Allen Estrin#Books

Estrin co-founded the digital media website PragerU, short for "Prager University", with Dennis Prager and is currently the executive producer of The Dennis Prager Show.{{cite web |first=Mark |last=Oppenheimer |url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/03/inside-right-wing-youtube-turning-millennials-conservative-prageru-video-dennis-prager/ |title=Inside the Right-Wing YouTube Empire That's Quietly Turning Millennials Into Conservatives – Mother Jones |publisher=Motherjones.com |date= |access-date=2019-12-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180525133052/https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/03/inside-right-wing-youtube-turning-millennials-conservative-prageru-video-dennis-prager/ |archive-date=2018-05-25 |url-status=dead }}

When Estrin originally conceptualized PragerU, he had planned for it to be a brick-and-mortar university, but later proposed instead creating short educational videos online.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/04/us/politics/dennis-prager-university.html|title=Right-Wing Views for Generation Z, Five Minutes at a Time|last=Bowles|first=Nellie|date=2020-01-04|work=The New York Times|access-date=2020-01-12|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}{{cite web|url=https://open.spotify.com/episode/23YJAsyWEaidamj85qZO7b|title=Fireside Chat Ep. 100 – The Founding of PragerU With Allen Estrin|via=open.spotify.com}} Estrin credits Jeremy Boreing with helping to develop its current animation style.{{cite web|last=Nguyen |first=Tina |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/12/how-hollywood-invented-ben-shapiro |title="Let Me Make You Famous": How Hollywood Invented Ben Shapiro |publisher=Vanity Fair |date=2018-12-09 |access-date=2020-01-14}} Estrin represented PragerU at President Donald Trump's "Social Media Summit" in July 2019.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/07/12/white-house-social-media-summit-not-one-and-done-trumps-allies-say/ |title=White House social media summit not a 'one-and-done,' Trump's allies say |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=2019-07-12 |access-date=2020-01-14}}{{cite web|url=https://politi.co/2LfEebx|title=Social media gadflies gather for airing of grievances with Trump|last=Overly|first=Steven|website=Politico|language=en|access-date=2020-01-12}} He predicts that leftists will eventually create their equivalent of PragerU.

Estrin was a screenwriter for several television shows including Boston Public, Touched by an Angel, and The Practice. {{cite web|url=https://thekcompany.co/background/biography-allen-estrin/|title=Biography {{!}} Allen Estrin|website=The Kairos Company|language=en-US|access-date=2020-01-12}}{{cite web|url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/josephbernstein/prager-university |title=How PragerU Is Winning The Right-Wing Culture War Without Donald Trump |publisher=Buzzfeednews.com |date=2018-03-03 |access-date=2020-01-14}}

He also co-wrote Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World{{Citation|title=Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World (1998)|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/pocahontas_ii_journey_to_a_new_world|language=en|access-date=2020-02-11}} and with his brother Mark Estrin (1947-2005){{cite web | url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2005-05-11-0505110057-story.html | title=Estrin, Mark |publisher=Chicago Tribune |date=2005-05-11}} wrote Bare Essentials,{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-01-08-ca-7913-story.html|title=TV Reviews : Clothing-Thin Plot in 'Bare Essentials'|date=January 8, 1991|website=Los Angeles Times}} and Warm Hearts, Cold Feet.{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-may-12-me-estrin12-story.html|title=Mark Estrin, 57; Co-Founder of Winery Known for Prose, Pinots|date=May 12, 2005|website=Los Angeles Times}}{{cite web|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1987/01/14/Warm-Hearts-Cold-Feet-UPI-Arts-Entertainment-Television/7388537598800/|title=Warm Hearts, Cold Feet UPI Arts & Entertainment -- Television|website=UPI}} He was also a co-producer for Bare Essentials. With Prager, David Zucker, and Susan Silverberg Grossand he wrote For Goodness Sake.{{Cite web | url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-05-31-ca-1662-story.html | title=A look inside Hollywood and the movie: Grand Experiments: Maybe if They Put Dennis Prager on an 'Airplane!' It'll Get off the Ground| website=Los Angeles Times| date=1992-05-31}} He and Prager wrote a sequel, For Goodness Sake II.{{IMDb title |tt0205946|For Goodness Sake II}} Estrin is a lecturer in screenwriting at the American Film Institute. He directed "Israel in a Time of Terror".{{cite web|url=http://www.7thart.com/films/Israel-in-a-Time-of-Terror|title=Israel in a Time of Terror - 7thart Releasing|website=www.7thart.com}}

