Robert Mark Kamen

Career Kamen is a frequent collaborator of French writer and director Luc Besson, who co-created The Fifth Element, The Transporter, and the Taken series. The two first worked together on the Natalie Portman and Jean Reno thriller The Professional. After the success of The Fifth Element, Besson invited Kamen to join him in his goal of creating a "mini-studio" in Europe, making "movies that would travel, international movies, you know, action movies."

The Karate Kid The Karate Kid is a semi-autobiographical story based on Kamen's life. When Kamen was 17, he was beaten up by a gang of bullies after the 1964 New York World's Fair. He thus began to study martial arts in order to defend himself. Kamen was unhappy with his first teacher, who taught martial arts as a tool for violence and revenge.

Vineyards In 1980, after being paid $135,000 for his first screenplay (which was never produced), Kamen used the check to buy 280 acres of rocky land on the western slopes of the Mayacamas mountains north of Sonoma in Sonoma County, California. He hired winegrower Phil Coturri to turn 46 acres into a vineyard in 1981. In 1984, the first grapes were sold to local winemakers. Half the vineyard was destroyed in a fire in 1996. Kamen replanted the vineyard, and in 1999, he bottled his first Kamen-branded wine, a Cabernet Sauvignon. In 2002, Kamen hired Mark Herold to craft his wines.

Filmography Writer Taps (1981) Split Image (1982) The Karate Kid (1984) The Karate Kid Part II (1986) The Karate Kid Part III (1989) Gladiator (1992) The Power of One (1992) Lethal Weapon 3 (1992) A Walk in the Clouds (1995) The Fifth Element (1997) Kiss of the Dragon (2001) The Transporter (2002) Transporter 2 (2005) Bandidas (2006) Taken (2008) Transporter 3 (2008) The Karate Kid (2010) (Story only) Colombiana (2011) Taken 2 (2012) Taken 3 (2014) The Warriors Gate (2016) Angel Has Fallen (2019) Night Has Fallen (TBA)

Uncredited rewrites The Punisher (1989) (Credited as producer) Under Siege (1992) The Fugitive (1993) The Devil's Own (1997) The Devil's Advocate (1997)

Special thanks Left Luggage (1998) Lucy (2014)

Artistic consultant Unleashed (2005) (Also creative consultant) Brick Mansions (2014)