Hawk Koch

Howard Winchel "Hawk" Koch Jr. (born December 14, 1945) is an American film producer,[1] the former president of both the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences[2] and the Producers Guild of America,[3] and a former road manager for the musical groups The Supremes and The Dave Clark Five. Koch is the author of the book, Magic Time: My Life in Hollywood[4], published in 2019.[5]

Hawk Koch
Born	Howard Winchel Koch, Jr. December 14, 1945 Los Angeles, California, United States
Occupation	Film producer
Spouse(s)	Rita Litter ​ ​ (m. after 1967, divorced)​ Marcia ​ (div. 1983)​ Joanna Pacuła ​ ​ (m. after 1984, divorced)​ Molly Jordan Koch ​ (m. 1998)​
Children	Billy Koch Emily Anne Koch Robby Koch
Parent(s)	Ruth (Pincus) Koch Howard Winchel Koch Sr.

Koch is a celebrated keynote speaker, and serves on the board of directors for AMC Entertainment, Cast and Crew, the Motion Picture and Television Fund, the Producers Guild of America, and the National Film Preservation Foundation.

Early life

Koch was born to a non-religious[4] Jewish family[6][7] in Los Angeles, California. He was raised in the film business, the son of Ruth (Pincus) and producer/director/actor Howard Winchel Koch, Sr. He graduated from Beverly Hills High School in 1963.

Career

Hawk Koch began his career in London, working for music impresario and co-owner of The Dave Clark Five Harold Davison,[8] as a road manager for visiting American acts. Koch returned from to manage The Dave Clark Five's 1964 United States tour.[9] After his time in the music business, Hawk Koch turned to filmmaking in Hollywood, working as assistant director for a number of directors and later as a producer.

Koch has been intimately involved with the making of more than 60 major motion pictures, among them such classics as Chinatown, Heaven Can Wait, Marathon Man, The Way We Were, Primal Fear, Wayne’s World, Peggy Sue Got Married, and Rosemary's Baby. His colleagues and collaborators include many of the greatest filmmakers of all-time, including Sidney Pollack, Roman Polanski, John Schlesinger, Francis Ford Coppola, and Warren Beatty. Hawk has worked with incredible actors throughout his career, including Academy Award nominees/winners Natalie Wood, Sir Laurence Olivier, Dustin Hoffman, Jack Nicholson, Barbra Streisand, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Whoopi Goldberg, Edward Norton, and Halle Berry.

At the Producers Guild of America (PGA), Koch and his co-president, Mark Gordon, led the fight to preserve the producer's credit and secured all the major film studios and major independent film studios to agree to uphold the Producer's Mark (p.g.a.).[10] In 2010, Koch and Gordon were the first pair of co-presidents to be elected by the PGA membership.[11] The duo was re-elected in 2012.

On July 31, 2012, Koch was elected President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences,[2] making Hawk and his father the only father-son pair to lead the Academy in its history.[12] On August 1, 2012, Koch took leave from his post at the PGA in order to assume the Academy's presidency,[13] later rejoining Mark Gordon as PGA co-president in August 2013.[14] During his tenure at the Academy, Koch spearheaded several initiatives including a call for diversity, launching the first general membership meeting in its history, sharpening the focus on member engagement and the future of filmmaking, implementing the Academy's digital voting system,[15] and securing major fundraising for the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.[16]

Koch is a celebrated international keynote speaker. Hawk has given one-on-one talks with Francis Coppola, Tom Cruise, and Jake Gyllenhaal at the annual Produced By Conference, and has been a featured speaker at Sarajevo Film Festival,[17] the South Dakota Film Festival,[18] and the Beijing International Film Festival.[19] He delivered the 2013 commencement address at Chapman University Dodge College of Film and Media Arts,[20] and was a featured speaker at the 2019 Renaissance Weekend.[21]

Koch is a vocal advocate for diversity and representation in film and television, as well as diversity within the entertainment industry's professional guilds and organizations.[22] As of 2020, Koch serves on the board of directors for AMC Entertainment, Cast and Crew, the Motion Picture and Television Fund, the Producers Guild of America, and the National Film Preservation Foundation.

Personal life

Koch is married to Jungian analyst and writer[4] Molly Jordan Koch.[4] He was previous married to Rita Litter, mother of his children Billy Koch[23] and Emily Anne Koch; to Marcia (no last name given), mother of Robby Koch; and to actress Joanna Pacuła.[4]

Filmography

He was a producer in all films unless otherwise noted.

