Dany Garcia (born November 29, 1968) is an American businesswoman, IFBB professional bodybuilder, and producer. Garcia is the founder, CEO, and chairwoman of The Garcia Companies and TGC Management, overseeing a portfolio of brands in business, entertainment, and food, including TGC Management, Seven Bucks Companies, Teremana Tequila, Athleticon, and the Project Rock Collection at Under Armour, VOSS, Atom Tickets, Salt & Straw, Acorns, and the XFL.
She started her career in finance at Merrill Lynch in 1992, before taking on the role of managing Dwayne Johnson’s career in 2008. Garcia co-founded the production company Seven Bucks Productions in 2012, which has since produced several films starring Johnson. Some of the films in the production’s catalog include the box office success Baywatch (2017), Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017), Shazam! (2019), The Fast and the Furious spin-off Hobbs & Shaw (2019), and Jumanji: The Next Level (2019).
Early life
Garcia was born to Cuban immigrants and grew up in Belleville, New Jersey. She has one brother and one sister. Garcia majored in International Marketing and Finance at the University of Miami and graduated with her Bachelor’s degree in 1992. She became Associate Vice President at Merrill Lynch and started her own wealth management firm, JDM Partners LLC in 2002. After her ex-husband Dwayne Johnson asked her to manage his career in 2008, she stepped down from both roles to manage him.
Career
Early films and television: 2008–2016
In 2008, Garcia executive produced the documentary Theater of War, directed by John Walter and starring Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline. This was followed by the Christmas-themed romantic drama film Lovely, Still (2008), starring Martin Landau and Ellen Burstyn. The following year, Garcia produced the documentary Racing Dreams (2009). Directed by Marshall Curry, the film follows two boys and a girl as they compete and aspire to become professional NASCAR drivers. The film was critically acclaimed, winning Best Documentary at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival, where it was also runner up for the Audience Award. The film received a 100% fresh rating from Rotten Tomatoes based on 26 reviews, with a weighted average of 7.38/10. The film was called “The best film of the year” by the Los Angeles Times (“The Envelope”) and “Absorbing… one of the rare documentaries you leave wishing it was a little longer, ” by The New York Times.
In 2012, Garcia and Johnson co-founded their production company, Seven Bucks Productions. Garcia then produced the action film Snitch (2013), directed by Ric Roman Waugh and starring Johnson, followed by the reality television series The Hero. She later founded her multi-platform enterprise, The Garcia Companies and TGC Management, a global brand development and management company, representing actors Henry Cavill and Dwayne Johnson. That same year, TNT ordered eight hour-long episodes for the reality television series Wake Up Call, which premiered in 2014 and into 2015. Garcia served as executive producer for all eight episodes, which was described as The Hero‘s “natural successor.” Another reality TV series, Clash Of The Corps, premiered in 2016 with Fuse TV. Garcia and Johnson later launched a digital channel for the short-TV series Millennials the Musical (2016).
Blockbuster success: 2017–present
In 2017, Garcia executive produced several projects for TV and the web. The first one was Rock and a Hard Place for HBO, which focuses on the lives of incarcerated young people. Bro/Science/Life: The Series, Garcia later executive produced her first large budget film, Baywatch (2017), an action comedy film directed by Seth Gordon and based on the television series of the same name. The film was panned critically, but a box office success, grossing $177.8 million worldwide, against a production budget of $69 million. Garcia followed this up with Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017), a fantasy adventure comedy film directed by Jake Kasdan. It the third installment of the Jumanji franchise, after Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005) and a direct sequel to Jumanji (1995), which was based on the 1981 children’s book of the same name by Chris Van Allsburg. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle received positive reviews and grossed $962.1 million worldwide, one of Sony’s highest-grossing films of all time.
Rampage (2018), a science fiction monster film directed by Brad Peyton, and based on the video game series of the same name by Midway Games, was released the following year. It grossed over $428 million worldwide and received mixed reviews from critics. Garcia’s next film, Skyscraper (2018), an action film written and directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber, received similar critical responses. Garcia then executive produced the documentary Stuntmant (2018). She returned to television to serve as executive producer on HBO’s most-watched half-hour comedy-drama series Ballers for HBO.
