Tom Pollock  Thomas Philip Pollock (born April 10, 1943) is an American motion picture producer. He started his career as an entertainment lawyer, before transitioning to a studio executive and film producer. He is the former Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the American Film Institute, a former Adjunct Professor of Film at the University of California Santa Barbara, a former trustee of the Los Angeles Music Center and a member of the California Bar Association. He is also co-owner of The Montecito Picture Company. Thomas Philip Pollock was born on April 10, 1943 in Los Angeles, California, the son of Helene (née Zalk) and Dr. Joseph Pollock. He has two siblings: Ken Pollock and Margo Pollock Sinclair. His family is Jewish. He attended The Happy Valley School, now named Besant Hill School, in Ojai, CA, which his maternal grandfather Louis Zalk helped establish. Pollock graduated with a B.A. with distinction from Stanford University in 1964. He went on to the Columbia University School of Law, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone scholar, served as Editor of the Law Review and received a J.D. in 1967. Pollock started his career in 1968 as an assistant to George Stevens, founding director of the American Film Institute (AFI). In 1969, Pollock became manager of business affairs for AFI's new film school, the Center for Advanced Film Studies. In 1970, he started the entertainment law firm Pollock, Rigrod, and Bloom which later became Pollock, Bloom and Dekom (now Bloom Hergott). Having started the firm with no established clients, Pollock recruited film students from both AFI and elsewhere. Among his first clients was George Lucas. At the time, Lucas was working on THX-1138, and Pollock negotiated the famous deal that secured Lucas the merchandising and sequel rights to Star Wars. In addition to the Star Wars franchise, Pollock was instrumental in initiating production of the Indiana Jones and Superman franchises. By the 1980s, Pollock, Bloom and Dekom was one of the premier entertainment firms in Los Angeles. In September 1986, Pollock left his firm to serve as Executive Vice President of MCA Inc. and Chairman of its Motion Picture Group, Universal Pictures. During his tenure, Universal released over 200 films that grossed in excess of $10 billion worldwide, including Jurassic Park (the then highest-grossing film of all time), the Back to the Future trilogy, Do the Right Thing, Fried Green Tomatoes, Backdraft, Twins, Cape Fear, Parenthood, The Flintstones, Kindergarten Cop, Beethoven and Beethoven's 2nd, Casper, Waterworld, Sneakers, Lorenzo's Oil, and Casino.