Norman J. Grossfeld | |
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Born | New York City, New York, U.S. | December 15, 1963
Education | New York University – Tisch School of the Arts |
Occupation(s) | Television executive, record producer, director, producer and screenwriter |
Known for | Pokémon Yu-Gi-Oh! |
Norman J. Grossfeld (born December 15, 1963) is an American director, television producer, record producer, screenwriter and media executive. From February 1994 [1] to December 2009, he was the president of 4Kids Productions, a former subsidiary of 4Kids Entertainment and Leisure Concepts. He produced the English adaptations of the first eight seasons of the Pokémon TV series and five seasons of Yu-Gi-Oh! . He produced five seasons of the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles , five Pokémon movies, and one Yu-Gi-Oh! movie for 4KidsTV. [2] In addition to producing and executive producing, Grossfeld co-wrote most of the Pokémon films, which grossed over $600 million worldwide. [3] Grossfeld is credited with writing the Pokémon franchise's tagline, "Gotta catch 'em all!" [4] He was also an executive producer for the anime One Piece . [5] [6]
An accomplished lyricist and musician, Grossfeld contributed to several tracks on the Pokémon 2.B.A. Master soundtrack album, the first released for the English localization of the Pokémon anime. The album was a commercial success, rising to the top of the US Billboard Kids Albums Chart and garnering RIAA Gold certification with over 500,000 units sold. [7] He also wrote both the main and ending theme songs for Sonic X and Kirby: Right Back at Ya! , and the English ending theme song to Pokémon: Jirachi Wish Maker .
Grossfeld also developed and co-wrote the successful stage adaptation of the Pokémon series, which premiered at Radio City Music Hall and toured the United States and Canada in late 2000 to early 2001. [8]
Before his role as president of 4Kids, Grossfeld was a producer and director at Television Programming Enterprises from 1988 to 1991, worked at NBC Sports from 1991 to 1992 as a coordinating director, and spent 1992 through 1994 as president of the television production company Gold Coast Television Entertainment. [2]
Grossfeld broke new ground in reality television with NBC's InSport, a show that set the stage for sports magazine series now on the air. Grossfeld has also produced, written and/or directed a variety of television programs, including Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous hosted by Robin Leach. [9]
A member of the Directors Guild of America, Grossfeld directed coverage of several Olympic Games for NBC, including the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta and the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano. In 1996, Grossfeld won the International Olympic Committee's highest honor, the Golden Rings, for his direction of the live sports coverage of the 1996 Olympic Games. [9]
Year | Title | Role |
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1999 | Pokémon: The First Movie | Writer, producer [11] [12] [5] [6] |
2000 | Pokémon: The Movie 2000 | Writer, producer [6] [13] |
2001 | Pokémon 3: The Movie | Writer, [14] producer [6] [15] |
2002 | Pokémon 4Ever | Writer, [5] executive producer [16] |
2003 | Pokémon Heroes | Executive producer [17] |
2004 | Pokémon: Jirachi Wish Maker | Writer, [6] producer, ending theme songwriter |
Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: Pyramid of Light | Writer, executive producer [6] [18] | |
2005 | Pokémon: Destiny Deoxys | Writer, producer [6] |
Year | Title | Role |
---|---|---|
1986 | Fame, Fortune & Romance | Director [5] [6] |
1987 | Runaway With the Rich and Famous | Director [5] [6] |
1988 | Rich and Famous 1988 World's Best | Associate producer [5] [6] |
1988 | Masters of the Martial Arts Presented by Wesley Snipes | Writer [6] |
1993 | Campbell's Portrait of a Teacher | Field producer [5] [6] |
1995 | WMAC Masters | Executive producer [19] |
1998 | Pokémon | Writer, executive producer, [5] [6] songwriter [20] |
2001 | Cubix | Writer, executive producer, theme songwriter [5] [6] |
Yu-Gi-Oh! | Executive producer, [5] [6] songwriter [21] | |
2002 | Kirby: Right Back at Ya! | Executive producer, theme songwriter |
2003 | Sonic X | Executive producer, theme songwriter |
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles | Executive producer, theme songwriter [22] | |
2004 | One Piece | Executive producer [5] [6] |
2005 | Winx Club | Executive producer |
2006 | Viva Pinata | Executive producer |
2008 | Adventures in Voice Acting | Interviewee |
4Kids TV was an American television programming block and Internet-based video on demand children's network operated by 4Kids Entertainment. It originated as a weekly block on Saturday mornings on the Fox network, which was created out of a four-year agreement reached on January 22, 2002, between 4Kids Entertainment and Fox to lease the five-hour Saturday morning time slot occupied by the network's existing children's program block, Fox Kids. It was targeted at children aged 7–11. The 4Kids TV block was part of the Fox network schedule, although it was syndicated to other broadcast television stations in certain markets where a Fox affiliate declined to air it.
Kids' WB was an American children's programming block that originally aired on The WB from September 9, 1995, to September 16, 2006, and later on The CW from September 23, 2006, to May 17, 2008. Initially launched as a competitor to Fox Kids, Kids' WB aired primarily during the Saturday morning and weekday after-school time slots, although airtimes for the block's programming varied at the local affiliate's discretion.
4Kids Entertainment, Inc. was an American licensing company. The company was previously also a film and television production company that produced English-dubbed Japanese anime through its subsidiary 4Kids Productions between 1992 and 2012; it specialized in the acquisition, production and licensing of children's entertainment around the United States. The first anime that 4Kids Productions dubbed was the first eight seasons of Pokémon that originally began airing in first run syndication, and then it later moved to exclusively air on Kids' WB! in the United States. The company is most well known for its range of television licenses, which has included the multibillion-dollar Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh! Japanese anime franchises. They also ran two program blocks: Toonzai on The CW, and 4Kids TV on Fox, both aimed at children. The 4KidsTV block ended on December 27, 2008, while its Toonzai block ended on August 18, 2012, which was replaced by Saban's Vortexx, which in itself was succeeded by the One Magnificent Morning block by Litton Entertainment in 2014.
Lisa Ortiz is an American voice actress and voice director. She is best known for her roles in English anime adaptations, such as Lina Inverse in Slayers and Amy Rose in Sonic X. She voiced the latter character in the mainline and spin-off Sonic the Hedgehog video games from 2005 to 2010. She has served as the voice director for the English dub of the Pokémon anime since 2016, in addition to performing various roles since the first season. In 2021, she reprised Tao Jun in the Netflix anime Shaman King.
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Alfred Robert Kahn is an American executive. From 1991 to 2011, he was chairman and CEO of 4Kids Entertainment, a company that is a global provider of children's entertainment and merchandise licensing. He previously led the licensing division for the Coleco company. In 1995, he turned Leisure Concepts, Inc. into 4Kids Entertainment, having previously served as chairman and CEO of the company since March 1991. In 2002, he founded the National Law Enforcement and Firefighters Children's Foundation. In 2012 he co-founded CraneKahn LLC and was the CEO and co-owner of that company. In 2019 CraneKahn folded into Kidtagious.
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