Biography

Lawrence Bender

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Lawrence Bender was born in The Bronx, New York City, as Lawrence Kirk Bender. His mother was a kindergarten teacher. Lawrence's father was a college history professor. In high school, he was inspired to follow his grandfather's career as a civil engineer. At the University of Maine in 1979, he graduated with a degree in Civil Engineering. After he graduated, he became a dancer for several years which ended after an injury. Lawrence is a political and environmental activist as the co-founder of the Detroit Project. In 2003 he worked with environmentalists in targeting gas-guzzling SUVs. As the Dean of Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, he sits on the Advisory Board. Lawrence has used his influence to support philanthropic initiatives working with Yahoo, the Muppets, the EPA, and Wal-Mart. He is a Director for CleanSource Power, LLC and a board member of The Creative Coalition Inc.
- IMDb mini biography by: Melanie Lepow

He holds the distinction of being the only producer to have two films in simultaneous competition at the Berlin Film Festival: Good Will Hunting (1997) and Jackie Brown (1997).
He is the business partner, main producer and a close friend of Quentin Tarantino.
Together with Quentin Tarantino founded record company called A Band Apart Records. It will focus on film soundtracks and its releases will be distibuted through Maverick Records, owned by Madonna.
In addition to his feature film and television work, Bender has enjoyed success in producing commercials and music videos with his production company, A Band Apart. The company has produced commercial spots for such directors as Tim Burton, John Woo and McG. A Band Apart Music Videos represents top directors, including Nigel Dick, McG, and Wayne Isham. In 2001, the company shot 75 commercials and music videos and garnered 13 MTV Music Video Award nominations.
Former ballet dancer; after sustaining a dance injury, he moved into acting (where he studied under Sandra Seacat), and then finally producing.