Tom DeSanto is a founding writer/producer behind some of the biggest franchises in movie history (X-Men, Transformers). DeSanto's films have grossed more than $4.47 billion dollars worldwide with a per film average of more than $746 million at the box office, in addition to billions more in home video, merchandising, and video games.
The proud owner of more than 40,000 comic books and a self-described pop culture junkie, DeSanto dreamed of bringing the characters he loved as a kid to life in Hollywood, X-Men was first on his list.
With comic book films failing at the box office and Marvel in bankruptcy, DeSanto brought the property to director Bryan Singer and although Singer had never read the comics, DeSanto convinced Singer to sign on board to direct.
Besides producing, DeSanto co-wrote the story for X-men spawning a billion dollar franchise for Fox and starting Marvel's rise out of bankruptcy.After the success of X-Men, DeSanto pulled another undervalued property, Battlestar Galactica out of mothballs and developed Galactica for Universal Television.
Battlestar Galactica found a home on Sci-Fi Channel and was the number one rated mini-series for all of cable in 2003. Many of DeSanto's ideas and designs made it into the show including human Cylons, female president, and the new Vipers.
Mr. DeSanto returned as part of the guiding creative team for "X2: X-Men United", including the continuation of the Phoenix story line which DeSanto set up in the first film. That same year Mr. DeSanto went after Transformers another dormant property that he was a fan of since childhood.
Mr. DeSanto brought the idea to his friend, and fellow Producer, Don Murphy. Based on DeSanto's pitch and understanding of the universe, Hasbro gave them the rights for free.Transformers was a tough sell for those running the studios who did not grow up with the property.
After being rejected by every studio in town Mr. DeSanto made a second pass at DreamWorks and after Steven Spielberg read his treatment, he decided his studio would do the film and was an early champion of the idea.
Mr. DeSanto set the project up with DreamWorks and Paramount, selling his story line and attaching to Produce.The first film grossed over $700 million dollars worldwide and Mr. DeSanto gave birth to another franchise.
Transformers is the first live action franchise for DreamWorks and Paramount's largest moneymaking series in its history. Mr. DeSanto returned as Producer of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen in 2009 and the film became the biggest moneymaker in 2009 with over $800 million in box office alone.
DeSanto also produced Transformers: Dark of the Moon, and Transformers: Age of Extinction, both grossing over $1.1 billion dollars worldwide. The Last Knight, produced by DeSanto as well, earned over 600 million in the box office.
Bringing the Transformers saga back to the big screen, DeSanto produced Bumblebee, an origin story for one of the beloved characters from the franchise earning a total 470 million in box office. DeSanto has produced several social issue documentaries including Lost In America which deals with youth homelessness and Kidnapped For Christ which puts a spotlight on abusive evangelical camps for children.
