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Revision as of 00:57, 3 March 2006 by Dvloranger (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Joe Francis (born April 1, 1973) is the founder of Mantra Entertainment, which produces the Girls Gone Wild.
Few have turned their adolescent dreams of success, fame and fortune into a reality as quickly as Joe Francis. The 32-year-old entrepreneur has taken his shrewd business sense and his willingness to take risks, and parlayed it into a multi-million dollar enterprise. Over just the past 8 years, Francis has single-handedly built one of the most recognizable brands in the entertainment industry, and established a corporation that now has Hollywood knocking down his door.
After graduating from the University of Southern California with dual degrees in Business Administration and Film & Television Production in 1995, Francis entered the entertainment industry and quickly worked his way up to producing for Twentieth Century Fox Television (Fox), Paramount Television, and Buena Vista Television. It was while working for these media giants that he discovered they all shared one remarkable deficiency in common: none were exploiting the incredible potential for direct-entertainment marketing.
More specifically, Francis realized an opportunity existed for material that did not fit within the traditional mold of studio-distributed product, or within a studio’s traditional distribution system. Frustrated at watching millions of dollars go to waste simply because studios did not have direct distribution systems, Francis founded Mantra Entertainment in 1997. He was only 24. Mantra targeted this void by giving studios, independent producers, and entertainment-related copyright holders an alternate distribution outlet, allowing them the ability to turn entertainment properties into hard dollars.
Since then, Francis has parlayed his dream of Mantra as a concept into a highly profitable multimillion-dollar company, forming numerous partnerships, and creating fast-selling direct-to-consumer brands such as Girls Gone Wild (GGW). The GGW brand has spawned over 200 titles, which all capture adventurous young women against settings such as Mardi Gras and Spring Break.
In a remarkably short amount of time, GGW has become a bona-fide pop culture phenomenon. The series has sold millions of units, not only in the direct-response arena but retail outlets nationwide, and the brand has recently launched a strong and lucrative presence in Pay-Per-View. In 2004 Mantra teamed up with Jive Records and released a Girls Gone Wild music compilation, and a fictionalized major motion picture, a restaurant chain, and apparel line are all in the works.
Francis has been seen recently on Entertainment Tonight, The O’Reilly Factor, Access Hollywood, The Howard Stern Show, The Daily Show, 48 Hours and Extra, as well having been profiled in Rolling Stone, LA Magazine and FHM. His primary residence is in Los Angeles, California.
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