Jane Hartwell | |
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Occupation | Film producer |
Years active | 1987–present |
Jane Hartwell is an American film producer, as well as a variety of other filmography positions. She is known for her work in animation, most notably for The Croods . She received two award nominations for The Croods: the Producers Guild of America Award [1] and the Visual Effects Society award. [2]
Hartwell graduated from Barnard College. San Francisco's Colossal Pictures in 1987 is where she started here career in production. She then spent four years working on multiple different commercial productions, and Italian documentaries in Rome. While her time in Rome, Hartwell worked on the filming of Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather Part III. When Hartwell moved back to the United States, she went back to work for Colossal Pictures as a production manager and producer for multiple commercials. She then worked the film James and the Giant Peach as the associate production manager.[ citation needed ] For the company's first CG animated film, Antz , Hartwell worked as the production manager. She then became the associate producer for Shrek . [3] In 2001, DreamWorks Studio in Glendale, California, promoted Hartwell to Head of Digital Production to accommodate the plans of the studio's growth. Hartwell also helped lead the company transition from traditional 2D animation to computer generated animation. [4] There Hartwell produced The Croods with Kristine Belson under two directors. Hartwell used 3D to try to engage viewers by using 3D animation throughout the production of the movie. [5]
Shrek 2 is a 2004 American animated fantasy comedy film loosely based on the 1990 children's picture book Shrek! by William Steig. Directed by Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury, and Conrad Vernon from a screenplay by Adamson, Joe Stillman, and the writing team of J. David Stem and David N. Weiss, it is the sequel to Shrek (2001) and the second installment in the Shrek film series. The film stars Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz, who reprise their respective voice roles of Shrek, Donkey, and Princess Fiona. They are joined by new characters voiced by Antonio Banderas, Julie Andrews, John Cleese, Rupert Everett, and Jennifer Saunders. Shrek 2 takes place following the events of the first film, with Shrek and Donkey meeting Fiona's parents as the zealous Fairy Godmother, who wants Fiona to marry her son Prince Charming, plots to destroy Shrek and Fiona's marriage. Shrek and Donkey team up with a sword-wielding cat named Puss in Boots to foil her plans.
Conrad Vernon is an American voice actor, director, producer, writer, and storyboard artist best known for his work on the DreamWorks animated film series Shrek as well as other films such as Monsters vs. Aliens, Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, and Penguins of Madagascar. He also co-directed non-DreamWorks animated films such as Sony Pictures' Sausage Party and MGM’s The Addams Family.
DreamWorks Animation LLC (DWA) (also known as DreamWorks Animation Studios or simply DreamWorks) is an American animation studio owned by Universal Pictures, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The studio has released a total of 49 feature films, including several of the highest-grossing animated films of all time, with Shrek 2 (2004) having been the highest at the time of its release. Its first film, Antz, was released on October 2, 1998, and its latest film, The Wild Robot, was released on September 27, 2024. They have an upcoming theatrical slate of films, which includes Dog Man on January 31, 2025, The Bad Guys 2 on August 1, 2025, Gabby's Dollhouse: The Movie on September 26, 2025, and Shrek 5 on July 1, 2026.
William Damaschke is an American film executive and producer who currently serves as the president of Warner Bros. Pictures Animation. Previously, he had spent 20 years at DreamWorks Animation, most recently as Chief Creative Officer, where he was involved in the creative, artistic, and operational direction of the company. His tenure oversaw the release of some of the company's big franchise films, including Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, How to Train Your Dragon and The Croods. He also oversaw all of DreamWorks's live theatrical productions, including the award-winning Shrek the Musical. Damaschke’s other projects as a producer include the Broadway musical The Prom, directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw, which played at the Longacre Theatre from 15 November 2018 to 11 August 2019; the Broadway-bound musical Half Time, directed and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell, which was presented at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Spring of 2018; and the stage adaptation of Moulin Rouge, directed by Alex Timbers, on which Damaschke serves as executive producer. He was also formerly the president of Skydance Animation.
Sony Pictures Animation Inc. is an American animation studio owned by Sony Entertainment's Sony Pictures Entertainment through their Motion Picture Group division and founded on May 9, 2002. The studio is based in Culver City, California. Most of the studio's films are distributed worldwide by Sony Pictures Releasing under their Columbia Pictures label, while direct-to-video releases are released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
Pacific Data Images (PDI) was an American visual effects and computer animation production company based in Redwood City, California, that was bought by DreamWorks SKG in 2000. It was renamed PDI/DreamWorks and was owned by DreamWorks Animation.
Simon Finlay Wells is an English film director of animation and live-action films. He is the great-grandson of author H. G. Wells, and is best known for directing The Prince of Egypt with Brenda Chapman and Steve Hickner.
