Quotes on Krane

Sherry Lansing , Chairman, Paramount Pictures, says:

“Jonathan gets involved in all aspects of production; he’s also a lovely, lovely human being and impeccably honest.   Paramount ’s doors are open to him.   I get jealous when I hear he’s doing movies somewhere else.”

(Variety June 4, 1999).

Hollywood Film Festival program says:

“Jonathan Krane’s career exemplifies innovation, extraordinary accomplishment, and tremendous ability.   Over the past 20 years, Mr. Krane has achieved expertise, recognition and success as a motion picture producer of more than 40 feature films, as a manager of more than 150 actors and directors, many of whom he discovered and guided to stardom, as a writer, as a financier, as a teacher, among other areas of work in the entertainment industry.”

“Jonathan D. Krane is well known for accomplishing improbable, and extremely innovative achievements in the industry.   Throughout his life, doing things others hadn’t done, or thought of, has been Mr. Krane’s main source of fun.   The best way to get him to do anything, is to say it can’t be done.”  

Hollywood Film Festival Program August, 2000).

Richard Lovett , President of Creative Artists Agency, in his Presentation of Jonathan Krane to CAA says:

“A financier in the mold of Irving Thalberg, Krane will fund films in new and creative ways.   Not since David Selznick has an industry leader so completely understood the intricate process of production and distribution.   Perhaps only Lew Wasserman could compare with Krane’s skill in identifying and nurturing creative talent.

This combination of talent, production and finance is the life’s work of one of the industry’s most thoughtful and talented Producer/Managers.  

Krane has gained stature as a scholar and lecturer on the economics and dynamics of the entertainment industry.   Following his tenure at Blake Edwards, Krane founded Management Company Entertainment Group (“MCEG”) in 1981 and became the first Producer/Manager in the motion picture business.   Industry sages regularly cite Krane as one of the top 10 producers and managers in Hollywood .   No one in Hollywood today has Krane’s combination of experience in business, production or management.”

John Goldwyn , President, Paramount Pictures, says:

“Jonathan was always reasonable, saying, ‘You know what?   Those are good ideas - good for the movie.   Let me take care of it.’   When he came back, it was handled.   He was always enthusiastic, always available.”

(Variety June 4, 1999).

Ron Bass , Academy award winning screenwriter of “Rain Man,” also, “My Best Friend’s Wedding,” “The American President,” “Dangerous Minds,” “Waiting To Exhale,” “Stepmom,” “Entrapment,” “What Dreams May Come,” “The Joy Luck Club,” “Sleeping With The Enemy,” “How Stella Got Her Groove Back,” etc., says:

“Krane is extremely supportive.   You feel like you’re in partnership, rather than working for him.   He likes figuring out how to do something with his own hands.”

(Variety June 4, 1999).

Amy Pascal , Columbia President, says:

“I had a great experience on ‘Michael.’ Jonathan’s very creative and he knows how to make movies.  

(Variety June 4, 1999).

Simon West , Director of “Con Air” & “General’s Daughter,” says:

“The bottom line with Jonathan is, he backs the director and supports him.   He’s like the lubricant in the process, not the grit in the gears.   It comes from a lack of nerves, and having done it so much.”

(Variety June 4, 1999).

ShowBiz , The Entertainment Search Engine, says:

Jonathan Krane is one of the top 15 Producers in Hollywood [out of hundreds of thousands of producers working in the Industry today.]

(ShowBiz, The Development Source, July 1, 1998).

Neal Israel , Creator of Police Academy and Director of “Breaking The Rules” and “Bachelor’s Party,” says:

“His background is fascinating.   He is fluent in nuclear physics, of all things,” says Neal Israel, director of the Krane produced ‘Breaking the Rules.’   He reads physics books and papers the way people in this town read the trades.   He’s interested in architecture.   He’s erudite.   You can have discussions with him that don’t have to do with the movie business.”

(Fame, March 1990).

Randal Kleiser , Director of “Grease, “Blue Lagoon”, and “Getting It Right,” says:

“Jonathan was completely supportive and hands-off.   It was a dream experience.”

(Variety June 4, 1999).

