Lawrence Alan "Larry" Kasanoff (born June 1, 1959) is an American film producer who founded the Vestron Pictures genre subsidiary Lightning Pictures in 1986,[1] Lightstorm Entertainment with James Cameron in 1990, and Threshold Entertainment in 1993.
Kasanoff graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Arts degree, and later received a Master of Business Administration degree from University of Pennsylvania.[2]
He is known for films such as the Mortal Kombat movie franchise including the 1995 Mortal Kombat, its 1997 sequel Mortal Kombat Annihilation and its spin-off series Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm and Mortal Kombat: Conquest. He became involved with the franchise after working on Terminator 2 with Lightstorm Entertainment, which was overtaken by Mortal Kombat as the most successful arcade game in 1993. His company Threshold Entertainment was started with the purpose of producing the first Mortal Kombat film and other Mortal Kombat media spin-offs.[3] Kasanoff later served as executive producer of the 2021 reboot of Mortal Kombat.
Other films produced by Kasanoff include Blood Diner, Blue Steel, True Lies, and Lego: The Adventures of Clutch Powers. He also directed and produced the 2012 Threshold Entertainment animated film Foodfight!, which was originally intended to be released in 2003.
In 2023, Kasanoff released a self-help book titled A Touch of the Madness: How to Be More Innovative in Work and Life… by Being a Little Crazy.[4]