Edward L. Montoro and Film Ventures International
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter on May 1, 1984, Edward L. Montoro said he considered Grizzly to be the best film he ever produced. Montoro founded his production company, Film Ventures International (FVI) in 1968 in Atlanta, Georgia. His company distributed exploitation films and B-movies. Montoro's most successful effort as producer was Grizzly, earning $39 million dollars worldwide. Montoro chose to keep the profits for himself, claiming the film ran over-budget. This caused director William Girdler and the film's co-producers and co-writers Harvey Flaxman and David Sheldon to file-suit. Girdler returned to FVI the following year to direct the similarly themed The Day of the Animals, also produced by Montoro. The film was not as successful as Grizzly, and Girdler and Montoro parted ways.
In 1980 Montoro picked up the Italian film Great White, a thriller about a shark attacking tourists, for release in the United States. Montoro spent several million dollars on advertising, but the executives at Universal Pictures thought the film was too derivative of Jaws (a similar complaint leveled at Grizzly). Universal filed suit and won, and Great White was pulled from the theaters. The lawsuit and setback cost FVI several million dollars.
Mutant was the final film produced by Montoro. Opening in 1984, the film's budget and minor box office performance caused further damage to FVI. Montoro was also involved in a major divorce settlement. Sometime in 1984, Montoro took one million dollars from FVI and vanished never to be seen again. FVI collapsed the following year. It has been speculated Montoro fled to Mexico, but his whereabouts remain unknown.
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