Peter Guber

Founder and chairman of the visionary multimedia venture, Mandalay Entertainment, Peter Guber is perhaps the most successful executive in the entertainment industry. As a producer, his films, including Rain Man, The Color Purple, The Witches of Eastwick, Flashdance and Batman, have resonated with audiences all over the world, earning over three billion dollars worldwide and garnering more than fifty Oscar nominations.

Under his leadership, Mandalay has become a leader of content creation and marketing across multi-platforms in areas including feature films, television, Internet, music, sports and live events. By harnessing today's latest technology, Guber has helped to redefine the boundaries of entertainment and re-envision consumerism.

Since its formation in 1995, Mandalay Entertainment has produced, financed and released an impressive slate of pictures, including Donnie Brasco, Seven Years in Tibet, Les Miserables, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Sleepy Hollow, Enemy at the Gates, The Score and Beyond Borders. Guber is overseeing production of new TV films, while continuing to develop the Mandalay's Sports Entertainment business which includes ownership of major professional baseball teams and venues as well as sports marketing enterprises and produce films, mini-series and made-for-TV movies.

While chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment, he revitalized the troubled company and more than doubled its market share and annual revenue. By harnessing the power of storytelling and resonating with people emotionally, Guber was able to motivate his employees to achieve an industry-best share of the domestic box office, averaging 17%.

At the podium, Guber takes a penetrating look at managing a business and the importance of creating a narrative which resonates and connects with your audience. Whether marketing a brand's unique story or trying to connect with your employees through a time of change, crafting an emotionally resonate story is paramount to success.

AT A GLANCE: Guber entered the entertainment business in 1968 when Columbia Pictures recruited him while he was pursuing an M.B.A. (he already held B.A., LL.M. and J.D. degrees). Within 20 months he was president of the company. In 1976 he founded Casablanca Record & Filmworks with Neil Bogart, where he launched his career as an independent film producer with The Deep and Midnight Express. In 1979 he formed PolyGram Pictures where he was chairman and co-owner. He sold PolyGram in 1983 and went on to form the Guber/Peters Company. As GPEC chairman, he produced such hit films as The Color Purple, Missing, The Witches of Eastwick, Flashdance, Rain Man and Batman. In 1989 GPEC was sold to Sony Pictures Entertainment, where Guber was named chairman and CEO.

In his five years as CEO, Sony Picture Entertainment's Motion Picture Group bested all competitors with a record 21 hits grossing more than $100 million, including Terminator 2 and A Few Good Men. Guber is also credited with expanding SPE's leadership in television with prime-time hit programs such as Seinfeld, Mad About You, Married...with Children and The Nanny.

Guber is a full professor and 30-year member of the faculty at the U.C.L.A. School of Theater, Film and Television. His most recent book is Shootout: Surviving Fame and (Mis)fortune in Hollywood, which he co-authored with Peter Bart, the editor-in-chief of Variety. Guber and Bart also host Sunday Morning Shootout, a weekly talk show about the entertainment industry that has been receiving rave reviews and excellent ratings.