Chris Greenleaf Launches PFM Entertainment Group, Sets Adaptation Of Break-Up Manual ‘Getting Over John Doe’ As First Project

Matt Grobar
·3 min read

EXCLUSIVE: Veteran creative entertainment and marketing executive Chris Greenleaf on Monday announced the launch of PFM Entertainment Group, a new production company focused on high-concept projects for film and TV.

Greenleaf’s goal with the company is to put out content that’s irreverent, emotionally engaging, and filled with “pure f**king magic,” for which the letters in the PFM name stand. In a statement on the company’s launch, he shared, “After the birth of my son and with everything that’s going on all around us every day, I wanted my legacy to him to be a world filled with a lot more laughter and that’s the mission statement of PFMEG.”

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PFM Entertainment Group opens for business with a robust pipeline of projects in various stages of development: some, conceived and written by Greenleaf; others, based on original IP from a diverse set of voices. Already, the company has secured film and television rights to the book Getting Over John Doe: A Story of Love, Heartache, and Surviving with Style, which it will begin shopping in the coming weeks. The author is Suzanne Yalof Schwartz, the former New York fashion editor who now serves as CEO of meditation and wellness company, Unplug.

“The book enjoyed a cult following in the early 2000s as a ‘break-up manual’ of sorts,” Greenleaf explained. “The journey we take, the ways we cope and the irrational things that we do after a relationship is over is a universal experience, one that transcends time and one we can all relate to.”

The story follows Sarah Morris, who has been dumped by “the one” yet again and is recruited to join G.O.J.D. aka Getting Over John Doe, a secret society of women helping each to get over men. Sarah’s “12-step journey” starts out as cathartic, but things quickly escalate when she finds out her “John Doe” has moved on.

Greenleaf describes the feature take as Bridesmaids meets Bridget Jones’s Diary “mixed with some karmic justice.” He’ll exec produce alongside Schwartz through PFMEG.

Prior to launching his own shingle, Greenleaf served as a development executive for CBS/Eyemark, Triage Entertainment/Viacom Productions, and Comedy Central, where he was instrumental in the launch of South Park. He has also developed, written, directed, packaged, or produced content for companies such as Lionsgate, DreamWorks Television, O Entertainment, CBS, Oxygen, USA, MTV, CMT, and Wilshire Studios/NBC Universal.

Previously, Greenleaf also took his storytelling skills into the world of content marketing, where he is considered a pioneer in online, mobile, streaming, and branded entertainment. While at GoTV Networks, he developed, launched, and managed hundreds of entertainment programs, including Verizon’s V-Cast content, and the Verizon Championship Racing channel. He’s also created branded content for Lexus/L-Studios, Werner Media, Wrigley’s, and P&G – where he developed Tide’s mobile comedy series Crescent Heights, teen drama Being Bailey, and Must Have for Tampax & Always, which won a CINE Award.

Greenleaf has also helped build interactive content and experiences for brands such as Mitsubishi, Airbnb, Nissan, Lexus, and eBay through Picnic New Media and PFM Interactive Content Studios, companies that he helped found or co-found.

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