In 2019, Garcia executive produced The Titan Games, a sports competition series which premiered on NBC and has been renewed for a second season. The same year, Seven Bucks’ made its Sundance Film Festival debut with the biographical sports comedy-drama film, Fighting with My Family, written and directed by Stephen Merchant and produced by Garcia, followed the same year. Garcia later produced a six-episode docu-series Finding Justice for BET, focusing on the stories of heroes, leaders, advocates and change agents in the African American community across America as they uncover injustices and fight to bring healing and change. Returning to the large screen, Garcia served as executive producer for the superhero film based on the DC Comics character of the same name, Shazam! (2019), The Fast and the Furious spin-off Hobbs & Shaw (2019), and produced Jumanji: The Next Level (2019) which set the record Seven Bucks Productions’ biggest global opening weekend, the upcoming Netflix film Red Notice and DC Universe’s Black Adam (New Line Cinema). She also served as executive producer for the show K Great Thanks (2019).
In August 2020, Garcia and Johnson led the consortium that purchased the XFL out of bankruptcy from its founder, Vince McMahon. Garcia had been a fan of the brand and league since its original 2001 incarnation and with the acquisition, she has become the first woman to own an equal or majority ownership stake in a major professional sports league in the United States .
Personal life
Garcia met Johnson while attending college, and they were married on May 3, 1997. By marrying Johnson she joined the famous Samoan Anoa’i family. They have one child together, a daughter named Simone, who was born in August 2001. On June 1, 2007, they announced they were splitting up amicably. The divorce was finalized in May 2008. In 2014, Garcia married bodybuilder and TGC Management’s fitness industry brand consultant, Dave Rienzi. Garcia is also a bodybuilder and often credits the sport for shaping her relentless nature in business. She first competed in 2011 and went on to earn her IFBB Pro card in 2014. She was the first-ever Women’s Physique Division athlete to be signed to the Weider roster.
Garcia holds several board positions. In 2008, she founded the Beacon Experience, a foundation that works with at-risk children to empower them to break economic and social barriers and extend their education beyond high school. She was elected to be on Pediatrix Medical Group, Inc’s Board of Directors that same year.
Filmography
Featured film
| Year | Title | Producer | Executive Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Theater of War | No | Yes | Documentary |
| Lovely, Still | No | Yes | ||
| 2009 | Racing Dreams | No | Yes | Documentary |
| 2013 | Snitch | No | Yes | |
| 2017 | Baywatch | No | Yes | |
| Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle | No | Yes | ||
| 2018 | Rampage | No | Yes | |
| Skyscraper | No | Yes | ||
| Stuntman | No | Yes | Documentary | |
| 2019 | Fighting with My Family | Yes | No | |
| Shazam! | No | Yes | ||
| Hobbs & Shaw | No | Yes | ||
| Jumanji: The Next Level | Yes | No | ||
| 2020 | Unstoppable | Yes | No | |
| The Statesman | Yes | No | ||
| King K | Yes | No | ||
| The Janson Directive | No | Yes | ||
| Big Trouble in Little China | No | Yes | ||
| 2021 | Jungle Cruise | Yes | No | |
| Sons of Shaolin | No | Yes | ||
| Genghis Khan | No | Yes | ||
| Red Notice | Yes | No | ||
| 2022 | Black Adam | Yes | No |
Television
| Year | Title | Producer | Executive Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | P.O.V. | No | Yes | |
| 2013 | The Hero | No | Yes | |
| 2014–2015 | Wake Up Call | No | Yes | |
| 2016 | Clash of the Corps | No | Yes | |
| Millennials the Musical | No | Yes | ||
| 2016–2018 | Seven Bucks Digital Studios | No | Yes | TV series shorts |
| 2017 | Rock and a Hard Place | No | Yes | |
| Soundtracks: Songs That Defined History | No | Yes | ||
| Logan Paul Summer Saga | No | Yes | Web series | |
| Bro/Science/Life: The Series | No | Yes | Web series | |
| Lifeline | No | Yes | Web series | |
| Reality Quest | No | Yes | Short film | |
| 2018 | Ballers | No | Yes | |
| 2019 | The Titan Games | No | Yes | |
| Finding Justice | No | Yes | ||
| K Great Thanks | No | Yes | ||
| 2021 | Young Rock | No | Yes | |
| TBA | Behind the Attraction | No | Yes |