Fried Green Tomatoes

Background:

Jon Avnet is a two-time Emmy-nominated American director, writer and producer. First gaining attention through Tisch/Avnet Production (1977-1984) that oversaw a number of successful features, most notably “Risky Business” (1983), several issue-oriented TV movies like “The Burning Bed” (1984), from which he received his first Emmy nomination, as well as the impressive, but soon-canceled series “Call to Glory” (1984-1985), Avnet went on to build standing status with Avnet/Kerner Company and won a CableACE Award for his work in the made-for-TV film “Heat Wave” (1990). However, he did not make a name for himself as a film director until 1991's “Fried Green Tomatoes,” which was a surprise hit and finally won him the Wise Owl award at the Retirement Research Foundation. He has since directed many films, including “The War” (1994), “Up Close & Personal” (1996), “Red Corner” (1997, netted a a National Board of Review Award), “88 Minutes” (2008) and “Righteous Kill” (2008). On the small screen, he scored critical acclaim with the miniseries “Uprising” (2001), form which he picked up a Directors Guild of America nomination, and more recently, “The Starter Wife” (2007), which was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Miniseries, an honor he shared with the show's production team. He is also known as the producer of Disney's popular movies like “The Mighty Ducks” (1992) and its two sequels, “The Three Musketeers” (1993), “George of the Jungle” (1997) and “Inspector Gadget” (1999).

Avnet and his wife Barbara Brody have three children.

Child of World-scaled Businessman

Childhood and Family:

Jonathan Michael Avnet, professionally known as Jon Avnet, was born on November 17, 1949, in Brooklyn, New York, to Lester Francis Avnet, the founder of the world's largest distributor of electronic equipment, and Joan Bertha Avnet. He grew up in Great Neck, New York and graduated from Great Neck North High School in 1967. He went on to attend Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York, from which he acquired a B.A in film and theater arts in 1971, and later studied directing at Los Angeles' American Film Institute.

Jon is married to Barbara Brody. He has three children, daughters Alexandra and Lily Avnet, and a son, Jacob Avnet, who acted in “Inspector Gadget” and “Fried Green Tomatoes” as an extra.

Uprising

Career:

Jon Avnet got his show biz career start by staging Off-Broadway theatrical productions, and then, in 1974, broke into the cinematic industry as a reader for United Artists. Thanks to his student film “Confusion's Corner,” featuring Richard Gere who was then an unknown, that got him a fellowship, Avnet was able to participate in the director's program of the American Film Institute, and after a stint as an associate producer, during which time he worked on projects like the Alan Gibson-directed comedy “Checkered Flag or Crash” (1977),

formed Tisch/Avnet Productions in 1977 with Steve Tisch. “No Other Love,” Tisch/Avnet's first TV production directed by Richard Pearce, was aired on March 24, 1979. However, Avnet did not enjoy huge victory until 1983's “Risky Business,” which served as the vehicle of Tom Cruise to reach stardom.

The following year, Avnet executive produced the praised NBC TV film “The Burning Bed,” which featured a breakthrough dramatic performance by Farrah Fawcett who was cast as an abused battered wife. For his work in the telefilm, Avnet jointly nabbed an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Drama/Comedy Special. Other notable work included the ABC much acclaimed, but short-term series “Call to Glory” (1984-1985). After seven years, the two called it quits and Avnet went on to establish Avnet/Kerner Company with Jordan Kerner, former vice president of dramatic programming at ABC, in 1986. Also in 1986, Avnet made his TV directorial debut with ABC's “Between Two Women,” which he also co-wrote with Larry Grusin. The drama showed well-acted performances by two actresses Fawcett and Colleen Dewhurst, the latter of whom even took home an Emmy for Best Supporting Actress.

1987 saw the release of “Less Than Zero,” Avnet/Kerner's feature production debut. Based on the Bret Easton Ellis novel, the drama/romance starred Andrew McCarthy, Jami Gertz, Robert Downey Jr. and James Spader. “Men Don't Leave” (1990), which cast Jessica Lange as a widow, marked his other early collaborations with Kerner. They also produced several TV films, including the first effort “Side By Side” in 1988 and “Heat Wave” in 1990, from which Avnet shared a CableACE for Movie or Miniseries.

