Biography
Paul W. Ardaji is an American film producer and former advertising executive. Born in Jerusalem, he founded the New York-based Middle East Advertising and Marketing Company (Meamco) and later became president of Horizon/Meamco following its 1984 merger. In 1979 he signed Muhammad Ali as a spokesperson for a Toyota campaign in the Middle East.
In 1992 Ardaji founded Roundhill Pictures Corporation and obtained the film rights to Ali's life story after visiting the boxer on his 50th birthday. He partnered with Sony Pictures and producer Jon Peters to develop the project, which was eventually directed by Michael Mann. Ardaji received equal producer credit on the resulting 2001 biographical film Ali, alongside Peters, Mann, James Lassiter and A. Kitman Ho.
Ardaji later moved into the restaurant business, founding Terra Ristorante Italiano in Greenwich, Connecticut, and the Pauli Moto's Asian Bistro chain.
