Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri on How a Passion for Art Fuels the Studio, and Why the Animators Are the True Reason Behind Its Success

By Jazz Tangcay

Jazz Tangcay

Artisans Editor

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It’s all about Hollywood magic for Illumination’s CEO Chris Meledandri.

Fresh from graduating from Dartmouth College, the born-and-raised New Yorker landed a job as an assistant to executive producer Daniel Melnick on “Footloose.” It was his first time in California.

“There were a few things for me that really symbolized the magic of what I imagined Hollywood to be. The first was the studio itself,” he says. “It really came to life for me with an assigned parking spot with my name on it, because I was a runner, but that was the symbol of being part of this magical industry.”

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