Dr. Drew Pinsky Announces Formation of Dr. Drew Productions

LOS ANGELES, April 28 -- Dr. Drew Pinsky announced today the formation of Dr. Drew Productions, which will be based in Los Angeles and focus on high-quality reality television projects featuring Dr. Drew as well as other talent. Pinsky will partner with long-time manager Howard Lapides on this project. Lapides will be the managing partner.

"All projects under the new banner will expand on the Dr. Drew brand of always making a difference," said Howard Lapides.

The first project from the company is a pilot "Estranged with Dr. Drew" where couples decide if they want to reunite or separate. The project is being produced in conjunction with Picture This Television based in New York.

On television, Dr. Drew is best know for the "Celebrity Rehab" franchise on VH1, which is now in production on its fourth season and includes the spin-offs "Sober House with Dr. Drew" and "Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew." He also hosts MTV's "Sex�With Mom and Dad."

Dr. Drew is currently in development with Telepictures targeting a fall 2011 premiere. Howard Lapides has been named Co-executive producer on this show.

Dr. Drew is host of the nationally syndicated radio show "Loveline." Dr. Drew is an internist who is board-certified in addiction medicine, still runs a private practice, and is Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the Keck USC School of Medicine. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Mirror Effect: How Celebrity Narcissism is Seducing America and CRACKED: Putting Broken Lives Together Again. Among his numerous awards, Dr. Drew was honored with the 2008 Larry Stewart Leadership and Inspiration Award at the 12th Annual PRISM Awards. He is a regular guest on CNN's Larry King Live, which he has hosted many times, and is a contributor to The Today Show and most other media outlets. To combat teen abuse of prescription drugs, Dr. Drew developed the RXLocker, a simple locking case to safely store prescription drugs.

Howard Lapides, co-CEO of the Core, and President of the TV and Motion Picture division of Lapides/Lear Entertainment, manages writers/producers, talk show hosts, authors, comedians, and actors. Lapides is the executive producer of VH1's "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew" and "Sober House with Dr. Drew." Lapides served as an Executive Producer for Comedy Central's "The Man Show" and was also an Executive Producer of "Loveline" for MTV. Lapides worked closely with MTV developing TRL for client Carson Daly and produced Tom Green's feature directorial debut, Freddy Got Fingered for New Regency Pictures and Twentieth Century Fox. He also executive produced Stealing Harvard with Brian Grazer of Imagine Entertainment. He has been nominated for two Cable Ace Awards numerous Gemini Awards in Canada.