Jon Avnet


Director, Executive, Producer

About

Also Known As
John Avnet, Jonathan Michael Avnet
Birth Place
Brooklyn, New York, USA
Born
November 17, 1949

Biography

This son of the founder and chair of the largest distributor of electronic equipment entered show business staging theatrical productions Off-Broadway. He entered the film industry as a reader at United Artists and later participated in the director's program of the American Film Institute after his student film "Confusion's Corner" (featuring a then-unknown Richard Gere) earned him a fe...

Family & Companions

Barbara Brody
Wife
Fabric designer. Married September 1975.

Biography

This son of the founder and chair of the largest distributor of electronic equipment entered show business staging theatrical productions Off-Broadway. He entered the film industry as a reader at United Artists and later participated in the director's program of the American Film Institute after his student film "Confusion's Corner" (featuring a then-unknown Richard Gere) earned him a fellowship. After working as an associate producer, Avnet and family friend Steve Tisch launched Tisch/Avnet Productions in 1977. For seven years, they oversaw a number of successful features (most notably 1983's "Risky Business" which catapulted Tom Cruise to stardom), several issue-oriented TV-movies like "The Burning Bed" (NBC, 1984), starring Farrah Fawcett, and the acclaimed, but short-lived series "Call to Glory" (ABC, 1984-85).

In 1986, Avnet co-wrote and directed the critically-praised TV-movie "Between Two Women" (ABC, 1986) starring Fawcett and Colleen Dewhurst. Later that year, he entered into a producing partnership with Jordan Kerner, former vice president of dramatic programming at ABC. Among their early efforts were "Less Than Zero" (1987), based on the Bret Easton Ellis novel and "Men Don't Leave" (1990), with Jessica Lange as a widow. Avnet made an assured directorial debut with the surprise word-of-mouth hit "Fried Green Tomatoes," a folksy and feminist Southern shaggy dog tale about independent lives, friendship, and the many forms of love. Avnet followed up this triumph by producing several family-oriented entertainments for Disney: the extremely successful children's sports comedy "The Mighty Ducks" (1992) and its two sequels and the 1993 retread of "The Three Musketeers" and the surprise hit "George of the Jungle" (1997). He was a bit more ambitious with "When a Man Loves a Woman" (1994), a domestic comedy-drama about the effects of alcoholism starring Meg Ryan and Andy Garcia.

Avnet returned to directing with "The War" (also 1994), an affecting allegorical comedy-drama set in the South in 1970. This somewhat heavy-handed story about the stateside effects of the Vietnam War and the tensions of the civil rights movement was helped immeasurably by the combined star power of young Elijah Wood in the lead and Kevin Costner in a supporting role as his father. He followed with the glossy throwback to old-fashioned romantic tearjerkers, "Up Close and Personal" (1996). Written by Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne and co-starring Robert Redford and Michelle Pfeiffer, the film was loosely based on the life of anchorwoman Jessica Savitch. Most critics were dismissive of its "A Star Is Born" inspired story, but audiences seemingly enjoyed the tale and its charismatic stars. Avnet tackled more political themes in his fourth film "Red Corner" (1997), an examination of the Chinese legal system, co-starring Richard Gere and rising Asian star Bai Ling. What was basically a fish out-of-water story, the film focused on an American lawyer accused of murder while on a business trip to China. Because of Gere's presence (and the actor's support for Tibet and the Dalai Lama), the filmmakers were unable to film on location and the settings were recreated in Southern California. Avnet, however, surreptitiously filmed a handful of scenes in Beijing and also included footage of actual executions which occurred in China for dramatic purposes. Critics were divided over the results, with many faulting the story line but not its intent.

Filmography

 

Director (Feature Film)

The Three Christs of Ypsilanti (2018)
Director
Mitch Albom's Have a Little Faith (2011)
Director
88 Minutes (2008)
Director
Righteous Kill (2008)
Director
Red Corner (1997)
Director
Up Close and Personal (1996)
Director
The War (1994)
Director
Fried Green Tomatoes (1991)
Director
Between Two Women (1986)
Director

Writer (Feature Film)

The Three Christs of Ypsilanti (2018)
Screenplay
Between Two Women (1986)
Writer

Producer (Feature Film)

