Gary Goddard (born July 18, 1954) is an American producer and director who co-founded the

Landmark Entertainment Group Landmark Entertainment Group is a global entertainment design firm based in Los Angeles, California, United States, that creates theme parks, theme park attractions, live entertainment productions, and virtual reality attractions. Co-founded by G ...

. In 2002, he left it to form Gary Goddard Entertainment (GGE), later known as the Goddard Group, an entertainment design firm based in

North Hollywood, Los Angeles North Hollywood is a neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, located in the San Fernando Valley. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, the El Portal Theatre, several art galleries, and the Academy of TV Arts and Sciences. The North ...

, California. The firm reorganized, changed ownership, and was rebranded Legacy Entertainment in 2018 after Goddard left the company following accusations of sexual assault.

Arts career

Theater

Goddard has produced several shows on and off-

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

, including the 2009 revival of ''

Hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and fi ...

'' (

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual c ...

winner, Best Revival of a Musical), Neil LaBute's '' reasons to be pretty'' (

nominee, Best Play), ''

Jekyll & Hyde ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' is a 1886 Gothic novella by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. It follows Gabriel John Utterson, a London-based legal practitioner who investigates a series of strange occurrences between his old ...

'', ''

Jesus Christ Superstar ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Gospels' accounts of the Passion, the work interprets the psychology of Jesus and other characters, with ...

'' (one-night concert event), ''

The Wiz ''The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical "Wonderful Wizard of Oz"'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls (and others) and book by William F. Brown. It is a retelling of L. Frank Baum's children's novel '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' ...

'' at

Encores! Encores! is a Tony-honored concert series dedicated to performing rarely heard American musicals, usually with their original orchestrations. Presented by New York City Center since 1994, Encores! has revived shows by Irving Berlin, Rodgers & ...

, among others.

Film

Goddard directed the 1987 movie ''

Masters of the Universe ''Masters of the Universe'' (sometimes referred to as the ''He-Man'' or '' She-Ra'' series) is a sword and planet-themed media franchise created by Mattel. The main premise revolves around the conflict between He-Man (the alter ego of Prince A ...

''. Goddard had developed ''Broadway 4D'', a proposed American

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as brea ...

to be written and directed by Goddard with

Bryan Singer Bryan Jay Singer (born September 17, 1965) is an American filmmaker. He is the founder of Bad Hat Harry Productions and has produced almost all of the films he has directed. After graduating from the University of Southern California, Singer ...

. Produced by Nigel Wright and

Bad Hat Harry Productions Bad Hat Harry Productions is an American film and television production company founded in 1994 by director Bryan Singer. It has produced such films as ''The Usual Suspects'' and the ''X-Men'' film series, as well as the television series ''Hous ...

, the film was in 2014 expected to star

Christina Aguilera Christina María Aguilera (; ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and television personality. Known for her four-octave vocal range and ability to sustain high notes, she has been referred to as the " Voice of ...

Hugh Jackman Hugh Michael Jackman (born 12 October 1968) is an Australian actor. Beginning in theatre and television, he landed his breakthrough role as James "Logan" Howlett / Wolverine in the 20th Century Fox ''X-Men'' film series (2000–2017), a role ...

Matthew Morrison Matthew James Morrison (born October 30, 1978) is an American actor, dancer and singer-songwriter, best known for his role as Will Schuester on the Fox television show '' Glee'' (2009–2015). He has starred in multiple Broadway and Off-Broadw ...

Harvey Fierstein Harvey Forbes Fierstein ( ; born June 6, 1952) is an American actor, playwright and screenwriter. He is best known for his theater work in '' Torch Song Trilogy'' and '' Hairspray'' and movie roles in '' Mrs. Doubtfire'', ''Independence Day'', an ...

Lea Salonga Maria Lea Carmen Imutan Salonga (; born February 22, 1971), known professionally as Lea Salonga, is a Filipino singer, actress, and columnist. Nicknamed "Pride of the Philippines," she is best known for her roles in musical theatre, for supplyi ...

, and George Katt. It was to be shot in

Brooklyn, New York City Brooklyn () is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county i ...

with a budget of $60 million to $90 million.

Television

Goddard has created several television shows, including '' Captain Power'', ''

Mega Babies ''Mega Babies'' is an animated children's television series created by the Tremblay brothers, Christian and Yvon, who previously had made the Hanna-Barbera show '' SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron''. It is produced by CinéGroupe and Landmark Enter ...

'', and ''

Skeleton Warriors ''Skeleton Warriors'' is a 13-episode cartoon series created by Landmark Entertainment Group, which originally aired in 1994 on CBS. The show was created by producer Gary Goddard. Summary The story takes place on the fictional distant planet ...

''.

Entertainment designer

Goddard co-founded

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, in 1980. The firm designs theme parks, live entertainment and other visitor attractions, in the United States and other countries. In 2002, he left Landmark and formed the Goddard Group design firm, which was rebranded Legacy Entertainment after he left the company in 2018.

Sexual assault allegations

In April 2014, Goddard and frequent film collaborator

, along with several other filmmakers, were sued by actor Michael Egan III, who alleged that they had

sexual assault Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, which ...

ed him when he was a minor and had videotaped some of the assaults. Egan withdrew his lawsuit against Goddard in June 2014. By August of that year, he had dismissed his lawsuits against all of the other defendants as well. On November 10, 2017, actor Anthony Edwards wrote an essay on ''

Medium Medium may refer to: Science and technology Aviation * Medium bomber, a class of war plane * Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design Communication * Media (communication), tools used to store and deliver information or data * Medium ...

'' in which he alleged that Goddard molested him and raped his best friend "for years" starting when they were 12 years old. Speaking on behalf of Goddard, his publicist denied the allegations. Brian Claflin, an aspiring artist and fashion designer from

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

, accused Goddard of a 1999 sexual assault at his

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. ...

residence; Claflin died by suicide in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

in 2014.A notorious mansion. An alleged assault by a Hollywood producer. A suicide. What happened to Brian Claflin?
Garcia-Roberts, Gus. ''Los Angeles Times''. May 11, 2018. Retrieved May 12, 2018.

Filmography

* Monster Plantation (

dark ride A dark ride or ghost train is an indoor amusement ride on which passengers aboard guided vehicles travel through specially lit scenes that typically contain animation, sound, music and special effects. Appearing as early as the 19th century, su ...

) * Jurassic Park: The Ride (dark ride) *'' T2 3-D: Battle Across Time'' (3D film) * The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man (dark ride) *'' Hershey's Really Big 3D Show'' (3D film) *'' Deepo's Undersea 3D Wondershow'' (3D film) *'' Tarzan the Ape Man'' *''

'' (director)

References

External links

*
The Goddard Group homepage

Goddard Film Group homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goddard, Gary 1954 births Living people Disney imagineers People from Blythe, California Film directors from California Six Flags people