Elie Samaha
{{short description|American film producer}}
{{more citations|date=October 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2013}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Elie Samaha
| image =
| image_size =
| birth_name =
| birth_date=
| birth_place =
| years_active = 1995–present
| occupation = Film producer
| known_for = Co-founding and Chairman and CEO of Franchise Pictures
Co-founding and Chairman of Luminosity Entertainment
| spouse = {{plainlist|
- {{marriage|Diane Shammas|1980|1988|end=divorced}}
- {{marriage|Tia Carrere|1992|2000|end=divorced}}
}}
}}
Elie Samaha (Arabic: إيلي سماحة) is a film producer in Los Angeles, with production credits beginning with The Immortals in 1995. He has produced over 83 works, primarily films along with some video games. He produced The Boondock Saints (1999), Battlefield Earth (2000), Driven (2001), 3000 Miles to Graceland (2001), Heist (2001), The Pledge (2001), Spartan (2004), Back on the Strip (2023), among many others.{{cite web|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2bb574ad9d|title=Elie Samaha|accessdate=2025-05-13|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191019005757/https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2bb574ad9d|archive-date=October 19, 2019|df=mdy-all}}{{cite magazine|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|magazine=Filmink|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/ten-billionaires-stung-hollywood/|title=Ten Billionaires Who Were Stung by Hollywood|date=March 10, 2020}}
Samaha built his reputation in Hollywood first as the owner of Celebrity Cleaners and then with his nightclub on Sunset Strip, the Roxbury. Parlaying the Hollywood friendships he formed through his clubs, Samaha was given a distribution deal with Warner Bros. Pictures in 1998.
Career
Samaha was a co-owner/founder of the dry cleaner chain Celebrity Cleaners and co-owner of the Roxbury nightclub in Los Angeles.
Between 1997 and 2004, Samaha produced films under the Franchise Pictures studio title, which included films such as The Boondock Saints, Mercy, Battlefield Earth, The Whole Nine Yards, Get Carter, Angel Eyes and Driven.
Samaha specialized in rescuing stars' pet projects. Franchise Pictures sought out stars whose projects were stalled at the major studios, bringing them aboard at reduced salaries. Samaha's approach was to produce star vehicles more cheaply than the larger studios.{{Cite news|last=Shprintz|first=Janet|title=Legal eagle says Elie fudged budgets|work=Variety|date=July 31, 2009}} His unorthodox deals raised eyebrows and the entertainment industry magazine Variety commented that they were "often so complex and variable as to leave outsiders scratching their heads".{{cite magazine|last=Bing|first=Jonathan|title=The Samaha Syndrome|magazine=Variety|date=June 9, 2003}} As Samaha put it during an interview about Battlefield Earth, "I said, 'If John [Travolta] wants to make this movie, what does he want to get paid?' ... Because I do not pay anybody what they make. That is not my business plan."{{cite news|last=Hirschberg|first=Lynn|title=The Samaha Formula for Hollywood Success|work=The New York Times|date=May 14, 2000|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9404EEDA1338F937A25756C0A9669C8B63|access-date=January 19, 2008 }}
He is currently the President of Take 3 Productions, which produced Breaking Brooklyn (2016), a dance film starring Louis Gossett Jr., Nathan Kress and Colin Critchley.{{Cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2016/01/jay-huguley-joins-heart-baby-louis-gossett-jr-joins-breaking-brooklyn-1201675657/|title=Louis Gossett Jr Is 'Breaking Brooklyn': Jay Huguley Has 'Heart, Baby'|first1=Ross A.|last1=Lincoln|date=January 4, 2016}}
In 2000, Samaha was sued by Intertainment Pictures, his business partners on a number of films. Intertainment won a $70 million judgment against Samaha for fraudulently overcharging them for production costs on the films.{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/2004/biz/markets-festivals/samaha-slammed-1117906574/|title=Samaha slammed|first1=Janet|last1=Shprintz|date=June 17, 2004}}
In 2021, he co-founded and served as the chairman of Luminosity Entertainment, to distribute, produce, and finance films in the U.S., as well as handle international sales,{{Cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2021/09/elie-samaha-returns-with-production-distribution-firm-luminosity-teams-with-industry-vets-daniel-diamond-geno-taylor-1234842889/|title=Elie Samaha Returns With Production & Distribution Firm Luminosity, Teams With Industry Vets Daniel Diamond & Geno Taylor|first1=Andreas|last1=Wiseman|date=September 23, 2021}} which is headquartered in West Hollywood.
