{{Short description|Canadian film producer}} {{Infobox person | name = John Dunning | birth_date = {{Birth date |1927|04|27}} | birth_place = Verdun, Quebec, Canada | death_date = {{Death date and age|2011|09|19|1927|04|27}} | death_place = Montreal, Quebec, Canada | occupation = Film producer | years_active = 1969-2009 }}
'''John Dunning''' (April 27, 1927 – September 19, 2011) was a pioneering Canadian film producer from Montreal who co-founded the Canadian film production company Cinépix and produced early works by notable Canadian directors David Cronenberg and Ivan Reitman. Dunning launched Cinépix with partner André Link in Montreal in the early 1960s. Their biggest commercial success—and the first Canadian box office hit—came with Reitman's ''Meatballs'' (1979).<ref name=barnes>{{cite news|last1=Barnes|first1=Mike|title=John Dunning, Canadian Film Pioneer, Dies at 84|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/john-dunning-canadian-film-pioneer-239363|accessdate=3 February 2017|work=The Hollywood Reporter|date=22 September 2011|language=en}}</ref><ref name=Brownstein>{{cite news|last1=Brownstein|first1=Bill|title=John Dunning, champion of the Canadian film industry, dead at 84|url=https://nationalpost.com/entertainment/greg-dunning-champion-of-the-canadian-film-industry-dead-at-84|access-date=3 February 2017|work=National Post|agency=Postmedia News|date=27 September 2011|language=en}}</ref>
==Early life== Dunning was born in the Greater Montreal district of Verdun, Quebec—and into the film business. Dunning's father Mickey toured Quebec screening newsreel footage and later owned several cinemas. By the age of 13, John was working the candy counter at his family's Century Theatre in adjacent Ville-Émard. Upon his father's death several years later, Dunning managed the cinema, beginning a lifelong career in film.<ref name=Brownstein/>
== Career == Dunning launched Cinépix with partner André Link in Montreal in the early 1960s. Initially a distribution company, Cinépix's first production was the 1969 erotic drama ''Valérie'', which earned $1 million at the box office.<ref>{{Cite web|title=John Dunning, Canadian Film Pioneer, Dies at 84|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/john-dunning-canadian-film-pioneer-239363|access-date=2019-04-24|website=The Hollywood Reporter|date=22 September 2011|language=en}}</ref> Over the next number of years the firm produced a number of sex comedy films, including ''Here and Now (L'Initiation)'', ''Love in a Four Letter World'', ''Heads or Tails (Pile ou face)'' and ''Oh, If Only My Monk Would Want (Ah! Si mon moine voulait...)'', which were labelled as "maple syrup porn" and saw Dunning compared to a Canadian Roger Corman.
Cinépix produced early work by David Cronenberg (''Shivers'') and Ivan Reitman (''Meatballs'').<ref>{{cite web|last=Beel|first=Philip|title=Canuxploitation Article: From Cinépix to Cineplex: The Studios that Dripped Maple Syrup|url=http://www.canuxploitation.com/article/studio.html|work=canuxploitation.com}}</ref> The company also distributed art-house films including the grunge rock documentary ''Hype'', Vincent Gallo's ''Buffalo '66'', and ''SICK: The Life & Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist''.<ref name="History">{{cite web|title=Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation – Company History|url=http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Lions-Gate-Entertainment-Corporation-Company-History.html|accessdate=October 14, 2011|publisher=Funding Universe}}</ref>
From 1989 to 1994, Cinépix was partners with Famous Players in C/FP Distribution, which was renamed Cinépix Film Properties (C/FP). In 1994, Cinépix bought Famous Players' stake in the organization.<ref>{{cite web|last=Cuthbert|first=Pamela|title=C/FP buy|url=http://playbackonline.ca/1994/08/29/3720-19940829/|work=playbackonline.ca}}</ref>
By 1997, Cinépix had a New York-based U.S. distribution arm and owned 56 percent of Ciné-Groupe, an animated film production company.<ref name="History" />
Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation (LGEC) was formed in 1997 by Frank Giustra, a banker.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Lionsgate Reunites with Founder for TV Venture (Exclusive)|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/lionsgate-sea-to-sky-frank-giustra-298861|access-date=2019-07-23|website=The Hollywood Reporter|date=13 March 2012|language=en}}</ref> LGEC purchased Cinépix and kept its leadership; Dunning, in turn, left the company.<ref name="History" /> Cinépix was renamed Lions Gate Films on January 13, 1998.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Roman|first=Monica|date=1998-01-14|title=Cinepix Film morphs into Lions Gate Ent.|url=https://variety.com/1998/film/news/cinepix-film-morphs-into-lions-gate-ent-1117436349/|access-date=2019-04-24|website=Variety|language=en}}</ref>
==Legacy== Dunning and Link were honoured for their contributions to the Canadian film industry at the 14th Genie Awards and were inducted into the Canadian Film and Television Hall of Fame in 2007.<ref name=barnes/><ref name=Brownstein/>
In June 2011, shortly before his death in September of that year, the Toronto Film Critics Association announced that Dunning would receive its Clyde Gilmour Award for lifetime achievement, with Cronenberg stating that "John Dunning is the unacknowledged godfather of an entire generation of Canadian filmmakers. I still consider him my movie mentor." The award was posthumously presented to Dunning's son Greg, at a ceremony in January 2012.<ref name="Hayward">{{cite news|last1=Hayward|first1=Anthony|title=John Dunning: Film producer and mentor to David Cronenberg|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/john-dunning-film-producer-and-mentor-to-david-cronenberg-2376263.html|accessdate=4 February 2017|work=The Independent|date=27 October 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://playbackonline.ca/2012/01/05/toronto-film-critics-to-honour-the-late-john-dunning-with-clyde-gilmour-award/|title=Toronto film critics to honour the late John Dunning with Clyde Gilmour Award|work=Playback|last=Vlessing|first=Etan|date=2012-01-05|publisher=|access-date=2017-02-04}}</ref>
Dunning's memoirs, ''You're Not Dead until You're Forgotten'', were published in 2014 by McGill-Queen's University Press.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mqup.ca/you-re-not-dead-until-you-re-forgotten-products-9780773544024.php|title=You're Not Dead until You're Forgotten|last=|first=|date=|website=McGill-Queen’s University Press|publisher=|access-date=2017-02-04}}</ref>
In 2016, the Canadian Screen Awards introduced the new John Dunning Discovery Award, presented to honour the year's best Canadian microbudget film.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Canadian Screen Awards leave Hollywood behind|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/film/canadian-screen-awards-rightly-leave-hollywood-behind/article37617239/|access-date=2020-07-02}}</ref> In 2019, it was merged with the former Claude Jutra Award, presented for the year's best debut film by a first-time director, into the contemporary John Dunning Best First Feature Award.{{Citation needed|date=July 2020}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{IMDb name|0242949}} *[http://www.cinepix.ca/en/retrospective/john-dunning-en/ Cinépix biography]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunning, John}} Category:1927 births Category:2011 deaths Category:Film producers from Quebec Category:Canadian film production company founders Category:Anglophone Quebec people Category:People from Verdun, Quebec