Began career as a lawyer in the 1970s and after joining Columbia Pictures Industries as senior counsel in 1979, rose to executive positions of increasing importance within the legal sphere at Columbia Pictures, its parent company Columbia Pictures Inc. and Coca- Cola throughout the 80s. Lemberger was appointed senior vice president of corporate operations and external affairs for CPI in 1985 and by 1990 had joined TriStar Pictures as executive vice president, overseeing the day-to-day activities of the company. In 1992 he was promoted to the newly created position of vice chairman of TriStar with continued responsibility for the day-to-day functions and the additional task of supervising all other aspects of the company's operations.