Mike Medavoy

American film producer

Morris Mike Medavoy (born January 21, 1941) is an American film producer and business executive. He is the co founder of Orion Pictures, the former chairman of TriStar Pictures, the former head of production for United Artists, and the current chairman and CEO of Phoenix Pictures.

Morris Mike Medavoy was born in Shanghai on January 21, 1941, the son of dress shop owner Dora and garage mechanic Michael Medavoy. His mother's shop mostly catered to Chinese actresses. His parents were both Russian speaking Ukrainian Jews, with his mother being born in Harbin to immigrants from Odesa and his father being born and raised in Ukraine. He has a younger sister named Ronnie. The family later moved to Los Angeles and lived with Medavoy's aunt. He became an American citizen in 1963, and graduated from UCLA the same year. Joining the U. S. Army Reserve in 1963, he served at Fort Ord in California until 1969.

Medavoy began his career in the mail room at Universal Studios in 1964. In 1965, he became an agent at the General Artists Corporation, later moving to Creative Management Associates. He became Creative Management's vice president of the motion picture department in 1967, working with Steven Spielberg and Francis Ford Coppola, among others. He headed to International Famous Agency in 1970. In 1974, United Artists brought Medavoy in as senior vice president of production. There he was part of the team responsible for making One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Rocky, and Annie Hall, which won Best Picture Oscars in 1975, 1976, and 1977 respectively. United Artists made more notable films at the time including Apocalypse Now, Raging Bull, Network, The Black Stallion, and Coming Home. While Medavory was at Orion, the company released notable and successful films including Platoon, Amadeus, RoboCop, Hannah and Her Sisters, The Terminator, Dances with Wolves, and The Silence of the Lambs. As its chairman and CEO, he co produced such films as The People vs. Larry Flynt, The Mirror Has Two Faces, U Turn, Apt Pupil, The Thin Red Line, The 6th Day, Basic, All the King's Men, Zodiac, Pathfinder, and Miss Potter, among others. The Thin Red Line and The People vs. Larry Flynt received Oscar nominations.

Membership in film organizations. editor of the National Political Quarterly.