Jake Eberts
Encyclopedia
Jake Eberts, OC
(born July 10, 1941) is a movie producer, executive and financier. Known for risk-taking and producing a consistently high caliber of movies including such award-winning titles as Chariots of Fire
(1981, uncredited), Gandhi
(1982), Dances with Wolves
(1990), and the successful animated feature Chicken Run
(2000).
, Quebec
, Jake Eberts grew up in Montreal and Arvida. He attended Bishop's College School
in Lennoxville, Quebec and graduated from McGill University
(Bachelor of Chemical Engineering 1962) and Harvard Business School
(MBA 1966). Eberts' working career began as a start-up engineer for L'Air Liquide in Spain, Italy, Germany and France. He then spent three years as a Wall Street
investor. He moved to London, England in 1971, where he joined Oppenheimer & Co., rising to the position of managing director of the UK brokerage and investment company in 1976.
in founding Goldcrest Films
, an independent film production company, for which he served as president and CEO. His first venture was the animated movie Watership Down
.
While with the company in 1979, he made a disastrous personal investment of US$750,000 in Zulu Dawn
, which would take him almost a decade to recover from. He obviously learned a great deal from this setback, as the output of the company was for the most part exceptional and financially rewarding, with such other films to its credit as The Howling
, Chariots of Fire, Local Hero
, Gandhi, The Killing Fields
and The Dresser
. Chariots of Fire and Gandhi won back-to-back Oscars in 1981 and 1982 respectively, and in the period from 1977 to 1983 the company's films received 30 Oscar nominations and won 15. He developed a reputation as an astute and shrewd financier. Rather than seek new talent, he chose to support established directors such as Sir Richard Attenborough
, Roland Joffé
, Jean-Jacques Annaud
, John Boorman
, many of whom have worked with him on several pictures.
He resigned from the company in 1984, but returned a year later to attempt to rescue it financially. From its early success of just a few years earlier, when it was seen as a possible saviour of the British film industry, the company had been brought to the brink of bankruptcy by the failure of three high-budget films - Revolution
, The Mission and Absolute Beginners
, all in 1985-1986.
Eberts continued on until 1987 when he resigned for the last time. The company would continued on under new ownership. Eberts detailed the disaster in his 1990 memoir, My Indecision is Final: The Spectacular Rise and Fall of Goldcrest Films (co-authored with Terry Ilott
).
, an affiliate of Pathé
. With this company, in 1986 he made his debut as executive producer for Annaud's The Name of the Rose
, based on the best-selling novel by Umberto Eco
. He since produced or executive produced John Boorman's Hope and Glory (1987), his second pair of back-to-back Oscar winners Driving Miss Daisy
(1989) and Dances With Wolves (1990), Robert Redford
's A River Runs Through It
(1992) and Tim Burton
's adaptation of Roald Dahl
's James and the Giant Peach
(1995). During this period Eberts was also responsible as executive for the expensive flop, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
(1988), which thankfully went on to some popular success in home videocassette and DVD
rentals.
Eberts moved to Paris in about 1991.
Dances with Wolves was an early picture of Eberts to feature a native American theme. Later productions included (as producer or executive producer), Bruce Beresford
's Black Robe
(1991), The Education of Little Tree
(1997), and Richard Attenborough's Grey Owl
(1998). The latter three pictures were all produced in Canada.
He also served as a co-executive producer (with Jeffrey Katzenberg
) of Chicken Run (2000).
by Jean-Jacques Annaud. He has also branched out into documentaries including Prisoner of Paradise
, which was nominated for Best Picture in the feature documentary category at the 2003 Academy Awards, and America's Heart and Soul
(2004). Under his direction, NGFF had an enormous success in 2005 by distributing the sleeper documentary March of the Penguins
(original French title, La Marche de l'empereur).
. He was also awarded honorary doctorates by McGill University in 1998 and by Bishop's University
in 1999. He serves on the Board of the Sundance Institute
and the Sundance Channel. He is also co-founder and CEO of MPI International, which provides high-speed, two-way video transmission capabilities to telcos
, cable companies, hotels, hospitals, and schools.
By 2005, Eberts had been associated with films garnering 66 Oscar nominations, including nine for Best Picture. In 2006, March of the Penguins won the Oscar for Best Documentary.
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
(born July 10, 1941) is a movie producer, executive and financier. Known for risk-taking and producing a consistently high caliber of movies including such award-winning titles as Chariots of Fire
Chariots of Fire
Chariots of Fire is a 1981 British film. It tells the fact-based story of two athletes in the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell, a devout Scottish Christian who runs for the glory of God, and Harold Abrahams, an English Jew who runs to overcome prejudice....
