Overview
Neal H. Moritz (born June 6, 1959) is an American film producer and founder of Original Film. He has produced over 70 major motion pictures which have grossed a total of over $11 billion worldwide as of 2021. He is best known for the Fast & Furious franchise, the Jump Street and Sonic the Hedgehog films, as well as the television series Prison Break and Emmy-nominated The Boys. His early credits include I Know What You Did Last Summer, Urban Legend and Cruel Intentions.
Life
Neal H. Moritz was born in Los Angeles, California, to Milton Moritz and Barbara (née Levin). His paternal grandfather, Joseph Moritz, owned movie theaters in Pittsburgh and was an early investor in American International Pictures (AIP). Milton Moritz was born in Pittsburgh and moved to California after falling ill with rheumatic fever at age eight, when his doctor suggested the family move to a better climate. He was head of marketing at AIP and was later CEO and president of the National Association of Theatre Owners of California/Nevada. Moritz is from a Jewish family.
Moritz grew up in Westwood and graduated from UCLA, where he participated in a Semester at Sea program. When he came back, he gave away several backpacks that were popular with Chinese students. He had so many requests for the backpacks that he and a friend began a company importing purses and bags from Taiwan. He sold the company to an investor, and returned to school. He earned a master's degree from the Peter Stark Producing Program at the University of Southern California's School of Cinema-Television in 1985. He is a member of the school's Alumni Development Council. As of 2021, Moritz has been married for 20 years and has two children, aged 19 and 16.
Career
Moritz has more than 70 films to his credit, including Juice starring Tupac Shakur, I Know What You Did Last Summer, the first two films of the Urban Legend franchise, Cruel Intentions, The Skulls, the Fast & Furious franchise, Not Another Teen Movie, the first two films of the XXX film series, being XXX and XXX: State of the Union, S.W.A.T., Evan Almighty, I Am Legend, Made of Honor, Sweet Home Alabama, Total Recall and the Jump Street films, being 21 Jump Street and 22 Jump Street.
From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).