Moshe Diamant

Moshe Diamant's pre-show business life would probably make for an interesting movie. A native of Israel, he fought in that country's army during its 1967 and 1973 wars with neighboring states. His Hollywood career proceeded more smoothly and with slightly less violence. In the late 1970s Diamant, trained as an engineer, helped create a process of subtitling for video that attracted Hollywood's notice, and he moved there to do that sort of work. Before long, the production side of the business captured his interest, so he started to push his efforts in that direction. He was a partner in a production house, Trans World Entertainment, a company that lasted from 1983 to 1993. During this time, he developed a specialty in low-budget action movies, often starring martial arts figures such as Shô Kosugi (who played the lead in a typical Diamant offering, 1985's "Pray For Death"). Perhaps inevitably, the producer linked up with Belgian action specialist Jean-Claude Van Damme and was a producer on several of the actor's movies. These include the globe-trotting thriller "Double Impact" (1991), which featured the star playing twins, and the science-fiction-flavored actioner "Timecop" (1994). After TWE's demise, Diamant started to diversify in terms of genre and budget. He produced the e-horror offering "FeardotCom" (2002) and the 2006 Brian De Palma period mystery biopic, "The Black Dahlia."