Thom Mount
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Biography
Once dubbed the "baby mogul" after his remarkably quick ascent to producing success and executive status, Mount became, before reaching age 30, a force to be reckoned with at MCA/Universal and in the industry as a whole. After brief stints working for Roger Corman (whose "Frankenstein Unbound" he would produce in 1990), Danny Selznick and Ned Tanen of MCA/Universal, Mount was given responsibility for producing low-budget films for MCA in the late 1970s. Although he soon moved on to larger efforts, he would continue his line of modestly made, popular films as well during his seven-year reign at Universal from 1976 till the end of 1983.
During this time Mount was responsible for developing and overseeing the production of over 140 feature films, largely frivolous comedies, action films and routine horror fare, leavened with a reasonable smattering of adult drama, including "Car Wash" (1976), "Smokey and the Bandit" (1977), "National Lampoon's Animal House" (1978), "Coal Miner's Daughter" (1980), "Missing" (1982) and "Psycho II" (1983). For five of the seven years that Mount headed MCA, the studio tallied record earnings. He became especially noted for giving chances to a considerable number of untested directors, budding writers and fledgling stars and achieved perhaps his greatest satisfaction when appointed to the position his former boss Tanen had held less than a decade earlier. Mount also headed MCA's short-lived theatrical division which helped produce such Broadway shows as "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" (1979) and "Nuts" (1980).
On his own since the end of 1983, the cool and canny producer founded his own company and developed such feature films as "Can't Buy Me Love" (1987), "Tequila Sunrise" (1988), "Bull Durham" (1989), "The Indian Runner" (1991) and Sidney Lumet's "Night Falls on Manhattan" (1996). Mount also developed an amicable working relationship with Roman Polanski and helmed production chores on three of the director's films, "Pirates" (1986), "Frantic" (1988) and "Death and the Maiden" (1994).
Filmography
Producer (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Producer (Special)
Life Events
1975
Achieved executive status as assistant to Ned Tanen, theatrical motion picture group president of MCA Inc.
1976
Worked as executive vice president in charge of production
1982
Named president, worldwide motion picture production, of Universal's theatical motion picture group
1983
Relieved of duties in November by Frank Price when the latter became president of the MCA motion picture group
1984
Founded The Mount Company; became an independent film producer based in Burbank, California
1988
Executive produced a made-for-TV movie, "Open Admissions"
1991
Changed name of company to The Mount Film Group
1994
Joined with Joshua Kramer to form The Mount/Kramer Company
1998
Became co-chair of The Entertainement Internet Inc.; launched CastNet.com, an online casting service
Family
Companions
