Brad Krevoy

Krevoy graduated from Beverly Hills High School. He went on to study at Stanford University, graduating in 1978 with a BA in Political Science. To this day he still maintains a strong connection to the university. He then went on to study at UC Hastings, College of the Law. After graduation, he served as a Legislative Fellow in the California State Legislature and worked as an entertainment attorney at a prominent Los Angeles law firm.[2]

Krevoy's major entry into the film industry came from a chance encounter with Roger Corman at a Stanford football game in 1983. The two discussed the promising new home video market and two days later Brad was working for Corman's Concorde-New Horizon pictures, handling the business affairs.

Krevoy's role was initially to look for new opportunities and sources of funding. His interest in the home video market paid off with Concorde quickly becoming one of the largest suppliers of VHS tapes, having deals in place with every major distributor in the world.[3]

In 1986, Krevoy and his longtime business partner Steve Stabler co-founded Motion Picture Corporation of America (MPCA). The goal of the company was to focus on producing, acquiring and distributing commercial motion picture and television productions. Using the skills he learned during his time with Roger Corman, Krevoy managed to position MPCA as one of the largest suppliers of high-quality, lower-budget films.

During the company's formative years, they produced a few cult favorites, including The Purple People Eater (1988) with Ned Beatty; Back to Back (1989), starring Bill Paxton and Apollonia; and the sex comedy Miracle Beach (1992).

Krevoy and Stabler took the company to new heights when they released the 1994 blockbuster comedy Dumb and Dumber. The script had been around for nearly seven years and was rejected by every major studio. The writers, Bobby and Peter Farrelly, desperately wanted to direct the feature as well, but no one would give them a shot. Once Krevoy and MPCA got behind the script, they were able to package the project, complete with the Farrellys directing and then rising star, Jim Carrey.[4]

Dumb and Dumber broke box office comedy records; it also opened and remained at number 1 on the U.S. box office for 4 straight weeks over the holiday season.[5] The film went on to gross $127 million domestically and $120 million overseas for a worldwide total of $247 million off of a $16 million budget.[6] The film was one of the highest grossing comedies of the 90's. Combined with its ancillary and video sales, the film is estimated to have grossed over half a billion dollars.[7]

Dumb and Dumber propelled the Farrellys' directing career; they became known as the top comedy directors of the time. Krevoy was able to use this success to get the Farrellys' passion project, Kingpin, off the ground. It was released in June 1996, starring Woody Harrelson, Randy Quaid and Bill Murray. Despite many critics praising the film, it was a commercial disappointment, grossing only $27 million against a $25 million budget over the course of its theatrical run.[8] Roger Ebert championed the film and gave it 3 and a half stars out 4, praising the film's daring comedy.[9] Kingpin became a huge release on home video, finding a dedicated and passionate cult following.[10]

Krevoy and MPCA expanded on their success and went on to produce more big-budget studio comedies, including Beverly Hills Ninja starring Chris Farley and Jungle 2 Jungle with Tim Allen. They also produced Threesome, starring Lara Flynn Boyle and Stephen Baldwin. The film was one of the most successful independent arthouse films of the year, grossing just under $15 million domestically.[11] Threesome was an autobiographical comedy by writer and director, Andrew Fleming. Roger Ebert gave the film three out of four stars, praising the film's honest characterization and strong dialogue.[12]

Starting in November 1995, until they were acquired by Metromedia International Group in 1996, Krevoy and MPCA had a first-look producing deal with Paramount Studios. Krevoy and MPCA also signed a first-look deal with Sony Pictures in the late 90s, where they produced more than 10 movies.[13]

In 1996, MPCA was purchased by John Kluge's Metromedia International Group. Metromedia had just purchased the independent production company Orion Pictures from chapter 11 bankruptcy. When MPCA was merged into the company, Krevoy and Stabler took over as the Co-President's of Orion Pictures and were given a six-picture deal.[14]

At Orion, Krevoy oversaw the production, acquisition, and distribution of Orion's motion picture and television programming. He produced films for Academy Award-winner Tom Schulman (Dead Poets Society) and released films such as 1997's Academy Award and Golden Globe nominee for Best Foreign Language Film, Prisoner of the Mountains (directed by Sergei Bodrov), and the acclaimed Ulee's Gold (directed by Victor Nunez and presented by Jonathan Demme). Ulee’s Gold was a critical hit and won its leading actor, Peter Fonda, his first and only Golden Globe for best actor. Fonda also received his first and only Oscar nomination for best actor.