Keith Gordon , Director of “The Chocolate War” “Midnight Clear” and “Mother Night,” says:

“He just had a sense that I could do it.   I got to make a story I wanted to make, from a script that I wrote and felt good about, with my own vision, with the actors I wanted.   I was given total freedom, yet Krane was always there as a guiding presence.”   (Premiere, February 1989).

Amy Heckerling , Writer/Director of “Fast Times At Ridgemont High” and “Look Who’s Talking,” says:

“People he believes in, he keeps them going.   He doesn’t lose faith.   Jonathan has one of my favorite qualities, which is extreme loyalty.”

(Variety June 4, 1999).

Fame says:

“Profit isn’t an unexpected bonus; it’s a given with a Krane film.”

“Brilliant is the word that often trips off the tongues of Krane’s friends and colleagues when they are asked to describe the lawyer turned mogul.” (March 1990).

“Indeed, Krane’s preoccupation with work, with deal-making, is legendary: His button-pushing finger never rests.”   (March 1990).

“Krane, in addition to encouraging new and neglected talent, put the rest of his battle plan into action: small budgets ($8 million is the current ceiling for an MCEG film); tight production schedules; clients who would bring the projects ‘they believed in’ and whom he would pay with credits, creative control, and opportunities instead of cash.”

(Fame, March 1990).

Larry Kasanoff , Producer of “Mortal Combat” and President of Vestron Pictures, says:

“He’s got a great nose for talent as demonstrated in the little movie we made for around a million bucks or less, 1988’s “You Can’t Hurry Love.”   It went on to sell about a gazillion videocassettes.”

(Variety June 4, 1999).

Cassian Elwes , head of William Morris Independents, says:

“Krane picks up a lot of slack in terms of what it takes to get movies done.   He’s really been through the process, from big ones to little ones.   He’s a great partner because he really gets it; we have a kind of shorthand.”

(Variety June 4, 1999).

Daily Variety says:

“The only limit producer and manager Jonathan D. Krane has ever set for himself was the sky.   While there have been a few air pockets along the way, he’s nonetheless managed to grab large chunks of the heavens in his hands”

“Long before manager/producers became a Hollywood staple, Krane new the synergy between the two showbiz spheres.”

(Variety, June 4, 1999)

“‘Look Who’s Talking’ grosses $12.1 million in it’s first weekend, drenching a record set for the highest grossing fall release in history.”

(Variety, October 17, 1989).

Drama-Logue says:

“Jonathan D. Krane is a far cry from the image of the stereotypical movie mogul.   He’s young, handsome and an intellectual with a background in international law.   Krane also has considerable business savvy.”

(March 7-13, 1985).

Success says:

“Krane took bold risks to make...films, offering actors a chance to direct movies, and directors an opportunity to film their favorite book.   The strategy worked.”

(September 1989).

Carlos de Abreu , Founder of The Hollywood Film Festival says:

  “ Mr. Krane’s body of work is a demonstration of his great independent spirit.   With Jonathan, the impossible becomes possible”.

(The Hollywood Reporter July 2000)

Richard Perry , Music Producer, says:

“He has a tremendous ability to grasp the essence of what the story is about.   He’s always there to help bring ideas out of you - and keep the fires stoked.”

(Variety June 4, 1999).

Playbill says:

“In the last five years, MCEG Chairman and CEO Jonathan D. Krane has built a broad reaching motion picture company of the sort that hasn’t been seen since the 1940’s - and in the process established himself as a major Hollywood figure.”

(March 1988).

Newsday says:

“Not since MCA grew from a talent agency to ownership of Universal Pictures in the 1950’s...has Hollywood seen a power play like the one...Jonathan Krane is trying.”

“Krane, the curly haired son of a Los Angeles auto-leasing executive, is a classic over-achiever.”

(January 26, 1989).

Business Week says:

“‘Look Who’s Talking’ is a good example of Krane’s talent for cutting costs.   Krane cut nearly $6 million from the studio’s projected $14 million budget.”

(December 11, 1989).

Neal Israel , Director, says:

“He’s so supportive of artists.   He loves the creative process.   He’s not on some ego trip to impose his own trip on top of that.   It makes you want to do your best.” (Variety June 4, 1999).

Keith Gordon , Director, says:

“He really loves movies.   If I hear, ‘The audience is stupider now’ in one more meeting, I’m gonna kill someone.   But I think Jonathan really cares about making films that say something.”   (Variety June 4, 1999).