Howard Peter Guber (born March 1, 1942) is an American film producer, business executive, entrepreneur, educator, and author. He is chairman and CEO of Mandalay Entertainment. By 2001, Guber's films had grossed over $3 billion worldwide and received 50 Academy Award nominations.
Guber holds minority ownership in five professional sports teams: the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association, the Golden State Valkyries of the Women's National Basketball Association, the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball, Los Angeles Football Club of Major League Soccer, and the professional eSports organization aXiomatic Gaming, with a controlling interest in one of the world's premier eSports franchises, Team Liquid. He is also co-executive chairman of the Golden State Warriors.
Guber formerly served as chairman of Dick Clark Productions, which produces the American Music Awards, the Golden Globe Awards, and other shows. He was also chairman of the Strategic Board; was an investor in NextVR, which was sold to Apple in 2020; and is chairman of Mandalay Sports Media. He is co-executive chairman of aXiomatic, a broad-based esports and gaming company. He is a Regent of the University of California and a professor at the UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television and the UCLA Anderson School of Management. For ten years, Guber was an entertainment and media analyst for Fox Business.
Guber's most recent business book, Tell to Win: Connect, Persuade, and Triumph with the Hidden Power of Story, became a No. 1 New York Times bestseller.
Guber is also noted for other books that include Inside the Deep and Shootout: Surviving Fame and (Mis)Fortune in Hollywood, which became a television series on AMC called Shootout. Guber hosted the show from 2003 to 2008 with Peter Bart, editor of Variety. Guber wrote a cover article for the Harvard Business Review, titled "The Four Truths of the Storyteller".
Early life Guber was born into a Jewish family in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Ruth (née Anshen) and Sam Guber (married in 1929). His father owned a junk business in Somerville, Massachusetts. He attended John Ward Elementary School and Newton North High School.
Following high school graduation, Guber enrolled in the pre-law curriculum at Syracuse University. He played intramural football and rushed the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity. Guber spent his junior year abroad at Syracuse's Florence, Italy, campus. At Syracuse, he met his future wife, Tara Lynda Francine Gellis,New York Times: "Abraham J. Gellis, 84, Kosher Meat Supplier" October 19, 1993 whom he married in 1964.
Guber enrolled at New York University, where he earned his J.D. and LL.M. law degrees, studying for his MBA at night. As he neared graduation in 1968, Guber accepted a position with Columbia Pictures as a management trainee.
Career
Columbia Pictures Guber joined Columbia Pictures in 1968 as an assistant to Jerry Tokofsky, who headed the studio's creative affairs department, which had the tasks of evaluating scripts and overseeing actors, directors, and producers. Tokofsky later spoke warmly of Guber's usefulness to him.Nancy Griffin, Kim Masters, Hit and Run (Simon and Schuster, 1997), p. 68
A year after arriving at Columbia, Guber, having witnessed a demonstration of an early video cassette machine, published "The New Ballgame/The Cartridge Revolution", an analysis of the changes to be wrought by home video technology, in the journal Cinema.
Guber was transferred to the business affairs division. Guber paid to fly himself to Columbia's New York City office and successfully argued for his promotion to vice president of creative affairs. Shortly thereafter, Guber was named head of American production. In August 1973, he was promoted to vice-president of worldwide production. Steven Spielberg noted that he "used to go to (Guber's) office at Columbia when he was just starting. (Guber) had an enormous chart on his wall with what every director in the world was planning that listed their pictures in development and planned for production." It made a lasting impression on Spielberg.
During his time at Columbia, the studio released, among other films, Shampoo, Taxi Driver, Tommy, and The Way We Were. Upon leaving Columbia in 1975, Guber was given a three-year production deal with the studio.
Independent producer Guber launched his career as an independent film producer with The Deep (1977), which became one of the highest-grossing films of the year. Guber also bought the rights and served as executive producer for Midnight Express (1978). Produced by Alan Marshall and David Puttnam, the film earned seven Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. The National Association of Theatre Owners named Guber Producer of the Year.
Casablanca Record and Filmworks In 1976, Guber merged his company Filmworks with Casablanca Records, headed by Neil Bogart, to form Casablanca Record and Filmworks, Inc. Guber became chairman while Bogart remained president of the combined company. Their record operation included artists such as Kiss, Donna Summer, Captain and Tennille, The Village People, and George Clinton's Parliament-Funkadelic. It also released soundtracks such as Midnight Express, Endless Love, and Flashdance. During this period, Guber also produced several television shows and series, including Television and the Presidency (1984) with Theodore H. White, the 1985 documentary series Oceanquest for NBC, and the 1980 special Mysteries of the Sea for ABC.
PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and the Guber-Peters Company In 1980, Guber rechristened the film division of Casablanca Filmworks as PolyGram Pictures, PolyGram's motion picture and television division, where he was Chairman of the Board and CEO. He, Neil Bogart, and Jon Peters were planning to be partners of Boardwalk Records, but Guber instead joined PolyGram Pictures at the last minute. He sold his interest in PolyGram in 1982 and then formed and served as co-owner of the Guber-Peters Company (GPC) along with producer Jon Peters.
Films on which Guber served as producer or executive producer have earned more than $3 billion in worldwide revenue and more than 50 Academy Award nominations, including four Best Picture nominations. Guber's producing credits during this period include Rain Man, Batman, Gorillas in the Mist, The Color Purple, Innerspace, The Witches of Eastwick, Flashdance, Missing, Tango & Cash, and An American Werewolf in London.
