Christopher Meledandri is an American film producer and founder and CEO of Illumination.
18 Facts About Chris Meledandri
2.
Chris Meledandri previously served as President of 20th Century Animation, and has worked as the producer for the film series of Ice Age, Despicable Me, The Secret Life of Pets and Sing.
3.
Chris Meledandri afterwards was the producer for a series of small films, before working as a producer for the 1993 Disney film Cool Runnings, which was a financial success.
4.
In 1998, Chris Meledandri led Fox's acquisition of fledgling visual effects house Blue Sky Studios, which became a commercially successful production studio.
5.
Chris Meledandri oversaw the creative and business operations of Blue Sky, which became wholly owned by Fox.
6.
Chris Meledandri produced two animated shorts, Gone Nutty and No Time for Nuts, both were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.
7.
Chris Meledandri left as President of 20th Century Fox Animation in early 2007, being replaced by Vanessa Morrison, and founded Illumination, an animated film production company that was co-owned by Universal Pictures, which fully financed and owned the films.
8.
Chris Meledandri received a share of Illumination's box office earnings as part of his contract with Universal, and as of 2011, he owned an undisclosed stake in the production company.
9.
Chris Meledandri built a good relationship with chairman of NBCUniversal Stephen Burke, who liked Chris Meledandri's propensity for producing animated films on a relatively low budget.
10.
Chris Meledandri produced the franchise spin-off prequel, Minions and the sequels to Despicable Me, Despicable Me 2 and Despicable Me 3.
11.
However, it was later announced that Chris Meledandri had declined to oversee DreamWorks, and will instead be a consultant at the studio.
12.
On November 6,2018, it was announced that Chris Meledandri will be helping Universal and DreamWorks to revive the Shrek franchise.
13.
Chris Meledandri intends to retain the original voice actors, as he pointed out they were perhaps the most memorable parts of the series.
14.
The first film in this collaboration, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, in which Chris Meledandri served as executive producer, was released in December 2022 to universal acclaim and commercial success.
15.
On July 5,2021, it was reported that Chris Meledandri would join Nintendo's board of directors "as an independent and non-executive outside director", to help Nintendo through their filmmaking experience as the company moves towards developing films after Illumination's The Super Mario Bros.
16.
Chris Meledandri is a member of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and is a member of the board of trustees at The Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Connecticut.
17.
Chris Meledandri was married to Leslie Benziger from 2002 to 2016.
18.
Chris Meledandri has two sons, born c 1990 and 1998.