Michael Paseornek

Michael Paseornek is a founding member of Lionsgate Entertainment management team and served as the company's President of Motion Picture Production for over two decades. From the company's inception in 1997 through 2020, Paseornek played a key role in shaping the studio's film slate and producing, executive producing or presiding over the production of more than 150 films that spanned a wide range of genres from Oscar notables like La La Land La La Land (2016) and Monster's Ball À l'ombre de la haine (2001) to blockbuster franchises including Hunger Games Hunger Games (2012) and John Wick John Wick (2014) to iconic festival indies like American Psycho American Psycho (2000) and Buffalo 66 Buffalo '66 (1998). Variety wrote, "If there is a Lionsgate model, then Paseornek is one of its chief architects."

A meeting in 2004 between Paseornek and Tyler Perry Tyler Perry resulted in a groundbreaking new chapter for Lionsgate. Paseornek offered Tyler a studio platform to turn his plays and characters into theatrical films and Tyler created what became an entertainment empire. Starting with Diary of a Mad Black Woman Madea, grand-mère justicière (2005), Paseornek had a front row seat as he executive produced Tyler's first 22 films - all of which opened at or near the top of the box office charts. Paseornek appeared in the Amazon Prime documentary Maxine's Baby Maxine's Baby: The Tyler Perry Story (2023) which follows Tyler's inspirational journey and impact on the entertainment industry.

Throughout his career, Paseornek has been an active proponent of diversity in front of and behind the camera, advocating for a slate of films that received numerous NAACP and BET awards, including multi Oscar winner Precious Precious (2009), the adaptation of Ntozake Shange's For Colored Girls Who Considered Suicide, and Monsters Ball which resulted in Halle Berry's Halle Berry historic Academy Award for best Actress.

Prior to Lionsgate, Paseornek helped bridge the gap between independent filmmaking and mainstream Hollywood. He opened the doors to indie producer/distributor CFP New York in 1992. The company had an immediate impact on the emerging independent film scene, domestically releasing the debut films of numerous directors including Ang Lee's Ang Lee Pushing Hands Pushing Hands (1991), James Mangold's James Mangold Heavy Heavy (1995), Roberto Benigni's Roberto Benigni The Monster Le monstre (1994) and Bill Condon's Bill Condon Gods and Monsters Ni dieux ni démons (1998). CFP was renamed Lionsgate when It went public in 1997.

Imdb and Box Office Mojo report that Paseornek is credited on films that have theatrically grossed over $5 billion in worldwide box office.

According to film data researcher Stephen Fellows, between 1997 and 2016, Paseornek was among the top 10 most frequently credited producers of the 4,000 highest grossing movies. Lionsgate achieved critical and box office success during that same period as well, and by 2019, the films from Lionsgate and its predecessor labels earned over 130 Academy Award nominations and 30 Oscar wins. The studio became a global content leader and was recognized as the first new major studio in decades. . After graduating NYU in 1974, Paseornek started his career as the writing partner to National Lampoon Magazine editor Michel Choquette. He wrote and script doctored a number of feature film projects before becoming a producer and studio executive. Among his philanthropic activities, he served on the advisory board of the UCLA Health Care System and the UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital, the board of Camp del Corazon, a free camp for children with heart disease, and co-chaired the Johns Hopkins/Aspen Foundation Neuro Arts Blue Print Initiative.

Currently Paseornek is a producer based in New York & Los Angeles. He is a member of the executive branch of the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences.