Harold Greenberg

Harold Greenberg
Born	January 11, 1930(1930-01-11) Montreal, Quebec
Died	July 1, 1996(1996-07-01) (aged 66)
Occupation	Film producer

Harold Greenberg, OC, CQ (January 11, 1930 – July 1, 1996) was a Canadian film producer.

Harold was born in Montreal, Quebec in 1930. Harold was born into a family of three brothers: Ian, Sydney and Harvey (died in 1997). Greenberg began working in a second-hand camera store when he was thirteen. He set up his own film and photography company and made a fortune by obtaining the exclusive rights to footage from Expo 67 in Montreal. In 1973 he acquired Astral Communications and subsequently combined it with his then company Ann Green Photos and it became one of the leading film production companies in Canada, producing such films as Porky's, the most successful Canadian film ever and the critically acclaimed The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz. In the 1980s Greenberg became heavily involved in pay TV and started The Movie Network and other pay per view channels. Astral communications also distribute many international programs in Canada.

Greenberg died in 1996 and his brother Ian Greenberg took Harold's place as head of Astral.

He was also a noted philanthropist and was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 1992 he was made a Knight of the National Order of Quebec.

Harold Greenberg identified that there was a demand for well-written Canadian scripts, but not enough resources to fund them into production. So in April 1986, he established The FUND (Foundation to Underwrite New Drama). In 1996, upon his passing, it was renamed The Harold Greenberg Fund. The French-language program, Le Fonds Harold Greenberg, was also established.

Since 1986, The Harold Greenberg Fund/Le Fonds Harold Greenberg has invested almost $73 million in the Canadian film and television industry. That’s over 3,250 projects.

External links

• Harold Greenberg at the Internet Movie Database
• Harold Greenberg at The Canadian Encyclopedia