Frank Agrama
| Frank Agrama | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Farouk Agama January 1, 1930 Arish, Egypt |
| Alma mater | UCLA |
| Occupation | Distributor, real estate |
| Spouse(s) | Olfat El Sergany |
| Children | 2 |
Farouk "Frank" Agrama (born January 1, 1930 in Arish, Egypt), is an American director, producer and writer. He is founder and former chief executive officer (CEO) of Harmony Gold USA, Inc.
In the 1970s and early 1980s, Agrama made a number of low-budget films which included The Godfather's Friend, Queen Kong and Dawn of the Mummy. He also began selling broadcast rights from Paramount Pictures which he then sold to his friend, former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's Mediaset media company.
In 1983, he secured a deal with the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) to distribute the controversial Shaka Zulu miniseries. In the same year, he founded Harmony Gold USA, Inc. Despite the Shaka Zulu's massive success worldwide, Agrama's skillful negotiations left SABC to actually lose money while Harmony Gold kept most of the profit.
Harmony Gold would eventually be known for producing the film Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles, other Robotech animated works and the miniseries "Heidi".
On October 26, 2012, Agrama was convicted after a lengthy trial involving the buying and selling of US film rights to the Mediaset media company at inflated prices. As his age exceeded 70 years, he was exempted from direct imprisonment and served no actual jail time. According to the Los Angeles Times, prosecutors in Milan, Italy charged Agrama, along with former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, and ten others in a trial over tax fraud, embezzlement and false accounting at the Mediaset media company on November 21, 2006.
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