years_active birth_place name article_title birth_name occupation
1995 -- present zahlé , lebanon elie samaha elie samaha
 elie kheir samaha producer
elie samaha

elie samaha -lrb- arabic : إيلي سماحة -rrb- -lrb- born may 10 , 1955 , zahlé , lebanon -rrb- is a nightclub owner , real estate entrepreneur , and film producer in los angeles , with production credits beginning with `` the immortals '' in 1995 .
samaha has produced over 83 works , primarily films along with some video games .
he has won one award in this capacity : a golden raspberry award for worst picture , which he shared with john travolta and jonathan d. krane , for the 2000 film `` battlefield earth : a saga of the year 3000 '' .
between 1998 and 2004 , samaha produced films under the franchise pictures studio title , which included films such as `` battlefield earth '' .
samaha specialized in rescuing stars ' pet projects .
franchise sought out stars whose projects were stalled at the major studios , bringing them aboard at reduced salaries .
samaha 's approach made waves in hollywood , earning him a reputation of being able to produce star vehicles more cheaply than the larger studios .
his unorthodox deals raised eyebrows and the entertainment industry magazine `` variety '' commented that they were `` often so complex and variable as to leave outsiders scratching their heads '' .
as samaha put it during an interview about `` battlefield earth '' , `` i said , ` if john wants to make this movie , what does he want to get paid ? '
... because i do not pay anybody what they make .
that is not my business plan . ''
