Anthony Leo: Producer, Net Worth, 'Todd and the Book of Pure Evil', 'Cybergeddon' & Facts To Know

Hopefully, you have watched “The Breadwinner,” which is an amazing film that narrates the story of an 11-year-old girl from Afghanistan. The story was authored by a Canadian, Deborah Ellis, and it has captured imaginations and hearts around the globe. “The Breadwinner” was directed by Nora Twomey, and to make the film a success, she worked with a couple of people, including the producer, Anthony Leo. Leo is one of the greatest rising producers in the film industry and has mostly focused on animation. He is also the co-founder of Aircraft Pictures, but who is Anthony Leo? Anthony Leo is not only a producer, but a writer. He is based in Toronto and Los Angeles where Aircraft Pictures offices are. Apart from producing films, the company is devoted to developing and financing scripted content for a variety of platforms. Leo worked alongside the executive producer, Angelina Jolie to make the film, “The Breadwinner.” Leo’s past credit is on films like “Todd and the Book of Pure Evil,” “Bruno and Boots: This Can’t be Happening at Macdonald Hall,” “Cybergeddon,” and “Roxy Hunter and the Myth of the Mermaid” making much net worth from the profession.

“The Breadwinner”, tells the narrative of Parvana, a girl who lives under the strict Taliban rule that is quite challenging, especially to girls. Parvana is voiced by Saara Chaudry. She starts supporting the family after her father is abducted by the deadly Taliban. Parvana holds the world’s weight on her shoulders and overcomes obstacles most people wouldn’t imagine while she maintains her spirit and empathy for the people around her. She changes the world by being herself. The movie was featured on the Ottawa International Animation Festival, and it was presented by Leo, the producer of the film alongside the writer of the book the movie is based on. Probably Anthony Leo never expected that he would be rubbing shoulders with the people like Guillermo del Toro and Angelina Jolie, the executive producer of the film but through “The Breadwinner,” it came to happen. The film has already bagged numerous awards including the L.A. Film Critics, Toronto Film Critics Awards, got nominated for a Golden Globe and now the biggest deal, an Oscar 2018. When he heard that the film had received a nomination in the category of best-animated film, he was really excited.

It was around 5 a.m. when Leo was sitting in the dark with his laptop, and then he found out that they were nominated. He went and woke up his son and wife and popped some champagne. Leo grew up in Bolton and Caledon East, he knew about the film while on vacation 15 years ago. He was with different families, and there was a girl reading the book. After dinner, her mother would read the book loud for her, and the rest of the families listened to the story. By the end of the trip, Leo and the rest of the families had already finished the book. In 2009, Leo and his business partner at Aircraft Pictures had a meeting with Groundwork Books, the company that published the book. When Leo heard the story, he recognized the book, and he snagged the rights to it the next minute. In order to make it authentic to the younger audience, the book was turned into an animated feature film instead of a live action film, and the executive producer, Jolie supported the suggestion.

According to Leo, Deborah Ellis was living at a camp on the Pakistan border at a time when Taliban were very powerful in Afghanistan. While there, she learned about ‘bacha posh’ whereby girls were dressing as boys so that they could manage to be on public and work to help their families since Afghan women and girls were not allowed to go outside without a male escort back then. Deborah decided to give them a voice by writing “The Breadwinner” and give the girls a voice. It became one of the best stories Leo had ever heard.

The author of the book gave all the proceeds from the book sales to help the Afghan women and girls. For the movie, it took some investors to fund the movie and make it a success. To them, all that mattered was the financial success of the movie so that they would get some profits from it. So, Leo had to convince them. However, he stated that the benefits he would receive would be donated to the Afghan women and girls. Already, Angelina Jolie was committed.

Unlike the other movies that he had worked including “Todd and the Book of Pure Evil,” “Bruno and Boots: This Can’t be Happening at Macdonald Hall,” “Cybergeddon,” and “Roxy Hunter and the Myth of the Mermaid,” the producer has challenges of creating the characters and the background design simply because they had no idea of how Kabul looked like at the time. Taliban never allowed photography and they only depended on Canadians who had been there to visualize the city.

Anthony Leo’s net worth is not yet revealed, according to Celebrity Net Worth but it is estimated it’s over $1 million. He has made all his net worth from being a producer.

“The Breadwinner” is a great movie and very inspiring. Anthony Leo touched the world through the animation film and he should be thanked and appreciated with an Oscar 2018 award.