(1981, uncredited), Gandhi
Gandhi (film)
Gandhi is a 1982 biographical film based on the life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, who led the nonviolent resistance movement against British colonial rule in India during the first half of the 20th century. The film was directed by Richard Attenborough and stars Ben Kingsley as Gandhi. They both...
(1982), Dances with Wolves
Dances with Wolves
Dances with Wolves is a 1990 epic western film directed by and starring Kevin Costner. It is a film adaptation of the 1988 book of the same name by Michael Blake and tells the story of a Union Army Lieutenant who travels to the American frontier to find a military post, and his dealings with a...
(1990), and the successful animated feature Chicken Run
Chicken Run
Chicken Run is a 2000 British stop-motion animation film made by the Aardman Animations studios, the production studio of the Oscar-winning Wallace and Gromit films...
(2000).
Early life and career
Born John David Eberts in MontrealMontreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, Jake Eberts grew up in Montreal and Arvida. He attended Bishop's College School
Bishop's College School
This article is about the school in Canada. Alternatively, visit Diocesan College in Cape Town, South Africa.Bishop's College School is a private school in Lennoxville, Quebec, Canada....
in Lennoxville, Quebec and graduated from McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
(Bachelor of Chemical Engineering 1962) and Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School is the graduate business school of Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, United States and is widely recognized as one of the top business schools in the world. The school offers the world's largest full-time MBA program, doctoral programs, and many executive...
(MBA 1966). Eberts' working career began as a start-up engineer for L'Air Liquide in Spain, Italy, Germany and France. He then spent three years as a Wall Street
Wall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
investor. He moved to London, England in 1971, where he joined Oppenheimer & Co., rising to the position of managing director of the UK brokerage and investment company in 1976.
With Goldcrest Films
With no apparent prior interest in film, about 1977 he turned to film financing, and joined David PuttnamDavid Puttnam
David Terence Puttnam, Baron Puttnam, CBE, FRSA is a British film producer. He sits on the Labour benches in the House of Lords, although he is not principally a politician.-Early life:...
in founding Goldcrest Films
Goldcrest Films
Goldcrest Films is a British film production company founded by Jake Eberts in January 1977. It enjoyed great success in the 1980s with films such as Local Hero , The Killing Fields and Hope and Glory mostly produced by David Puttnam on modest budgets. The company also benefited from the new...
, an independent film production company, for which he served as president and CEO. His first venture was the animated movie Watership Down
Watership Down (film)
Watership Down is a 1978 English adventure drama animated film written, produced and directed by Martin Rosen and based on the book by Richard Adams. It was financed by a consortium of British financial institutions...
.
While with the company in 1979, he made a disastrous personal investment of US$750,000 in Zulu Dawn
Zulu Dawn
Zulu Dawn is a 1979 war film about the historical Battle of Isandlwana between British and Zulu forces in 1879 in South Africa. The screenplay was by Cy Endfield, from his book, and Anthony Story. The film was directed by Douglas Hickox...
, which would take him almost a decade to recover from. He obviously learned a great deal from this setback, as the output of the company was for the most part exceptional and financially rewarding, with such other films to its credit as The Howling
The Howling (film)
The Howling is a 1981 werewolf-themed horror film directed by Joe Dante. Based on the novel of the same name by Gary Brandner, the screenplay is written by John Sayles and Terence H. Winkless...
, Chariots of Fire, Local Hero
Local Hero
Local Hero is a 1983 Scottish comedy-drama film starring Peter Riegert and Burt Lancaster. It was directed by Bill Forsyth and produced by David Puttnam....
, Gandhi, The Killing Fields
The Killing Fields (film)
The Killing Fields is a 1984 British drama film about the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia, which is based on the experiences of two journalists: Cambodian Dith Pran and American Sydney Schanberg. The film, which won three Academy Awards, was directed by Roland Joffé and stars Sam Waterston as...
and The Dresser
The Dresser
The Dresser is a 1983 film which tells the story of an aging actor's personal assistant, who struggles to keep his charge's life together. It is based on a screenplay by Ronald Harwood, in turn based on his successful 1980 West End and Broadway play of the same name.The film was directed by Peter...
. Chariots of Fire and Gandhi won back-to-back Oscars in 1981 and 1982 respectively, and in the period from 1977 to 1983 the company's films received 30 Oscar nominations and won 15. He developed a reputation as an astute and shrewd financier. Rather than seek new talent, he chose to support established directors such as Sir Richard Attenborough
Richard Attenborough
Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough , CBE is a British actor, director, producer and entrepreneur. As director and producer he won two Academy Awards for the 1982 film Gandhi...
