Ronald Lyon

Ron Lyon is an award-winning producer/director whose achievements span the spectrum from serious documentaries to successful series to movies for television. Lyon created and produced his first television special, "There are Giants", for NET with Edward G. Robinson interviewing such luminaries as Bertrand Russell, Pablo Picasso, Andres Segovia and Artur Rubenstein. Other early projects include "Bogart" and "50 Years of MGM" both specials for ABC which he co-produced with Jack Haley Jr. Under his own production banner, Lyon produced and directed some thirty 90-minute specials for ABC, including "Organized Crime in America", "Manson", "Hitler" and "Assassinations: An American Nightmare" from which came numerous awards. In 1976 he and James T. Aubrey, former president of CBS and MGM, formed Aubrey/Lyon Productions to create and produce movies and series for television. Included among their many films are the highly rated "City in Fear", starring David Jannsen and Mickey Rourke, "Love's Savage Fury", (Produced in association with Aaron Spelling Prods.) starring Jennifer O'Neill and Perry King as well as director Jan Kadar's award-winning film, "The Other Side of Hell" which starred Alan Arkin. In 1980 Lyon was hired by the legendary Ray Stark to serve as President of Rastar Television. In this capacity, he acquired the vast collection of Robert Ripley's "Believe It or Not!" facts and oddities, created an ABC special, and in 1981 under the banner of Haley/Lyon/Rastar Lyon produced and directed two more "Ripley's" specials starring Jack Palance. The enormous success of the specials spawned the long-running series with Lyon based in Paris as both Executive Producer and Director. During his career, Lyon has functioned as executive, creator, executive producer, line producer and director, emphasizing television movies, series and reality-based programming produced on location in Europe and the US. His special "Exploring Psychic Powers" hosted by Bill Bixby with James Randi and Uri Geller was a huge U.S. syndication ratings success. His children's series "Beyond Belief!!" appeared in dozens of countries,including the United States. A silent comedy "Bananaskins", which he created and produced, was launched internationally in Cannes at MIPCOM 96. "Daisies in December" an MOW starring Jean Simmons. produced in Cornwall, England in conjunction with Omnisphere (Paris), for Hallmark Entertainment, played successfully on Showtime in the United States in 1996. "Daisies", which has become a Christmas perennial, won an ACE award for "best screenplay based on an adaptation" from a story written by Lyon's partner, Jenny Paschall. "Would You Believe It??" began as a one-hour special/pilot which received spectacular ratings on its June '95 premiere on the Discovery Channel. Due to its success, four more hours were ordered. The first three of these specials aired in prime time on the evenings of the 22nd, 23rd and 24th of September, 1997. In each case, WYBI had the highest share and rating for its day. The three re-ran as a block the following Sunday afternoon, again delivering the highest ratings of the day. The same performance was demonstrated 28 November, when four hours ran in Discovery's "Phenomathon". A fifth hour aired 28 December, achieving an even higher share and rating than the previous episodes. As a result of WYBI's continued success, three more hours, as well as "Dambreaks" a pilot/special for a new series, were ordered by Discovery (U.S.) for the 1999/00 season. Tintagel successfully launched 13x30 episodes of "Would You Believe It??" at MIPCOM '97 in Cannes. A second series of 13x30 episodes as well as "Dambreaks" is offered internationally by Kushner/Locke at MipCom '99. Continuing its successful run a third series of "Would You Believe It" had its premiere January,2003 thus continuing an 8 year run!! Presently, "Would You Believe It!!" is broadcast in over 40 countries.!!!! Based on the success of WYBI, Tintagel (now Big Cat) crafted "Simply Unbelievable" a series (13 x 1/2 hr) which debuted on the Travel Channel first quarter 2001. Additionally, 3 x 1 hour specials, "Strangest Remains", "Most Haunted in America" and "The Best Places To Find UFOs" opened the 2001 Fall Season, each finishing in the top 25 shows in Travel's broadcast history. Both "Strangest Remains 2" and "Most Haunted Journeys" were ordered by Travel for the 2004-2005 season. A new series, "Real Strange" was produced in 2006-2007.(13 episodes) In 2008, Lyon and Paschall produced "Strange" a one hour special for Bio Channel. Since 2010 Lyon has also been active in U.S./Mexican Spanish language television. A book written by Ron Lyon and Jenny Paschall based on their series "Beyond Belief" was published world-wide by Random House and released in the United States under the Villard imprint in Summer, 1994. Lyon and Paschall completed a series of educational books entitled "Brain in a Box" for Random House all using the Beyond Belief!! theme which was successfully launched in the U.K. Christmas, 1995. "Odd Laws", was published by Harper Collins in May 1996. Their most recent book, "Hatches, Matches and Dispatches" published by Harper Collins UK, received four star notices throughout the U.K. Lyon and Paschall, aka "The Wizards of Weird" also lecture at colleges and universities throughout the United States.