Yoram Globus (Hebrew: יורם גלובוס; born 7 September 1943) is an Israeli–American film producer, cinema owner, and distributor. He has been involved in over 300 full-length motion pictures and he is most known for his association with The Cannon Group, Inc., an American film production company, which he co-owned with his cousin Menahem Golan.[1]
Globus played a significant role in developing the Israeli film industry and later became a prominent figure in Hollywood, where he and Golan were nicknamed the "Go-Go Boys" for their fast-paced, low-budget filmmaking style.[2] He is also known for pioneering the "pre-sale strategy" in film financing and for his work in film distribution, including representing major American studios in Israel.
Early life
Yoram Globus was born in Tiberias, on the lake of Galilee, Palestine, British mandate of, now Israel, in 1943 to Jewish parents who immigrated from Poland. When he was three years old, his family moved to the northern city of Kiryat Motzkin. His father, Shmuel, built a cinema, which was unique at that time. When the cinema opened, Globus was 5 years old and very interested in all aspects of the cinema. He would help with whatever his father needed: from hanging posters, serving as a cashier, to promoting movies. At the age of 10 Yoram became the projectionist. During high school he moved to Tel Aviv, where his parents opened another cinema.
Globus graduated business school. He enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces, served as a combat soldier and officer, and retired as a lieutenant.
In 1963, Globus partnered with his cousin Menahem Golan, who was already a well-known stage and film director in Israel. Together, they were instrumental in creating the film industry in the country. Over the years they were very successful, building a company that produced movies in Israel, in addition to co-productions in Europe. It became the number 1 production company in Israel. They distributed both European and Israeli movies. For more than 25 years they represented such American studios as Warner Bros., Universal, Paramount and DreamWorks in Israel.
Their most successful projects include Operation Thunderbolt (about the Entebbe raid, which was nominated for Academy Award), Kazablan (a musical sold to MGM), Lemon Popsicle, I Love You Rosa, and The House on Chelouche Street, which was nominated for Best Foreign Film by the Academy Awards. They had additional films that represented Israel in many film festivals, such as: Cannes, Berlin, AFM, Milano Film Market, and more.
In 1978, Globus and Golan moved to Hollywood, where they acquired The Cannon Group, Inc. for $500,000; it was traded on NASDQ for 25 cents a share. They went to the Cannes Film Festival that year and licensed Cannon's movies for approximately $2.5M. After acquiring 51% of the company's shares, they used the money to start making low-budget action movies.
In the beginning of the 1980s, Globus and Golan recognized that video was the next big thing; they signed actor Chuck Norris for a 7-year exclusive deal, Charles Bronson for a multiple-picture deal, and discovered Jean-Claude Van Damme and signed him for many pictures. They capitalized on the ninja trend, discovered Michael Dudikoff, and signed him to a multiple picture deal. Resulting films from these actions include : The "Missing in Action" series (Chuck Norris), The "Death Wish" series (Charles Bronson), "Blood Sport" (Jean-Claude Van Damme), and "American Ninja" (Michael Dudikoff).
The company elevated the production slate. Apart from the action movies, in 1982 they broadened their approach, producing such movies as: Sahara (Brooke Shields), The Championship Season (Bruce Dern and Martin Sheen), Wicked Lady (Faye Dunaway), and King Solomon's Mine (Richard Chamberlain and Sharon Stone). Over those years, the Cannon Group stock was moved to the NY stock exchange and rose in value p from 25 cents in the late 1970s to $48 in 1984. Cannon became the largest independent producer and distributor in the world.
With Cannon's success, Globus expanded the group's operations into additional territories. Cannon acquired approximately 1,600 cinemas across Europe and the United States (some of which were later purchased by Silvio Berlusconi), in addition to studios, an extensive film library and additional acquisitions. This widened the activities of Cannon and established the company as a leading conglomerate in the global film industry. During these years, Cannon financed their movies using a new approach, a strategy created and originated by Globus[citation needed].
It is now known as "the pre-sale strategy". Substantial pre-sales of unproduced films were made based on the strong salesmanship skills of Globus and the promotional advertising created by Design Projects. The financial deposits collected from these pre-sales were used to finance the production of the first film in a Cannon line-up, which when completed and delivered to worldwide theater owners, would generate enough capital to make the next film. For these purposes, Cannon would often commission mock movie posters before they had a script and would display large billboards at sales events such as the Cannes Film Festival.
During 1984, Cannon purchased Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment (see EMI Films) and their movie library for £175 million. Cannon sold the EMI British Film Library to Weintraub Entertainment Group for approximately $85 million. In 1989, "Pathé Communications," a holding company controlled by Italian businessman Giancarlo Parretti, purchased 39.4% of Cannon for 250 million dollars. During that same year, Golan, citing differences with both Parretti and Globus, resigned from his position. He left Cannon and Globus to launch his "21st Century Film Corporation." In 1990, Globus and Parietti merged Pathé with the American film company "MGM", at which time Globus became MGM president.
In 1993, having produced over 300 films, Globus returned to Israel to focus on his home company, "Globus Group." This includes a private "Globus" arm with a large film and television studio in Neve Ilan (where various Israeli stations broadcast, such as the Israeli News Company). Globus is responsible for a significant part of the Israeli film distribution industry ("Noah CPP") and owns the public arm "Globus Max," which owns and operates numerous theaters in Israel. In 1999, Globus was given the Ophir Award for "Lifetime Achievement" by the Israeli Academy of Film and Television.[citation needed]
In 2015, Globus sold "Globus Max" and returned to Hollywood to launch a new film production company, "Rebel Way Entertainment." The company seeks to reconnect young and web-crazy audiences with the traditional theatrical experience.[3]
