Chris Meledandri

Christopher Meledandri (/mɛlɛdɑːndreɪ/; born May 15, 1959) is an American film producer and the founder, CEO and owner of Illumination. He is best known as the producer of the Despicable Me franchise.

Chris Meledandri
Meledandri at the 2013 Annecy International Animated Film Festival
Born	Christopher Meledandri (1959-05-15) May 15, 1959 New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Film producer, founder, CEO and owner of Illumination
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Dartmouth College
Notable works	Ice Age Horton Hears a Who! Robots Despicable Me franchise The Lorax The Secret Life of Pets Sing

Works

Walt Disney Pictures

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

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, Ice Age: The Meltdown, Robots, Alvin and the Chipmunks, and Dr. Seuss Horton Hears a Who![1] 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

Meledandri left as President of 20th Century Fox Animation in early 2007 and founded Illumination Entertainment, an all-audience film production company, co-owned by Universal Pictures, which fully finances and owns the films.[2] In 2010 Illumination released its first film, Despicable Me, (which became very successful and was followed by Despicable Me 2 in 2013 and by Despicable Me 3 in 2017), and in 2011 Hop. Illumination released a film version of Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, which continued the successful collaboration between Meledandri and Theodor (Dr. Seuss) Geisel's widow, Audrey.[3] He also produced the franchise spin-off featuring the Minions, Minions (2015).

In January 2018, Nintendo announced during a fiscal meeting that Illumination would be developing an animated Mario film and that Meledandri will co-produce the film with Super Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto.

DreamWorks Animation

On April 28, 2016, NBCUniversal announced its intent to acquire competing studio DreamWorks Animation for $3.8 billion. It was announced that Meledandri would oversee both Illumination and DreamWorks following the completion of the merger.[4] However, it was later announced that Meledandri had declined to oversee DreamWorks, and will instead be a consultant at the studio. On November 6, 2018, it was announced that Meledandri will be helping Universal and DreamWorks to reboot the Shrek and Puss in Boots franchises. He intends, however, to retain the original voice actors, as he pointed out they were perhaps the most memorable parts of the series. [5]

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. He has two sons, born c. 1990 and 1998.[6]

Filmography

Films

Year	Title	Notes
1986	Quicksilver	Associate Producer
1989	Brothers in Arms	Producer
1990	Opportunity Knocks
1993	Fly by Night	Executive Producer
	Swing Kids
	Cool Runnings
	Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit	Co-Executive Producer
1994	Trial by Jury	Producer
2002	Ice Age	Executive Producer
	Gone Nutty
2005	Robots
	Aunt Fanny's Tour of Booty
2006	Ice Age: The Meltdown
	No Time for Nuts
2008	Horton Hears a Who!
2010	Despicable Me	Producer
2011	Hop
2012	The Lorax
2013	Despicable Me 2
2015	Minions[7]
2016	The Secret Life of Pets[8]
	Sing
2017	Despicable Me 3[9]
2018	The Grinch[10]
2019	The Secret Life of Pets 2[11]
2021	Minions: The Rise of Gru
	Sing 2
2022	Untitled Mario film[12]

References

1. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0577560/
2. Kilday, Gregg (December 9, 2016). "Illumination's Chris Meledandri Talks Success Secrets, Rumors He'll Head DreamWorks". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
3. Archibald, Sophia (2011-05-10). "In nod to other famous alum., Meledandri produces 'Lorax'". The Dartmouth. Archived from the original on 2012-05-16. Retrieved 2011-06-26.
4. "Comcast's NBCUniversal buys DreamWorks Animation in $3.8-billion deal". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
5. Palmeri, Christopher; Sakoui, Anousha (September 12, 2017). "In Dismal Summer, 'Despicable Me 3' Producer Delivers $1 Billion". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved January 29, 2018.
6. S. Cohen, David (October 26, 2013). "Chris Meledandri: Event Films Are Cannibalizing Each Othe". Variety. Retrieved October 27, 2013.
7. Mike Fleming (2012-07-23). "Illumination And Universal Hatch 'Despicable Me' Spinoff About The Minions". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 2012-07-23.
8. Fleming Jr, Mike (January 24, 2014). "Chris Meledandri's Illumination Sets Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet And Kevin Hart For 3D Animated 'Pets' Pic At Universal". Deadline. Retrieved January 25, 2014.
9. Bond, Paul (September 11, 2013). "Steve Burke: NBC's Ratings Woes Hurting Revenues". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 12, 2013. A third film is in the works, as is a Christmastime spinoff about the Minions.
10. Kroll, Justin (October 8, 2013). "Universal, Illumination to reboot 'The Grinch'". Variety. Retrieved February 7, 2013.
11. Mandell, Andrea (August 2, 2016). "Get Ready for 'Secret Life of Pets 2'". USA Today. Retrieved August 3, 2016.
12. Nintendo of America [@NintendoAmerica] (January 31, 2018). "Nintendo and Illumination are partnering on a movie starring Mario, co-produced by Shigeru Miyamoto and Chris Meledandri!" (Tweet). Retrieved April 2, 2020 – via Twitter.

External links

• Chris Meledandri on IMDb