Sony Pictures In 1988, GPC became a public company when it merged with game show production company Barris Industries. On September 7, 1989, Barris Industries was renamed Guber-Peters Entertainment Company. On September 28, 1989, Sony Corporation announced its intention to buy GPEC. The sale was completed on November 9, 1989, a day after Sony acquired Columbia Pictures Entertainment.
During Guber's tenure as co-chairman and CEO at SPE, the company produced and distributed films such as Awakenings, Misery, Flatliners, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Boyz n the Hood, City Slickers, Basic Instinct, A League of Their Own, Single White Female, A River Runs Through It, A Few Good Men, Sleepless in Seattle, In the Line of Fire, Groundhog Day and Philadelphia. SPE's Motion Picture Group achieved, over four years, an industry-best domestic box office market share, which averaged seventeen percent. During the same period, Sony Pictures led all competitors with 120 Academy Award nominations, the highest four-year total ever for a single company. SPE also created and distributed many prime time, half-hour comedy television series at the time, with shows including Married... with Children, Designing Women, Seinfeld, Mad About You and The Nanny.
Mandalay Entertainment
In 1994, Guber formed Mandalay Entertainment as an independent production company, with its films distributed by Sony Pictures Entertainment. The Sony distribution agreement was replaced by a new deal with Paramount in 1998, with Mandalay moving is headquarters to Paramount Pictures. The multimedia entertainment company has interests in motion pictures, television, sports entertainment, and digital media.
Mandalay Pictures Mandalay Pictures, a division of Mandalay Entertainment Group, produces motion pictures for the global marketplace. Mandalay has had distributor relationships through first look deals with Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures, and Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Title Release date Actors DirectorAir2023Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Jason BatemanBen AffleckPAUL: Apostle of Christ2018Jim Caviezel, James Faulkner, Olivier MartinezAndrew HyattSniper: Ultimate Kill2017Chad Michael Collins, Billy Zane, Tom BerengerClaudio FahMark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down The White House2017Liam Neeson, Diane Lane, Josh LucasPeter LandesmanThe Birth of a Nation2016Nate Parker, Armie Hammer, Penelope Ann MillerNate ParkerNever Back Down: No Surrender2016Michael Jai White, Josh Barnett, Esai MoralesMichael Jai White When the Game Stands Tall 2014 Jim Caviezel, Alexander Ludwig, Michael Chiklis Thomas Carter Wild Things 1998 Kevin Bacon, Matt Dillon, Neve Campbell John McNaughton Les Misérables 1998 Liam Neeson, Geoffrey Rush, Uma Thurman Bille August I Know What You Did Last Summer 1997 Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Anne Heche Jim Gillespie Donnie Brasco 1997 Al Pacino, Johnny Depp, Michael Madsen Mike Newell Seven Years in Tibet 1997 Brad Pitt, David Thewlis, BD Wong Jean-Jacques Annaud In addition to theatrical releases, Mandalay Pictures has produced numerous movies for Netflix. +TitleRelease dateActorsDirectorLast Days of American Crime2020Edgar Ramirez, Anna Brewster, Michael Pitt Olivier Megaton Uncorked2020Mamoudou Athie, Courtney B. Vance, Niece NashPrentice PennyOtherhood2019Angela Bassett, Patricia Arquette, Felicity HuffmanCindy ChupackJuanita2019Alfre Woodard, Adam BeachClark JohnsonIO2019Margaret Qualley, Anthony Mackie, Danny HustonJonathan HelpertAmateur2018Michael Rainey Jr.Ryan KooLittle Evil2017Evangeline Lilly, Adam Scott, Bridget EverettEli CraigBurning Sands2017Trevor Jackson, Alfre Woodard, Steve HarrisGerard McMurray
Mandalay Vision Mandalay Vision was Mandalay Entertainment Group's independent development, production, and financing label. Mandalay Vision's first release, The Kids Are All Right (2010), directed by Lisa Cholodenko and starring Julianne Moore, Annette Bening and Mark Ruffalo, won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, and was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
Mandalay Vision produced Bernie (2011), which premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival. The film was directed by Richard Linklater and starred Jack Black, Matthew McConaughey and Shirley MacLaine. Bernie debuted at No. 1 on general release in April 2012 with the best per-theater average for a limited release. Jack Black received a Golden Globe nomination, and the film gained two Spirit Award nominations, as well as a Best Picture nomination at the 2012 Gotham Awards.
Title Released Actors Director The Voices 2015 Anna Kendrick, Gemma Arterton, Ryan Reynolds Marjane Satrapi Horns 2013 Juno Temple, Daniel Radcliffe, Heather Graham Alexandre Aja Bernie 2011 Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine, Matthew McConaughey Richard Linklater Salvation Boulevard 2011 Pierce Brosnan, Jennifer Connelly, Greg Kinnear George Ratliff Another Happy Day 2011 Ellen Barkin, Ellen Burstyn, Kate Bosworth Sam Levinson Vanishing on 7th Street 2010 Hayden Christensen, Thandie Newton, John Leguizamo Brad Anderson The Whistleblower 2011 Rachel Weisz, Vanessa Redgrave, David Strathairn Larysa Kondracki Soul Surfer 2010 AnnaSophia Robb, Dennis Quaid, Helen Hunt Sean McNamara The Kids Are All Right 2010 Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo Lisa Cholodenko
Mandalay Television Mandalay Television produces made-for-television movies and mini-series.