Film Roman, LLC is an American independent

animation studio An animation studio is a company producing animated media. The broadest such companies conceive of products to produce, own the physical equipment for production, employ operators for that equipment, and hold a major stake in the sales or rentals o ...

currently based in

Woodland Hills, California Woodland Hills is a neighborhood bordering the Santa Monica Mountains in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Geography Woodland Hills is in the southwestern region of the San Fernando Valley, which is located east of Ca ...

and formerly in Burbank. It was previously owned by

Starz Inc. Starz Entertainment LLC., (doing business as Starz Inc., and founded as Encore Movie Group in 1991) is an American entertainment company that owns U.S. pay television channels, including the namesake Starz network, and a media distribution comp ...

, which is now a division of

Lionsgate Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered ...

, and later by

Waterman Entertainment Steve Waterman (born February 27, 1950) is a producer for both movies and television. He was co-producer for ''Casper'' and executive producer for ''Stuart Little'' and ''Stuart Little 2''. He also executive produced the live-action/CGI animated ...

, the production company of producer Steve Waterman. Founded by veteran animator and director

Phil Roman Philip Roman (born December 21, 1930) is an American animator and the director of the ''Peanuts'' and ''Garfield'' animated specials. He is the founder of animation studios Film Roman and Phil Roman Entertainment. Early life Philip Roman was ...

on October 26, 1984, it is best known for providing animation for the ''Garfield'' primetime specials, based on Jim Davis' comic strip of the same name. The studio also produced the animated series ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...

'', ''

The Critic ''The Critic'' was an American primetime adult animated sitcom revolving around the life of New York film critic Jay Sherman, voiced by Jon Lovitz. It was created by writing partners Al Jean and Mike Reiss, who had previously worked as writers a ...

'', ''

King of the Hill ''King of the Hill'' is an American animated sitcom created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It aired its original non-syndicated run from January 12, 1997, to September 13, 2009, and centers on the Hills, an Am ...

'', '' Family Guy'', ''

Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! ''Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!'' is an American children's educational Flash animated television series created by Bob Boyle. The series was produced by Bolder Media (a joint venture of Frederator Studios and the Mixed Media Group) and Starz Media ...

'', ''

The Goode Family ''The Goode Family'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''Goode Family'') is a short-lived American adult animated television sitcom that originally aired on ABC from May 27 to August 7, 2009. The series was created by Mike Judge, the creator of MTV's ' ...

'', and ''

Dan Vs. ''Dan Vs.'' is an American animated television series created by Dan Mandel and Chris Pearson. The series spanned three seasons, airing on The Hub from January 1, 2011, to March 9, 2013. 53 episodes were produced. Plot The show is about Dan, a ...

''.

History

Background

, veteran alumnus of

MGM Animation/Visual Arts MGM Animation/Visual Arts was an American animation studio established in 1962 by animation director/producer Chuck Jones, producer Les Goldman and animator Ken Harris as Sib Tower 12 Productions. Its productions include the last series of ''Tom ...

and

Bill Melendez Productions Melendez Films (formerly Bill Melendez Productions and Melendez Features, Inc.) is a film animation studio. It was founded in 1962 by Steven C. Melendez, the son of ''Peanuts'' animator Bill Melendez. The studio produced the ambitious animated ...

, founded Film Roman on October 26, 1984 as a means to continue the production of the ''Garfield'' television specials, since Melendez's own studio was unable to work on both the ''Peanuts'' and ''Garfield'' specials. ''Peanuts'' executive producers Lee Mendelson and

Bill Melendez José Cuauhtémoc "Bill" Melendez (November 15, 1916 – September 2, 2008) was an American character animator, voice actor, film director and producer. Melendez is known for working on the ''Peanuts'' animated specials. Before ''Peanuts'', he p ...

and their aforementioned studio had produced the first two ''Garfield'' specials, but due to both ''Peanuts'' creator

Charles M. Schulz Charles Monroe "Sparky" Schulz (; November 26, 1922 – February 12, 2000) was an American cartoonist and the creator of the comic strip ''Peanuts'', featuring what are probably his two best-known characters, Charlie Brown and Snoopy. He is wi ...

' and ''Garfield'' creator Jim Davis' concerns about conflicting interests in allocating production priority at Melendez's boutique studio, the production had to be moved. While he was leaving him and Melendez for his already-established studio, Roman was offered the opportunity to produce the next ''Garfield'' prime time special, ''

Garfield in the Rough ''Garfield in the Rough'' is a 1984 American animated television special based on the Garfield comic strip. It once again featured Lorenzo Music as the voice of Garfield. The special was first broadcast October 26, 1984 on CBS. It has been release ...

'' (1984), for

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

by Mendelson, which he accepted and went on to produce and direct all by himself, winning an Emmy in the process.

