Martin Elfand
- Producer
Martin Elfand was born and raised in the Boyle Heights area of Los
Angeles. Elfand started in the entertainment industry as an agent with
CMA, eventually representing talent such as Candace Bergin and Al
Pacino. Elfand moved into motion picture production by working with
producer Martin Bregman, developing the project "Serpico" starring Al
Pacino, and eventually producing low-budget money-maker "Kansas City
Bomber" starring Raquel Welch. Elfand soon championed a new project
based on a true-life bank robbery in Brooklyn. Elfand and Bergman
produced "Dog Day Afternoon" starring Al Pacino, leading to multiple
Academy-Award nominations, including one for Elfand for Best Picture.
Elfand and Dog Day Afternoon lost the Oscar to One Flew Over The
Cuckoo's Nest and Michael Douglas, but Elfand's career was soaring. He
was approached to work with Warner Bros as Head of Motion Picture
Production. He stayed in that position for one year, then opted to
return to motion picture production. After producing "It's My Turn"
with Michael Douglas and Jill Clayburgh, Elfand hit pay dirt with his
film for Paramount Pictures, "An Officer and A Gentleman" starring
Richard Gere, newcomer Debra Winger, and Louis Gossett, Jr., directed
by Taylor Hackford. The film's production was rocky and intense, but
the film was a huge hit, earning well over $125 million dollars in
domestic box office in 1982, nominated for multiple Academy Awards, and
winning Best Song and Best Supporting Actor (Louis Gossett, Jr.).
Paramount Pictures asked Elfand to produce what it considered to be the
next big thing, the return of the Biblical genre. The film "King David"
was directed by Bruce Beresford, starring Richard Gere, Edward
Woodward, and Alice Krieg as Bathsheba. The film was a critical
failure, and a box office failure. Elfand moved back to the Warner
Bros. lot in Burbank, developing and producing "Clara's Heart" directed
by Robert Mulligan and starring Whoopi Goldberg and Neil Patrick
Harris. Elfand re-teamed with Bruce Beresford again on the screwball
comedy "Her Alibi" starring Tom Selleck and produced "Talent For The
Game" directed by Robert Young and starring Edward James Olmos.
