Chris Zarpas

Sometimes discovering a gem of a film can make your career. Thus was the case with Chris Zarpas. A law school graduate, he went to work as a film buyer for the East Coast-based Circle Theatres chain. After a screening of Ethan and Joel Coen's "Blood Simple," Zarpas returned to his bosses and convinced them to establish a distribution company to handle the film. Circle Films, Inc was established with Zarpas at the helm. The company's first release, "Blood Simple" (1984) not only launched the Coen brothers as creative forces in American cinema but also Zarpas' career as well. A few years later, he joined The Walt Disney Company in the newly-created position of vice president of production and acquisitions for Touchstone Pictures. Zarpas supervised the development of numerous films, including the Bette Midler vehicles "Beaches" (1988) and "Stella" (1990). He was later elevated to president of production and acquisitions. Among the latter was "Can't Buy Me Love" (1987), a Patrick Dempsey teen-oriented film produced by Mark Burg. Burg and Zarpas became partners when they joined Island Pictures, soon rising to the rank of co-president.