Joseph Merhi
- Producer
- Writer
- Director
Born in Syria, before entering the world of cinema, he owned a chain of pizzerias in Las Vegas; began his career as director and producer in 1986 when he founded the film production company City Lights together with producer Ronald L. Gilchrist; in 1989, however, he decided to start his own business and founded PM Entertainment Group together with the Canadian director and producer Richard Pepin. Merhi specialized in the genre of action films and directed and produced at the turn of the 80/90s many low-cost action and martial arts films that very often were mainly broadcast on television or distributed for the circuit. direct-to-video; As producer he has produced over 100 films and TV series, and in 2000 PM Entertainment was first absorbed by The Harvey Entertainment Group and then purchased by the film company Echo Bridge Home Entertainment. The Syrian director and producer in his career has worked both as a producer and director with actors such as Michael Madsen, Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore, Tom Arnold, Heather Locklear, Lorenzo Lamas, Jeff Fahey, Frank Zagarino, Gary Busey, William Forsythe, Jo Champa, Jill Hennessy, Robert Patrick, and many others; moreover, he often collaborated with numerous martial artists such as Jeff Wincott and Gary Daniels in shooting action films. Today, Merhi actively invests in real estate projects in addition to a wide variety of businesses. His portfolio consists of luxurious single family homes, apartment complexes, hotels, comedy clubs, restaurants, production studios, and retail. Merhi resides in Los Angeles with his wife and three children.