Victor Kaufman
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Biography
Wall Street lawyer who entered the motion picture industry as assistant general counsel of Columbia Pictures in 1974. Kaufman quickly rose to become vice chairman of Columbia, when the company was a subsidiary of the Coca-Cola Company, and in 1982 displayed his creative financing skills with his conception and founding of Tri-Star Pictures, a joint venture between Columbia Pictures, Home Box Office and CBS. After Columbia and Tri-Star's merger, forming the new corporate entity, Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Kaufman headed Columbia's film and TV operations until he left the company in 1989 when it was acquired by the Sony Corporation. In February 1992, Kaufman and his Tri-Star co-founder Lewis J. Korman formed a new distribution company, Savoy Pictures Entertainment (named after the Savoy Special--the baseball bat that Robert Redford uses to hit the winning home run in TriStar's first made-in-house feature "The Natural" 1984) to market and distribute independent features.
Filmography
Special Thanks (Feature Film)
Life Events
1974
Joined Columbia Pictures as assistant general council
1975
Named chief council
1976
Became vice chairman of Columbia Pictures
1982
Conceived and founded Tri-Star Pictures (as joint venture between Coca-Cola, Time Inc.'s Home Box Office and CBS, Inc.)
1983
Appointed CEO and chairman, Tri-Star
1987
Became president, CEO of Columbia Pictures Entertainment (merger between Tri-Star and Columbia Pictures)
1988
Dropped title "Chairman" of Tri-Star
1989
Resigned from Tri-Star after company was acquired by Sony
1992
Formed a new distribution company, Savoy Pictures Entertainment, with TriStar co-founder Lewis J Korman in February; serves as chief executive officer
Companions