Estrin wrote The Hollywood Professionals, Volume 6: Capra, Cukor and Brown,{{Cite journal |jstor = 44019009|last1 = Poague|first1 = Leland|title = Reviewed work: The Hollywood Professionals Volume 6: Capra, Cukor, Brown, Allen Estrin|journal = Film Criticism|volume = 5|issue = 2|pages = 70–74|year = 1981}} published in 1980, about directors Frank Capra, George Cukor, and Clarence Brown.{{Cite journal |jstor = 1212019|last1 = Callenbach|first1 = Ernest|title = Director Studies|journal = Film Quarterly|volume = 33|issue = 4|pages = 49–51|last2 = Fell|first2 = John|year = 1980|doi = 10.2307/1212019}}

With Joseph Telushkin, Estrin also co-wrote the novel Heaven's Witness, published in 2004. Publishers Weekly offered a mostly positive review, saying "Detailed backstories, plus numerous psychoanalytical and New Age tidbits, slow the plot in places, but the past-life angle sustains interest."{{cite web|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-59264-091-1 |title=Fiction Book Review: Heaven's Witness by Allen Estrin, Author, Joseph Telushkin, Author. (467p) ISBN 978-1-59264-091-1 |publisher=Publishersweekly.com |date=2004-08-16 |access-date=2020-01-14}} The Washington Examiner praised the book as "the most interesting of this year's religious mysteries."{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/weekly-standard/the-year-in-books|title=The Year in Books|date=2004-12-13|website=Washington Examiner|language=en|access-date=2020-01-12}} Kirkus Reviews said it was "especially good at balancing belief and skepticism about reincarnation."{{cite web|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/joseph-telushkin/heavens-witness/|title=Heaven's Witness |date=2010-05-10|website=Kirkus|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=}} And the Jewish Journal called the book "a page-turning whodunit" that "raises some lofty questions about the nature of the afterlife and what happens to us after we die."{{cite web | url=https://jewishjournal.com/culture/arts/10739/ | title='Heaven's' Mysterious Spirits| date=2004-12-23}} CBS optioned this book for a 2005 TV movie, paid both authors to write the script, but then stopped making such movies.{{Cite web | url=https://observer.com/2014/07/joseph-telushkin/ |title = Joseph Telushkin Kibbitzes About His New Book| website=The New York Observer |date = 2014-07-21}}

Estrin married Susan Chamberlain in 1985.{{cite web|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/estrin-allen|title=Estrin, Allen | Encyclopedia.com|website=www.encyclopedia.com}} He is the son of Donald and Mildred Estrin, with brothers Joel and Mark, and a sister Amy.

In 2002, Estrin was denied life insurance because he traveled to Israel, one of the countries subject to U.S. State Department travel advisories. Because of this, he sued 14 insurance companies. This led to some insurers changing such policies,{{cite web|url=https://www.jta.org/2004/07/02/lifestyle/allstate-wont-blacklist-israel-travelers|title=Allstate won't blacklist Israel travelers|date=2004-07-02|website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency|language=en-US|access-date=2020-01-12}} and to a bill in California to outlaw such travel restrictions on policies.{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-jul-07-fi-insure7-story.html|title=Panel OKs Bill on Travel Bias in Insurance|date=2005-07-07|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US|access-date=2020-02-09}}

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