Film

Year	Film	Credit
1975	The Drowning Pool	Associate producer
1977	The Other Side of Midnight	Executive producer
1978	Heaven Can Wait	Executive producer
1979	The Frisco Kid	Executive producer
1980	The Idolmaker
1981	Honky Tonk Freeway
1983	A Night in Heaven
	The Keep
	Gorky Park
1984	The Pope of Greenwich Village
1989	Rooftops
1990	The Long Walk Home
1991	Necessary Roughness	Executive producer
1992	Wayne's World	Executive producer
1993	The Temp	Executive producer
	Sliver	Executive producer
	Wayne's World 2	Executive producer
1995	Losing Isaiah
	Virtuosity	Executive producer
1996	Primal Fear	Executive producer
1997	The Beautician and the Beast
2000	Keeping the Faith
	Frequency
2002	Collateral Damage	Executive producer
2005	Hostage	Executive producer
2007	Blood & Chocolate
	Fracture	Executive producer
2008	Untraceable
2010	Norman
2011	Source Code	Executive producer
2013	Very Good Girls	Executive producer

Second unit director or assistant director

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1969	Pendulum	Second assistant director	Uncredited
	Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
1970	Getting Straight	Assistant director
	WUSA		Uncredited
	The Baby Maker
1971	The Hired Hand
	Fools' Parade
	Something Big
	Going Home
1972	Bad Company
	Up the Sandbox	First assistant director
1973	The Way We Were	Assistant director
1974	The Parallax View	First assistant director
	Chinatown	Assistant director
1975	Once Is Not Enough
	The Drowning Pool
1976	Marathon Man
1978	Heaven Can Wait

Miscellaneous crew

Year	Film	Role	Notes	Ref.
1966	Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter	Assistant to producer	Uncredited
	Billy the Kid Versus Dracula	Assistant to the producer
1968	Project X	Dialogue coach	Uncredited
	The Odd Couple			[4]
	Rosemary's Baby

Production manager

Year	Film	Role
1975	Once Is Not Enough	Production manager
2005	Hostage	Unit production manager
2007	Fracture
2008	Untraceable

As an actor

Year	Film	Role	Notes	Other notes
1969	Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice	El Taco Employee	Voice role	Uncredited
2000	Keeping the Faith	Rabbinical Professor

Thanks

Year	Film	Role
2019	Above Suspicion	Special thanks

Television

Year	Title	Credit	Notes
2004	The Riverman	Executive producer	Television film
2013	Christmas in Conway	Executive producer	Television film

Miscellaneous crew

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1973	Magnavox Presents Frank Sinatra	Stage manager	Television special
2013	85th Academy Awards	President: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences	Television special

Production manager

Year	Title	Role
1969	Then Came Bronson	Production manager

References

1. "Hawk Kock". The New York Times.
2. "Academy Elects Hawk Koch as Its New President". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2020-01-31.
3. "Hawk Koch Resumes Duties as PGA President Alongside Mark Gordon". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2020-01-31.
4. Koch, Hawk (2019). Magic Time: My Life in Hollywood. Jordan, Molly. New York. ISBN 978-1-64293-302-4. OCLC 1096514606.
5. Hammond, Pete (2019-11-14). "Hawk Koch On His New Memoir 'Magic Time': Stories From A Life In The Movie Business And Escaping The Shadow Of His Father's Hollywood Legacy". Deadline. Retrieved 2020-01-31.
6. Los Angeles Times: "How did new Academy president Hawk Koch get his unusual name?" By Nicole Sperling and Julie Makinen August 01, 2012
7. Jewish Journal: "At Pepperdine, ruminations on Hollywood’s patrimony straight from its (Jewish) patriarchy" by Danielle Berrin October 6, 2013 | cached version at Archived December 22, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
8. "Pop impresario Davison dies at 89". BBC News. 2011-10-24. Retrieved 2020-01-31.
9. "DAVE CLARK FIVE TO TOUR U.S., CANADA . . . NOVEMBER 7, 1964". Motor City Radio Flashbacks. 2012-06-13. Retrieved 2020-01-31.
10. Finke, Nikki (2010-10-13). "Producers Guild Plans New 'P.G.A.' Mark". Deadline. Retrieved 2020-01-31.
11. "Hawk Koch Re-joins Mark Gordon as President of PGA". www.creativehandbook.com. Retrieved 2020-01-31.
12. Thompson, Anne (2012-08-01). "Academy Governors Elect Hawk Koch as New AMPAS President". IndieWire. Retrieved 2020-01-31.
13. "New Academy President Hawk Koch Stepping Down as PGA President". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2020-01-31.
14. "TheWrap - Hawk Koch Reclaiming Role as PGA President - Producers Guild of America". www.producersguild.org. Retrieved 2020-01-31.
15. "Academy Moves Toward Electronic Voting in 2013". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2020-01-31.
16. "Motion Picture Museum: $2.5 Million Buys You a Green Room". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2020-01-31.
17. "The continuation of the collaboration between the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Science and Talents Sarajevo". sff.ba (in Bosnian). Retrieved 2020-01-31.
18. "South Dakota Film Festival kicks off in Aberdeen". AP NEWS. 2016-09-21. Retrieved 2020-01-31.
19. "Hawk Koch gives speech for BIFF opening ceremony". www.chinadaily.com.cn. Retrieved 2020-01-31.
20. "Dodge College Commencement Speaker Announced: Hawk Koch". Dodge College of Film and Media Arts. Retrieved 2020-01-31.
21. "Home | Renaissance Weekend". www.renaissanceweekend.org. Retrieved 2020-01-31.
22. Fleming, Mike, Jr. (2016-01-21). "Former Academy President Hawk Koch Issues Diversity Challenge In Wake Of All White Oscars". Deadline. Retrieved 2020-01-31.
23. "Little Red Feather Racing — Management Team". data.littleredfeather.com. Retrieved 2020-01-31.

External links

• Hawk Koch at IMDb