Peter Guber

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Peter Guber
Born Howard Peter Guber
March 2, 1942 (1942-03-02) (age 69)
Newton, Massachusetts U.S.
Alma mater Syracuse University (B.A.),
New York University (J.D. & LLM)
Occupation producer, executive
Years active 1977–present
Spouse Tara Lynda Guber
Children 4

Howard Peter Guber (born March 1, 1942 in Boston, Massachusetts[1]) is an American film producer and executive and Chairman and CEO of Mandalay Entertainment. Films he personally produced or executive produced include Rain Man, Batman, The Color Purple, Midnight Express, Gorillas in the Mist: The Story of Dian Fossey, The Witches of Eastwick, Missing and Flashdance. Guber's films have earned over three billion dollars worldwide and 50 Academy Award nominations.[2] Guber is also a minority owner of the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Contents

[edit] Early life

Peter Guber's parents Sam Guber and Ruth Anshen, of Jewish descent, married in 1929.[3] Peter's father owned a junk business in Somerville, Massachusetts.[4] As a child, Peter was noted for his intelligence, outgoing nature, high energy, aggressiveness, and extreme competitiveness.[5] He attended John Ward Elementary School and Newton North High School.[6]

Following high school graduation, Guber enrolled in the pre-law curriculum at Syracuse University. He played intramural football and pledged the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity.[7] Guber spent his junior year abroad at Syracuse's Florence, Italy campus. (He was later to falsely claim he earned an SSP graduate degree while in Italy.[8]) At Syracuse he met his future wife, Lynda Gellis, the daughter of a kosher meat magnate and the "self-styled queen" of her sorority.[9]

With the financial support of his wealthy new father-in-law, Guber enrolled at New York University for his J.D. and LL.M. law degrees, studying for his MBA at night.[10] (Though he later claimed otherwise on resumes, he would never finish the last degree.[11]) As he neared graduation in 1968, Guber, tired of the bone-chilling winters in his native Northeast, accepted a position with Columbia Pictures as an assistant and management trainee.[12]

[edit] Career

[edit] Columbia Pictures

"Brilliant, manipulative, seductive, and virtually without close friends," the driven Guber, "preoccupied with acquiring wealth," provoked both "contempt and grudging admiration" when he worked as executive Jerry Tokofsky's assistant.[13] Guber, an early proponent of computerization and entertainment technologies, began computerizing files on working actors and made available tape-recorded summaries of scripts for other executives to listen to while driving to work.[14] A year after arriving at Columbia Guber, having witnessed a demonstration of an early video cassette machine, published "The New Ballgame/The Cartridge Revolution," a "prescient" analysis of the changes to be wrought by home video technology, in the journal Cinema.[15]

Guber was transferred to the business affairs division after Tokofsky was fired, a position from which he watched his next two supervisors also be fired.[16] Guber paid to fly himself to Columbia's New York City office and successfully argued for his promotion to vice-president of creative affairs.[17] Shortly thereafter Guber was named head of American production, an advancement that, due to Columbia's power structure, "didn't give him much authority."[18] In August 1973 he was promoted to vice-president of worldwide production. Partly because of a tendency to commit funds and project to multiple filmmakers and actors simultaneously, Guuber was fired by Columbia president of production David Begelman in 1975, a fact he at first denied and then confessed to friends.[19] Upon leaving, Guber was given the "golden parachute" of a three year production deal with the studio. During his time at Columbia the studio released, among other films, Shampoo, Taxi Driver, Tommy, The Way We Were and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

[edit] Independent Producer

Guber launched his career as an independent film producer with The Deep, which became the second highest-grossing film of the year.[20] (Though he hadn't liked the Peter Benchley book upon which the film was based, Guber later commented that the wet T-shirt clinging to curvaceous star Jacqueline Bisset, "made me a rich man." [21]) Guber also bought the rights and served as executive producer for Midnight Express. Produced by Alan Marshall and David Puttnam, the film earned seven Academy Award nominations including “Best Picture." The National Association of Theater Owners named Guber “Producer of the Year.”

