Laurence Mark

Laurence Mark is an American film and television producer. He is the Academy Award-nominated, Emmy-nominated, Golden Globe-winning producer of such acclaimed hits as "Dreamgirls", "I, Robot", "As Good As It Gets" and "Jerry Maguire." Mr. Mark was born in New York City and educated at Eaglebrook School, Hotchkiss School and Wesleyan University from which he graduated in 1971. He holds a Masters of Arts degree in Film from New York University. With Bill Condon, Mr. Mark served as producer of the extremely well-received Hugh Jackman-hosted 81st Annual Academy Awards which earned him an Emmy nomination. The show itself received ten Emmy nominations, a record for this annual telecast, and won four of them. Before that, Mr. Mark produced "Dreamgirls", starring Jamie Foxx, Beyonce Knowles and Eddie Murphy and written and directed by Bill Condon. The film won three Golden Globe Awards, including one for Best Picture. It also received eight Academy Award nominations, the most of any movie in its year, and won two of them, including one for Jennifer Hudson as Best Supporting Actress. Earlier on, Mr. Mark received an Academy Award nomination for producing Best Picture nominee "Jerry Maguire", starring Tom Cruise and written and directed by Cameron Crowe, and he executive-produced two other Academy Award nominees for Best Picture, "As Good As It Gets", starring Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt and Greg Kinnear and written and directed by James L. Brooks, and "Working Girl", starring Harrison Ford, Sigourney Weaver and Melanie Griffith and directed by Mike Nichols. Mr. Mark garnered an Emmy nomination and a Golden Globe nomination as Executive Producer of "Political Animals", a limited series created by Greg Berlanti and starring Sigourney Weaver which aired last summer on the USA Network. The show received four Emmy nominations, winning one for Ellen Burstyn as Best Supporting Actress. He has also recently completed production on a film for Lionsgate entitled "Date and Switch" featuring Nicholas Braun, Dakota Johnson, Nick Offerman, Gary Cole, and Megan Mullally for release next year. Mr. Mark has produced "I, Robot" starring Will Smith and directed by Alex Proyas, "Romy and Michele's High School Reunion" starring Mira Sorvino and Lisa Kudrow, "Last Holiday" starring Queen Latifah and directed by Wayne Wang, and "The Lookout" starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and written and directed by Scott Frank which won the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature. Prior to these films, Mr. Mark produced "Finding Forrester", "The Object Of My Affection", "Anywhere But Here", "The Adventures Of Huck Finn", "Center Stage", And "Black Widow". Laurence Mark Productions is headquartered at Sony Pictures Entertainment where the company has a tong-term production arrangement with Columbia Pictures. Mr. Mark's other producing credits include "Sister Act 2", "True Colors", "Bicentennial Man", "Simon Birch", "Riding In Cars With Boys", "How Do You Know", and the legendary "Glitter" starring Mariah Carey. Prior to producing, Mr. 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". Mr. Mark produced the highly-praised, top-grossing "Julie & Julia", starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams and written and directed by Nora Ephron Mr. Mark most recently produced "Last Vegas" starring Michael Douglas, Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Kline and directed by Jon Turteltaub which is scheduled for release in November. He currently resides in Los Angeles and New York.