Mike Elliott (film producer)

Mike Elliott is an American film producer, film director and writer. He has produced or co-produced over 100 films, with a special focus on direct-to-video sequels.

Mike Elliott was born in Ventura, California but raised just outside Bend, Oregon.

He graduated from Cornell University with a degree in Soviet Studies.

After landing intern positions at various television and film companies, Elliott would find his footing working with leading independent filmmaker and Hollywood legend Roger Corman. Under Corman's tutorage, Elliott would work his way up from being an unpaid intern to the vice president of Corman's Concorde/New Horizons Group. Elliott is responsible for helping turn Corman's company from a deteriorating theatrical release company to a viable player in the home video and television markets.

“It got to a point where we shrugged our shoulders and slowly realized theatrical was about prestige more than it was a sales factor," said Elliott. "The box and the cast became more important."

Additionally, Elliott served as liaison and producer with the partner companies, which included Showtime, Artisan, Saban and Columbia/Tri-Star.

Elliott unsuccessfully tried to buy Concorde New Horizons from Corman in 1995, who kept hiking up the price. Instead, Elliott turned his attention to forming, with former Corman colleagues Rob Kerchner and Joe Genier, a new company Capital Arts Entertainment.

One of Capital Arts Entertainment's first big claims was producing what is regarded to be the first direct-to-video sequel, Casper: A Spirited Beginning. "I claim I made the first DTV sequel (with Casper: A Spirited Beginning[1997])," Elliott said in 2012. "Stephen Einhorn'll tell you he did with Poison Ivy 2 (1996), but I'm pretty sure they thought they were making a theatrical while they were doing it. I suspect Stephen thought it was a theatrical, too.” .

Elliott and Capital Arts Entertainment would become pioneers in the direct-to-video sequel market, producing such films as Casper Meets Wendy, Addams Family Reunion, The Prince and Me 2, American Pie Presents: Band Camp, and Timecop 2: The Berlin Decision.

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