Laurence Mark
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Laurence Mark, who graduated from Wesleyan University in 1971, produced Dreamgirls, starring Jamie Foxx, Beyonce Knowles and Eddie Murphy and written and directed by Bill Condon, which received three Golden Globe Awards, including one for Best Picture (Musical or Comedy), as well as eight Academy Award nominations, winning two.
Mark also received an Academy Award nomination for producing Best Picture nominee Jerry Maguire, starring Tom Cruise and directed by Cameron Crowe, and he executive-produced As Good As It Gets, starring Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt and Greg Kinnear and directed by James L. Brooks, and Working Girl, starring Harrison Ford, Sigourney Weaver and Melanie Griffith and directed by Mike Nichols, both Best Picture nominees. Going into production in the spring is Julie & Julia, starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams and written and directed by Nora Ephron.
Mark also recently produced I, Robot, starring Will Smith and directed by Alex Proyas, and Last Holiday, starring Queen Latifah and directed by Wayne Wang, as well as The Lookout, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and directed by Scott Frank who, along with Mark and his fellow producers, received an Independent Spirit Award recognizing the film as Best First Feature.
Prior to these, Mark produced Riding in Cars with Boys, starring Drew Barrymore and Steve Zahn and directed by Penny Marshall; Finding Forrester, starring Sean Connery and directed by Gus Van Sant; Hanging Up, starring Meg Ryan, Diane Keaton and Lisa Kudrow and directed by Keaton; Anywhere But Here, starring Susan Sarandon and Natalie Portman and directed by Wayne Wang; The Object of My Affection, starring Jennifer Aniston, Paul Rudd and Nigel Hawthorne and directed by Nicholas Hytner; and Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion, starring Mira Sorvino, Lisa Kudrow and directed by David Mirkin.
Laurence Mark Productions is headquartered at Sony Pictures Entertainment, where the company has a long-term production arrangement with Columbia Pictures. Mark’s other producing credits include Bob Rafelson’s Black Widow, Susan Seidelman’s Cookie, Herbert Ross’ True Colors, and Nicholas Hytner’s Center Stage, as well as The Adventures of Huck Finn, Sister Act 2, Simon Birch and Bicentennial Man.
For the small screen, he was executive producer of These Old Broads, starring Shirley MacLaine, Debbie Reynolds, Joan Collins and Elizabeth Taylor, Sweet Bird of Youth, starring Elizabeth Taylor and directed by Nicolas Roeg, and Oliver Twist, starring Richard Dreyfuss and Elijah Wood and directed by Tony Bill.
Prior to producing, Mark held several key publicity and marketing posts at Paramount Pictures, culminating in his being appointed Vice President of West Coast Marketing. He then moved into production, and as Vice President of Production at Paramount and Executive Vice President of Production at Twentieth Century Fox, he was closely involved with the development and production of such films as Terms of Endearment, Trading Places, Falling in Love, The Fly, and Broadcast News.
[edit] Films
- 1987, Black Widow (executive producer)
- 1988, My Stepmother Is an Alien (executive producer)
- 1988, Working Girl (executive producer)
- 1989, Cookie (producer)
- 1989, Sweet Bird of Youth (TV) (executive producer)
- 1990, Mr. Destiny (executive producer)
- 1991, True Colors (producer)
- 1991, One Good Cop (producer)
- 1993, The Adventures of Huck Finn (producer)
- 1993, Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (executive producer)
- 1994, Gunmen (producer)
- 1995, Tom and Huck (producer)
- 1995, Cutthroat Island (producer)
- 1996, Jerry Maguire (producer)
- 1997, Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (producer)
- 1997, Oliver Twist (TV) (executive producer)
- 1997, As Good as It Gets (executive producer)
- 1998, Deep Rising (producer)
- 1998, The Object of My Affection (producer)
- 1998, Simon Birch (producer)
- 1999, Anywhere but Here (producer)
- 1999, Bicentennial Man (producer)
- 2000, Hanging Up (producer)
- 2000, Center Stage (producer)
- 2000, Finding Forrester (producer)
- 2001, These Old Broads (TV) (executive producer)
- 2001, Glitter (producer)
- 2001, Riding in Cars with Boys (producer)
- 2004, I, Robot (producer)
- 2006, Last Holiday (producer)
- 2006, Dreamgirls (producer)
- 2007, The Lookout (producer)