Amos loves promoting underdog pics

Jim AmosJim Amos was born into the movie biz -- his father owned a chain of movie theaters and his mother worked for Columbia Pictures. When "I grew up, that was what we did, we went to movies," says Amos, who is now Sony Pictures' prexy of domestic distribution. Amos remembers "Le Mans" and "Lawrence of Arabia" as two defining films of his childhood. In his nearly three-decade long career at Sony, Amos has crisscrossed the country, starting in Boston, then San Francisco, NY and now L.A. Though Amos has worked on hit movies such as "Ghostbusters," "The Karate Kid" and "Men in Black," what excites him are the underdog films that come out of nowhere to garner critical and box office success, much like "The Social Network." Amos' fervor for film hasn't waned throughout his long career. "I'm as excited about (the future) as I was when I first started in the business," he says. SHOWEAST 2011 Five 3D myths that will not dieHonoreesShow "E" Award: Jim Amos | Al Shapiro Distinguished Service Award: John C. Hall | Salah M. Hassanein Humanitarian Award: Kurt Hall | ShowEast Hall of Fame 2011 Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com