Ryan Kavanaugh

Kavanaugh was born to a Jewish family[11][12] in Los Angeles, California, where he was raised in the Brentwood neighborhood, and attended Brentwood High School. His mother, Leslie (Levin),[13] is a real estate broker, and his father, Jack Konitz, a dentist turned businessman, was born in Germany and later changed his surname to "Kavanaugh" before his son's birth.[14][15] After attending UCLA, Kavanaugh founded a small venture capital firm, which struggled in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks and was eventually wound up.[2]

Kavanaugh was honored with the 2009 Hollywood Producer of the Year Award at the 13th Annual Hollywood Awards Gala[25] and Daily Variety published a special issue honoring Kavanaugh as a "Billion Dollar Producer". In 2010, The Hollywood Reporter bestowed the Leadership Award to Kavanaugh and the Daily Reporter dedicated a special issue in his honor as a "Billion Dollar Producer".[26] He was named Variety's Showman of the Year, 2011.[27]

Kavanaugh was 21st on Fortune's 40 Under 40 Most Influential People in Business in 2010[28] and in Forbes' Future 400: Ones To Watch. [29][26] He also serves on the boards of other charitable foundations such as Cedars-Sinai Board of Governors and as Chairman of The Art of Elysium.[30]

Kavanaugh currently resides in Malibu, California. In 1998, he married makeup artist Tracy Tanner. In 2011, he married ballet dancer Britta Lazenga.[31] They divorced in 2014.[32] The bachelor party was thrown by actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Bradley Cooper.[33] In 2015, Kavanaugh married model Jessica Roffey.[34] He is a member of the Wilshire Boulevard Temple.[35] He practices Transcendental Meditation twice a day.[36]

Kavanaugh recently became involved in dog rescue through his acquisition of FreeHand, saying that "We hope this will become a staple of Hollywood, and if you are not involved in this, then you're not promoting social good amongst the animal world."[37] He has been recognized for his charitable work by organizations including Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, whose Board of Governors honored him as the sole winner of the 2010 Hollywood Humanitarian Award;[9] the Sheriff's Youth Foundation, which presented him with its Community Champion Award in recognition of his outstanding dedication to inner-city young people;[38] and by First Star for his dedication to improving life for child victims of abuse and neglect.

Kavanaugh was honored with the 2011 Entertainment Industry Award by the Anti-Defamation League, a group committed to fighting anti-Semitism and bigotry of all kinds.[38] The award is given to individuals who demonstrate leadership and extraordinary innovation in the entertainment industry. Kavanaugh serves as the Chairman of the Board for The Art of Elysium, an organization that encourages actors, artists and musicians to voluntarily dedicate their time and talent to children who are battling serious medical conditions.[39]

Hacking of Sony accounts in late 2014 revealed that Kavanaugh had sent an email to actresses including Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson, telling them to join him in taking action against what he saw as increased antisemitism which could end up as "another Hollacast" [sic].[40]

• "Do you know how many people saw The Assassination of Jesse James? You and seven other people. Paul Blart grossed nearly $200 million worldwide. I'll take Paul Blart all day, every day."[29]
• "Giving actors $20 million for a movie that loses money is like giving bonuses to the CEOs of bankrupt companies."[29]
• "Everything has to run on the principle of profit. We'll never let creative decisions rule our business decisions. If it doesn't fit the model, it doesn't get done."[5]

He was a producer in all films unless otherwise noted.

• Ryan Kavanaugh at IMDb
• Relativity Media