Tom Rosenberg is an Oscar-winning producer of more than 50 films that collectively grossed over $2.5 billion at the box office. From 1994 through 2019, he served as founder, chairman and CEO of Lakeshore Entertainment. During this run, he won the 2005 Academy Award for Best Feature Film alongside Clint Eastwood and Al Ruddy for producing Million Dollar Baby.
A Chicago native, Rosenberg began his career as a public-school teacher before moving to California to attend law school at UC, Berkeley. He subsequently spent several years working as a lawyer and real estate salesman in Missouri. In 1977, he returned to Chicago and founded Capital Associates, a commercial real estate development firm that saw success over the following decade.
In 1989, Rosenberg founded Beacon Entertainment and forayed into the film business. His first production, The Commitments, an Irish working-class rags-to-riches comedy, grossed $15m at the box office and kicked off a string of successes that included the Wesley Snipes-led Sugar Hill and The Hurricane, starring Denzel Washington, which Rosenberg executive produced.
Following the sale of Beacon Entertainment to Comsat Corporation in 1994, Rosenberg founded Lakeshore Entertainment alongside partner Ted Tannenbaum and took on the role of CEO. Under his guidance, Lakeshore quickly emerged as one of the premier production houses outside of the major studios, propelled by the success of early hits like Arlington Road and Runaway Bride, a reunion of Julia Roberts and Richard Gere that grossed over $300 million worldwide.
Rosenberg oversaw the production of dozens of genre-spanning films and TV shows over the ensuing years, including six installments of the Underworld franchise with Kate Beckinsale, Crank and Crank: High Voltage with Jason Statham, and The Boy and Brahms: The Boy II, which collectively grossed over $650m. During this time, Lakeshore grew to encompass all the attributes of a full-fledged independent production house, including international sales and marketing, and a music division that became the largest distributor of soundtracks in the U.S.
Alongside commercially successful crowd-pleasers, Rosenberg worked with top tier talent to create memorable arthouse pictures, including a trio of Philip Roth adaptations, Elegy, starring Penelope Cruz and Ben Kingsley, The Human Stain, with Nicole Kidman and Anthony Hopkins, and American Pastoral, directed by and starring Ewan McGregor. Standouts in this category include The Lincoln Lawyer, Age of Adaline and best picture winner Million Dollar Baby.
With his new venture LS Media, Rosenberg seeks to continue finding fresh, high-quality content with commercial appeal and build upon a career of sustained success.