Biografia

Mortgaged his house to help finance one of his first films Rambo (1982).

(1984-1995) - Head of his own theatrical distribution company Carolco International Pictures, until its collapse in 1995, this company was a venture through Tri Star Pictures and distributed a number of major motion pictures including "The Terminator", "Terminator 2: Judgement Day", "DeepStar Six", "Basic Instinct", "Stargate" and "Cutthroat Island". Kassar has now returned to work at Columbia/Tri-Star.

At the height of his success, had an armed-guard at his estate providing security. The only other film personality of that era to go to such lengths was Mogul Lew Wasserman.

Mario's old production company Carolco Pictures bankrupt after Renny Harlin's Cutthroat Island (1995) because a massive failure because of the loss of money. The film's budget was $92 million however the box office was only $10,017,322.

Served nearly 20 years as an executive at both Columbia Pictures and Tri Star Pictures.

Whenever I've done a picture I've always tried to make it a fun experience; especially when we were starting out, because it was really tough to get our first pictures made... So if there's no fun, then there's no point in doing it.

I'm not a dentist or a lawyer; making movies is the only thing that turns me on.

Independent film is difficult to produce. No matter what you do for financing, there's always a piece missing.

I think the road to becoming a producer is one thing, the road to becoming a director is more interesting.

I find myself talking to more and more young filmmakers these days and the one piece of advice I give: ...don't force it! If the material is good, the people in this town will know it.