Dino de Laurentiis
When you think of a movie producer, Dino de Laurentiis might just be the perfect model. From art cinema to movies for the mall, from academy award winner to forgettable films, from enormous wealth to financial difficulties, de Laurentiis has done it all, and keeps coming out on top. Born in 1919 in Torre Annunziata, Italy, de Laurentis studied to become a cinematographer but found his first movie job as a film producer at the age of twenty. With Carlo Ponti, de Laurentiis produced Fellini's La Strada 1954 and The Nights of Cabiria, both of which won Academy Awards. In the 1960's, de Laurentiis built the studio Dinocittà for large scale epics, and created a new formula for box office blockbusters. After the studio closed, de Laurentiis based his work in the United States where his productions have ranged across genres and styles, including Barbarella, Death Wish, Serpico, Three Days of the Condor, Ragtime, Dune, and Hannibal. De Laurentiis has produced 161 movies, and counting. Winner of the Cinecittà Award in 2000, the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 2001, and the Career Golden Lion from the Venice Film Festival in 2003, de Laurentiis always has a movie in development.