JON AVNET

Jon Avnet serves as director and executive producer for the USA Network six-hour television event "The Starter Wife."

Avnet has directed and produced more than 50 motion pictures and television movies over the last 25 years, from box office hits like "Risky Business" and "Fried Green Tomatoes" to the critically acclaimed "Uprising," "The Burning Bed," and "Heatwave" for television. His work has won or been nominated for multiple Oscars, Emmys, Golden Globes, and Directors Guild of America awards, as well as Writers Guild of America awards, the Peabody, the Humanitas and CableACE awards. Last year, he produced the Tony Award winning "Spamalot," "The Pillowman," and Andrew Lloyd Webber's "The Woman in White." In 2006, Avnet served as a producer for "The History Boys," which received six Tony Awards, including Best Play.

He recently directed and produced "88 Minutes," a thriller starring Al Pacino. Earlier this year, he produced "Land of the Blind," starring Ralph Fiennes and Donald Sutherland. Avnet produced and co-financed the feature film, "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow."

In 2002 and 2003, Mr. Avnet executive produced with Graham Yost and directed the NBC acclaimed series "Boomtown." The show received a Peabody award, an AFI award, a Humanitas Award and the Television Critics Association Award for Best Drama and Best New Drama.

In 2001, Avnet directed, co-wrote and produced the miniseries "Uprising" for NBC, which was nominated for a Golden Globe and a DGA award and won the ASC award for cinematography. Additionally, Avnet received a Christopher Award for this film, as well as the prestigious Janus Korchak Educational Award.

Prior to "Uprising," Avnet directed and produced "Red Corner," for which he was honored with the National Board of Review's Human Rights award. He also directed and produced "Up Close & Personal," starring Robert Redford and Michelle Pfeiffer. Before that, he directed, produced and co-wrote the highly-acclaimed "Fried Green Tomatoes," which received multiple Oscar, Golden Globe and Writers Guild nominations.

His first directing assignment (which he also co-wrote and produced) was the television movie "Between Two Women," starring Colleen Dewhurst and Farrah Fawcett, which earned Dewhurst an Emmy for her performance.

In 1984, Avnet produced "Risky Business" and "Men Don't Leave." In 1985, Avnet produced "The Burning Bed," which garnered eight Emmy nominations and remains the highest-rated television movie ever aired on NBC. Along with Jordan Kerner, Avnet produced "Less Than Zero," "When a Man Loves a Woman," "Miami Rhapsody," the "Mighty Ducks" films and "George of the Jungle" and "Mama Flora's Family," to name just a few.

Avnet is Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Center for Advanced Film Studies Advisory Board both at the American Film Institute. He is also a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the Directors Guild of America, the Writers Guild of America, the Producers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild. In addition, he serves on the Board of Overseers of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. Avnet participates as a mentor in the Director's Lab at Sundance and its sister program Emergence in France. He also lectures at numerous universities across the country.

Avnet lives in Topanga Canyon, California, with his wife, artist Barbara Brody. He has three children.