Mark Amin
Mark Amin was born in February 19, 1950 in Iran. He grew up in the small Iranian town of Rafsanjan. He came from a family of businessmen that had the largest pistachio trading company in the nation. Mark came to the US in 1967 at age 17 to study. He received a bachelors degree in economic from University of Kansas and Masters of Business Administration from University of California at Los Angeles in 1975. He went back to Iran in 1976 because all his family was there and he’d come to the US to study, not to stay. But after the Islamic revolution, Mark moved to Europe from 1981-83 before moving back to Los Angeles.
Mark Amin is an Iranian-American motion picture producer and distributor. He formed Vidmark Entertainment in the early 1980s which handled mainly video releases, and was a pioneer in home video entertainment. In 1985, Amin changed the name of Vidmark to Trimark Holdings Inc. He served as the company’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Under Amin’s leadership, Trimark soon developed into one of the entertainment industry’s leading production and distribution companies. Amin’s past credits include the critically acclaimed Eve’s Bayou and Frida. In 2000 Trimark Pictures merged with Lionsgate Entertainment, in which Amin became the largest single shareholde . Mr. Amin served as Vice Chairman and member of the board of directors of Lionsgate Entertainment from 2000 to 2009. During Amin’s nine year term as Vice Chairman of Lionsgate, the company produced and distributed such critically acclaimed films as Monster’s Ball and Crash, as well as blockbuster hits such as Saw and the Tyler Perry ‘Madea’ franchise.
In 2001 he started his own independent production company, Sobini Films. Mark Amin is currently the CEO of Sobini Films, a motion picture production and financing company. Through Sobini Films, Amin has produced a diverse slate of feature films, including The Prince & Me, Peaceful Warrior, and Chrissa Stands Strong. Projects in development include Moment to Remember and Eliza Graves, based on a short story by Edgar Allen Poe. In addition to film production, he is actively involved in the acquisition and development of Pistachio and Almond orchards in central California, with over 5000 acres under management.