, Roland Joffé
Roland Joffé
Roland Joffé is an English-French film director who is known for his Oscar nominated movies, The Killing Fields and The Mission. He began his career in television. His early television credits included episodes of Coronation Street and an adaptation of The Stars Look Down for Granada...
, Jean-Jacques Annaud
Jean-Jacques Annaud
Jean-Jacques Annaud is a French film director, film producer and screenwriter.- Biography :Annaud was born in Juvisy-sur-Orge, Essonne...
, John Boorman
John Boorman
John Boorman is a British filmmaker who is a long time resident of Ireland and is best known for his feature films such as Point Blank, Deliverance, Zardoz, Excalibur, The Emerald Forest, Hope and Glory, The General and The Tailor of Panama.-Early life:Boorman was born in Shepperton, Surrey,...
, many of whom have worked with him on several pictures.
He resigned from the company in 1984, but returned a year later to attempt to rescue it financially. From its early success of just a few years earlier, when it was seen as a possible saviour of the British film industry, the company had been brought to the brink of bankruptcy by the failure of three high-budget films - Revolution
Revolution (1985 film)
Revolution is a 1985 film directed by Hugh Hudson, written by Robert Dillon and starring Al Pacino, Helen Porter, Donald Sutherland, Nastassja Kinski, Joan Plowright, Dave King, Annie Lennox, Danny Turner, Steven Berkoff, Graham Greene, and Robbie Coltrane....
, The Mission and Absolute Beginners
Absolute Beginners
Absolute Beginners is a novel by Colin MacInnes, written and set in 1958 London, England. It was published in 1959. The novel is the second of MacInnes' London Trilogy, coming after City Of Spades and before Mr. Love and Justice...
, all in 1985-1986.
Eberts continued on until 1987 when he resigned for the last time. The company would continued on under new ownership. Eberts detailed the disaster in his 1990 memoir, My Indecision is Final: The Spectacular Rise and Fall of Goldcrest Films (co-authored with Terry Ilott
Terry Ilott
Terry Ilott is an English writer, former business consultant and sometime businessman.Until June 2010, he was the director of the Film Business Academy and course director, executive MBA programmes, at Cass Business School, City University, London...
).
As an independent
Meanwhile, in 1985 he founded Allied FilmmakersAllied Filmmakers
Allied Filmmakers is a British film production company, founded by Jake Eberts in London in 1985 as a film branch from Pathé.- Production filmography :*Confessions of a Dangerous Mind *The Legend of Bagger Vance *Chicken Run...
, an affiliate of Pathé
Pathé
Pathé or Pathé Frères is the name of various French businesses founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France.-History:...
. With this company, in 1986 he made his debut as executive producer for Annaud's The Name of the Rose
The Name of the Rose (film)
The Name of the Rose is a 1986 film directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud, based on the book of the same name by Umberto Eco. Sean Connery is the Franciscan friar William of Baskerville and Christian Slater is his apprentice Adso of Melk, who are called upon to solve a deadly mystery in a medieval...
, based on the best-selling novel by Umberto Eco
Umberto Eco
Umberto Eco Knight Grand Cross is an Italian semiotician, essayist, philosopher, literary critic, and novelist, best known for his novel The Name of the Rose , an intellectual mystery combining semiotics in fiction, biblical analysis, medieval studies and literary theory...
. He since produced or executive produced John Boorman's Hope and Glory (1987), his second pair of back-to-back Oscar winners Driving Miss Daisy
Driving Miss Daisy
Driving Miss Daisy is a 1989 American comedy-drama film adapted from the Alfred Uhry play of the same name. The film was directed by Bruce Beresford, with Morgan Freeman reprising his role as Hoke Colburn and Jessica Tandy playing Miss Daisy...
(1989) and Dances With Wolves (1990), Robert Redford
Robert Redford
Charles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...
's A River Runs Through It
A River Runs Through It (film)
A River Runs Through It is an Academy Award winning 1992 American film directed by Robert Redford and starring Brad Pitt, Craig Sheffer, Tom Skerritt, Brenda Blethyn, and Emily Lloyd...
(1992) and Tim Burton
Tim Burton
Timothy William "Tim" Burton is an American film director, film producer, writer and artist. He is famous for dark, quirky-themed movies such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet...
's adaptation of Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl was a British novelist, short story writer, fighter pilot and screenwriter.Born in Wales to Norwegian parents, he served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, in which he became a flying ace and intelligence agent, rising to the rank of Wing Commander...
