Michael Jay Solomon

Early life and education

Solomon is the son of Mildred Rickmann & Leroy Solomon. He has a sister named Susan Goldberg, born in 1935. He was born in New York City, New York, where his family has resided for 4 generations. Solomon was educated at the Milford Prep School, in Milford, Connecticut, the New York University Stern School of Business, and Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts where he holds an Honorary Doctor of Law degree. He is a member of the international honor society Beta Gamma Sigma.

United Artists

Solomon began his career in film distribution with United Artists (UA) in 1956 at the age of 18. When he graduated from New York University at age 21, UA sent him to Panama to open the Central American territory for American films. He travelled to Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Honduras, as well as Panama. A year later he was assigned to Bogota, Colombia and when he was 24 he became manager of Peru and Bolivia.

MCA (now Universal NBC)

After 8 years with United Artists, MCA (now Comcast, Universal, and NBC) hired Solomon to start their Latin American TV division. After several years abroad, he moved back to New York but conducted international business in the Middle East, Europe, Asia, Africa as well as Latin America. He became a Vice President at MCA at 30 years old. He spent 14 years at MCA.

Telepictures

In 1978 Solomon co-founded Telepictures Corporation (Telepictures) and served as its Chairman and CEO. Telepictures grew to become one of the largest U.S. television syndication companies at that time, and one of the largest international distribution companies. Telepictures became a public company (NASDAQ) 14 months after Solomon became CEO in January, 1980. The company created television syndication with the series The People’s Court, which is still on the air after 32 years. Telepictures was the owner and operator of six television stations in the U.S. (one in Puerto Rico), and the publisher of six magazines, including US Magazine now US Weekly, which they bought out of bankruptcy with Jann Wenner, co-founder and publisher of the popular pop culture magazine Rolling Stone.

Lorimar-Telepictures

In 1985 Telepictures merged with Lorimar to form Lorimar-Telepictures Corporation. Solomon became the new company's President and served on its Board of Directors. During his tenure, Lorimar-Telepictures became the largest television production and distribution company in the U.S., producing major television series such as Dallas, Falcon Crest, Knots Landing, and ALF among others. These series were produced at the Lorimar-Telepictures Studios, (formerly MGM Studios), which is now Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Warner Bros. Television

In 1989, Lorimar-Telepictures was acquired by Warner Bros Television. Solomon became President of Warner Bros. International Television where he oversaw sales and marketing operations for television cable and satellite companies outside of the U.S. Warner Bros. expanded international telecommunications interests introducing Western TV programming to China, Russia, and India among other developing countries. Solomon is a co-founder of HBO OLE (now HBO Latin America). Solomon co-founded the first satellite-delivered station in Scandinavia (SF Succe), and co-owned a TV and feature film production company in India (Armitraj-Solomon) and France. He was the first international distributor of The Grammys, MTV and E! Entertainment Television, (more commonly known as E!).

Solomon International Enterprises

In 1994, following his tenure at Warner Bros., Solomon began his own television communications company, Solomon Entertainment Enterprises. He distributed independent TV product to the international market and formed a partnership with Canal +, France and UFA, Germany to produce TV movies. During this time period, Solomon created El Camino Entertainment Group, Inc. (now called North American Midway Entertainment), a company that provides amusement park rides, games and food to approximately 15 million fairgoers every year in 20 states and 4 Canadian provinces. Solomon also partnered with Shanghai Media Group Broadband(SMGBB) and RayV (an Israeli company) which subsequently was acquired by Yahoo.

Truli Media Group

Truli Media Group Inc., (OTCQB/TRLI) was founded by Solomon in 2010, and he serves as Chairman and CEO. Truli (www.truli.com), is a digital aggregator of content focusing on family and faith, and offers approximately 10,000 HD videos which are rated G and PG. Features include children’s and animation programs, music videos, documentaries and sports, as well as inspirational messages from over 250 churches in English and Spanish. Truli Media's Facebook page has over 670,000 followers. Solomon's most recent joint venture is Truli Cinemills LLC. (TCMC), of which he is Chairman and CEO. TCMC, by way of the digital platform Truli.com, will produce and distribute family-friendly films, documentaries and TV series, in addition to aggregating films and television content from global media markets. The first project announced as part of TCMC is A Cowgirl's Story, a full-length feature film inspired by the novel Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. A Cowgirl's Story is set to be distributed by Samuel Goldwyn Films in 2017.

Additional media interests

He co-founded the World Inspirational Network (WIN), a live streaming internet platform which enables On-Demand HD content from a set-top box connected to the internet and TV screen IPTV. Solomon also co-founded The Michelangelo Experience and The Film Domain. He was Chairman of the Board and CEO of the Team Communications Group Inc. from February 13, 2001 for a period of 3 years. Solomon is Founder of Sunstorm Entertainment Group and Cadena Del Sol, Puerto Rico; and Founder and owner of Prime Time Communications in Spain and Romania, and a co-owner of Iguana Productions in Peru. In May 2016, Solomon was named Chairman of the Board of VidaPrimo, a Latin entertainment video channel ranking 4th worldwide with 24 million unique visitors in January 2016.

Professional honors and awards

Solomon was presented the Jerusalem Award in 1989, by the Honorable Howard L. Berman, attorney and member of the US House of Representatives. He received this award for work with the Shaare Zedek Medical Center's Pediactric department. The center's charter is to provide medical care to the people of Israel regardless of race, religion, color, age or ability to pay. Solomon serves on the Board of Overseers of New York University Stern School of Business, and is a special advisor to the President of Emerson College in Boston. He is a Founder of The Sam Spiegel Film and Television School in Jerusalem, and was Founding Chairman of U.S. chapter of the The Jerusalem Foundation. He is also the Honorary Chairman of the Actors Equity of China. Solomon served on the Entertainment Business & Management Advisory Board at UCLA. He serves on the board of the International Council of the National Academy of Television Arts and the group that awards International Emmy Awards), and the board of the USC Annenberg School of Communication & Journalism/London School of Economics Communication Degree Program. Solomon is a Founder of the American Film Market Association (AFM). AFM is a network of acquisition and development executives from more than 70 countries that meet once a year to sell, finance and acquire films. He also recently joined the Board of Advisors for i-Blades, Inc. (www.i-Blades.com). In March 2013 he was nominated to receive the annual Ellis Island Medal of Honor.

Personal life

Solomon was married to Barbara Gottlieb in 1964 for eight years and had one son, Lee Solomon in 1972. In 1979, Solomon married Luciana Paluzzi. Paluzzi (born 10 June 1937, Rome, Italy) is an Italian actress who is best known for playing Fiona Volpe, a SPECTRE operative and the villainess in the 1965 James Bond film Thunderball. The two reside in Beverly Hills, CA, where they have been living for over 30 years. Solomon and Paluzzi have two sons, Christian Halsey Solomon and Lee Solomon, and five grandchildren (three boys and two girls).

Philanthropic activities

Solomon and his wife serve on the Board of Directors of The Jeffrey Modell Foundation. Solomon is the co-Founding Chairman of The Careyes Clinic Careyes, Mexico. The clinic serves people in the local community and other surrounding areas.