Ashok Amritraj (born 22 February 1956) is an Indian-American athlete and film producer. He is chairman and CEO of the Hyde Park Entertainment Group and was formerly CEO of National Geographic Films. He played

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

professionally in his youth, one of the

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

ns in the top levels of the sport.

Career

Ashok Amritraj and his elder brothers, Anand and Vijay, were among the first Indians to play in top-flight international tour tennis. In 1999, Amritraj partnered with film producer David Hoberman to start a film financing and production company Hyde Park Entertainment. Hoberman left in 2002 to re-form Mandeville Films and Amritraj ran Hyde Park alone. Amritraj has produced over 100 films during his 35-year career with collective worldwide revenues in excess of US$2 billion. He partnered with multiple Hollywood studios and produced films starring

Robert De Niro Robert Anthony De Niro ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor, director, and film producer. He is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of List of awards and ...

Antonio Banderas José Antonio Domínguez Bandera (born 10 August 1960), known professionally as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish actor. Known for his work in films of several genres, he has received numerous accolades, including a Cannes Film Festival Award ...

, and

Jennifer Aniston Jennifer Joanna Aniston (born February 11, 1969) is an American actress. She rose to international fame for her role as Rachel Green on the television sitcom ''Friends'' from 1994 to 2004, which earned her Primetime Emmy, Golden Globe, and Scr ...

. Amritraj has made notable films such as '' Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance'', starring

Nicolas Cage Nicolas Kim Coppola (born January 7, 1964), known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and film producer. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Nicolas Cage, various accolades, including an Academy A ...

, '' Bringing Down the House'', starring

Steve Martin Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American comedian, actor, writer, producer, and musician. Known for Steve Martin filmography, his work in comedy films, television, and #Discography, recording, he has received List of awards a ...

, '' Premonition'', starring Sandra Bullock, and '' Walking Tall'' starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. In 2015, Amritraj was given an honorary Doctorate of the Arts from the University of East London. In 2016, he was appointed as the first

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

India Goodwill Ambassador for the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. In December 2018, by decree of the President of the Republic of France, Amritraj was appointed a Chevalier of the Ordre National du Merité. In 2022, Hyde Park and Warner Music Entertainment launched the Hyde Park Entertainment and Warner Music Entertainment Asian Women Fellowship, in partnership with Film Independent, which will showcase women-identifying writers and writer-directors who are Asian or part of the

Asian Diaspora The Asian diaspora is the diasporic group of Asian people who live outside of the continent. There are several prominent groups within the Asian diaspora. Asian diasporas have been noted for having an increasingly transnational relationship wit ...

. Amritraj serves on the Producer's A2025 committee to advance inclusion & equitable opportunities at the Academy of Motion Pictures & Arts, and on the advisory board for the Dodge Film School at Chapman University. As of 2021, Amritraj's projects included a biopic about

Arthur Ashe Arthur Robert Ashe Jr. (July 10, 1943 – February 6, 1993) was an American professional tennis player. He won three Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, Grand Slam titles in singles and two in doubles. Ashe was the first Black player selected ...

with

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment and record label Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the "Record label#M ...

; ''The Man Who Lived Underground'', in partnership with Kenya Barris' Khalabo Ink Society and

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 ...

; ''Amnesty'' for Netflix; ''Rubik's Cube'', based on the

toy A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include toy blocks, board games, and dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and p ...

with Endeavor Content; ''Remote Control'' with STX Films; and the remake of the Blake Edwards' film '' 10'' with

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 ...

Selected filmography

He was a producer in all the films listed below.

Film

Television

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Amritraj, Ashok 1956 births Living people Racket sportspeople from Chennai Film producers from Chennai Indian male tennis players Indian film producers American people of Indian Tamil descent Indian emigrants to the United States Tamil sportspeople American tennis players of Indian descent Amritraj family American film production company founders Warner Bros. Animation people DreamWorks Animation people Sony Pictures Animation people Walt Disney Animation Studios people Blue Sky Studios people