After two years of revitalizing Orion Pictures, Metromedia went on to sell Orion to MGM. Krevoy was able to take the MPCA name back as part of his original deal.[15]

In 1998, Krevoy returned to his independent filmmaking roots and restarted MPCA with a distribution deal through MGM.

Since rebooting MPCA, Krevoy has produced a wide array of motion pictures including: boxing drama Joe and Max (which collected both ESPN and ACE award nominations); the 2002 Sundance premiere Bookies (for director Mark Illsley of Happy, Texas fame); and Boat Trip starring Academy Award-winner Cuba Gooding Jr., Horatio Sanz, Vivica A. Fox, and Roger Moore for Artisan/Lionsgate.

In 2004 Krevoy produced the drama, A Love Song for Bobby Long, starring John Travolta and Scarlett Johansson. The film was well received by audiences and critics, with Roger Ebert awarding it 3 out of 4 stars.[16] The film also earned Scarlett Johansson a Golden Globe nomination.

After the credit crunch hit in 2008, Krevoy found new investors and ramped up production. He built a strong international sales team and began assembling an eclectic slate of programming.[17]

Krevoy produced the 2009 war drama Taking Chance, based on the true experiences of Lt. Colonel Michael Strobl, who wrote about his time in the widely circulated article “Taking Chance Home".[18] The film was directed by Ross Katz and starred Kevin Bacon. It was shown at the Sundance Film Festival before premiering on HBO.[19] The film was well received by critics who praised the apolitical stance of the film, as well as the discipline of the filmmakers to veer away from emotional sentimentality. Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times wrote that the film “doesn't miss a single emotional pressure point – Katz clearly believes in the power and necessity of catharsis.”[20] Taking Chance received a total of 27 award nominations and 6 wins including Kevin Bacon for Best Performance by an Actor in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television. The film was also nominated for a string of Primetime Emmy awards, as well as nominations in the SAG, PGA, DGA, ACE, ASC, and WGA awards. It also won the prestigious Humanitas Prize.

Krevoy and MPCA produced a string of successful straight-to-DVD action movies. Four of these featured Academy Award winner, Cuba Gooding, Jr. These included Linewatch (2008); Hardwired (2009), which also starred Val Kilmer; Ticking Clock (2011); and One in the Chamber (2012), which also featured 80's action star, Dolph Lundgren. They produced two movies with Academy Award Nominee, Samuel L. Jackson: Arena (2011); and Meeting Evil (2012). During this time MPCA also made two movies with action star Jean-Claude Van Damme – Assassination Games (2011); and Six Bullets (2012).

In 2011, Krevoy made Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2 for Disney, a sequel to the 2008 hit comedy. Most of the original cast returned and the film did well in the home video market with sales of over $30 million.[21]

In 2014, Krevoy and Stabler were executive producers on Dumb and Dumber To, the sequel to their original smash hit, taking place 20 years after the events of the first film. Jeff Daniels and Jim Carrey reprised their roles and the film was released on November 14, 2014. It opened at number one in the U.S. box office charts to $36 million for the weekend. It then went on to make $169 million worldwide and was a very strong release on home video.[22]

Recently, Krevoy has become a world-leading producer of Christmas and family-themed entertainment. Since 2013, Krevoy and MPCA have produced more than 40 original Christmas and family movies for select broadcasters, including Netflix and The Hallmark Channel. Produced in tax-efficient and low-cost production centers like Vancouver and Northern Ontario, Canada, and Bucharest, Romania, with the highest production quality at the lowest possible budget, compelling storytelling, and award-winning directors and writers, these films have broken numerous records for the networks on which they've aired. They have also featured internationally well-known actors such as Rob Lowe, Kristin Davis, Vanessa Hudgens, Kat Graham, Candace Cameron Bure, Lori Loughlin, Mariah Carey, Lacey Chabert, Roger Moore, Kelsey Grammer, Brooke Shields, James Brolin, Ron Cephas Jones, and Jane Seymour.[23]

Coming out of the Corman model of filmmaking, Krevoy developed many techniques and strategies to become successful. Krevoy saw that “Roger knew all aspects of his profession, from development to the actual filmmaking, to post-production and marketing," and that it "really set him apart."[61] Krevoy made it a priority to align himself with talented creatives who showed great promise.

