Robert Bruce Simonds Jr. (born 1962) is an American film producer, entrepreneur, and the founder & chairman of STX Entertainment, which creates, produces, distributes, finances, and markets film (as STXfilms), television (as STXtelevision), digital media (as STXdigital), and live events as well as virtual reality (as STXsurreal).
[2][3] In September 2017, it was reported that STX was close to an initial public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (SEHK),[2] and in April 2018, the company announced it had filed for an IPO.
[9] His credits include the Adam Sandler films Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, The Wedding Singer, Big Daddy and The Waterboy; Cheaper by the Dozen, and The Pink Panther which stars Steve Martin.
[10] Simonds has produced a number of highly-profitable cult films including Joe Dirt and Half Baked.
[12][13] In 2014, STX Entertainment was formally launched with financing led by TPG Growth, and the company later secured investments from Chinese private equity firm Hony Capital and other individuals including Gigi Pritzker and William "Beau" Wrigley, Jr.
[14] Former Universal Pictures chairman Adam Fogelson[15] and former Disney and Fox production and marketing chief Oren Aviv were also added to the team.
[20] Funds from that round of financing will be used to continue to build STX Entertainment's TV division, further expand internationally and potentially make acquisitions.
[21] STX Entertainment's Board of Directors is composed of investors and industry veterans including: Simonds, David Bonderman (founding partner of TPG Capital), John Zhao (CEO of Hony Capital), Gigi Pritzker (founder of MWM Studios), Janice Lee (managing director of PCCW Media Group), Tracy Cui (managing director of Hony Capital), Frank Biondi (former president and CEO of Viacom and former chairman and CEO of Universal Studios; senior managing director of WaterView Advisors), Dominic Ng (chairman and CEO of East West Bank), Carmen Chang (chairman of New Enterprise Associates), and Bruce Mann (chief programming officer of Liberty Global).
[40] In 2014, the television division’s first project was the 13-episode series State of Affairs, starring Katherine Heigl and Alfre Woodard, which was sold to NBC.
In February 2018, Fox and STXtelevision announced it is developing an unscripted series based on STXfilms' Bad Moms.
[48] In October 2018, STXtv received a pilot order from YouTube for The Edge of Seventeen, based on the film of the same name released by STXfilms in 2016.
[53] In December 2017, it was announced that STXdigital acquired the exclusive Chinese distribution rights to Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve from Dick Clark Productions (dcp), along with the Chinese distribution rights to the 2018 Golden Globes broadcast from dcp and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.