Moving to LA at 21,[6] he was hired on staff at Fox as a news producer after procuring an interview with Kelsey Grammer, who was appearing in court on drug charges.
His first client was a morning news anchor in Myrtle Beach, S.C.; his roster grew to include Martha Quinn, Rex Reed, Maty Monfort, Jane Wallace and Ryan Seacrest.
[9] At UTA, Coelen represented producer clients such as Stan Lee (Chairman Emeritus of Marvel Comics), Michael Davies (Who Wants To Be A Millionaire), R.J. Cutler (American High), Thom Beers (Monster Garage), Craig Piligian (Survivor), Cris Abrego, Mark Cronin, Joel Gallen (A Tribute to Heroes, MTV Movie Awards), Gay Rosenthal (Behind the Music), Bill Guttentag (Crime & Punishment), Andrew Glassman (The Wall), Stuart Krasnow (Weakest Link), World of Wonder (RuPaul's Drag Race), Evolution Media (Real Housewives Of Orange County), and publisher Judith Regan.
[10][11] Having been exposed to British TV shows like The Word, The Big Breakfast, and TFI Friday, Coelen stated "I couldn't work out why there was nothing like it on TV in the US,"[6] and he expanded his client base to include British production companies like Red Production Company, Shed, Wall to Wall, Monkey Kingdom, Maverick, Objective Media Group, Avalon, Ricochet and RDF Media, leading UTA to become known as "the agency of choice for UK Indies.
"[12][13] In 2005, Colin Robertson from Broadast described Coelen as "an alarmingly youthful bloke who looks as if he’d rather be perched on a surfboard than sitting in an air-conditioned office, (he) is a huge fan of British producers.
[18] While at UTA, Coelen helped package over five dozen projects including Wife Swap, Supernanny, Average Joe, The Simple Life, Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica, Worst Case Scenario, The Residents, Stripperella, Law & Order: Crime & Punishment (with agency client Dick Wolf).
Coelen stated "As an agent you can't produce...I was drawn by the opportunity to be a vested part of this business, to be on the same team as the people that I was representing.” Coelen was hired by Stephen Lambert, RDF's chief creative officer[22] and David Frank, RDF's CEO,[23] Coelen was given the task of expanding the firm’s North American business and was its first corporate employee in the U.S.; he oversaw and sold more than 30 shows to American networks and cable channels including Wife Swap, Secret Millionaire, Don't Forget the Lyrics, Hitched or Ditched, Addicted to Beauty,[24] Find My Family, How To Look Good Naked, The Two Coreys, Hardcore Pawn, and One Big Happy Family [25] While at RDF, Coelen expanded the companies activities to include a management company, Pangea Management Group.
[30] In December 2008, Secret Millionaire premiered on Fox, featuring wealthy men and women who live incognito in everyday neighborhoods, deciding whether to give up to $100,000 of their own money to deserving residents.
With all of the things that are happening in the business — the economy, the TiVo effect and declining viewership — the role of the advertiser has never been more important.” [34] Steve Grubbs, chief executive of Omnicom Media Group’s entertainment and sports division, stated ““This alignment with RDF gives us a direct line into a major production and distribution company, which will help us create content that will directly tie our clients’ brands into that content”[35] In 2009, RDF expanded Coelen's responsibilities, naming him Group Director of North America.
[36] TV Week named Coelen one of its "12 To Watch" in regard to his impact on the media industry in 2009 - on a list alongside Oprah Winfrey, Jason Kilar, Les Moonves, Jay Leno and Barack Obama.
[38][25] In March 2010, Coelen founded Kinetic Content, personally financing the company[39][40] and announcing a formal launch in April 2010 at MIPTV in Cannes.
[42] In 2011, Coelen led the Advisory Board for the Factual Entertainment Forum, the precursor to media industry conference Realscreen West,[45] along with Rob Sharenow and Sharon Levy.
[54] Featuring chefs including Ludo Lefebvre, Marcus Samuelsson, Brian Malarkey, José Andrés[55] and others, The Taste ran for three seasons on ABC,[56] and the format was produced for Channel 4 in the UK in 2014.
Its grip on formula is looser: There are no rote, predesigned outcomes, and participants go back to their home cities and spend time with their real friends and family.
"[76] In 2022, Coelen had two separate series hit #1 on the Netflix US rankings (Love Is Blind and The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On), one of only three producers to accomplish this feat (Shonda Rhimes & Ryan Murphy are the others).
[77] Coelen's series had over 550 million combined hours of viewing worldwide on Netflix in 2022, more than any producer other than Shonda Rhimes, Ryan Murphy and the teams behind Ozark, Stranger Things and Wednesday.
[83] Daniel D'Addario of Variety says that "series from the same creator, Chris Coelen... are the new standard-bearers for romantic reality TV" and that "Love Is Blind and The Ultimatum...feature high-concept premises and an aptitude for casting individuals who exist outside conversations about relatability.
Coelen’s shows escalate from relatively simple set-ups to wild heights of human behavior, all because contestants are (or appear to be) left to their own devices."
Coelen’s series occupy a more unsettled place, one that uses the tools of reality (big organizing ideas, people attuned to the dramatic) to create stagings that look like our world.
[88][89] Emily Longeretta at Variety writes that Coelen is a "proven innovator in the reality genre" and that "his passion for storytelling is what has established (Kinetic) as one of the top.
"[93] In 2020, 2022 and 2023, Coelen was nominated for an Emmy Award as Executive Producer of Love Is Blind in the category of Outstanding Structured Reality Program.