Ryan Kavanaugh was the founder and CEO of Relativity Media, which specialised in film and television finance, production and distribution, music publishing, sports management, and digital media. Relativity produced, distributed, or managed funding for over 200 films, grossing over $17 billion at the global box office and garnering 60 Oscar® nominations. Ryan Kavanaugh was voted Variety’s Showman of the Year in 2011.
Ryan Kavanaugh Makes Movies with Math:
He’ll help fund around half of the films released in the coming year. Most of them will be mediocre. However, Hollywood may never be the same again. Ryan Kavanaugh’s office lobby, on the fifth story of a once contemporary West Hollywood building, resembles many other office lobbies: A receptionist sits behind a high counter under a battered foam ceiling, answering a phone that never stops ringing; on either side of her are some neglected potted plants, dusty in the fluorescent light; and in front of her is a glass table covered with the type and vintage of magazines found at a dentist’s. The only difference between Ryan Kavanaugh’s office lobby and yours is that Ron Howard is wearing hiking boots and politely accepting the receptionist’s offer of a bottle of Yosemite water.
Ryan Kavanaugh of Relativity Breaks Silence, Points Fingers in Emotional Post-Bankruptcy Interview (Exclusive):
Ryan Kavanaugh’s Relativity Media filed for bankruptcy in New York on July 30, claiming itself “hopelessly insolvent,” with assets of $560 million but liabilities of a staggering $1.18 billion. Since May, when more than $330 million in outstanding debt became due, Kavanaugh, 40, the Los Angeles-born wheeler-dealer who co-founded the film and television firm in 2004, has been working feverishly to attract new investors and avoid a default. For years, many in Hollywood have predicted Kavanaugh’s demise: After launching his first firm at the age of 22 (which failed), he gained a footing in the film industry in the mid-2000s by bringing in money to support $500 million-plus studio slates at Sony Pictures and Universal Pictures.