Dmitry Lesnevsky (born on February 2, 1970) is a Russian producer and entrepreneur in film, television, and online media. He is a member of the Russian Academy of Motion Picture Arts, the European Film Academy, and the Academy of Russian Television.

Biography

Dmitry Lesnevsky graduated from M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University.

In 1988, he finished military service in the Soviet Army.

In 1991, along with his mother, Irena Lesnevskaya, he founded REN TV, one of the first privately held independent television companies in Russia.

Co-founder and director general of REN-TV 1997-2005.

In 2000, he founded REN-FILM production company and became its president.

In 2005, Dmitry Lesnevsky and Iren Lesnevskaya sold their shares in REN-TV to a media holding, RTL Group.

In 2006, Dmitry Lesnevsky co-founded REN Media Group, an international holding company, and became Chairman of the Management Board.

In 2007, he launched Mini Movie International Channel, a media company with the head office in Luxembourg and branches in Moscow, Paris and Los Angeles. The company acquires and distributes independently produced short films and produces lots of original Internet content. It also holds international rights to a vast library of short films.

In 2008, REN Media Group bought the German TV network Das Vierte of NBC Universal television company. The same year, Mini Movie International Channel launched its first US-based Internet portal, minimovie.com.

In 2007, Lesnevsky instituted the award for Best Short Film of the Year that is given at the Cannes Film Festival.

Dmitry Lesnevsky is a member of the Russian Television Academy since 2001, of the European Film Academy since 2008 and of the Russian Academy of Cinema Arts and Sciences since 2003.

In 2002, he won the Peter the Great National Award (Russia’s highest award in the field of management) for “outstanding contribution to the development of contemporary Russian film production”.

In 2000, he won the Best Manager of the Year Award given by the Russian Journalist Union.

In 2003, Lesnevsky produced the feature film The Return (Vozvrashcheniye), directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev. “The Return” won dozens of Russian and international awards, including the Golden Lion at the 60th Venice Film Festival and Luigi De Laurentiis’s Lion of the Future.

In 2007, he produced The Banishment (Izgnanie), another directing effort by Zvyagintsev and the winner of the Best Actor Award (Konstantin Lavronenko) at the 60th Cannes Film Festival.

The release of “The Target”, another feature film produced by Lesnevsky and directed by Alexander Zeldovich, based on Vladimir Sorokin’s script, is planned for 2010.

Since 2007 Dmitry is the co-founder of "The New Times", an oppositional magazine created by his mother, Iren Lesnevskaya. "The New Times" is listed among the most quoted Russian magazines, and its founder, Iren Lesnevskaya, has been awarded with the National Order of the Legion of Honour.

Dmitry Lesnevsky is married with four sons.