=Film=
| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Credit ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes | |||
| 1995 | The Immortals | ||
| rowspan=4| 1996 | Hollow Point | Executive producer | |
| Danger Zone | |||
| The Last Days of Frankie the Fly | |||
| Natural Enemy | Direct-to-video | ||
| rowspan=5| 1997 | American Perfekt | Executive producer | |
| The Maker | Executive producer | ||
| The Peacekeeper | Executive producer | ||
| Top of the World | |||
| Lesser Prophets | Executive producer | ||
| rowspan=10| 1998 | Monument Ave. | ||
| 20 Dates | Executive producer | ||
| Shadrach | Executive producer | ||
| Scar City | |||
| This Is My Father | Executive producer | ||
| Break Up | |||
| No Code of Conduct | |||
| Sweepers | |||
| Free Money | Executive producer | ||
| A Murder of Crows | |||
| rowspan=11| 1999 | Tycus | Executive producer | Direct-to-video |
| The Confession | |||
| Entropy | |||
| Restraining Order | Executive producer | ||
| The Boondock Saints | |||
| Woman Wanted | Executive producer | ||
| Storm Catcher | Executive producer | {{center|Uncredited}} | |
| If... Dog... Rabbit... | |||
| The Third Miracle | |||
| The Big Kahuna | |||
| The White River Kid | |||
| rowspan=10| 2000 | Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her | Executive producer | |
| Animal Factory | |||
| Jill Rips | Executive producer | {{center|Uncredited}} | |
| Mercy | |||
| The Whole Nine Yards | Executive producer | ||
| Battlefield Earth | |||
| Auggie Rose | Executive producer | ||
| The Art of War | Executive producer | ||
| Get Carter | |||
| Desperate But Not Serious | Executive producer | ||
| rowspan=9| 2001 | The Pledge | ||
| The Caveman's Valentine | |||
| Green Dragon | |||
| 3000 Miles to Graceland | |||
| Driven | |||
| Angel Eyes | |||
| Plan B | Executive producer | ||
| Viva Las Nowhere | Executive producer | ||
| Heist | |||
| rowspan=6| 2002 | Zig Zag | ||
| FeardotCom | Executive producer | ||
| Avenging Angelo | |||
| City by the Sea | |||
| Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever | |||
| Half Past Dead | |||
| rowspan=3| 2003 | The Foreigner | ||
| The In-Laws | |||
| Alex & Emma | |||
| rowspan=5| 2004 | Spartan | ||
| Laws of Attraction | Executive producer | ||
| The Whole Ten Yards | |||
| Out of Reach | Direct-to-video | ||
| Funky Monkey | Executive producer | ||
| rowspan=3| 2005 | Into the Sun | ||
| A Sound of Thunder | Executive producer | ||
| Dead Fish | Executive producer | ||
| rowspan=3| 2006 | Tristan & Isolde | ||
| Rescue Dawn | Executive producer | ||
| Van Wilder: The Rise of Taj | |||
| rowspan=7| 2007 | If I Had Known I Was a Genius | Executive producer | |
| Game of Life | Executive producer | ||
| I Could Never Be Your Woman | Executive producer | ||
| Trainwreck: My Life as an Idiot | |||
| The Flock | |||
| 7-10 Split | Executive producer | ||
| The Anna Nicole Smith Story | Executive producer | ||
| rowspan=2| 2008 | Impulse | Executive producer | Direct-to-video |
| Columbus Day | Executive producer | ||
| 2009 | The Six Wives of Henry Lefay | Executive producer | |
| 2016 | Exposed | Executive producer | |
| 2018 | Breaking Brooklyn | ||
| 2023 | Back on the Strip | ||
| 2024 | Love Me Dead | Executive producer | |
| 2025 | July 7: Who Killed the President of Haiti? | Executive producer | |
| rowspan=4| TBA | Exorcist Archives | Executive producer | Completed |
| Paralysis | Executive producer | Completed | |
| Prophets of Change | Executive producer | Post-production |
;As an actor
| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes | |||
| 1998 | 20 Dates | Producer | Voice role |
;As writer
| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film | |
| 1995 | The Immortals |
;Music department
| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role | ||
| 2002 | Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever | Executive soundtrack producer |
;Thanks
| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role | ||
| 2003 | Wonderland | The producers and director wish to thank |
| 2018 | Billionaire Boys Club | Special thanks |
=Television=
| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Title ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Credit ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes | |||
| 1998 | On the Border | Executive producer | Television film |
| 2012 | KDOC First Night 2013 | Executive producer | Television special |
| 2015 | The 3rd Annual Noble Awards | Executive producer | Television special |
See also
{{Portal|Biography|Film}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0759627}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Samaha, Elie}}
Category:American film producers
Category:Lebanese emigrants to the United States