's James and the Giant Peach
James and the Giant Peach (film)
James and the Giant Peach is a 1996 musical fantasy film directed by Henry Selick, based on the 1961 novel of the same name by Roald Dahl. It was produced by Tim Burton and Denise Di Novi. The film is a combination of live action and stop-motion animation....
(1995). During this period Eberts was also responsible as executive for the expensive flop, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen is a 1988 British adventure comedy film directed by Terry Gilliam, starring John Neville, Sarah Polley, Eric Idle, Jonathan Pryce, Oliver Reed, Uma Thurman, and Robin Williams.-Plot:...
(1988), which thankfully went on to some popular success in home videocassette and DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
rentals.
Eberts moved to Paris in about 1991.
Dances with Wolves was an early picture of Eberts to feature a native American theme. Later productions included (as producer or executive producer), Bruce Beresford
Bruce Beresford
Bruce Beresford is an Australian film director who has made more than 30 feature films over a 40-year career.-Early life:...
's Black Robe
Black Robe
Black Robe is a historical novel by Brian Moore based on the Jesuit missionaries in New France. It was published in 1985.The novel takes place in the 17th century in New France. It follows Father Laforgue, a French Jesuit priest traveling up river to repopulate the mission to the Huron Indians...
(1991), The Education of Little Tree
The Education of Little Tree
The Education of Little Tree is a memoir-style novel written by Asa Earl Carter under the pseudonym Forrest Carter. Since its first publication by Delacorte Press in 1976, the book has been the subject of acclaim. Many people have been drawn to its message of simple living, tradition, and love of...
(1997), and Richard Attenborough's Grey Owl
Grey Owl
Grey Owl was the name Archibald Belaney adopted when he took on a First Nations identity as an adult...
(1998). The latter three pictures were all produced in Canada.
He also served as a co-executive producer (with Jeffrey Katzenberg
Jeffrey Katzenberg
Jeffrey Katzenberg is an American film producer and CEO of DreamWorks Animation. He is perhaps most famous for his period as chairman of The Walt Disney Company's film division, and for producing DreamWorks animated films such as Shrek, Antz, The Prince of Egypt, The Road to El Dorado, Chicken...
) of Chicken Run (2000).
National Geographic Feature Films
In 2002, Eberts, became chairman of National Geographic Feature Films (NGFF) and executive produced such titles as the live action animal feature Two BrothersTwo Brothers
Two Brothers is a 2004 adventure family film directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud. It is about two tigers who are separated as cubs and then reunited years later.-Plot:...
by Jean-Jacques Annaud. He has also branched out into documentaries including Prisoner of Paradise
Prisoner of Paradise
Prisoner of Paradise is a 2003 Canadian documentary film directed by Malcolm Clarke and Stuart Sender. The film tells the true story of Kurt Gerron, a German-Jewish cabaret and film actor in the 1920s and 1930s who was sent to the Theresienstadt concentration camp where he was commanded to write...
, which was nominated for Best Picture in the feature documentary category at the 2003 Academy Awards, and America's Heart and Soul
America's Heart and Soul
America's Heart and Soul is a 2004 film produced by Blacklight Films and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is a documentary and was directed by Louis Schwartzberg. The film was nominated for two MovieGuide Awards, winning one....
(2004). Under his direction, NGFF had an enormous success in 2005 by distributing the sleeper documentary March of the Penguins
March of the Penguins
March of the Penguins is a 2005 French nature documentary film. It was directed and co-written by Luc Jacquet, and co-produced by Bonne Pioche and the National Geographic Society. The film depicts the yearly journey of the emperor penguins of Antarctica...
(original French title, La Marche de l'empereur).
Honours and other achievements
In 1992 Eberts became an Officer of the Order of CanadaOrder of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
. He was also awarded honorary doctorates by McGill University in 1998 and by Bishop's University
Bishop's University
Bishop's University is a predominantly undergraduate university in Lennoxville, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. Bishop's is one of three universities in the province of Quebec that teach primarily in the English language...
in 1999. He serves on the Board of the Sundance Institute
Sundance Institute
Sundance Institute is a non-profit organization founded by Robert Redford in 1981 that actively advances the work of filmmakers and storytellers worldwide...
and the Sundance Channel. He is also co-founder and CEO of MPI International, which provides high-speed, two-way video transmission capabilities to telcos
Telephone company
A telephone company is a service provider of telecommunications services such as telephony and data communications access. Many were at one time nationalized or state-regulated monopolies...
, cable companies, hotels, hospitals, and schools.
By 2005, Eberts had been associated with films garnering 66 Oscar nominations, including nine for Best Picture. In 2006, March of the Penguins won the Oscar for Best Documentary.