Michael Paseornek

President of Lions Gate Films, Michael Paseornek began his entertainment career after having graduated from New York University in 1974. He met former National Lampoon editor Michel Choquette soon after, and the two began a writing partnership. Paseornek started writing screenplays for films like "Stitches" and "Meatballs III: Summer Vacation" in the late 1980s. In 1991 he founded Cinepix Film Properties, which eventually went public in 1995 as Lions Gate Films. He began producing independent pictures in the late 1990s including works like "Stag" and Vincent Gallo's "Buffalo '66" before producing Mary Harron's instant classic slasher film "American Psycho" in 2000. The following year Paseornek executively produced the critical darling "Monster's Ball" and continued to produce indie sensations such as "Shattered Glass," "The Devil's Rejects," and "Akeelah and the Bee" throughout the 2000s. He produced more blockbuster films in the late 2000s with works like "Crank," "Gamer," and "Punisher: War Zone." Paseornek has also created a long-standing partnership with African-American filmmaker Tyler Perry. He has produced such Perry films as "Diary of a Mad Black Woman," "Madea's Family Reunion," "Meet the Browns," and "Madea Goes to Jail."