Born and raised in Southern California, Cary Brokaw began his career as a marketing trainee at 20th Century Fox after earning an MBA from UCLA. Moving quickly through the ranks at Fox, he spent a year as director of acquisitions before being named as manager of the studio's eastern division. In 1981, Brokaw joined movie emporium operator Cineplex Odeon Corporation as an executive vice president. After two years, though, he moved over to the presidency of Island Alive Releasing where he oversaw the distribution of films like "El Norte" (1983).

In 1985, Brokaw made his debut as an executive producer on "Trouble in Mind", a crime drama directed by Alan Rudolph. He assumed the executive suite at Island Pictures the same year and during his tenure, the company released some high caliber films like "Kiss of the Spider Woman" (1985) and "Mona Lisa" (1986). With entertainment lawyer Michael Eliasberg, Brokaw formed Avenue Entertainment in May 1987. He has continued to oversee and/or produce a variety of film and television productions, including such acclaimed titles as "Drugstore Cowboy" (1989), the Oscar-nominated Best Picture "The Player" (1992), directed by Robert Altman, "Short Cuts" (1993), also directed by Altman, "Restoration" (1995), "Path to Paradise: The Untold Story of the World Trade Center Bombing" (HBO, 1997) and the Emmy-winning adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize play "Wit" (HBO, 2001).