Robert Lawrence (producer)

Robert Lawrence is an American film producer and former studio executive.

Robert Lawrence
Born	New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Film producer
Years active	1980–present

Early life

Lawrence was born in New York City and grew up in Great Neck, New York.

Lawrence graduated with honors from the University of California, Berkeley and then attended the Graduate Screenwriting Program at UCLA School of Film and Television.^[1]

Career

Lawrence began his film career at Paramount in the story department, and a year later joined the Robert Evans unit as a writer.^[2]

In 1980 Lawrence joined Columbia Pictures as a vice-president of Production and was named Executive Vice President of Worldwide Production for Columbia Pictures in March 1985,^[3] where he oversaw production of films such as Ghostbusters, The Karate Kid, Tootsie and Out of Africa.

In 1986 Lawrence joined United Artists as the President of Motion Picture Production.^[4] During his time at United Artists, Lawrence oversaw productions of such films as Rain Man, Presumed Innocent and Mrs. Doubtfire. In 1987, he departed from United Artists to set up his own production company with a two-year agreement at the studio, which will be based at the United Artists headquarters in Beverly Hills.^[5]

During this time, he screened the Hong Kong action film Legacy of Rage (1986) starring Brandon Lee and saw Lee's potential to be an action leading man in Hollywood. It led to their collaboration which was Lee's first lead in an American Studio film the action thriller Rapid Fire (1992).^[6]

Lawrence founded Maysville Pictures along with George Clooney and together produced Rock Star before the two split in 1999.^[7] As an independent producer he started his own production company, Robert Lawrence Productions. Lawrence is best known as a producer on movies such as Clueless, Die Hard with a Vengeance and The Last Castle.

Current production

In the Winter of 2016, Variety (magazine) announced^[8] that Lin-Manuel Miranda would join Lawrence in producing TV and film adaptations of Patrick Rothfuss’ fantasy trilogy The Kingkiller Chronicle.^[9]

Personal life

Lawrence has three sons and currently lives in Pacific Palisades, California.

Filmography

He was a producer in all films unless otherwise noted.

Film

Year	Film	Credit
1988	It Takes Two
1991	A Kiss Before Dying
1992	Rapid Fire
1995	Die Hard with a Vengeance	Executive producer
	Clueless
1996	Down Periscope
1997	Nothing to Lose	Associate producer
2001	Rock Star
	The Last Castle
2005	Mozart and the Whale
TBA	The Kingkiller Chronicle

Television

Year	Title	Credit	Notes
1996	Gang in Blue	Executive producer	Television film
1996−97	Martin	Associate producer Co-executive producer
2014	Partners
2016	Martin Lawrence: Doin' Time		Television special
2017	The Women Behind the Women: Behind Steel Dragon	Executive producer	Television film