Yoram Globus facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Yoram Globus
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Globus in 2014
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| Born | 7 September 1943 |
| Nationality | Israel and United States |
| Occupation | Film producer, cinema owner, distributor |
| Known for | Founder of Golan-Globus/The Cannon Group |
| Spouse(s) |
Edna Lev
(m. 1991, divorced)Lea Globus
(m. 1993) |
Yoram Globus (Hebrew: יורם גלובוס), born on September 7, 1943, is a famous Israeli-American film producer, cinema owner, and film distributor. He has worked on over 300 movies! He is best known for his work with The Cannon Group, Inc., a film company he owned with his cousin, Menahem Golan.
Globus helped build the Israeli film industry. Later, he became a big name in Hollywood. There, he and Golan were called the "Go-Go Boys." This nickname came from their quick, low-budget way of making movies. Yoram Globus also came up with a new way to get money for films, called the "pre-sale strategy." He also helped distribute movies, bringing big American studio films to Israel.
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Early Life and First Steps in Film
Yoram Globus was born in Tiberias, near the Sea of Galilee, in 1943. His parents were Jewish immigrants from Poland. When he was three, his family moved to Kiryat Motzkin. His father, Shmuel, built a movie theater, which was quite special back then.
Yoram was only five when the cinema opened, but he loved everything about it! He would help his father with many tasks. He hung posters, worked as a cashier, and helped promote the movies. By the age of 10, Yoram was even the projectionist, showing the films! Later, during high school, he moved to Tel Aviv, where his parents opened another cinema.
Globus studied at a business school. He also served in the Israel Defense Forces as a combat soldier and officer, leaving as a lieutenant. His cousin, Menahem Golan, would later become his partner in the film world.
Building a Film Empire
In 1963, Yoram Globus teamed up with his cousin, Menahem Golan. Golan was already a well-known director in Israel. Together, they played a huge part in creating Israel's film industry. They built a very successful company that made movies in Israel and worked with European companies too. Their company became the top film production company in Israel.
They also distributed both European and Israeli movies. For over 25 years, they brought films from big American studios like Warner Bros., Universal, Paramount, and DreamWorks to Israel.
Some of their most famous Israeli films include Operation Thunderbolt (about the Entebbe raid, which was nominated for an Academy Award), Kazablan (a musical sold to MGM), and Lemon Popsicle. They also made I Love You Rosa and The House on Chelouche Street, both nominated for Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards. Many of their films represented Israel at major film festivals around the world.
In the early 1970s, Globus and Golan started making movies in Europe, like Magician of Lublin. They also began working in Hollywood with films such as Lepke, starring Tony Curtis, and The 4 Deuces, with Jack Palance.
Conquering Hollywood
In 1978, Globus and Golan moved to Hollywood. They bought The Cannon Group, Inc. for $500,000. The company's stock was worth only 25 cents a share. They went to the Cannes Film Festival and sold the rights to Cannon's movies for about $2.5 million. After buying more than half of Cannon's shares, they used this money to start making action movies with small budgets.
In the early 1980s, Globus and Golan realized that video was the future of movies. They signed actors like Chuck Norris and Charles Bronson to multi-picture deals. They also discovered new stars like Jean-Claude Van Damme and Michael Dudikoff, signing them for many films. This led to popular movies like the "Missing in Action" series with Chuck Norris, the "Death Wish" series with Charles Bronson, Bloodsport with Jean-Claude Van Damme, and American Ninja with Michael Dudikoff.
Cannon Group started making more diverse films. Besides action movies, they produced films like Sahara with Brooke Shields, The Championship Season with Bruce Dern and Martin Sheen, and King Solomon's Mine with Richard Chamberlain and Sharon Stone. The company's stock value soared from 25 cents to $48 by 1984. Cannon became the largest independent film producer and distributor in the world.
By the mid-1980s, Cannon was making about 40 films a year and was worth over $1 billion. Because they made movies so quickly and cheaply, Globus and Golan were called "the Go-Go Boys." Some of Cannon's famous films include Superman IV: The Quest for Peace with Christopher Reeve, Runaway Train, and Over The Top with Sylvester Stallone. They even bought the rights to make movies about Spider-Man and Captain America.
Yoram Globus helped Cannon grow even bigger. The company bought about 1,600 cinemas across Europe and the United States. They also acquired film studios and a huge library of movies. This made Cannon a major player in the global film industry. During this time, Globus created a new way to fund movies, now known as "the pre-sale strategy."
This strategy involved selling the rights to unmade films before they were even produced. Globus was very good at selling, and they used exciting posters to promote these future movies at events like the Cannes Film Festival. The money from these pre-sales helped fund the first movie in a series. Once that movie was finished and delivered, it would make enough money to fund the next one.
In 1989, Golan left Cannon due to disagreements with Globus and another partner. He started his own company. In 1990, Globus merged Cannon with MGM, and Globus became the president of MGM.
Return to Israel and New Ventures
After producing over 300 films, Yoram Globus returned to Israel in 1993. He focused on his company, "Globus Group." This group includes a large film and television studio in Neve Ilan, where many Israeli TV channels broadcast. Globus is also a big part of Israel's film distribution industry and owns "Globus Max," which operates many movie theaters in Israel. In 1999, he received the Ophir Award for "Lifetime Achievement" from the Israeli Academy of Film and Television.
In 2014, two documentaries were made about Golan, Globus, and their "Cannon Films" story: Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films and The Go-Go Boys: The Inside Story of Cannon Films.
In 2015, Globus sold "Globus Max" and went back to Hollywood. He started a new film company called "Rebel Way Entertainment." This company aims to bring young, internet-savvy audiences back to traditional movie theaters.
Selected Filmography
Yoram Globus has produced or executive produced a vast number of films. Here are some examples from different decades:
2000s
- Rak Klavim Ratzim Hofshi (Only Dogs Run Free) (2006)
- Va, vis et deviens (2005)
- Lemon Popsicle 9: The Party Goes On (2001)
1990s
- Speedway Junky (1999)
- Delta Force One: The Lost Patrol (1999)
- Hellbound (1994)
- Street Knight (1993)
- American Cyborg: Steel Warrior (1993)
- Delta Force 2: The Colombian Connection (1990)
- Lambada (1990)
1980s
- Cyborg (1989)
- Bloodsport (1988)
- Braddock: Missing in Action III (1988)
- Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)
- Over the Top (1987)
- The Delta Force (1986)
- Cobra (1986)
- Runaway Train (1985)
- King Solomon's Mines (1985)
- Missing in Action (1984)
- Breakin' (1984)
- Sahara (1983)
- Hercules (1983)
- Death Wish II (1982)
- Enter the Ninja (1981)
- The Apple (1980)
1970s
- The Magician of Lublin (1979)
- Lemon Popsicle (1978)
- Operation Thunderbolt (1977)
- Diamonds (1975)
- Lepke (1975)
- Kazablan (1974)
- Ani Ohev Otach Rosa (I Love You, Rosa) (1972)
- Joe (1970)
1960s
- Fortuna (1966)