After producing an unfunny comedy called “Funny About Love” (1990), Avnet branched out to movie directing with 1991's “Fried Green Tomatoes,” a cracker-barrel and feminist Southern shaggy dog tale about autonomous lives, friendship, and the many forms of love that surprisingly became a hit. The drama/comedy, in which he also served as producer and had uncredited work on the screenplay, received two Oscar nominations, a Golden Globe nomination for Best Motion Picture -Comedy/Musical and as for Avnet, he shared the Wise Owl award from the Retirement Research Foundation.

Avnet went on to produce a number of children-oriented movies for Disney such as the highly successful children's sports comedy “The Mighty Ducks” (1992) and its two installments (in 1994 and 1996), the 1993 version of “The Three Musketeers” and the surprise hit “George of the Jungle” (1997). He became a bit more ambitious with the Meg Ryan/Andy Garcia vehicle “When a Man Loves a Woman” (1994), the same year he also returned to the director's chair with “The War,” a family drama starring Elijah Wood and Kevin Costner.

Avnet directed Robert Redford and Michelle Pfeiffer for his third feature, “Up Close & Personal” (1996), loosely adapted from the life of anchorwoman Jessica Savitch. Penned by Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne, the romantic tearjerkers received mixed reviews. It was followed by a more political-oriented called “Red Corner” (1997) written by Robert King. A look on the Chinese legal system starring Richard Gere and rising Asian star Bai Ling, the film centered on an American attorney accused of murder while on a business excursion in China. Due to Gere's presence and support for Tibet and the Dalai Lama, the filmmakers could not film in China and as a result, created the setting in Southern California. Avnet, himself, however, filmed a few of scenes in Beijing, in addition to putting in several footage of actual Chinese executions. For his effort, Avnet was handed a National Board of Review for Freedom of Expression, sharing with Gere. The film also met with mixed reception. The rest of the decade saw Avnet produce “Poodle Springs” (1998, TV), “Mama Flora's Family” (1998, TV), “My Last Love” (1999, TV) and “Inspector Gadget” (1999), where his real life son, Jacob, appeared as an extra.

In 2000, Avnet took the duty as executive producer of the TV miniseries “Parting the Waters,” the biographical film “Steal This Movie,” about a 1960s radical Abbie Hoffman, and the Showtime drama “A House Divided,” based on a book by Kent Anderson Leslie and starring Sam Waterston and Jennifer Beals. He next netted a Directors Guild of America nomination for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television for his work in the acclaimed NBC miniseries “Uprising” (2001), which he also co-wrote (with Paul Brickman) and produced. The war/drama starring Leelee Sobieski and Hank Azaria received a brief theatrical release in the fall of 2001 after its TV airing. In 2002, he executive produced and directed the pilot of NBC's series, “Boomtown.”

Avnet's subsequent projects weather he served as director and/or producer included “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow” (2004), “Conviction” (2005, TV), “Sixty Minute Man” (2006, TV), “Land of the Blind” (2006, TV) and “The Starter Wife” (2007, TV miniseries), which brought him a most recent Emmy nomination for Outstanding Miniseries. His movie, “88 Minutes,” starring Al Pacino, Alicia Witt, Leelee Sobieski, Benjamin McKenzie, and Deborah Kara Unger, is set to be released in the United States in 2008. Currently, he is filming “Righteous Kill” (2008), a highly anticipated team-up of Al Pacino and Robert De Niro as cops on the hunt of a serial killer. He will also direct the upcoming films “Second World” and “I Kill” (2008).

Awards:

• National Board of Review: Freedom of Expression, “Red Corner,” 1997

• American Film Institute: Franklin J. Schaffner, 1995

• Retirement Research Foundation: Wise Owl, Television and Theatrical Film Fiction, “Fried Green Tomatoes, 1992

• CableACE: Movie or Miniseries, “Heat Wave,” 1991