Ovidio G. Assonitis

Ovidio Gabriel Assonitis (born January 18, 1943) is an independent film producer and businessman.

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 (USA), Nippon Herald Films Inc and Toho-Towa (Japan), with worldwide releases through Columbia Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros. and United Artists. The 1974 horror classic Beyond the Door distributed by Film Ventures International grossed worldwide in excess of USD $40 million.

In 1980 Mr Assonitis produced Piranha II: The Spawning, which was released through Warner Bros. and Columbia Pictures. This was the movie that launched the career of director James Cameron, 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).^[1]

In 1990 Assonitis assigned to Universal Pictures the remake of the European classic Scent of a Woman, which was released worldwide in 1993, starring Al Pacino and directed by Martin Brest. Since his resignation as CEO of Cannon Inc., Assonitis has produced six movies, become 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 commercial projects in South East Asia, including Malaysia.

Filmography

• 1974 Beyond the Door (co-director with Robert Barrett, writer)
• 1976 Laure (uncredited writer)
• 1977 Tentacles (director)
• 1978 The Day Santa Claus Cried (co-producer)
• 1979 The Visitor (story by)
• 1981 Desperate Moves (director)
• 1981 Piranha II: The Spawning (co-director with James Cameron, co-writer)
• 1981 There Was a Little Girl (director, co-writer)
• 1986 Choke Canyon (writer)
• 1987 Iron Warrior (co-producer)
• 1987 The Curse (co-producer)
• 1988 Curse II: the Bite (co-producer)
• 1989 Sonny Boy (co-producer)
• 1989 Beyond the Door III (co-producer)
• 1990 Midnight Ride (co-producer)
• 1992 Out of Control (co-director with Robert Barrett)
• 2003 Red Riding Hood (writer)

References

External links

• Ovidio G. Assonitis at the Internet Movie Database
• Tentacles, Demons, and a Psycho Twin: An Interview with Ovidio G. Assonitis - November 2011