The Three Christs of Ypsilanti (2018)
Producer
Mitch Albom's Have a Little Faith (2011)
Executive Producer
Black Swan (2010)
Executive Producer
Righteous Kill (2008)
Producer
88 Minutes (2008)
Producer
Land of the Blind (2006)
Producer
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)
Producer
A House Divided (2000)
Executive Producer
Steal This Movie (2000)
Executive Producer
Things You Can Tell Just By Looking At Her (2000)
Producer
Inspector Gadget (1999)
Executive Producer
My Last Love (1999)
Executive Producer
Poodle Springs (1998)
Executive Producer
Red Corner (1997)
Producer
George of the Jungle (1997)
Producer
D3: The Mighty Ducks (1996)
Producer
Up Close and Personal (1996)
Producer
Miami Rhapsody (1995)
Executive Producer
D2: The Mighty Ducks (1994)
Producer
The War (1994)
Producer
When a Man Loves a Woman (1994)
Producer
The Switch (1993)
Executive Producer
The Three Musketeers (1993)
Executive Producer
The Mighty Ducks (1992)
Producer
For Their Own Good (1992)
Executive Producer
The Nightman (1991)
Executive Producer
Fried Green Tomatoes (1991)
Producer
Backfield in Motion (1991)
Executive Producer
Men Don't Leave (1990)
Producer
Funny About Love (1990)
Producer
Heat Wave Part 2 (1990)
Executive Producer
Heat Wave Part 1 (1990)
Executive Producer
Heat Wave (1990)
Executive Producer
Breaking Point (1989)
Executive Producer
Do You Know the Muffin Man? (1989)
Executive Producer
Side By Side (1988)
Executive Producer
My First Love (1988)
Executive Producer
Less Than Zero (1987)
Producer
In Love and War (1987)
Executive Producer
Triplecross (1986)
Executive Producer
Between Two Women (1986)
Executive Producer
Silence of the Heart (1984)
Executive Producer
The Burning Bed (1984)
Executive Producer
Deal Of The Century (1983)
Executive Producer
Risky Business (1983)
Producer
Something So Right (1982)
Executive Producer
Prime Suspect (1982)
Producer
Homeward Bound (1980)
Producer
Coast to Coast (1980)
Producer
No Other Love (1979)
Producer
Crash (1978)
Associate Producer

Film Production - Unit (Feature Film)

Men Don't Leave (1990)
Second Unit Director

Director (TV Mini-Series)

The Starter Wife (2007)
Director

Writer (TV Mini-Series)

Uprising (2001)
Screenplay

Producer (TV Mini-Series)

The Starter Wife (2007)
Executive Producer
Uprising (2001)
Producer
Uprising (2001)
Executive Producer
Mama Flora's Family (1998)
Executive Producer
Naomi & Wynonna: Love Can Build A Bridge (1995)
Executive Producer

Life Events

1974

Joined United Artists as a reader

1975

Became director, creative affairs at Sequoia Pictures

1977

First feature as associate producer, "Checkered Flag or Crash"; also worked on "Outlaw Blues"

1979

First Tisch/Avnet TV production, "No Other Love"

1983

Had success with "Risky Business" which catapulted Tom Cruise to stardom

1984

Executive produced the acclaimed NBC TV-movie, "The Burning Bed" (featured a breakthrough performance by Farrah Fawcett)

1986

TV directorial and co-writing debut, "Between Two Women" (ABC), co-starring Fawcett and Colleen Dewhurst

1986

Formed Avnet/Kerner Company with Jordan Kerner

1987

First Avnet/Kerner feature production, "Less Than Zero"

1988

First TV production (Avnet/Kerner Co.), "Side By Side" (CBS)

1991

Feature film directorial debut with "Fried Green Tomatoes"; did uncredited work on the screenplay

1992

Co-produced "The Mighty Ducks" for Disney; also produced two sequels

1994

Produced and directed the famliy drama "The War"; co-starred Elijah Wood and Kevin Costner

1996

Directed and co-produced "Up Close and Personal"

1997

Co-produced the surprise box office success "George of the Jungle"

1997

Helmed "Red Corner" starring Richard Gere

1998

Executive produced of the HBO drama "Poodle Springs"; adapted from an unfinished Raymond Chandler manuscript completed by Robert Parker

1999

Executive produced the comedy feature "Inspector Gadget"

2000

Was executive producer of the Showtime drama "A House Divided"

2000

Executive produced "Steal This Movie"; a biopic of 1960s radical Abbie Hoffman

2001

Wrote (also directed and produced) the acclaimed NBC miniseries "Uprising" (released in theaters breifly after its TV debut)

2002

Directed the NBC pilot "Boomtown"

2007

Directed (also produced) the USA miniseries, "The Starter Wife"; earned a DGA nomination for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television

2008

Directed "Righteous Kill," which teamed Al Pacino and Robert De Niro as cops on the hunt of a serial killer

2008

Directed Al Pacino in the thriller, "88 Minutes"

Family

Lester Francis Avnet
Father
Founder and chairman, Avnet, Inc. World's largest distributor of electronic equipment.
Joan Bertha Avnet
Mother
Alexandra Avnet
Daughter
Jacob Avnet
Son
Lily Avnet
Daughter

Companions

Barbara Brody
Wife
Fabric designer. Married September 1975.

Bibliography