Stan Kinsey is a former

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

executive and co-founder of Iwerks Entertainment, along with

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology), ...

winner and

Disney Legend The Disney Legends Awards is a Hall of Fame program that recognizes individuals who have made an extraordinary and integral contribution to The Walt Disney Company. Established in 1987, the honor was traditionally awarded annually during a spec ...

Don Iwerks. Kinsey is best known as a visionary who sought to take

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Disney Stud ...

in the direction of computer animated films (chronicled in the books '' Disney War'' and ''The Pixar Touch'').

Career

Originally from Indiana, Stan Kinsey completed his undergrad studies at

DePauw University DePauw University is a private liberal arts university in Greencastle, Indiana. It has an enrollment of 1,972 students. The school has a Methodist heritage and was originally known as Indiana Asbury University. DePauw is a member of both the ...

Greencastle, Indiana Greencastle is a city in Greencastle Township, Putnam County, Indiana, United States, and the county seat of Putnam County. It was founded in 1821 by Ephraim Dukes on a land grant. He named the settlement for his hometown of Greencastle, Pennsyl ...

and received his MBA at Stanford University. Kinsey was in the same class as

Scott McNealy Scott McNealy (born November 13, 1954) is an American businessman. He is most famous for co-founding the computer technology company Sun Microsystems in 1982 along with Vinod Khosla, Bill Joy, and Andy Bechtolsheim. In 2004, while still at Sun, ...

Sun Microsystems Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Sun for short) was an American technology company that sold computers, computer components, software, and information technology services and created the Java programming language, the Solaris operating system, ZFS, ...

fame. At Disney, young Kinsey was a considered a "golden boy" by top Disney executives

Frank Wells Franklin G. Wells (March 4, 1932 – April 3, 1994) was an American businessman who served as president of The Walt Disney Company from 1984 until his death in 1994. Life and career Wells was born in Coronado, California and traced his ancestry ...

and Ron W. Miller. Kinsey had thrived running the Operations and New Technology group, and was Disney's chief technologist under executive Ron Miller. He championed the direction toward films created using computer animation. He saw the potential of computer animation and wanted the company to purchase

Pixar Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Californ ...

, a collaborator and supplier of high-end computer hardware for the secretive Computer Animation Production System (

CAPS Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

) project. Kinsey believed the

could "return Disney animation to its glory days by developing new computer technology." However, he was to be overruled by Miller's replacement and new chairman of Disney's film division,

Jeffrey Katzenberg Jeffrey Katzenberg (; born December 21, 1950) is an American filmmaker, animator, and media proprietor. He became well known for his tenure as chairman of Walt Disney Studios from 1984 to 1994. After departing Disney, he was a co-founder and ...

. Katzenberg and

Michael Eisner Michael Dammann Eisner (born March 7, 1942) is an American businessman and former chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of The Walt Disney Company from September 1984 to September 2005. Prior to Disney, Eisner was president of rival film st ...

had brought a new culture to the Disney company as profiled in the book '' Disney War''. Kinsey continued to clash with Katzenberg and eventually left the company in 1985. After the departure of Kinsey from Disney, Katzenberg relented and continued the partnership with Pixar and development of the

championed by Kinsey. The evolution of

and Pixar resulted in the great success envisioned by Kinsey. An

for Scientific and Engineering Achievement was awarded in 1992 to the team that developed the CAPS system. Pixar became the

Pixar Animation Studios Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Califor ...

, which went on to win 26

academy awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

, 7

Golden Globes The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

, and 3

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

, and generate over $6.3 billion worldwide in revenue by the early 2000s. (The Walt Disney Company did purchase Pixar Animation Studios outright on January 24, 2006 for 7.4 billion.) Kinsey left Disney in 1985 and founded Iwerks Entertainment with Disney Legend Don Iwerks. Iwerks Entertainment became well known as a leading developer of special films, venues, and virtual reality theaters throughout the world. He was Chairman and CEO of Iwerks for 10 years. Kinsey left Iwerks in 1995 and became CEO of entertainment technology company called NTN Buzztime, an interactive television company. The company was known for its bar trivia online games. He was Chairman and CEO of NTN for 10 years. Kinsey became CEO of Nigel Power LLC in 2005, a manufacturer of

wireless communications Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the transfer of information between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided medium for the transfer. The most ...

equipment based in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

. Kinsey built and moved the company forward, incorporating in 2006 and becoming an acquisition and subsidiary of Qualcomm in 2009. Kinsey is currently an advisor with Board-level responsibilities to multiple companies.

References

External links

SimEx-Iwerks Entertainment
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kinsey, Stan People from Indiana Corporate executives Living people DePauw University alumni Year of birth missing (living people)