[edit] Casablanca Record and Filmworks

In 1976 Guber founded Casablanca Records and Filmworks with Neil Bogart. Their record operation included Kiss, Donna Summer, Captain and Tennille, The Village People and George Clinton's Parliament-Funkadelic. It also included soundtracks such as the Academy Award winning Midnight Express, Lionel Ritchie and Diana Ross’s Endless Love, and Flashdance, which sold more than 14 million albums. During this period, Guber also produced numerous television shows including Teddy White’s Emmy nominated Selling of the Presidency, the series Ocean Quest for NBC, and Mysteries of the Sea, a two hour special for ABC.

[edit] Polygram Filmed Entertainment and the Guber-Peters Company

In 1979 Guber formed PolyGram Entertainment where he was Chairman of the Board and CEO. He sold his interest in Polygram in 1983 and formed and served as Co‐Owner of the Guber‐Peters Company (GPC).

The films directly produced and executive produced by Guber have earned more than $3 billion in worldwide revenue and more than 50 Academy Award nominations, including four nominations for “Best Picture.” Rain Man was the highest-grossing Best Picture Academy Award winner ever, and Batman became one of the highest-grossing films in movie history.

Guber’s other films include Michael Apted’s Gorillas in the Mist: The Story of Dian Fossey, Steven Spielberg’s The Color Purple and Innerspace, George Miller’s The Witches of Eastwick, Flashdance, Costa Garvas’ Missing, Tango & Cash and John Landis’ American Werewolf in London.

The extent to which Peters was involved in the making of these films has been a matter of disagreement, as has the quality of his contributions. Steven Spielberg, director of The Color Purple, had a clause written into his contract barring Gruber from ever coming to the set.[22] Spielberg, who was later attached to Rain Man for several months as its director, has said that he "never had a single meeting" with Gruber on either project.[23] Additionally, Guber and Peters became known for "leaving a trail of traumatized producers and directors in their wake."[24] With The Witches of Eastwick Guber was accused by producer Rob Cohen, who had originally approached Guber with the book, of having "bought the book out from under me" after negotiations had begun.[25] Subsequently, Cohen says, Guber offered him a "take it or leave it" deal to line produce the film at a rate that was one-third of Guber's own salary.[26] Guber, "having grabbed the material and secured the talent, disappeared" from what would become a very troubled shoot.[27] Apted, director of Gorillas in the Mist, said that Guber "doesn't come to you with the greatest reputation," leading a filmmaker to think that Guber-Peters is "on the cusp of Hollywood sleaze there."[28]

[edit] Sony Pictures

In 1988, GPC became a public company when they merged with game show production company Barris Industries and on September 7, 1989, Barris Industries was renamed as the Guber-Peters Entertainment Company.[29] On September 29, 1989, GPEC was acquired by Sony Corporation and Guber became Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Columbia Pictures Entertainment (now Sony Pictures Entertainment). The sale was completed on November 9, 1989 a day after Sony acquired Columbia Pictures Entertainment. During Guber’s tenure at SPE, the company produced and distributed many prime time, half-hour comedy television series, with shows including Married with Children, Designing Women, and Seinfeld (all launched prior to Guber's arrival), and Mad About You and The Nanny.

During Guber’s tenure as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, SPE’s Motion Picture Group achieved, over four years, an industry-best domestic box office market share, which averaged seventeen percent. During the same period, Sony Pictures led all competitors with 120 Academy Award nominations, the highest four-year total ever for a single company. Guber's and Peter's time at Sony was finally viewed as a "disastrous tenure [that] Sony Pictures made them rich while it yielded bad, bloated movies and cost the company a fortune."[30]

SPE’s motion picture business included Awakenings, Misery, Postcards from the Edge, Flatliners, Look Who’s Talking, Terminator 2, Boyz n the Hood, The Prince of Tides, Bugsy, City Slickers, The Fisher King, Basic Instinct, A League of Their Own, Mo' Money, Single White Female, A River Runs Through It, Honeymoon in Vegas, A Few Good Men, Dracula, Sleepless in Seattle, In the Line of Fire, Groundhog Day, Cliffhanger, and Philadelphia. In addition, the company launched Sony Pictures Classics, which in each of its first three years won the Academy Award for “Best Foreign Film.”

