Writer: Robert Mark Kamen

Robert Mark Kamen wrote The Karate Kid, which established the mentor-and-student structure that a great deal of subsequent sports and martial arts cinema has borrowed, and its sequels.

He then spent the later part of his career writing for Luc Besson’s production company, including The Fifth Element, The Transporter series and Taken, which is a substantial contribution to the shape of European-produced action cinema.

He also owns a vineyard in Sonoma, which he has said is the reason he kept taking the assignments.