Formation

In 1985, CBS' head of children's programming Judy Price had commissioned an animated television series based on the ''Garfield'' prime time special series, later ultimately titled ''

Garfield and Friends ''Garfield and Friends'' is an American animated television series based on the comic strip ''Garfield'' by Jim Davis. The show aired on CBS as part of its Saturday morning children's lineup from September 17, 1988 to December 10, 1994. The sho ...

'', which took three years for Roman to decide developing and producing the program before it eventually aired on the network's Saturday morning time slot, premiering on September 17, 1988. The aforementioned show was Film Roman's first regular series. In 1986, in an effort to expand and diversify the studio, Roman hired

Marvel Productions New World Animation Ltd., formerly known as Marvel Productions, was the television and film studio subsidiary of the Marvel Entertainment Group, based in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. It later became a subsidiary of New World Entertainment ...

VP of Business Affairs and his own personal attorney, Michael Wahl, as President and Bill Schultz, Marvel's Director of Development, to join in the company as the fledgling studio's VP of Production and Development. ''Garfield and Friends'' was expanded to an hour on CBS' number one rated Saturday Morning block and the studio grew to increase its capacity. In 1988, the new management team developed, sold and produced a new series, '' Bobby's World'', to the brand new Fox Kids Network, headed up by former

president

Margaret Loesch Margaret Ann Loesch () is an American television executive and producer. She is the former President and CEO of Discovery Communications and Hasbro Inc's joint venture television network Hub Network. On June 12, 2014, she announced that she would ...

. In 1992 to 2016, Film Roman took over the source production 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 ...

's ''

'' from

Klasky-Csupo Klasky-Csupo, Inc. (stylized as KLaSKY CSUPO INC., doing business as Klasky Csupo, ) is an American animation studio located in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1982 by producer Arlene Klasky and Hungarian animator Gábor Csupó (hence ...

who had produced the one-minute teaser cartoon shorts on ''

The Tracey Ullman Show ''The Tracey Ullman Show'' is an American television variety show starring Tracey Ullman. It debuted on Fox on April 5, 1987, the network's second original primetime series to air following '' Married... with Children'', and ran until May 26, ...

'' as well as the animation for the first three seasons and the first two episodes of the fourth season (in total 61 episodes). The studio went on to grow and produce many popular animated series now seen all around the world.

Waterman Entertainment ownership

In 2015, Film Roman was acquired from its parent company

Starz Distribution Starz Distribution (formerly IDT Entertainment and Starz Media) is the motion picture, animation, television, and home video operating unit of Starz Inc., a subsidiary of Lionsgate. Starz Distribution develops, produces, and acquires original ...

, the production company of executive producer Steve Waterman. As such, it now does business with Starz, which owns the company's catalogue. However, Waterman Entertainment closed on December 24, 2015, Film Roman eventually became independent again. On November 22, 2016, the company formed a joint venture based in

Tijuana Tijuana ( ,"Tijuana"
(US) and < ...

, called Film Roman Baja J.V. (also known as Film Roman Baja Productions), with Boxel Studios, a Baja California-based animation facility.

Location

The original studio was located on Riverside Drive in

Toluca Lake, California Toluca Lake is an affluent neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California, located in the San Fernando Valley northwest of downtown. The name is also given to a private natural lake fed by wells and maintained by neighboring property ow ...

, where Roman was also joined by Melendez producer Lee Mendelson. Years later, the studio moved to a new location on Chandler Blvd. in

Studio City Studio City is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California, in the southeast San Fernando Valley, just west of the Cahuenga Pass. It is named after the studio lot that was established in the area by film producer Mack Sennett in 1927, ...

, before settling into another location at Starz Plaza on Hollywood Way in Burbank, which it shared with the former

Hub Network Discovery Family is an American cable television channel co-owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and Hasbro Entertainment. The channel was originally launched by Discovery Communications on October 7, 1996 as Discovery Kids, a spin-off of Discove ...

and

Hasbro Studios Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of K ...

, and finally settling into its present location in Woodland Hills.

Television series

Films/specials

Miscellaneous

* '' Get in Line'' ( Barenaked Ladies music video) * '' Frijolero'' ( Molotov music video) * ''

The Simpsons Game ''The Simpsons Game'' is a 2007 platform game based on the animated television series ''The Simpsons'' made for the Nintendo DS, Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable. The game was published, and distributed by Elec ...

'' (2007, produced by

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the ...

) (cutscenes only) * ''

The Simpsons Ride ''The Simpsons'' Ride is a motion simulator ride located in the Springfield areas of both Universal Studios Florida and Universal Studios Hollywood. Based on the animated television series ''The Simpsons'', the ride was announced in 2007 as a r ...

