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Johnny Lin

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Johnny Lin
NationalityAmerican
OccupationFilm producer
Years active2009-present
Organization(s)Filmula Entertainment, Filmula International

Johnny Lin is an American film producer. He is the principal of Filmula Entertainment and president of licensor Filmula International.[1]

Life and career

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Lin began his career working for his father Jimmy Lin, a producer on Jet Li's breakout film The Legend and owner of Royal Country Golf Club,[2] who came to the U.S. in 1979 and started his own video distribution business. He was a member of his father's prolific distribution team, which distributed over 800 films in Taiwan, Hong Kong and China. During this time, Lin and his father distributed successful films such as The Lord of the Rings, Rush Hour, The Wedding Singer, Wag the Dog, Spawn, and Runaway Bride. After growing up in New Zealand, Lin moved to the U.S.[3]

Lin has been a producer and executive producer on numerous feature films including the crime thriller American Made with Tom Cruise,[4] the black comedy Bernie with Jack Black and Matthew McConaughey,[5] the drama Another Happy Day,[6] and the 2010 Hesher.[7][8] He also wrote, directed and produced the 2016 independent film Queen of Hearts.[9] He heads Filmula, has provided over $800 million in film funding,[10] and has acquired the rights to many films including Hunger Games, Magic Mike and The King's Speech,[11][12] and exclusive rights to distribution of Miramax films and TV shows in Taiwan.[8][9] He has been CEO of Studio Solutions since 2005. Studio Solutions Group has acquired 1,200 films including the Miramax library. In 2010 Filmula partnered with FilmNation signing a co-production deal.[13] In 2012, Studio Solutions became embroiled in a dispute with CatchPlay over 925 film rights and whether Studio Solutions and CatchPlay had an agency relationship;[14] in 2014, a dispute with Media Development Corp was awarded in Studio Solutions' favor.[15][16]

In 2012 Lin entered into a joint development venture with Ted Field and Stan Lee, The Guardian Project, to produce multi-media content in association with the National Hockey League, and also invested in the failed reboot of Trauma Records;[1] he twice successfully sued Field's company for breach-of-contract and recovery of the investment.[8] On December 1, 2016 a federal judge ordered Ted Field and his Radar Pictures to assign profits from 11 films, including Sony’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, to Lin’s Filmula Entertainment until the judgment is satisfied.[17]

In 2017, Lin and Brian Oliver acquired the rights to the sci-fi project Rise; based on the popular short directed by David Karlak.[18][19]

Also in 2017, it was announced that Lin and Oliver are set to produce the upcoming remake of The Wild Geese, a 1978 cult mission movie written by William Monahan.[20] Additionally, Lin has acquired the rights to adapt Maureen Callahan's '90s-set fashion book Champagne Supernovas into a television series.[21][22][23] In November 2017, it was announced that Lin will be teaming up with 3 Arts Entertainment to develop undercover agent Edward Follis' memoir The Dark Art: My Undercover Life in Narco-Terrorism.[24]

In May 2018, Lin's Filmula entered a co-financing deal with Brian Oliver’s New Republic Pictures, which struck a first-look co-financing and distribution deal with Paramount Pictures.[25][26][27] Also in May, it was announced that Lin and Filmula will produce and finance the upcoming action picture "Escape from the North Pole."[28][29] In September 2018, it was reported that Lin's Filmula acquired the rights to adapt James L. Swanson's upcoming book Lion in Winter, based on the true story of America's most prolific Chicago Outfit syndicate mob boss, into a feature film.[30]

In November 2018, it was announced that Beijing-based distributor E Stars will co-finance and co-produce a range of U.S. film projects with Lin's Filmula.[31][32] Also that month, it was reported that Filmula had tapped screenwriter Andrew Farotte to pen the script for an upcoming original film about World War II in the Pacific.[33]

He received his Executive MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management in 2022.

Filmography

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Title Year Role
Hesher 2010 Producer
Another Happy Day 2011 Producer
Bernie Executive Producer
Queen of Hearts (short) 2016 Director, producer and writer
American Made 2017 Executive Producer

