Chris Meledandri

Chris Meledandri
Born	May 15, 1959 (1959-05-15) (age 52) New York City
Occupation	Film producer, CEO of Illumination Entertainment
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Dartmouth College
Genres	Animation
Notable work(s)	Cool Runnings Ever After: A Cinderella Story Alvin and the Chipmunks Ice Age Ice Age: The Meltdown The Simpsons Movie Horton Hears a Who! Robots Despicable Me Hop

Chris Meledandri (born May 15, 1959) is the founder (2007) and CEO of Illumination Entertainment.

Walt Disney Pictures

Main article: Walt Disney Pictures

Before joining Fox, Meledandri was president of Dawn Steel Pictures at Walt Disney Pictures, where he served as an executive producer of Cool Runnings.

20th Century Fox Animation

Main article: 20th Century Fox Animation

During his tenure, he produced Ever After: A Cinderella Story and helped Fox become a major player in the world of animated feature films. In 1998 he led Fox’s acquisition of fledgling visual effects/commercial house Blue Sky Studios, which he built into a successful producer of animated features. He oversaw the creative and business operations of Blue Sky, now Fox’s wholly owned CGI studio. While at the studio, Meledandri supervised and/or executive produced movies including Ice Age ($383MM), Ice Age: The Meltdown ($655MM), Robots ($266MM), Alvin and the Chipmunks ($361MM), The Simpsons Movie ($527MM) and Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who!^[1] ($297MM).^[2] He also produced two animated shorts, Gone Nutty and No Time For Nuts, both were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.

Illumination Entertainment

Meledandri left his post as President of 20th Century Fox Animation in early 2007 and founded Illumination Entertainment, a family film production company, co-owned and financed by Universal Pictures. In 2010 Illumination released its first film, Despicable Me, and in 2011 Hop, both of which Meledandri also co-produced.

Illumination is currently in production on a feature film version of Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, which continues the successful collaboration between Meledandri and Theodore (Dr. Seuss) Geisel's widow, Audrey.^[3] Other upcoming projects include an animated feature adaptation of Ricky Gervais’ Flanimals books, and a sequel to Despicable Me.

Personal life

Meledandri was born in New York City. He is a member of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He attended Dartmouth College^[3] and is a member of the board of trustees at The Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Connecticut.

References

1. ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0577560/
2. ^ http://boxofficemojo.com
3. ^ ^{a b} Archibald, Sophia (2011-05-10). "In nod to other famous alum., Meledandri produces ‘Lorax’". The Dartmouth. http://thedartmouth.com/2011/05/10/arts/meledandri. Retrieved 2011-06-26. 

External links

• Chris Meledandri at the Internet Movie Database

Persondata
Name	Meledandri, Chris
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1959-05-15
Place of birth	New York City
Date of death
Place of death