Edward L. Montoro

Edward L. Montoro
Born	1928 (age 88–89) Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Occupation	Film producer, film distributor, screenwriter

Edward L. Montoro (born 1928) was an American film producer and distributor known for releasing exploitation films and B-movies during the 1970s and 1980s through his company Film Ventures International. Montoro became notorious for producing and promoting films such as Beyond the Door (1974) and Grizzly (1976) which were highly derivative of the 1970s blockbuster hits The Exorcist and Jaws.

Montoro formed Film Ventures International (FVI), a small-scale independent movie production and distribution company, in 1968 in Atlanta, Georgia. His first effort was the soft-core adult comedy Getting into Heaven, which he wrote, produced and directed with a budget of $13,000. The film grossed almost 20 times its cost. Montoro expanded FVI and began churning out successful B-movies, among them acquisitions of foreign films from Italy including the spaghetti western Boot Hill in 1969.

Grizzly was one of the first films Montoro financed and distributed himself. Produced on a $750,000 budget, the animal horror thriller became the most successful independent motion picture of 1976 earning more than $39 million worldwide. Montoro followed this success producing and releasing such films as The Day of the Animals (1978) starring Christopher George and Leslie Nielsen; The Dark (1979) starring William Devane; The Visitor (1979) starring Glenn Ford; Kill and Kill Again (1981); Pieces (1982); Pod People (1983); Mortuary (1983) starring Bill Paxton; Vigilante (1983) starring Robert Forster; and Mutant (1984) starring Bo Hopkins.

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