movie projectionist from 1953 to 1986.

Knoedelseder is also the co-author (with Bryn Freedman) of “In Eddie’s Name,” published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in 1999, about the murder of a Philadelphia teenager that made national headlines after Knoedelseder, as executive producer of the Knight Ridder news program “Inquirer News Tonight,” successfully pressured the city to release 911 tapes recorded the night of the murder, which ultimately revealed a complete breakdown Philadelphia’s emergency response system.

Knoedelseder’s book, “I’m Dying Up Here: Heartbreak and High Times in Standup Comedy’s Golden Age” was published by Perseus Books in 2009 and was under option to actor Jim Carrey.

Knoedelseder released “Bitter Brew: the Rise and Fall of Anheuser-Busch and America’s Kings of Beer” in 2012. Lionsgate Entertainment has optioned the TV rights, in association with Oscar-winning producer Michael London (“Sideways”) and film director John Sayles.

Knoedelseder is currently at work on his third book for Harper Collins, "Fins," about the visionary car designer Harley Earl and his role in the phenomenal rise of General Motors.