Andrew B. Heyward (born February 19, 1949) is an American
media executive and
animator
An animator is an artist who creates images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, and video games. Animat ...
who is currently CEO of
Kartoon Studios, formerly known as Genius Brands International. He previously worked at defunct animation studio and production company
DIC Entertainment as chairman and CEO.
Early life
Heyward was born in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, New York, the son of Sylvia (née Block) and
Louis M. "Deke" Heyward, who was vice president of development at leading entertainment companies such as
Four Star International and
Barry & Enright Productions, as well as senior vice president for defunct leading cartoon company,
Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ; formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.), simply and commonly known as Hanna-Barbera, was an American animation studio and production company, which was acti ...
.
Professional life
Andy Heyward's upbringing was robust with access to the entertainment elite, including his first start as an assistant for legendary animator
Joe Barbera of Hanna-Barbera on ''
Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics''. In 1986, Heyward took the lead of
DIC Entertainment after he and other investors performed a buyout of majority shares owned by the
Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Télédiffusion (now
RTL Group, owned by
Bertelsmann
The Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA, commonly known as Bertelsmann (), is a German privately held company, private multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation based in Gütersloh, North Rhine-Westphalia, ...
). He subsequently bought the remaining shares owned by
Jean Chalopin, founder of the French company DIC Audiovisuel. Heyward eventually sold a majority interest in DIC to
Capital Cities/ABC in 1993, forming a
limited partnership
A limited partnership (LP) is a type of partnership with general partners, who have a right to manage the business, and limited partners, who have no right to manage the business but have only limited liability for its debts. Limited partnership ...
company called DIC Entertainment L.P. CC/ABC that was later purchased by
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...
in 1996. In 2000, with two venture capital firms, Heyward re-purchased DIC Entertainment.
In 2008, Heyward sold DIC Entertainment to
Cookie Jar Group.
In 2009, he founded A Squared Entertainment (A2) with his wife, Amy. In 2013, the company merged with
Genius Brands to form Genius Brands International (now as Kartoon Studios), with Heyward serving as CEO.
References
External links
*
Kartoon Studios
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heyward, Andy
1949 births
American male television writers
American television writers
Hanna-Barbera people
Living people
Screenwriters from New York (state)
Television producers from New York City
American voice directors