Aron J. Warner is an American film producer, screenwriter, and voice actor, best known for producing the Shrek films. He was known as the first person to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
Jill Culton is an American animator, storyboard artist, director, and screenwriter. With her directorial debut on Sony's first animated film, Open Season, she became the first female principal director of a big budget, computer-generated feature.
Teresa Cheng is an animation producer specifically skilled in computer graphics and most famously known for her work on Shrek Forever After, Madagascar, Batman & Robin, and True Lies. She has worked with major agencies such as Warner Brothers Studios, DreamWorks, assumed the role of general manager for Lucasfilm Animation, and most recently has become chair of the John C. Hench Division of Animation and Digital Arts at the USC School of Cinematic Arts.
Shrek is a 2001 American animated fantasy comedy film loosely based on the 1990 children's picture book of the same name by William Steig. Directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson and written by Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Joe Stillman, and Roger S. H. Schulman, it is the first installment in the Shrek film series. The film stars Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, and John Lithgow. In the film, an embittered ogre named Shrek (Myers) finds his home in the swamp overrun by fairy tale creatures banished by the obsessive ruler Lord Farquaad (Lithgow). With the help of Donkey (Murphy), Shrek makes a pact with Farquaad to rescue Princess Fiona (Diaz) in exchange for regaining control of his swamp.
Christopher Meledandri is an American film producer and founder and CEO of Illumination. He previously served as President of 20th Century Fox Animation, and has worked as the producer for the film series of Ice Age, Despicable Me, The Secret Life of Pets and Sing. In 2021, he joined Nintendo's board of directors after working with the video game company on The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Meledandri also collaborates with Illumination's corporate sibling DreamWorks Animation on reviving the Shrek franchise.
The Croods is a 2013 American animated adventure comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by 20th Century Fox. The film was directed by Chris Sanders and Kirk DeMicco, both of whom also wrote the screenplay and were credited with conceiving the story alongside John Cleese. The film stars the voices of Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds, Catherine Keener, Clark Duke, and Cloris Leachman. The film is set in a fictional prehistoric Pliocene era known as "The Croodaceous" when Grug, patriarch of the Croods, is threatened by the arrival of a genius named Guy, who comes up with revolutionary new inventions as they trek through a dangerous but exotic land in search of a new home.
Simon James Smith is a British animator, film director, and voice actor. He is best known for his work at DreamWorks Animation. Smith came to PDI/DreamWorks in 1997 as head of layout for the company's feature film division. A CG animation veteran with nearly 35 years of experience, Smith supervised the layout department on PDI/DreamWorks' first animated feature Antz, serving as the Head of Layout in Shrek. He then directed the Universal Studios Theatre experience Shrek 4-D, followed by the short Far Far Away Idol. His first feature film as a director was in 2007, with Bee Movie. He then directed another DVD short, Megamind: The Button of Doom, before co-directing, with Eric Darnell, the comedy/spy action spin-off from the Madagascar series, Penguins of Madagascar, the mini series "Baymax Dreams" for Disney, and is executive producer "Batwheels" for Warner Bros.
The Croods: A New Age is a 2020 American animated adventure comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Universal Pictures. The sequel to The Croods (2013) as well as the second installment of The Croods franchise, it was directed by Joel Crawford from a screenplay by Paul Fisher, Bob Logan, and the writing team of Dan and Kevin Hageman, based on a story by Kirk DeMicco and Chris Sanders. The film features the returning voices of Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds, Catherine Keener, Clark Duke, and Cloris Leachman. The film also makes new additions to the cast, including Peter Dinklage, Leslie Mann, and Kelly Marie Tran. The film follows the Croods, Guy, and their pets Belt, Chunky, and Douglas as they discover an idyllic, walled-in paradise that meets all of their needs. Unfortunately, they must also learn to live with the Bettermans, a family a couple of steps above the Croods on the evolutionary ladder.
Mehrdad Raissi Ardali, born 17 October 1978) is a prolific Iranian voice actor, dubbing director, founder, director, CEO and Quality Control Manager of Glory Entertainment. He has also provided Persian voices for several animation characters, including famous characters such as Donkey in Shrek, Marty in Madagascar, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa and Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, Buck in Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Bolt in Bolt, Carl Fredricksen in Up, Flynn Rider in Tangled, The Once-ler in The Lorax, RJ in Over the Hedge, Francesco Bernoulli in Cars 2, Mr. Ping in Kung fu Panda, Ramon in Happy Feet 2, The Man in the Yellow Hat in Curious George, Raoul in A Monster in Paris, Kevin in Ben 10 Ultimate Alien: Cosmic Destruction, Barry in Bee Movie, Bunnymund in Rise of the Guardians, Guy in The Croods and Kristoff in Frozen.
Kristine Belson is a film producer and the president of Sony Pictures Animation.
Nancy Bernstein was an American visual effects producer at Digital Domain and later Head of Production at DreamWorks Animation. She produced DreamWorks' 2012 film Rise of the Guardians.