HANK Perlman
Let’s not shy away from the fact that Hank Perlman’s been around.
In addition to founding Hungry Man Productions with Bryan Buckley in 1997, he caught a rare Orange Spotted Sun Fish in Wisconsin at Camp Jackpine in the summer of 1978, he helped rewrite movie-poster-lines with Bill Murray for Groundhog Day in 1992, and in 1996 talked an 18-year-old Kobe Bryant through his first TV commercial and helped him find his lost plane ticket. Perlman shot PSAs with three U.S. Presidents (2 Bushes,1 Clinton) for Tsunami relief in 2005. Then shot more pro bono work with and got marriage advice from Bill Clinton in 2007. He saw Weird Al in 1984 at Disney World and Nirvana at the Pyramid Club in 1989. He was working behind the scenes at The Late Show with David Letterman in 1999 during Farah Fawcett’s infamous and incoherent interview. He was in Vancouver in 1994 for Game 6 of the Stanley Cup and got towel-whipped by Canucks’ fans. Also, in 1994 when Perlman was working for Wieden+Kennedy in Portland, Oregon, he (with art director Rick McQuiston) created ESPN’s “This is Sports Center” campaign which won an Emmy and continued to run for almost 30 years. Perlman then worked in the MTV on-air promo department which led to more directing work and the start of Hungry Man.
In addition to helping run the company, finding and developing new talent, and planning fabulous Christmas parties, Perlman continues to direct award-winning campaigns for brands such as YouTube, FedEx, Amazon, AT&T, State Farm, and American Express. In 2023, Perlman, who has many outside interests, founded Canis Major Space Systems whose mission is to revolutionize space travel in order to explore and colonize the universe for the betterment of mankind. Phew.