[edit] Loews

Under Guber, the company re-framed its entire Loews exhibition circuit, becoming a top North American theatrical exhibition enterprise; introduced Sony’s SDDS sound system; and introduced the concept of IMAX theater and films integrated into multi-plex theaters in the building, design and execution of Sony’s 67th Street Theater and IMAX complexes in New York City, Chicago, and San Francisco.

[edit] Mandalay Entertainment

After leaving Sony in 1995, Guber formed Mandalay Entertainment Group as a multimedia entertainment vehicle in motion pictures, television, sports entertainment and new media.

[edit] Mandalay Pictures

Mandalay Pictures’ has produced hits including, I Know What You Did Last Summer; Donnie Brasco, starring Al Pacino and Johnny Depp and directed by Mike Newell; Seven Years in Tibet starring Brad Pitt and directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud; Wild Things, starring Matt Dillon, Kevin Bacon, Neve Campbell and Bill Murray; and Les Misérables, starring Liam Neeson, Geoffrey Rush, Uma Thurman, and Claire Danes. Other films include Galapagos, the documentary for the Smithsonian Institution in IMAX 3D, I Still Know, the sequel to I Know What You Did Last Summer; The Deep End of the Ocean, starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Whoopi Goldberg; Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow, starring Johnny Depp, directed by Burton; Enemy At The Gates, directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud and starring Joseph Fiennes, Jude Law, Rachel Weisz and Ed Harris; The Score, starring Robert DeNiro, Edward Norton and Marlon Brando; Into the Blue, starring Jessica Alba and Paul Walker; The Jacket, starring Keira Knightley and Adrien Brody; Darfur Now, produced by Don Cheadle; and Never Back Down, starring Djimon Hounsou.

[edit] Mandalay Vision

In 2010, Mandalay Vision was launched as an independent development, production and financing company. Backed by an investment from the Mandalay Entertainment Group, Mandalay Vision has already released The Kids are All Right, starring Julianne Moore, Annette Bening and Mark Ruffalo, and has upcoming films The Whistleblower, starring Rachel Weisz, Vanessa Redgrave and David Strathairn; and Vanishing on 7th Street, starring Hayden Christenson, Thandie Newton and John Leguizamo and financed by Herrick Entertainment. In addition, Mandalay Vision is currently in post-production on Soul Surfer, based on the autobiography of teen surfer Bethany Hamilton, starring Dennis Quaid, Helen Hunt and AnnaSophia Robb. Also in post-production is Salvation Boulevard, starring Pierce Brosnan, Greg Kinnear, Jennifer Connelly, Isabelle Fuhrman, Marisa Tomei and Ed Harris.

[edit] Mandalay Series Television

Mandalay Series Television has produced Cupid (ABC), Mercy Point (UPN), Rude Awakening (Showtime), Oh, Baby (Lifetime), and the critically acclaimed television series, Brotherhood (Showtime). Brotherhood, with Jason Clarke, Jason Isaacs, Annabeth Gish and Ethan Embry which won The George Foster Peabody Award in 2006.

[edit] Mandalay Television Pictures

Mandalay Television Pictures produces high profile television movies-of-the-week and mini-series. Projects include Dean Koontz’s number one best seller Intensity, a four hour mini series for Fox; Get to the Heart (The Barbara Mandrell Story) for ABC; the four hour mini series Final Descent for CBS; and for ABC Medusa’s Child, Bad As I Wanna Be and Ali, King of the World. Other successes include Sole Survivor, based on Dean Koontz’s number one best selling book; First Daughter for Turner; and The Linda McCartney for CBS. Mandalay Television’s recent works include the projects Blood Crime for USA, which was the network’s highest rated (Crime Friday) movie for 2002 starring James Caan and Jonathan Schaech; and X Team for ABC, starring Bai Ling (Red Corner) and Eric Mabius(Resident Evil).

