Lives of Consequence
Warren Littlefield '74
Television Executive
Executive Producer Warren Littlefield won eight Emmys for his Hulu production of The Handmaid’s Tale in 2017 marking the first time that a series broadcast on a streaming platform won an Emmy for “Outstanding Series.” In 2018 during the second season of the show, based on Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel of the same name, “The Handmaid’s Tale” was nominated for 21 Emmys including “Outstanding Drama Series” and “Best Guest Actress in a Drama.” The show also won the 2017 Golden Globe Award for best drama series.
Littlefield also currently serves as the executive producer of “Fargo,” the award-winning FX television show which enters its fourth season in late-2019. “Fargo” won Emmys for “Outstanding Cinematography for a Limited Series or Movie” and “Outstanding Sound Editing for a Limited Series, Movie or a Special” in 2016. The dark comedy about crime in a small Minnesota community was nominated for 18 Emmys in 2016: eight in Primetime categories and 10 in the Creative Arts. In all, “Fargo” has garnered five Emmy wins and 35 nominations since it was launched in 2014.
While serving as President of NBC, Little was also responsible for developing other “Must See TV” shows that defined 90's television, including "Seinfeld," "Friends," "Cheers," "ER" and “Will and Grace,” whose storyline returned to primetime in 2017.
Littlefield’s television career was launched in 1979 when he joined NBC as the Manager of Comedy Development. At that time, NBC had no comedies ranked among Nielsen's top 25 shows. Less than two years later, he was promoted to Vice President, Current Comedy Programs. As the captain of the network's comedy department, he helped develop other award-winning series such as "Family Ties," "The Golden Girls," and cast Will Smith in "Fresh Prince of Bel Air." During those years, NBC climbed out of the Nielsen ratings basement and went on to enjoy a history-making, six-year ride as the top-rated network.
Under his watch as President of the Entertainment Division, NBC won an amazing 168 Emmy awards and numerous other industry honors. In addition, as President of NBC Entertainment, he oversaw the development and production of NBC's prime time, late night and Saturday-morning entertainment programming. During his last three seasons with the network, NBC sold an industry record $6.5 billion in prime-time advertising — $2 billion more than its closest competitor.
In his final year at NBC, he supervised the development of "Will and Grace" and "Providence," both owned by NBC Studios, as well as "The West Wing." He initiated the development of "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit," which began the industry trend of procedural spin-offs.
Among a long list of Emmy and audience-winning long form programs, Littlefield acquired the holiday film classic "It's a Wonderful Life" and reinvented it as an "NBC Classic;" broadcast the encore presentation of the original "Peter Pan;" and acquired and presented - without commercial interruption - the Oscar-winning film "Schindler's List," which was seen by more than 60 million Americans in its initial broadcast.
A native of Montclair, N.J., Littlefield began his career at Westfall Productions in New York City, where he developed and produced prime-time specials and movies. At age 26, he produced "The Last Giraffe," a made-for-television movie that was shot exclusively on location in Kenya.
He attended the School of Government and Public Administration at American University in Washington, D.C., before earning a degree in psychology at Hobart.
In the community, he serves as a member of the board of the L.A. Free Clinic, and has served on the boards of Dynamic Digital Depth, Heal the Bay, the Environmental Media Association, the National Coalition of Christians and Jews, and the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television.