Fried Green Tomatoes

Background:

Jon Avnet is an Emmy nominated American director, writer and producer. First gaining attention through Tisch/Avnet Productions (1977-1984), which oversaw a number of successful movies, including “Risky Business” (1983) and “The Burning Bed” (1984) and the series “Call to Glory” (1984-1985), Avnet went on to build his career with the Avnet/Kerner Company and won a CableACE award for his work on the 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 won Avnet 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 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), from which he picked up a Directors Guild of America nomination, and “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 such Disney popular movies as “The Mighty Ducks” (1992), “The Three Musketeers” (1993), “George of the Jungle” (1997) and “Inspector Gadget” (1999). He is currently working on a project involving author Fannie Flagg’s successful book “Red Bird,” which he will direct and produce.

Avnet and his wife Barbara have three children.

Brooklyn

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. He later studied directing at Los Angeles' American Film Institute.

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

Risky Business

Career:

Jon Avnet got his career start by staging off-Broadway theatrical productions. In 1974, he 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, Avnet received a fellowship and was able to participate in the director's program at the American Film Institute. 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), he formed Tisch/Avnet Productions in 1977 with Steve Tisch. “No Other Love,” Tisch/Avnet's first TV production, which was directed by Richard Pearce, aired on March 24, 1979. However, Avnet did not enjoy a real victory until 1983's “Risky Business,” which starred Tom Cruise.

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 wife. For his work in the television film, Avnet jointly nabbed an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Drama/Comedy Special. Other notable work included the ABC 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, who was the former vice president of dramatic programming at ABC. Also in 1986, Avnet made his TV directorial debut with ABC's “Between Two Women,” which he co-wrote with Larry Grusin. The drama showcased good performances by actresses Farrah Fawcett and Colleen Dewhurst, the latter of whom 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 movie starred Andrew McCarthy, Jami Gertz, Robert Downey Jr. and James Spader. “Men Don't Leave” (1990), which cast Jessica Lange as a widow, marked another early collaboration with Kerner. They also produced several TV films, including “Side By Side” in 1988 and “Heat Wave” in 1990, from which Avnet shared a CableACE for Best Movie or Miniseries.

After producing a comedy called “Funny About Love” (1990), Avnet directed 1991's successful movie “Fried Green Tomatoes,” based on author Fannie Flagg’s bestselling book. The dramatic comedy, in which he also served as a producer and worked on the screenplay, received two Oscar nominations and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Motion Picture. Avnet also received 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 successful comedy “The Mighty Ducks” (1992) and its two installments (in 1994 and 1996), the 1993 version of “The Three Musketeers” and “George of the Jungle” (1997). He also produced the Meg Ryan and Andy Garcia starring vehicle “When a Man Loves a Woman” (1994) and returned to the director's chair with “The War,” a family drama starring Elijah Wood and Kevin Costner (also 1994).

Avnet next directed Robert Redford and Michelle Pfeiffer in “Up Close & Personal” (1996), which was loosely adapted from the life of anchorwoman Jessica Savitch. Written by Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne, the romantic tearjerker received mixed reviews. It was followed by the movie “Red Corner” (1997) written by Robert King. Starring Richard Gere and Bai Ling, the film was about an American attorney accused of murder in China. For his effort, Avnet was handed a National Board of Review for Freedom of Expression award, which he shared with Gere. 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 on the duty of executive producer for the TV miniseries “Parting the Waters,” the biographical film “Steal This Movie” and the Showtime drama “A House Divided,” which was based on a book by Kent Anderson Leslie and starred 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 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 an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Miniseries. His movie “88 Minutes,” starring Al Pacino, Alicia Witt, Leelee Sobieski, Benjamin McKenzie and Deborah Kara Unger, was released in the United States in 2007. “Righteous Kill,” a highly anticipated team-up of Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, followed in 2008. Avnet is currently working on a project involving author Fannie Flagg’s successful book “Red Bird,” which he will direct and produce.

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