From 2006-2009, Mandalay Television produced eight original movies-of-the-week for Lifetime Television. Based on the books of best-selling author, Nora Roberts, more than 34 million viewers tuned in to the first collection of four movies: Angels Fall, Blue Smoke, Carolina Moon and Montana Sky. Following the network’s enormous ratings success with the previous Nora Roberts’ adaptations, Mandalay Television produced the Nora Roberts II Collection, with four all-new original movies, Northern Lights, Midnight Bayou, High Noon and Tribute. The Nora Roberts franchise has been a worldwide ratings success for the cable network.

[edit] Mandalay Mosaic TV Group

In 2004, Mandalay Entertainment and Mosaic Media Group formed Mandalay Mosaic TV Group with Dick Clark Prod. as its key property. The Dick Clark stable includes the Golden Globes, the American Music Awards, the Academy of Country Music Awards, the American Music Awards, Bloopers TV specials and the American Bandstand catalog. The production company produced New Year’s Rockin’ Eve and the FOX summer hit, So You Think You Can Dance. In 2007, in a major sale, Red Zone Capital Fund acquired Dick Clark Productions.

[edit] Mandalay Sports Entertainment

Mandalay Sports Entertainment is a national sports entertainment provider with professional baseball, sports marketing and venue management. Among the professional sports franchises that are owned and/or operated by MSE’s subsidiary Mandalay Baseball Properties are the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, a Triple-A affiliate of the New York Yankees, the Frisco RoughRiders, a Double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers; the Dayton Dragons, a Single-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds; the Erie SeaWolves, a Double-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers and the Staten Island Yankees, a Single-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. MBP recently began consulting with the Winston-Salem Dash, a Single-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox.

[edit] Golden State Warriors

On July 15, 2010 Chris Cohan, previous owner of the NBA's Golden State Warriors, reached an agreement to sell the franchise for a record $450 million to Boston Celtics minority partner Joe Lacob and Guber.[31]

[edit] Films produced

[edit] TV movies produced

From 2006-2009, Mandalay Television produced eight original movies-of-the-week for Lifetime Television. Based on the books of the world renowned and best-selling author, Nora Roberts, more than 34 million viewers tuned in to the first collection of four movies: Angels Fall, Blue Smoke, Carolina Moon and Montana Sky. Following the network’s enormous ratings success with the previous Nora Roberts’ adaptations, Mandalay Television produced the Nora Roberts II Collection, with four all-new original movies, Northern Lights, Midnight Bayou, High Noon and Tribute. The Nora Roberts franchise has been a worldwide ratings success for the cable network.