His persistence to remain as an independent producer has given Krevoy the ability to put his full trust in his creative partners. Corman taught him to allow a “creative person to do their best without interfering, to be supportive instead of a hindrance.” In terms of studio interference, Krevoy is quoted as saying that “The studios, with their hordes of executives going through every page of the script and telling a director what to do, are the antithesis of a pure independent, who basically executes his particular vision.”[62] Using this ethos, MPCA has remained as a fully independent studio for the last 30 years.

As was the case with Dumb and Dumber, Krevoy has a knack of reenergizing projects and scripts that have been stuck in development hell. Krevoy says, “that most of my career triumphs have come from sniffing out originality in scripts, direction, or in young actors on their way up — sometimes in the unlikeliest of places.”[63]

Krevoy is known for jumpstarting the careers of many young actors and filmmakers who have gone on to become some of the biggest names in Hollywood including the Farrelly brothers, Vince Vaughn, Ben Stiller, Sarah Jessica Parker, Will Ferrell, Viggo Mortensen, Ashley Judd, Jude Law, Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd, Kirsten Dunst, Courteney Cox, Bill Paxton, Ben Foster, Gretchen Mol, Wallace Wolodarsky,[64] and Jon Turteltaub.

A big focus of Krevoy's ethos is to look for specific niches of audiences that need content. The recent success of his Christmas movies further exemplifies his quick action to see an underfed audience. “Any film that I’ve ever had that’s done big business, it was because I was trying to play the niches,” says Krevoy. He cites Dumb and Dumber as such a broad, silly comedy that no established studio would dare to make it. Roger Corman taught him that “you really don’t have to be the biggest or the best on the block. Do the best you can… if you’re going to do a smaller film, be the best at the smaller film, and compete at your own level, that you’re comfortable with.”[65]

In 1999 Krevoy teamed with exhibition veterans Ron Leslie (Former president of AMC theatres) and Peter Fornstam, as well as real estate attorney Richard Lawrence, to form Resort Theatres of America. The group's mission was to build state-of-the-art theatres in premier resort areas throughout America.[66] By March 1999, the company had acquired all of Metropolitan Theatre Corp.’s Palm screen locations for a total of 85 screens.

In 1999, they purchased and renovated the historic Isis Theatre in Aspen, Co. Turning it from a single screen movie house into a thriving luxury five-screen movie theatre, with its own catered bar.[67][68]

Brad married his wife Susie in 1996. They live in Santa Monica with their three daughters and two dogs.[69]

Brad Krevoy and his family remain active with several major charities including the Fisher House Foundation who provide military families with housing close to a loved one during hospitalization for an illness, disease or injury.[70]

Krevoy sits on the Board of Directors for the California State Summer School for the Arts. Their mission is to annually provide a select number of California high school’s visual, literary, performing and media arts students with an intensive learning experience conducted by distinguished arts professionals. All designed to enhance the students’ artistic skills and to develop their potential for growth as creative artists.[71]

Krevoy is on the Board of Directors for the Independent Film and Television Alliance (IFTA)[72] which run the American Film Market. The IFTA's mission is to provide the independent film and television industry with high-quality market-oriented services and worldwide representation of industry interests.[73]

He is also on the Advisory Board of Northwestern University's MFA Writing for Screen+Stage program, helping to provide students with advice and mentorship as they prepare for careers in the entertainment industry.[74]

All films, he was producer unless otherwise noted.

• Brad Krevoy on IMDb
• Official website of MPCA Film