Lesher is a much-admired producer who won the 2015 Oscar, PGA, AFI and many other awards for “Birdman: or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance.” The huge success of the quirky black comedy directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu (who also won the Best Director Oscar) was made even sweeter for Lesher, who was Inarritu’s longtime agent. 

The producer began his career as a top-tier agent of directing talent at UTA and Endeavor before moving on to run Paramount Classics and then Paramount Pictures. Since then has established himself as a tenacious, taste-making producer with strong ties to top directing talent through his Le Grisbi Productions shingle. 

He also teamed with writer/director David Ayer on the gritty “End of Watch” and the WW11 Brad Pitt-starrer “Fury,” and with young writer/director Jonas Carpignano on his debut feature, the 2015 drama “Mediterranea,” a much-awarded festival favorite. In addition, Lesher produced “Black Mass,” the Scott Cooper-directed Cross Creek drama with Johnny Depp playing notorious Boston gang leader Whitey Bulger, for Warner Bros., and most recently reteamed with Cooper on the upcoming “Hostiles,” the frontier drama starring Christian Bale and Rosamund Pike set for a 2017 release. In 2015, he joined forces with LBI Entertainment, the management/production company founded by Rick Yorn, Ian Montone and Dave Baram.