After 15 years at UTA, Lesher left for Endeavor, where his clients included Martin Scorsese, Paul Thomas Anderson, Alejandro Iñárritu, and Judd Apatow.
The company produced such Oscar-winning pictures as Inarritu's Babel (2006), the Coen Brothers' No Country for Old Men (2007), and Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood (2007).
The success of these films led to Lesher's appointment in 2008 as President of Paramount Pictures, where he oversaw several major features, including J.J. Abrams' reboot of the Star Trek (2008) franchise and David Fincher's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008).
He formed his own production company, Le Grisbi, which released several box office hits between 2012 and 2014.
Among their most popular efforts was Birdman, which was directed by Inarritu and earned Lesher an Oscar for Best Picture in 2015.