Harold Greenberg

Harold Greenberg, OC, CQ, (January 11, 1930 – July 1, 1996) was a Canadian film producer.^[1]

Career

Greenberg began working in a second-hand camera store when he was thirteen. He set up his own film and photography company and made his fortune by obtaining the exclusive rights to footage from 1967 International and Universal Exposition or Expo 67, as it was commonly known in Montreal. In 1973 he acquired Astral Communications and subsequently combined it with his then company Ann Green Photos, named after his mother Ann Greenberg. Soon thereafter, it became one of the leading film production companies in Canada.

Through its evolution into a pure play media company and its acquisition of pay television channels, it became a leader in its field. In the 1980s Greenberg became heavily involved in pay TV and started The Movie Network and other pay per view channels. Greenberg led his company to produce the Porky's film and franchise, one of the most successful Canadian films ever which spawned three sequels: Porky's II: The Next Day (1983), Porky's Revenge! (1985), and Pimpin' Pee Wee (2009); and influenced many writers in the teen film genre. He also produced the critically acclaimed The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz. Astral communications was changed to Astra Media and continues to distribute many international programs in Canada.

Harold Greenberg was adamant about the fact that Quebec and Canada had its own industry, with its own culture. Harold saw that Canada had distinct needs from the United States and frequently when having meetings with industry executives in the United States, he would say "Canada is not the same as the United States" when the executives would commonly group Canada within the wider North American market. Greenberg was instrumental in creating a separate dubbing industry in Canada when previously, films would be sent to France in order to be dubbed. Greenberg identified this as a problem since the French-Canadian language and Parisian French were so different, with many different nuances.

Personal life

Greenberg was born in Montreal, Quebec in 1930 and had three brothers called Ian, Sydney and Harvey.

Philanthropy

Greenberg was also a noted philanthropist and was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 1992 he was made a Knight of the National Order of Quebec and a Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur, France,

Greenberg recognized a demand for well-written Canadian scripts, but not enough resources to fund them into production. In April 1986, he established The FUND (Foundation to Underwrite New Drama). In 1996, after his death, it was renamed The Harold Greenberg Fund.^[2] The French-language program, Le Fonds Harold Greenberg, was also established.

Death and legacy

Greenberg died in 1996 and his brother Ian Greenberg took his place as the CEO of Astral.

Since 1986, The Harold Greenberg Fund/Le Fonds Harold Greenberg has invested almost $73 million in the Canadian film and television industry in over 3,250 projects.^[3]

References

External links

• Harold Greenberg at the Internet Movie Database
• Harold Greenberg Fund website
• Harold Greenberg at The Canadian Encyclopedia