THOM MOUNT

       Thom Mount's career at Universal Pictures began in 1973 where he quickly rose through the studio ranks under entertainment mogul Lew Wasserman's direction. After three years, at the age of 26, Mr. Mount was named President of Universal Studios. Dubbed a "baby mogul" by Time magazine, he was responsible for developing, packaging and overseeing more than 200 feature films during his tenure, including Coal Miner's Daughter, Smokey & the Bandit, National Lampoon's Animal House, Conan the Barbarian, The Deer Hunter, On Golden Pond, Slapshot, The Blues Brothers, E.T. The Extraterrestrial, Scarface, and Back to the Future.

 

        During Mr. Mount's eight years at Universal's top post, the studio reported six "best ever" revenue grossing years through his reshaped motion picture, music soundtrack and live theatre divisions. Mr. Mount also created and managed the "Youth Unit," a division of MCA/Universal Pictures devoted to low cost filmmaking, breaking out new writers, directors and actors. That unit produced such films as Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Car Wash, Monty Python' s Meaning of Life, The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, The Thing, American Werewolf in London, Cheech and Chong's Next Movie, Repo Man, and the like.

 

        In 1985, Mr. Mount founded the Mount Company and by 1988, it became one of the industry's most successful suppliers of independent films. Motion pictures produced include Can't Buy Me Love, Frantic, Tequila Sunrise, Natural Born Killers, The Indian Runner, Night Falls on Manhattan, Death and the Maiden, and the baseball classic Bull Durham, among others.

 

       In recent years, Mr. Mount has served as Head of Production for RKO Pictures, served four years as President of the Producers Guild of America, and was co-founder of the Los Angeles Film School. In 2006, Mr. Mount became Chairman of Reliant Pictures Corporation based at Paramount Studios. Films in this period include Stephen Frear's Cheri starring Michele Pfeiffer and Kathy Bates, Have Dreams, Will Travel starring Val Kilmer, Heather Graham and Anna-Sophia Robb, and In Her Skin starring Guy Pierce and Sam Neil.

 

       In 2011, Mr. Mount reinvigorated The Mount Company to supply major studios and independent distibutors with a slate of pictures utilizing fresh and emerging directors, stars, and writers. Jungle La La will be produced in 2016. A North Carolina native, Thom Mount is a graduate of Bard College (BA) and California Institute of the Arts (MFA). He started in the film industry working for legendary "B" filmmaker Roger Corman, star Jane Fonda, and producer Daniel Selznick. In addition to filmmaking, Mr. Mount has an extensive history as an entrepreneur and public speaker. He serves on a variety of charitable and educational boards.