| KAREN MONTGOMERY
Producer
As an independent producer my first project was DIARY OF A HIT MAN starring Forest Whitaker, Sharon Stone, and Sherilyn Fenn, which I developed with the writer Kenneth Pressman, and Roy London who directed the movie. I met Roy when I came to Los Angeles as an actress. Roy was a brilliant acting coach and I became his student and then a close friend (talking to one another early every morning to the dismay of my boyfriend at the time). That’s how I came to make this documentary about his life and students.
After graduating with honors from the University of California at Berkeley and finding that pre-med did absolutely nothing to prepare me for the real world, I promptly auditioned for a play and got the lead. Realizing that on-the-job training was only going to take me so far as an actress and since what I really wanted to do after all was ‘make’ films, I headed for LA. I met some great people and got a chance to enter the production arena on the film COMING HOME, working closely with the writer Waldo Salt. I continued as an actress while I learned the other side of the camera working as a story analyst for IPC Films, the principals of which were Bruce Gilbert and Jane Fonda. When Bruce Gilbert started his own company, American Filmworks, I became Director Of Development and we developed several projects for Warner Bros. and MGM/UA, including THE MORNING AFTER, starring Jane Fonda, Jeff Bridges and Raul Juliaa, directed by Sydney Lumet.
Finding myself married to a Brit I wanted to learn more about the European market so I worked as VP of Production for Euroscreen Partners, an American/ European co-venture feature film development and financing entity. I developed and packaged several projects forging relationships with new directors and writers.
I took some time off and joined my husband, Christopher Monger, while he made THE ENGLISHMEN WHO WENT UP A HILL, BUT CAME DOWN A MOUNTAIN in Wales. Back in the US I worked as a producer on TILL THERE WAS YOU, a romantic comedy written by Winnie Holtzman, directed by Scott Winant, and released by Paramount. It starred Sarah Jessica Parker, Dylan McDermott and Jeanne Tripplehorn. I also produced ROW YOUR BOAT, a feature film written and directed by Sollace Mitchell starring Jon Bon Jovi, Bai Ling, William Forsythe and Jill Hennesey.
For television I co-created a series idea for Showtime called 'MAKING ENDS MEET' with Sollace Mitchell and Chris Monger. I also co-created another series idea with Pablo Fenjves called ‘’HOSTAGE’.
I’m still married to Christopher Monger and continue to live in LA. NEWS: Karen recently produced A SENSE OF WONDER - now coming onto the Film Festival circuit. WATCH FOR IT!
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