A former MCA agent for twenty years, Jay Kanter entered film production when that agency was dissolved. After producing the films "Villain" and "The Nightcomers" (both 1971), "X Y and Z" and "Fear Is the Key" (both 1972) with Elliott Kastner and Alan Ladd Jr., he joined the latter in 1975 at 20th Century-Fox. He subsequently worked with Ladd as a production executive at The Ladd Co., MGM/UA and Pathe before his appointment in 1991 to the number two spot as chief operating officer of MGM-Pathe under his longtime colleague. In 1994, Kanter resigned and set up his own independent production