Lorenzo di Bonaventura (; born January 13, 1957) is an American film producer and the founder and owner of

Di Bonaventura Pictures Di Bonaventura Pictures, Inc. (also known as dB Pictures) is an American film and television production company founded in 2002 by Lorenzo di Bonaventura, who is known for producing the ''Transformers'' films. History On September 3, 2002, ...

. He is best known for producing the ''

G.I. Joe ''G.I. Joe'' is an American media franchise and a line of action figures owned and produced by the toy company Hasbro. The initial product offering represented four of the branches of the U.S. armed forces with the Action Soldier ( U.S. Army), A ...

'' and ''Transformers'' film series. The films he produced have earned over $7 billion at the box office.

Life and career

Di Bonaventura spent the 1990s as an executive in the film industry, eventually rising to president of worldwide production for

Warner Bros. Pictures Warner Bros. Pictures is an American film studio and distribution arm of the Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group division of Warner Bros., both of which are owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex ...

. His production company,

, is based at

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

. His tenure at Warner Bros. included discovering and shepherding ''

The Matrix ''The Matrix'' is a 1999 science fiction film, science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is the first installment in the The Matrix (franchise), ''Matrix'' film series, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Ca ...

'' into production, as well as purchasing the rights to the ''

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven Fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...

'' books by

J. K. Rowling Joanne Rowling ( ; born 31 July 1965), known by her pen name , is a British author and philanthropist. She is the author of ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume fantasy novel series published from 1997 to 2007. The series has List of best-sell ...

. In 2007, di Bonaventura purchased the film rights to the six-part series of fantasy novels ''

The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel ''The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel'' is a series of six fantasy novels written by Irish author Michael Scott, completed in 2012. The first book in the series, '' The Alchemyst'', was released in 2007, and the sequels were released ...

'' by Michael Scott. Di Bonaventura said that Scott's "fantastic series is a natural evolution from Harry Potter". In the documentary '' Side by Side'', di Bonaventura criticized the ubiquitousness of inexpensive digital cameras that allow anyone to become a filmmaker, potentially saturating the media landscape with awful entertainment that the public would not be able to distinguish from quality works. His argument stated that the new media landscape is flawed due to lack of a "tastemaker".

Personal life

Di Bonaventura graduated from

Choate Rosemary Hall Choate Rosemary Hall ( ) is a Independent school, private, Mixed-sex education, co-educational, College-preparatory school, college-preparatory boarding school in Wallingford, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1890, it took its present na ...

and

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, where he played soccer. He later received an MBA from the

Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania The Wharton School ( ) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia. Established in 1881 through a donation from Joseph Wharton, a co-founder of Bethlehem Steel, the Wharton ...

. His father, Mario di Bonaventura, was a symphony conductor, and his uncle, Anthony di Bonaventura, was a concert pianist. Di Bonaventura serves as chair of the Creative Council for

RepresentUs RepresentUs is a Nonpartisanism in the United States, non-partisan not-for-profit organization focused on ending political corruption in the United States. Funded by donations and grants, it is run mostly by volunteers aligned in a grassroots ...

, a

nonpartisan Nonpartisan or non-partisan may refer to: __NOTOC__ General political concepts * Nonpartisanship, also known as Nonpartisanism, co-operation without reference to political parties * Non-partisan democracy, an election with no official recognition ...

anti-corruption organization. He has served on the

Claremont Graduate University The Claremont Graduate University (CGU) is a private, all-graduate research university in Claremont, California, United States. Founded in 1925, CGU is a member of the Claremont Colleges consortium which includes five undergraduate and two grad ...

Board of Trustees since 2015. , di Bonaventura lived in

Brentwood, Los Angeles Brentwood is a suburban neighborhood in the Westside region of Los Angeles, California. History General Modern development began after the establishment of the Pacific Branch of the National Home for Disabled Soldiers and Sailors in the ...

with his wife and children.

Filmography

Producer

Paramount Pictures

Sony Pictures Releasing

Summit Entertainment

Lionsgate Films

Warner Bros. Pictures

Others

Executive producer

Television

*'' Zero Hour'' (2013) *'' The Real O'Neals'' (2016–2017) *'' Shooter'' (2016–2018) *'' Jupiter's Legacy'' (2021) *'' The New Look'' (2024–present)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:di Bonaventura, Lorenzo 1957 births American people of Italian descent Film producers from New York City Filmmakers from New York (state) Harvard University alumni Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Wharton School alumni Writers from New York City