Avi Lerner
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Avi Lerner is an Israeli-born film producer, primarily involved with American action movies.
Lerner, who was born in Haifa originally worked in movie theaters in Tel Aviv, but soon re-located to South Africa, where he produced several films in that country and also owned a chain of movie theaters there until he re-located once again to Los Angeles in the early 1990s.
Lerner founded two production companies, Nu Image and Millennium Films, alongside producers Trevor Short, Danny Dimbort, and Danny Lerner and very often both companies are involved with the films he produces. The companies have a varied output, though the vast majority is action films. In the case of action films, many of the ones he produces are filmed in Bulgaria, where he owns a studio.
[edit] Action Stars
Lerner appeared to have had a relationship with several action stars who were at the height of their fame from the late 1980s-1990s, including Jean-Claude Van Damme, Steven Seagal, Wesley Snipes, Dolph Lundgren, and to a limited degree, Chuck Norris. In the early 2000s, Lerner produced many films starring these men, more often than not being shot on low budgets and being released direct-to-video in hopes of making a quick profit. The movies starring these people are often criticized for being of low-quality, and some fans feel they damage these stars' careers and legacies. The action stars may have felt the same way, as as of 2006, Lundgren is the only one who has not severed ties with Lerner and his companies, although Lerner will temporarily work with Van Damme again, producing Til Death.
Lerner will soon be working with yet another action star, Sylvester Stallone. According to Lerner's IMDb profile, he will be producing Rambo IV: In the Serpent's Eye (Stallone starring and directing) and Poe (Stallone directing).
[edit] Quality
As mentioned above, the quality of Lerner's movies have been called into question. In addition to the direct-to-video action movies, he also produces several "sequels" to theatrical films that feature none of the original cast members and are also released DTV. He has also produced films that were intended to be released theatrically, but whose releases were cancelled and instead premiered on DVD. An example of this is End Game, starring Cuba Gooding Jr. and James Woods, which would've been released to theaters in September 2005, but was pulled, and appeared on DVD in March 2006. Another example is Edison, starring Morgan Freeman, Kevin Spacey, and Justin Timberlake, which saw theatrical release in much of the world but will only be released on DVD in America in July 2006, possibly due to poor test screenings.
In the last couple years, however, Lerner and his companies have made an effort to produce a stronger output of theatrical films with larger budgets. As of September 2006, 2006 has been his most successful year as far as putting out theatrical films in America, being an executive producer on 16 Blocks, The Black Dahlia, and The Wicker Man
