Film Roman

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Film Roman, LLC
TypeIndependent
IndustryAnimation, motion pictures, television
FoundedOctober 26, 1984; 36 years ago (1984-10-26)
FounderPhil Roman
HeadquartersWoodland Hills, California, United States
Key people
  • Steve Waterman (CEO)
  • Phil Roman
  • (chairman emeritus)
  • Dana Booton
  • (president of production)[1]
ProductsGarfield television specials
DivisionsFilm Roman Baja J.V.
Phil Roman Entertainment
Websitefilmroman.com
Film Roman's former headquarters in Burbank

Film Roman LLC is an American animation studio Based in Burbank, California, It was originally owned by Starz Inc., which is now a division of Lionsgate, and later by Waterman Entertainment, the production company of producer Steve Waterman.[2] Founded by veteran animator and director Phil Roman in 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, King of the Hill, and Family Guy.[3]

History[]

Background[]

Phil Roman, veteran alumnus of MGM Animation/Visual Arts and Bill Melendez Productions, founded Film Roman in 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 and their aforementioned studio had produced the first two Garfield specials, but due to both Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz' 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 (1984), for CBS 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, 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 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 Marvel Productions president Margaret Loesch. In 1992 to 2016, Film Roman took over the source production of 20th Century Fox's The Simpsons from Klasky-Csupo who had produced the one-minute teaser cartoon shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show as well as the animation for the first three seasons and the first two episodes of the fourth season (in total 61 episodes).[4][5] 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 by Waterman Entertainment, the production company of executive producer Steve Waterman. As such, it now does business with Starz, which owns the company's catalogue.[1] When Waterman Entertainment closed on December 24, 2015, Film Roman became independent again.[citation needed]

On November 22, 2016, the company formed a joint venture based in Tijuana, called Film Roman Baja J.V. (also known as Film Roman Baja Productions), with Boxel Studios, a Baja California-based animation facility.[6]

Location[]

The original studio was located on Riverside Drive in Toluca Lake, California, 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, before settling into another location at Starz Plaza on Hollywood Way in Burbank, which it shared with the former Hub Network and Hasbro Studios, and finally settling into its present location in Woodland Hills.

Television series[]

Show Creator(s) Year(s) Co-production(s) Notes
Garfield and Friends Jim Davis 1988–1994 United Media (Season 1)
United Media/Mendelson (Seasons 2–3)
United Media/Lee Mendelson Productions (Seasons 4–6)
Lee Mendelson Productions (Season 7)
Paws, Inc. 		Now owned by ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks;[7] currently licensed to 9 Story Media Group
Bobby's World Howie Mandel 1990–1998 Alevy Productions
Fox Children's Productions 		Currently distributed by Splash Entertainment
Zazoo U Shane DeRolf 1990–1991 Fox Children's Productions Currently distributed by Disney–ABC Home Entertainment and Television Distribution
Mother Goose and Grimm Mike Peters 1991–1993 Tribune Media Services
Grimmy, Inc.
Lee Mendelson Productions (owner)
MGM Television
Animated Classic Showcase 1993–1994 Soyuzmultfilm
Cro Mark Zaslove Children's Television Workshop (owner)
Mighty Max Mark Zaslove
Rob Hudnut
The Baby Huey Show Bob Jaques 1995 Harveytoons
Claster Television 		Season 2 only
Currently distributed by NBCUniversal Television Distribution
The Mask: Animated Series Duane Capizzi 1995–1997 Sunbow Entertainment
New Line Television
Dark Horse Entertainment 		Currently distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution
The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat Pat Sullivan
Otto Messmer 		Currently distributed by NBCUniversal Television Distribution
C Bear and Jamal Earl Richey Jones
Todd R. Jones 		1996–1997
Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm Sean Catherine Derek 1996 Threshold Entertainment
New Line Television 		Currently distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution
Richie Rich Timothy Williams Harveytoons
Claster Television 		Currently distributed by NBCUniversal Television Distribution
Bruno the Kid Joel Madison 1996–1997
Free For All Brett Merhar 2003 Showtime Networks (owner)
Eloise: The Animated Series Kay Thompson
Hilary Knight 		2006 Anchor Bay Entertainment
HandMade Films
Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! Bob Boyle 2006-2010 Bolder Media
Slacker Cats Andy Riley
Kevin Cecil 		2007–2009 Will Vinton Studios/Laika
ABC Family Original Productions (owner)
Dan Vs. Dan Mendel
Chris Pearson 		2011–2013 The Hatchery
  • This Modern World by Tom Tomorrow (TBA)
  • Heathcliff (TBA)
  • The Untamed (TBA)

Subcontracted from others:

for 20th Television/Animation:

Show Creator(s) Year(s) Notes
The Simpsons[1] Matt Groening 1992–2016 Seasons 4–27 only
King of the Hill[8] Mike Judge 1997–2010
Family Guy[8] Seth MacFarlane 1999–2000 Seasons 1–2 only

for Marvel Animation:

Show Creator(s) Year(s) Notes
X-Men: Evolution Marty Isenberg
Robert N. Skir
David Wise 		2000–2003 Currently owned by Marvel Entertainment
The Super Hero Squad Show Stan Lee 2009–2011
The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes Ciro Nieli
Joshua Fine
Christopher Yost 		2010–2012 Currently distributed by Disney–ABC Home Entertainment and Television Distribution
Ultimate Spider-Man Marvel Animation 2012–2017
Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. Paul Dini
Henry Gilroy
Marvel Animation 		2014–2015

with other studios:

Puppet/CGI shows:

Television specials[]

Garfield specials[]

Other specials[]

  • The Pink Panther (1989) (unreleased live-action/animated pilot)
  • Nick & Noel (1993)
  • A Cool Like That Christmas (1994)
  • The Bears Who Saved Christmas (1994)
  • Izzy's Quest for Olympic Gold (1995)
  • The Story of Santa Claus (1996) (co-production with Arnold Sharpio and CBS Productions)
  • The Magic Pearl (1997)
  • Puss in Boots (1997)
  • Super Bowl XXXIII (1999) (The Simpsons short)
  • Johnny Tsunami (1999) (live-action)
  • Hairballs (2000) (Unsold TV series pilot created by Mr. Lawrence)
  • Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer (2000)
  • Motocrossed (2001) (live-action)
  • The Santa Claus Brothers (2001)

Films[]

Direct-to-video[]

Theatrical features[]

Upcoming[]

Special effects for other films[]

Miscellaneous[]

  • Get in Line (Barenaked Ladies music video)
  • Frijolero (Molotov music video)
  • The Simpsons Game (2007, produced by Electronic Arts) (cutscenes only)
  • The Simpsons Ride (2008, amusement simulator ride film produced for the attraction of the same name at Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood)
  • The Simpsons: Tapped Out (2012, freemium mobile game produced for Fox Digital Entertainment and Electronic Arts) (cutscenes only)

Commercials

  • Alpo
  • Ask Jeeves (2000) (five-minute branding reel)
  • Burger King (2001-2003)
  • Butterfinger (1992-1994, 1998-2001, 2007)
  • CC's (1998)
  • C.C. Lemon (2000-2002)
  • Embassy Suites Hotel
  • Expedia (2003)
  • Garfield Fruit Snacks[11]
  • General Foods
  • Honey Nut Cheerios (1993) (Garfield ad only)[12]
  • Matchbox (2002) (CGI sales presentation animated by Forum Visual Effects)
  • Microsoft (2003)
  • Mirinda (2005-2006, 2008)
  • Partnership for a Drug-Free America (2002)
  • RC Cola (1999)
  • SeaWorld (1998)
  • SHO Too (2002)[13]
  • Toyota (1992-1993)
  • Trix (1991)

Web series[]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c McNary, Dave (November 12, 2015). "'Simpsons' Animator Film Roman Bought by Waterman Entertainment". Variety. Retrieved May 17, 2017.
  2. ^ McNary, Dave (12 November 2015). "'Simpsons' Animator Film Roman Bought by Waterman Entertainment". Variety. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  3. ^ Hofmeister, Sallie (April 2, 1998). "COMPANY TOWN; Drawing on Creativity; A Struggling Film Roman Tries to Reanimate Itself". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-12-23.
  4. ^ Kirkland, Mark (2004). The Simpsons The Complete Fourth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Kamp Krusty" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  5. ^ Bernstein, Sharon (1992-01-21). "'The Simpsons' Producer Changes Animation Firms". The Los Angeles Times. p. 18. Retrieved 2011-08-24.
  6. ^ N'Duka, Amanda (21 November 2016). "Film Roman Teams With Boxel Studios To Form Film Roman Baja J.V." deadline.com.
  7. ^ "'Garfield': Viacom Acquiring Classic Cartoon Property; Nickelodeon Preps Animated Series". deadline.com. August 9, 2019.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Film Roman, Boxel Studios form animation JV in Mexico". kidscreen.com.
  9. ^ "Film Roman To Produce Animation For The Man Show". June 5, 2001.
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b "AdamKlein_resume.qxd" (PDF).
  11. ^ http://www.rcartwerks.com/RCArtwerks/CREDITS.html
  12. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7fTXS_yR6U
  13. ^ "Film Roman Gets Shagged For Sho Too". May 29, 2002.
  14. ^ Head, Steve (May 6, 2003). "Angels Ready for Animated Debut". IGN. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  15. ^ "WWE Studios Film Roman Announce Camp WWE Animated Web Series". WWE. Archived from the original on 2018-07-07. Retrieved 2020-01-15.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)

External links[]

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