References

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  1. ^ a b Kay, Jeremy (October 21, 2012). "Johnny Lin partners with Ted Field, Stan Lee on The Guardian Project". Screen International. Archived from the original on December 2, 2016. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
  2. ^ Grobar, Matt (2022-01-19). "'Thelma': Kathy Bates, John Malkovich & Lewis Pullman To Star In Indie From Director Ken Kwapis". Deadline. Retrieved 2022-01-21.
  3. ^ "Johnny Lin: Biography". IMDb.
  4. ^ "Tom Cruise Starrer Mena is Now American Made". August 8, 2016.
  5. ^ McCarthy, Todd (July 17, 2011). "Bernie: Film Review".
  6. ^ Fernandez, Jay A. (May 11, 2011). "'Another Happy Day' U.S. Rights Sold to Phase 4 Films". The Hollywood Reporter.
  7. ^ Fernandez, Jay A.; Goldstein, Gregg (January 31, 2010). "Sundance tally: 10 titles sold during festival". The Hollywood Reporter.
  8. ^ a b c Siegemund-Broka, Austin (March 17, 2015). "Ted Field's Record Company Hit With Second Lawsuit Over Investment". Billboard.
  9. ^ a b McClintock, Pamela (May 5, 2011). "Filmula's Johnny Lin secures Taiwan rights to Miramax titles". The Hollywood Reporter.
  10. ^ "Filmmaker Johnny Lin - Podcast". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 2022-06-09.
  11. ^ Block, Alex Ben (May 10, 2010). "Filmula looking to invest in more movies". The Hollywood Reporter.
  12. ^ Kay, Jeremy (May 17, 2010). "Johnny Lin takes US titles for Taiwan". ScreenDaily.
  13. ^ McClintock, Pamela (November 6, 2010). "Filmula, FilmNation sign co-production deal". Variety.
  14. ^ Lang, Brent (September 25, 2012). "Legal Fight Rages as Taiwanese Rights to 'Looper,' 'Dredd 3D' Hang in Balance". TheWrap.
  15. ^ Johnson, Ted (August 22, 2014). "Judge Signs Off on $3.4 Million Damage Award Over 'Hunger Games,' Other Rights in Taiwan". Variety.
  16. ^ Lang, Brent (October 23, 2013). "'Looper,' 'Magic Mike' Legal Fight Ends in Settlement: CatchPlay and Studio Solutions have reached undisclosed financial settlement over Taiwanese rights to more than 900 films". The Wrap.
  17. ^ Patten, Dominic (January 6, 2017). "'Jumanji' EP Ordered To Pay Fees From Film To Creditor To Settle $2M Debt". Deadline Hollywood.
  18. ^ Ford, Rebecca. "Sci-Fi Short Film 'Rise' Getting Feature Adaptation (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter.
  19. ^ Busch, Anita (4 March 2017). "Filmula's Johnny Lin & Brian Oliver Acquire Rights To 'Rise' From Warner Bros". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  20. ^ Fleming, Mike (22 August 2017). "'The Wild Geese' To Fly Again With William Monahan Writing For New Republic Pictures, Filmula". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  21. ^ Pantano, Italo (29 August 2017). "Kate Moss and Marc Jacobs' story in a new TV series". Vogue.it (in Italian).
  22. ^ Muller, Marissa G. "A TV Series About Kate Moss, Marc Jacobs, and Alexander McQueen is in the Works". W Magazine. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  23. ^ Ford, Rebecca. "'90s-Set Fashion Book Focused on Kate Moss, Marc Jacobs in the Works as TV Series (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  24. ^ Petski, Denise (14 November 2017). "Filmula & 3 Arts Developing Edward Follis' 'The Dark Art' Memoir For TV". Deadline.
  25. ^ McNary, Dave (8 May 2018). "'Black Swan' Producer Brian Oliver Signs First-Look Deal With Paramount". Variety.
  26. ^ Kay, Jeremy. "Brian Oliver's New Republic Pictures strikes first-look deal with Paramount (exclusive)". Screen. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  27. ^ McNary, Dave (10 May 2018). "Film News Roundup: Poppy Drayton's 'Little Mermaid' Movie Set for August Release". Variety. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  28. ^ Kaye, Don (10 May 2018). "Development round-up: Cobra Kai renewed, Zemeckis series green-lit, evil elf movie picked up". Syfy. Archived from the original on 26 November 2020. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  29. ^ Ramos, Dino-Ray (9 May 2018). "Filmula Acquires Rights To Black List Script 'Escape From The North Pole'". Deadline Hollywood.
  30. ^ Hipes, Patrick (24 September 2018). "Chuck Hogan & Filmula Team On Chicago Outfit Hitman Movie, Seal Book Deal". Deadline.
  31. ^ "China's E Stars Inks Production, Distribution Deal With Filmula (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter.
  32. ^ Pedersen, Erik (3 November 2018). "Filmula & E Stars To Finance Movies For China Distribution – AFM". Deadline.
  33. ^ N'Duka, Amanda (6 November 2018). "Andrew Farotte Set To Pen WWII Epic From Filmula". Deadline.
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