'' (2008, amusement simulator ride film produced for the attraction of the same name at

Universal Orlando Resort Universal Orlando Resort, commonly known as Universal Orlando or simply Universal, formerly Universal Studios Escape, is an American theme park and entertainment resort complex based in Orlando, Florida. The resort is operated by Universal Pa ...

and

Universal Studios Hollywood Universal Studios Hollywood is a film studio and theme park in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles County, California. About 70% of the studio lies within the unincorporated county island known as Universal City while the rest lies w ...

) * '' The Simpsons: Tapped Out'' (2012, freemium mobile game produced for

Fox Digital Entertainment Fox Digital Entertainment was an American digital content, mobile applications, and video game developer and publisher owned by 20th Century Fox (later rebranded as 20th Century Studios). History Fox Digital Entertainment was formed in 2010 and to ...

and

) (cutscenes only) Commercials * Alpo *

Ask Jeeves Ask.com (originally known as Ask Jeeves) is a question answering–focused e-business founded in 1996 by Garrett Gruener and David Warthen in Berkeley, California. The original software was implemented by Gary Chevsky, from his own design. Wart ...

(2000) (five-minute branding reel) * Burger King (2001–2003) *

Butterfinger Butterfinger is a candy bar manufactured by the Ferrero SpA, a subsidiary of Ferrero. It consists of a layered crisp peanut butter core covered in a chocolatey coating. Invented by Otto Schnering of the Curtiss Candy Company in 1923, the name ...

(1992–1994, 1998–2001, 2007) *

CC's CC's (pronounced ''sea-seas'' and short for “corn chips”) is an Australian brand of flavoured tortilla chips produced since the early 1980s, originally by The Smith's Snackfood Company, and currently by Snack Brands Australia. CC's are predo ...

(1998) *

C.C. Lemon C.C. Lemon is a Japanese soft drink created by Suntory. It is known for its lemon flavor, and for its advertisements featuring characters from the American animated series ''The Simpsons''. It has been sold in Vietnam since 2014. Sizes C.C. L ...

(2000–2002) *

Embassy Suites Hotel Embassy Suites by Hilton is a chain of upper upscale all-suite hotels trademarked by Hilton Worldwide. As of December 31, 2019, there are 257 locations in five countries and territories with 59,712 rooms. Similar to other Hilton brands, 212 E ...

Expedia Expedia Inc. is an online travel agency owned by Expedia Group, an American online travel shopping company based in Seattle. The website and mobile app can be used to book airline tickets, hotel reservations, car rentals, cruise ships, and vacat ...

(2003) * Garfield Fruit Snacks *

General Foods General Foods Corporation was a company whose direct predecessor was established in the United States by Charles William Post as the Postum Cereal Company in 1895. The company changed its name to "General Foods" in 1929, after several corporate ...

Honey Nut Cheerios Honey Nut Cheerios is a variation of Cheerios breakfast cereal, introduced in 1979 by Yandel Gonzalez, who was in the General Mills cereal company. Honey Nut Cheerios is sweeter than the original, with a honey and almond flavor. While Honey Nut ...

(1993) (Garfield ad only) *

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...

(1998) *

Matchbox Phillumeny (also known as phillumenism) is the hobby of collecting different match-related items: matchboxes, matchbox labels, matchbooks, matchcovers, matchsafes, etc. Matchbox A matchbox is a box made of cardboard or thin wood and designe ...

(2002) (CGI sales presentation animated by Forum Visual Effects) *

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washin ...

(2003) *

Mirinda Mirinda is a brand of soft drink originally created in Spain in 1959 and now owned by PepsiCo with global distribution. Its name comes from the Esperanto translation of "admirable" or "amazing". It is available in many fruit varieties, like ...

(2005–2006, 2008) *

Partnership for a Drug-Free America Partnership to End Addiction, first known as the Partnership for a Drug-Free America (PDFA) then later as the Partnership at DrugFree.org, and The Partnership for Drug-Free Kids, is a New York, New York, New York City-based nonprofit, non-profit ...

(2002) *

RC Cola RC Cola (short for Royal Crown Cola) is an American brand of cola invented by Claud A. Hatcher in 1905. Royal Crown Ginger Ale was the first product of the RC Cola line, and it referred to the original ingredient: ginger. More ingredients w ...

(1999) *

SeaWorld SeaWorld is an American theme park chain with headquarters in Orlando, Florida. It is a proprietor of marine mammal parks, oceanariums, animal theme parks, and rehabilitation centers owned by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment (one park will be ...

(1998) * SHO Too (2002) *

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

(1992–1993) * Trix (1991)

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Adult animation studios 1984 establishments in California American animation studios Companies based in Burbank, California Companies based in Los Angeles County, California Entertainment companies based in California Entertainment companies established in 1984 Film production companies of the United States Mass media companies established in 1984 Television production companies of the United States Former Lionsgate subsidiaries 2015 mergers and acquisitions American corporate subsidiaries

History

Background

Formation

Waterman Entertainment ownership

Location

Television series

Films/specials

Miscellaneous

See also

References

External links