Glenn Gainor
Head of Physical Production for Amazon Original Movies, Amazon Studios
About Speaker
Glenn Gainor is the Head of Physical Production for Amazon Original Movies, Amazon Studios, a position he took on mid-November, 2020. Before joining Amazon, Gainor was Head of Physical Production for Screen Gems, a label under the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group umbrella, and has been a catalyst to several #1 movies such as The Perfect Guy, No Good Deed, Think Like a Man, Friends with Benefits, and Obsessed. Since joining Screen Gems in 2007, Gainor has overseen the label’s physical production and has served as an executive producer and unit production manager on films such as 2015's The Wedding Ringer, which held as America's number one comedy for three weeks. A cornerstone in Gainor's innovative approach to film production lies in the intersection of technology, sustainability and filmmaking. His passion led to Sony asking Gainor to head Sony Innovation Studios, a new state- of-the-art facility housed in a sound stage on the Sony Pictures Studios lot. Innovation Studios is designed to bring advanced technologies like volumetric capture and customizable set scanning to filmmakers and TV show producers. The company offers creatives the ability to scan film sets, and then reuse them as digital assets in future productions. This has allowed Gainor to harness relationships with Sony’s Computer Science Laboratory, Sony Interactive Entertainment, PlayStation and other forward-thinking divisions. One of the accomplishments of Sony Innovation Studios was the capture of Mission Control, the main headquarters set used in MIB International. The capture enabled the company to film a series of commercials using the point cloud virtual set. This inspired The Advanced Imaging Society (AIS) to give the studio a Lumiere Award for “best use of a virtual set.” Gainor also was invited to accept The Sir Charles Wheatstone Award on behalf of Sony Corporation from the AIS. This award acquired Nurulize, a startup company whose software lets users edit, color and enhance volumetrically captured images in a real-time collaborative environment. After building Sony Innovation Studios, Gainor transitioned to a senior advisor so he could refocus his attention on overseeing the increasing number of productions at Screen Gems. Gainor has always been inspired to think differently and use Sony’s multifaceted units for the benefit of Screen Gems and vertical integration. He shepherded the first-ever use of Sony's flagship consumer-based alpha 7SII cameras on Screen Gems productions. As the executive-producer of the romantic comedy Think Like a Man, he used his sustainability acumen and approved the studio film to be shot exclusively with LED lights and no large generators, the first of its kind. This change lowered the production costs, leaned into environmental sustainability, and allowed the movie to be shot in and around Culver City. Gainor's dedication to maintaining environmentally sustainable productions began in 2007 when he oversaw the construction of the super-structure for the movie Quarantine. The same structure was repurposed for seven productions including The Stepfather, Takers, and Obsessed. Gainor also swapped out traditional wood-based sets for eco-friendly fiberboard panels for the movies Possession of Hannah Grace and Proud Mary. Gainor’s efforts in sustainability and technology have been recognized by numerous organizations. Also, the Environmental Media Association awarded Screen Gems with the Green Seal for implementing sustainable production practices and raising environmental awareness; an EMA Certification on every film released for Screen Gems; LA's City Council has twice recognized Gainor’s commitment to environmentally friendly production practices in Los Angeles and implication of new technology in the motion picture industry; and Gainor received the California on Location Signature Award, for his efforts to preserve California's film industry and culture. Before joining Screen Gems, Gainor had much success producing three pictures for Adam Sandler's Happy Madison: Strange Wilderness, Grandma's Boy and Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo. He executive-produced Nicolas Cage's directorial debut, Sonny, and served as line producer on the critically acclaimed Panic, directed by Henry Bromell. Gainor co-produced George Hickenlooper's The Man from Elysian Fields, as well as the top selling Sundance picture, Happy Texas.