Mark Canton

Early life and education

Canton was born to a Jewish family in Queens, New York City, the son of Shirley and Arthur Canton, who worked in the film industry on marketing and publicity - including such films as Lawrence of Arabia. As a young adult, he met well-known movie personalities like Alfred Hitchcock, David Lean, and Doris Day when they visited the family's apartment.

After working in the mail room of Warner Bros. while studying at the University of California, Los Angeles, Canton started working for 20th Century Fox and later had jobs with film director Franklin Schaffner, with producer Jon Peters, and in the 1970s as executive assistant to Mike Medavoy at United Artists.

Career

Canton worked as executive vice president at Warner Bros. from 1980 onwards. Successes he was involved in at the time include 1983's National Lampoon's Vacation, Purple Rain, and the Batman and Lethal Weapon film series, but also notorious box office failures like The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990), a picture he described as "the best movie I ever saw" at its first screening.

In 1991, Canton quit Warner Bros. where he was executive vice president of the Worldwide Motion Picture Production unit. Warner Bros. let him out of his contract fifteen months early with studio head Bob Daly saying "from our standpoint this was a job that was going to be eliminated." He then became chairman of Sony's Columbia Pictures (later Columbia-TriStar Pictures), where he was involved with some failures like Geronimo: An American Legend, but also with blockbusters such as Men in Black, Air Force One, and My Best Friend's Wedding.

Canton was fired by Sony in 1996, after a series of relative flops including Last Action Hero (a film Canton described as "probably the best action movie of all time") and The Cable Guy, before his final string of movies could become blockbusters. Described at the time as both "known for enthusiasm, rapid-fire talk, a sleek Italian wardrobe and a youthful style" Canton was in those years "one of the most powerful executives in Hollywood".

In 1998, Canton became an independent film producer, with Jack Frost starring Michael Keaton as his first major production. Backed by the German company Senator Entertainment from August 2000 onwards, he struck a first-look deal with Warner Bros. By the end of 2001, the shares of Senator had dropped substantially and Canton had to close down his production company.

In 2002, he was the chief executive of Artists Production Group, the movie branch of Artist Management Group. With this company, he produced blockbusters such as 300, Immortals, and The Spiderwick Chronicles. In his roles as executive, chairman, and producer, Canton has been involved in over 300 major Hollywood productions.

Other activities and roles

Canton is a vice-president on the board of the Ischia Global Film & Music Festival, an international film festival held on the Italian island of Ischia.

Personal life

Canton was married to Oscar-winning producer Wendy Finerman, with whom he has three children.

His brother is the film producer Neil Canton. They co-produced the 2000 film Get Carter.

Filmography

He was a producer in all films unless otherwise noted.

Film

;Production manager

;Miscellaneous crew

;Thanks

Television

References

References

1. "Birthday 🎂 🎂week to remember. Preserve your memories. Thank you to my awesome family and friends for everything. Love each and every one of you. Grateful. Beyond words. Always. All ways. Onward we journey. Together we go forward. Just Love. Ob la di Ob la da life goes on la la la la life goes on @the Beatles".
2. "today is my birthday. the most important part of my life are my three children. unconditionally. always. for always. all ways. forever. they are the gift. As were all of us. as are all of ours. need no other presents. none of us do #friends#family#health#life FREE THESE CHILDREN. THAT'S OUR JOB. AMERICA PUT THE CLOWN 🤡 IN. NOW ITS TIME TO CHANGE. Let's band together and stand up for the real America. Land of the free home of the brave. United States. The rest is unacceptable. Fight the Flight. We do not surrender to American dictators. Not on our watch. Not in our lifetime. Happy birthday that 🎂".
3. Brady, Celia. (April 1990). "Vain Man: Why Guber-Peters May Bomb in Tokyo". Spy Magazine.
4. Weinraub, Bernard. (February 8, 1994). "Film Boss Rules the Stars With His Awe". The New York Times.
5. Weinraub, Bernard. (October 4, 1991). "From Errand Boy to Studio Chief". New York Times.
6. Lyman, Rick. (February 20, 2002). "It's a Rare Scene: Movie Executive With 9 Lives; From Warner Brothers to Columbia, and, Now, Paired With Ovitz". The New York Times.
7. Andersen, Kurt. (July 5, 1993). "How To Run a Movie Studio".
8. (1996). "Hit & Run: How Jon Peters and Peter Guber took Sony for a Ride in Hollywood". Simon & Schuster.
9. Fabrikant, Geraldine. (September 6, 1991). "THE MEDIA BUSINESS; Vice President Is Leaving Warner Brothers". The New York Times.
10. Griffin & Masters. p. 318
11. Griffin & Masters. p. 368
12. Busch, Anita M.. (July 10, 1997). "Canton's Sony Roundabout". Variety.
13. Masters, Kim. (September 23, 1996). "Water Torture".
14. (March 17, 1998). "Inside Moves". Variety.
15. (October 21, 2001). "Canton fires staff, Senator backing out". Variety.
16. (December 10, 2003). "Mark Canton Forms Atmosphere Entertainment MM LLC.". BusinessWire.
17. Mitchell, Peter. (August 5, 2005). "Simon the Star". The Age.
18. "About Us".
19. "Die Laughing (1980) - Financial Information". The-numbers.com.
20. "Jack Frost (1998) - Financial Information". The-numbers.com.
21. "Get Carter (2000) - Financial Information". The-numbers.com.
22. (2002-08-28). "Red Planet (2000)". Box Office Mojo.
23. (2002-08-28). "Angel Eyes (2001)". Box Office Mojo.
24. "Trapped (2002)". Box Office Mojo.
25. "Taking Lives (2004)". Box Office Mojo.
26. "Godsend (2004)". Box Office Mojo.
27. "George A. Romero's Land of the Dead (2005) - Financial Information". The-numbers.com.
28. "300 (2007)". Box Office Mojo.
29. (2007-03-08). "Full of It (2007)". Box Office Mojo.
30. (2008-05-08). "The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008)". Box Office Mojo.
31. (2009-09-17). "A Perfect Getaway (2009)". Box Office Mojo.
32. "Fame (2009) - Financial Information". The-numbers.com.
33. "Letters to Juliet (2010) - Financial Information". The-numbers.com.
34. "Piranha 3D (2010) - Financial Information". The-numbers.com.
35. (2012-02-23). "Immortals (2011)". Box Office Mojo.
36. "The Cold Light of Day (2012) - Financial Information". The-numbers.com.
37. "Black November (2015) - Financial Information". The-numbers.com.
38. (2012-06-21). "Piranha 3DD (2012)". Box Office Mojo.
39. "Freelancers (2012) - Financial Information". The-numbers.com.
40. "Escape Plan (2013)". Box Office Mojo.
41. (2014-05-29). "300: Rise of An Empire (2014)". Box Office Mojo.
42. (2015-02-19). "Cake (2015)". Box Office Mojo.
43. "Outcast (2014)". Boxofficemojo.com.
44. "The Pyramid (2014)". Box Office Mojo.
45. (2015-12-31). "The Last Witch Hunter (2015)". Box Office Mojo.
46. (1982-01-01). "Caddyshack (1980)". Box Office Mojo.