Ovidio G. Assonitis
Encyclopedia
Ovidio Assonitis is an independent film producer and businessman with over 35 years of experience in the entertainment industry.
Biography
Catering to the South East Asia market, Assonitis began an extensive distribution network company in the mid-1960s and in the 10-year period distributed more than 900 films from offices in Thailand, Honk Kong, Singapore, Philippines, and Indonesia. His former partners and associates include HRH Prince Anusom Yukol in Thailand (brother of the King of Thailand), John Litton in the Philippines (President of Mever films, Theater owner and former President of the Philippines Film Festival), the Shaw Brothers in Singapore, Alex Tedja In Indonesia, Kong Cho Yee (Edko Enterprises) in Hong Kong.From the 1970s to 2000s Assonitis has financed and produced some 53 films. Many of these were joint ventures with American International Pictures
American International Pictures
American International Pictures was a film production company formed in April 1956 from American Releasing Corporation by James H. Nicholson, former Sales Manager of Realart Pictures, and Samuel Z. Arkoff, an entertainment lawyer...
(USA), Nippon Herald Films Inc and Toho-Towa (Japan), with worldwide releases through Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
, 20th Century Fox Film Corporation, Warner Brothers and United Artists
United Artists
United Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....
. The 1974 horror classic Beyond the Door distributed by Film Ventures International
Film Ventures International
Film Ventures International is an independent movie production and distribution company originally situated in Atlanta, Georgia during the 1970s. FVI garnered a notorious reputation within the industry for producing films which were highly derivative of many blockbusters of the era...
grossed worldwide in excess of USD $40 million, a tremendous achievement at that time. In 1980 Mr Assonitis produced Piranha II: The Spawning
Piranha II: The Spawning
Piranha II: The Spawning, also known as Piranha II: Flying Killers, is a 1981 horror film, the sequel to the 1978 low-budget film Piranha, and the feature film directorial debut of James Cameron.-Plot:...
, which was released through Warner Brothers and Columbia pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
. This was the movie that launched the career of director James Cameron
James Cameron
James Francis Cameron is a Canadian-American film director, film producer, screenwriter, editor, environmentalist and inventor...
, who went on to direct the blockbuster hit Titanic. In 1989, Assonitis became the second major stockholder chairman and CEO of Cannon Pictures Inc (USA).
In 1990 Assonitis assigned to Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
the remake of the European classic Scent of a Woman
Scent of a Woman
This article is about the American film. For the Korean drama, see Scent of a Woman .Scent of a Woman is a 1992 drama film directed by Martin Brest that tells the story of a preparatory school student who takes a job as an assistant to an irascible, blind, medically retired Army officer...
, which was released worldwide in 1993, starring Al Pacino
Al Pacino
Alfredo James "Al" Pacino is an American film and stage actor and director. He is famous for playing mobsters, including Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy, Tony Montana in Scarface, Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice in Dick Tracy and Carlito Brigante in Carlito's Way, though he has also appeared...
and directed by Martin Brest
Martin Brest
Martin Brest is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer.-Education:He was born in a Jewish family in the Bronx, New York....
. Since his resignation as CEO of Cannon Inc, Assonitis has produced 6 movies, became President of Titan Inc (USA), Titan Serendib Inc (Malaysia and Sri Lanka), Ka Film Investment (KFI) (Rome) and stockholder of Buskin film (Rome). Aside from the Entertainment Industry, Assonitis has several major commercial projects in South East Asia, including Malaysia.
He is a keen philanthropist and eager to combine business with a positive development of the economic and social infrastructure of countries in Asia.
Filmography
- 1974 Beyond the Door
- 1977 TentaclesTentacles (film)Tentacles is a 1977 Italian-American horror film directed by Ovidio G. Assonitis and starring John Huston and Shelley Winters.- Plot :The tourist spot Ocean Beach has come under attack by a giant octopus, which captures human swimmers and picks clean the skeletons of flesh and bone marrow...
- 1978 The Day Santa Claus Cried
- 1979 The VisitorThe Visitor (1979 film)The Visitor is a psychological thriller film directed by Giulio Paradisi , based on a story by the Egyptian writer Ovidio G. Assonitis. The film starred such names as John Huston, Shelley Winters, Mel Ferrer, Glenn Ford, and Sam Peckinpah. Prominent Libertarian talk-show host Neal Boortz also...
- 1981 Desperate Moves
- 1981 Piranha II: The SpawningPiranha II: The SpawningPiranha II: The Spawning, also known as Piranha II: Flying Killers, is a 1981 horror film, the sequel to the 1978 low-budget film Piranha, and the feature film directorial debut of James Cameron.-Plot:...
- 1981 There Was a Little GirlThere Was a Little GirlThere Was a Little Girl is a 1981 Italian horror film directed by Egyptian filmmaker Ovidio G. Assonitis....
- 1986 Choke Canyon
- 1987 Iron Warrior
- 1987 The Curse
- 1988 Curse II: the Bite
- 1989 Sonny Boy
- 1989 Beyond the Door IIIBeyond the Door IIIBeyond the Door III, also known as Amok Train and Death Train, is a 1989 Italian horror film directed by Jeff Kwitny. This third and final film into the Beyond the Door trilogy, like its predecessor Beyond the Door II, is a sequel in-name-alone.-Plot:The film follows a group of American students to...
- 1990 Midnight Ride
- 1992 Out of Control
- 2003 Red Riding HoodRed Riding Hood (2003 film)Red Riding Hood is a 2003 Italian horror film loosely based on the story of Little Red Riding Hood, directed by Giacomo Cimini, the film stars Roberto Purvis as Tom Hunter, Justine Powell as Arianna and Kathleen Archebald as Rose McKenzie....