Jon Shestack is a movie producer, entertainment executive and autism advocate. Among the movies he has produced are AIR FORCE ONE and FIREWALL* (both starring Harrison Ford), THE LAST SEDUCTION (starring Linda Fiorentino), DAN IN REAL LIFE (with Steve Carell), GHOSTS OF GIRLFRIENDS PAST (with Matthew McConaughey, Michael Douglas and Jennifer Garner) and WAITING (starring Ryan Reynolds). He’s had overhead deals at Warners and New Line. He last produced BEFORE I FALL based on the hit YA novel. Open Road distributed the movie in March 2017.
Before starting his own company, Jon was the President of Production at Artisan Entertainment (now Lionsgate) and Executive Vice President of Beacon Pictures for 5 years, where he developed and was the executive in charge of the movies FAMILY MAN, BRING IT ON, TUCK EVERLASTING, THIRTEEN DAYS and CHILDREN OF MEN.
Jon is currently in development on movies at Disney, Fox 2000, and Warners and is developing OLD MAN’S War as an original film at Netflix.
He has developed scripts with some of the best writers in Hollywood; Lucas and Moore, Pam Brady, Matt Nix, Brian Lynch, Alan Yang, Robert Smigel, Dan Gilroy, Michael Gilio, Jamie Linden, Chris Morgan, Andrew Marlowe, and Gina Prince Bythewood.
In 1995 Jon and his wife, Portia Iversen, founded the Cure Autism Now Foundation. This quickly became the largest and most innovative private funder of biological research in autism in the country. Cure Autism Now merged with Autism Speaks in 2006 as part of an aggressive consolidation of the field. He was also the co-founder of AGRE, the Autism Genetic Resource Exchange and was on the board of Independent Citizen’s Oversight Committee for the Center for Regenerative Medicine, the 3-billion dollar California stem cell initiative. Shestack is the father of three children, one of whom, Dov, is a 29 year old, non-verbal, autistic young adult. He’s an adequate amateur potter, and when time permits a clumsy lindy hop enthusiast.