“afilm makes available a very personal training program in filmed entertainment, guided by talented, caring professionals. The ‘hands on’ experience provides opportunity for future film makers–whether they see their careers as actors, cinematographers, directors, editors or writers–to learn the foundation of film-making and participate actively in completing a filmed project (all of this set in the magnificent surroundings of the seaside town of Sitges, Spain).” Larry Sugar
Larry Sugar has enjoyed a successful 35 year career in the motion picture business, specializing in the international licens- ing, marketing and distribution of feature films for such media giants as Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox, Lorimar, CBS and Republic Pictures. After receiving his law degree from USC School of Law in 1971, he began his career with Warner Bros., where, as Director of Legal & Corporate Affairs for the International Division, he oversaw the preparation of international licensing for films, as well as joint venture agreements with 20th Century-Fox and Columbia Pictures.
In 1974, Sugar moved to 20th Century-Fox where he split his time between Business Affairs, International and Production. While at Fox, his responsibilities included overseeing the development and production of several feature films as well as their international licensing and distribution.
After founding a successful independent distribution agency, Serendipity, which represented major studio releases, their licensing and marketing, Sugar became President of Lorimar International in charge of Distribution and Acquisition. He was responsible for the placement of all Lorimar feature films, in all media, on an international basis as well as for all acquisitions.
From Lorimar, Sugar moved to CBS Productions in 1985, as Vice President of Distribution and Acquisition, where he was re- sponsible for the placement of all features in all media and supervised CBS Broadcast International, the television licensing arm of CBS.
In 1987, he gained invaluable experience as the Executive Vice President of Weintraub Entertainment Group, where he was responsible for the distribution in all media not only of the new feature productions, but also the Thorn-EMI 2000-title film library, for which he negotiated licenses in all media worldwide.
In 1989, Sugar served as the President of Republic Pictures International, where he was responsible for the distribution of all feature films in all media worldwide as well as for supervision of co-productions and acquisitions.
He has, since 1993, been producing and writing. In 1994 he produced, wrote or co-wrote three features in association with Showtime as part of a series of films which he created. One of the films that he wrote and produced was “Robin of Locksley” which, on airing, was the highest rated of all of Showtime’s family films. To date, Larry has produced seven classics in his family film series. In 1997 and 1998, he produced “Dead Man’s Gun,” the critically acclaimed Western anthology series for Showtime, MGM and Peace Arch Entertainment. He produced the science fiction series entitled “First Wave” in association with Francis Ford Coppola’s Zoetrope and Pearson International and which aired on SciFi Network in the US. He also pro- duced the series “Just Deal” for NBC. In addition to directing several episodes of “Dead Man’s Gun” and “First Wave”, Larry also produced and directed the acclaimed “So Weird” for Disney Channel and produced “Out of Time” and “Mermaid”, two additional family films for Showtime.
More recently, he produced and directed 22 episodes of the television cooking series “Barely Cooking” in conjunction with City TV and completed three seasons of the one-hour dramatic series entitled “The Collector,” for CHUM/Space. He has also completed a third season of “Romeo”, a ½ hr television series for Nickelodeon in association with Tom Lynch Company as well as “Secret Central,” a mini-series for Hasbro.
Sugar has been an adjunct professor at the College of Santa Fe for the past many years where he taught a course entitled, “The Business of Entertainment”. He has lectured at many colleges and Universities, including Brandeis, USC, UCLA, Tulane and UBC and is a regular guest lecturer at Afilms International Workshops in Sitges Spain.
He has acted as consultant for various organizations including Showbiz Expo, AFMA (where he served as member of the board for 10 years and was one of the 10 people who formed AFMA) and NATPE, and has served as a consultant and/or board member for several production and distribution companies. He is a voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Screen Actors Guild, the Writer’s Guild of Canada, the Director’s Guild of Canada, the British Columbia Motion Picture Association and various other associations. Larry is also a founder and the Chairman of the Board of D-Cine- ma Entertainment Inc.