[6] Jon Avnet partnered with Steve Tisch on his production company before teaming up with McNeil/Allyn Films on motion pictures and television movies.

[7] Avnet directed his first movie, Fried Green Tomatoes, in 1991, followed by The War in 1994, with Elijah Wood in the lead and Kevin Costner in a supporting role as his father.

It was written by Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne and starred Robert Redford and Michelle Pfeiffer.

Avnet addressed political issues with his fourth film Red Corner in 1997, a movie about the Chinese legal system, starring Richard Gere and Bai Ling.

Because of Gere's presence and support for Tibet and the Dalai Lama, they could not film in China, and the settings had to be recreated in Southern California.