Jon Avnet
Birthdate: November 17, 1949 (76 Years Old)
Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
Jon Avnet (birthname: Jonathan Michael Avnet) is a prominent producer as well as director and writer, and after a decade as a producer and executive producer, made his debut as a director and producer with the hit Oscar-nominated comedy-drama, Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), based on Fannie Flagg’s 1987 novel and co-starring Kathy Bates, the Oscar-nominated Jessica Tandy, Mary Stuart Masterson, Mary-Louise Parker and Cicely Tyson, and earning ten times its $11 million budget for Universal Pictures.
Avnet was director/producer next with the coming-of-age drama, The War (1994) starring Elijah Wood and Kevin Costner, with Mare Winningham, but it grossed only $16 million (on $34 million costs) for Universal. Avnet was director/producer of Up Close and Personal (1996), written by Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne as a loose adaptation of Alanna Nash’s 1988 biography, Golden Girl: The Story of Jessica Savitch and which starred Robert Redford and Michelle Pfeiffer, with Stockard Channing, Joe Mantegna, Kate Nelligan and Glenn Plummer and which earned over $100 million for distributors Buena Vista Pictures (U.S.) and Cinergi Productions (international).
Avnet quickly turned to the mystery genre as director/producer of the China-based (but Los Angeles filmed) Red Corner (1997), starring Richard Gere, Bai Ling and Bradley Whitford, and received both condemnation from the Chinese government for the movie’s critical depiction of the country’s justice system as well as from American critics (a Rotten Tomatoes score of 27% “fresh”), and losing money for distributors MGM (U.S.) and United International Pictures (international).
Jon Avnet spent the next decade as a producer. Then he returned to directing/producing mode with writer/producer Gary Scott Thompson for the thriller, 88 Minutes (2007), starring Al Pacino, Alicia Witt, Leelee Sobieski, Amy Brenneman, Deborah Kara Unger and Neal McDonough, but proving to be a box-office loser for Sony/TriStar with a $32.6 million global gross.
Avnet, for the only time in his career, was director only of the New York cop thriller, Righteous Kill (2008), marking one of the few movies to co-star Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, with a supporting cast of John Leguizamo, Carla Gugino, Donnie Wahlberg, Brian Dennehy and Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, but garnered poor reviews and box office ($78.5 million gross against $60 million costs) for distributor Overture Films.
Avnet was director/writer/producer for two projects, the first being Three Christs (2017), based on Milton Rokeach’s non-fiction chronicle, The Three Christs of Ypsilanti and co-starring Richard Gere, Peter Dinklage, Walton Goggins, Bradley Whitford, Kevin Pollak and Julianna Margulies, and which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival before a limited release by IFC Films; and then eight years later with the indie drama, The Last Rodeo (2025), starring Neal McDonough (who also co-wrote with Avnet and Derek Presley), Mykelti Williamson, Sarah Jones and Christopher McDonald, and released by Angel Studios.
Avnet has been producer only for over four decades, starting with Coast to Coast (1980) and the $63.5 million-grossing hit, Risky Business (1983), followed by Less Than Zero (1987), Men Don’t Leave (1990), Funny About Love (1990), The Mighty Ducks (1992), D2: The Mighty Ducks (1994), When a Man Loves a Woman (1994), D3: The Mighty Ducks (1996), George of the Jungle (1997), Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her (2000), Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004), Land of the Blind (2006), Four Good Days (2020) and Jazzy Jumpers (date to be announced).
Avnet has also served as an executive producer on a wide range of movies, including Deal of the Century (1983), Miami Rhapsody (1995), Inspector Gadget (1999), Steal This Movie (2000), Black Swan (2010), Jackie & Ryan (2014), Sickhouse (2016), while Avent was an associate producer on It’s Showtime (1976) and Checkered Flag or Crash (1977).
Personal life
Jon Avnet was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, by his parents, Joan and Lester, an executive with the IT and electronics company Avnet, founded by Avnet’s grandfather, Charles Avnet. Avnet has two sisters, Carole and Rosalind. Avnet attended and graduated from Great Neck North High School. Avnet majored in film and theater arts at Sarah Lawrence College, graduating in 1971; Avnet then earned his filmmaking MFA at the American Film Institute. Avnet has been married to Barbara Avnet since 1975; the couple has three children, Alexandra, Jacob, and Lily.
Jon Avnet Movies
Director
Collapse
Previous (1)
- 2020 |
Three Christs
Three Christs follows Dr. Alan Stone who is treating three paranoid schizophrenic patients at the Ypsilanti State Hospital in Michigan, each of whom believed they were Jesus Christ. What transpires is both comic and deeply moving.
Producer
Collapse
Previous (2)
- 2021 |
Four Good Days
A mother helps her daughter work through four crucial days of recovery from substance abuse.
- 2020 |
Three Christs
Three Christs follows Dr. Alan Stone who is treating three paranoid schizophrenic patients at the Ypsilanti State Hospital in Michigan, each of whom believed they were Jesus Christ. What transpires is both comic and deeply moving.
Writer
Collapse
Previous (1)
- 2020 |
Three Christs
Three Christs follows Dr. Alan Stone who is treating three paranoid schizophrenic patients at the Ypsilanti State Hospital in Michigan, each of whom believed they were Jesus Christ. What transpires is both comic and deeply moving.
Facts About Jon Avnet
Shingles: Jon Avnet has established several production companies, including Tisch/Avnet Productions (1978-1985), The Jon Avnet Company (1985-1986), The Avnet/Kerner Company (1986-2001), and Brooklyn Films (2001-present).
Institutional: Avnet is Vice-Chair of the American Film Institute’s Board of Directors.
