Alan Frederick Horn (born February 28, 1943) is an American entertainment industry executive. Horn became President and

COO COO or coo may refer to: Business * Certificate of origin, used in international trade * Chief operating officer or chief operations officer, high-ranking corporate official * Concept of operations, used in Systems Engineering Management Process ...

of Warner Bros. from 1999 to 2012. Horn next served as the chairman of Walt Disney Studios from 2012 to 2020. During his tenure at Disney, Horn also served as the chief creative officer from 2019 to 2021. Horn agreed to depart from Disney, effective December 31, 2021. In July 2022, Horn re-joined Warner Bros., having assumed a new position as a consultant with Warner Bros. Discovery.

Personal life

Horn was raised on

Long Island, New York Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18th ...

, in Riverhead. He graduated from Union College in Schenectady, New York, in 1964. In 1971, he received an MBA from

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

. He was a captain in the United States Air Force. Horn currently lives in the East Gate Bel Air section of Los Angeles, California, with his wife, Cindy Harrell, a former model. They have two daughters, actress

Cody Cody may refer to: People *Cody (given name) *Cody (surname) * Cody (wrestler), a ring name of Cody Runnels Places Canada *Cody, British Columbia United States * Cody, Florida *Cody (Duluth), Minnesota *Cody, Missouri *Cody, Nebraska *Cody, Wyo ...

, and Cassidy.

Career

Horn worked at

Norman Lear Norman Milton Lear (born July 27, 1922) is an American producer and screenwriter, who has produced, written, created, or developed over 100 shows. Lear is known for many popular 1970s sitcoms, including the multi-award winning ''All in the Famil ...

's television production companies, Tandem Productions and

Embassy Communications ELP Communications (formerly known as T.A.T. Communications Company, Embassy Television, Embassy Telecommunications, and Embassy Communications) was an American television production company that originally began in 1974. History Beginning EL ...

, the latter of which he was chairman before becoming president of

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

in October 1986 soon after it was acquired by Rupert Murdoch. He was one of the founders of Castle Rock Entertainment in 1987. There, he oversaw films including '' A Few Good Men'' (1992), '' The Green Mile'' (1999), '' When Harry Met Sally'' (1989), and the TV sitcom ''

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. It aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, over nine seasons and List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It stars Seinfeld as Jerry Seinfeld ( ...

'' (1989–1998). Horn became President and COO of Warner Bros. in 1999, where he ran the studio in partnership with Chairman and CEO Barry Meyer for 12 years. Under Horn's leadership, Warner Bros. had many hits, including the ''Harry Potter'' series (2001–2011) and Christopher Nolan's '' The Dark Knight Trilogy'' (2005–2012). He was also the executive producer on all three films in '' The Hobbit Trilogy''. At age 68, Horn was forced to retire as President and COO of Warner Bros., at the behest of Time Warner Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Bewkes who wanted to groom younger talent to take over at the studio, with Meyer relinquishing his role as studio CEO in March 2013 to be succeeded by Kevin Tsujihara. In 2012, at the urging of The Walt Disney Company chairman and CEO

Bob Iger Robert Allen Iger (; born February 10, 1951) is an American businessman who is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of The Walt Disney Company. He previously served as the President of ABC Television between 1994 and 1995 and the President and Ch ...

, Horn was lured out of retirement to become the chairman of Walt Disney Studios, replacing

Rich Ross Rich Ross is the former Group President of Discovery Channel and Science Channel. Earlier in his tenure at Discovery he also oversaw Animal Planet and Velocity (TV network). Previously he was the Chief Executive Officer of Shine America, respo ...

who had been dismissed from the position after having conflicts with Pixar executives. Horn established a successful working relationship with Pixar,

Marvel Studios Marvel Studios, LLC (originally known as Marvel Films from 1993 to 1996) is an American film and television production company that is a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, a division of the Walt Disney Company. Marvel Studios produces the Mar ...

Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC is an American film and television production company and a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is a business segment of The Walt Disney Company. The studio is best known for creating and producing the ''Star Wars'' and ' ...

, and

20th Century Studios 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...

which operated with great autonomy under Disney's overall ownership, while also overseeing strong box office releases from Walt Disney Pictures and Walt Disney Animation Studios. In 2017, he said of his past professional success:

I have this ... theory that whoever is working in a job deserves to stay ... unless they prove that they don't deserve to be in the job.

On May 1, 2019, Horn was given the added title of chief creative officer (CCO) of Walt Disney Studios. In December 2020, it was announced that effective January 1, 2021, Alan Bergman would become the new chairman of the Walt Disney Studios while Horn would remain as the studios' chief creative officer. In October 2021, it was announced that Horn would be retiring for a second time at the end of the year, and his position would likely not be filled. In July 2022, it was reported that Horn would assume a new position with Warner Bros. Discovery. Starting August 1, 2022, Horn began serving as a consultant to the company during its transitionary period following the acquisition of Warner Bros. by

Discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery ...

References

External links

Corporate Bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Horn, Alan F. American chief executives in the media industry American media executives Living people Union College (New York) alumni Disney executives American film studio executives Chairmen of The Walt Disney Company 20th Century Studios people Warner Bros. people People from Long Island 20th-century American Jews Harvard Business School alumni Businesspeople from New York City 21st-century American businesspeople 20th-century American businesspeople 1943 births American independent film production company founders 21st-century American Jews