[edit] Further reading

[edit] References

  1. ^ Nancy Griffith & Kim Masters, Hit and Run (New York: Touchstone, 1996) 61.
  2. ^ Peter Guber at the Internet Movie Database
  3. ^ Nancy Griffith & Kim Masters, Hit and Run (New York: Touchstone, 1996) 62.
  4. ^ Nancy Griffith & Kim Masters, Hit and Run (New York: Touchstone, 1996) 62.
  5. ^ Nancy Griffith & Kim Masters, Hit and Run (New York: Touchstone, 1996) 61-62.
  6. ^ Nancy Griffith & Kim Masters, Hit and Run (New York: Touchstone, 1996) 62,
  7. ^ Nancy Griffith & Kim Masters, Hit and Run (New York: Touchstone, 1996) 62-63.
  8. ^ Nancy Griffith & Kim Masters, Hit and Run (New York: Touchstone, 1996) 64,80.
  9. ^ Nancy Griffith & Kim Masters, Hit and Run (New York: Touchstone, 1996) 64.
  10. ^ Nancy Griffith & Kim Masters, Hit and Run (New York: Touchstone, 1996) 64
  11. ^ Nancy Griffith & Kim Masters, Hit and Run (New York: Touchstone, 1996) 80.
  12. ^ Nancy Griffith & Kim Masters, Hit and Run (New York: Touchstone, 1996) 64-65.
  13. ^ Nancy Griffith & Kim Masters, Hit and Run (New York: Touchstone, 1996) 68.
  14. ^ Nancy Griffith & Kim Masters, Hit and Run (New York: Touchstone, 1996) 68-69.
  15. ^ Nancy Griffith & Kim Masters, Hit and Run (New York: Touchstone, 1996) 69-70.
  16. ^ Nancy Griffith & Kim Masters, Hit and Run (New York: Touchstone, 1996) 71.
  17. ^ Nancy Griffith & Kim Masters, Hit and Run (New York: Touchstone, 1996) 71-72.
  18. ^ Nancy Griffith & Kim Masters, Hit and Run (New York: Touchstone, 1996) 73.
  19. ^ Nancy Griffith & Kim Masters, Hit and Run (New York: Touchstone, 1996) 79-80, 82.
  20. ^ Nancy Griffith & Kim Masters, Hit and Run (New York: Touchstone, 1996) 86.
  21. ^ Nancy Griffith & Kim Masters, Hit and Run (New York: Touchstone, 1996) 83, 85.
  22. ^ Nancy Griffith & Kim Masters, Hit and Run (New York: Touchstone, 1996) 127.
  23. ^ Nancy Griffith & Kim Masters, Hit and Run (New York: Touchstone, 1996) 162.
  24. ^ Nancy Griffith & Kim Masters, Hit and Run (New York: Touchstone, 1996) 136.
  25. ^ Nancy Griffith & Kim Masters, Hit and Run (New York: Touchstone, 1996) 136-7.
  26. ^ Nancy Griffith & Kim Masters, Hit and Run (New York: Touchstone, 1996) 137.
  27. ^ Nancy Griffith & Kim Masters, Hit and Run (New York: Touchstone, 1996) 137.
  28. ^ Nancy Griffith & Kim Masters, Hit and Run (New York: Touchstone, 1996) 134.
  29. ^ Barris Industries Has New Name.
  30. ^ Maslin, Janet (July 30, 1996). "BOOKS OF THE TIMES;Outlandish Hollywood Doings (Some Are Fiction)". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1996/07/30/movies/books-of-the-times-outlandish-hollywood-doings-some-are-fiction.html?src=pm. 
  31. ^ AP (2010-06-15). "Lacob, Guber have deal to buy Warriors". ESPN.com. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5383261. Retrieved 2010-06-15. 

[edit] External links

Current team owners in the National Basketball Association
Eastern Conference
Atlantic

H. Irving Grousbeck, Wycliffe Grousbeck and Stephen Pagliuca (Boston Celtics)
Mikhail Prokhorov (New Jersey Nets)
Madison Square Garden, Inc. (New York Knicks)
Joshua Harris (Philadelphia 76ers)
Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (Toronto Raptors)

 Central

Jerry Reinsdorf (Chicago Bulls)
Dan Gilbert (Cleveland Cavaliers)
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Herb Kohl (Milwaukee Bucks)

 Southeast

Atlanta Spirit (Atlanta Hawks)
Michael Jordan (Charlotte Bobcats)
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Western Conference
Southwest

Mark Cuban (Dallas Mavericks)
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 Northwest

Stan Kroenke (Denver Nuggets)
Glen Taylor (Minnesota Timberwolves)
Clayton Bennett (Oklahoma City Thunder)
Paul Allen (Portland Trail Blazers)
Karen Gail Miller and family (Utah Jazz)

 Pacific

Peter Guber and Joe Lacob (Golden State Warriors)
Donald Sterling (Los Angeles Clippers)
Jerry Buss (Los Angeles Lakers)
Robert Sarver (Phoenix Suns)
Maloof family (Sacramento Kings)


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