Biography
Yoram Globus and his cousin Menahem Golan were two of the most prolific producers in the post-World War II film industry, when their Cannon Group churned out hundreds of profitable low-cost films. This pair of Israelis established themselves as Israel's most successful movie producers before moving to the United States and buying the Cannon Group in 1979. The "Go-Go Boys" quickly revived Cannon's fortunes, and became the largest independent studio in America. Their insistence on low budgets, quick shooting schedules, and signing name stars for a percentage of the gross rather than their usual salary kept costs down; on the distribution end, Cannon would sell the television, cable, and overseas rights to their films in advance, ensuring revenue streams even when their films flopped at the box office. Among the studio's successes were the Charles Bronson "Death Wish" movies, break-dancing craze films "Breakin'" and "Breakin' Two: Electric Boogaloo," and Chuck Norris's "Delta Force." Cannon also attracted prestigious directors in financial straits, and thus ended up producing films by Robert Altman, Jean-Luc Godard, and Roman Polanski, among others. However, by 1989, Cannon was in dire straits itself after making a number of costly acquisitions and deviating from its low-cost formula; Globus and Golan dissolved their partnership, with Globus forming Melrose Productions to continue the Cannon tradition of low-cost, high-profit feature films.
