 Final logo, used from 2006 to 2018 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | |
| Predecessor | Mendelson/Melendez Productions |
| Founded | October 26, 1984; 41 years ago (1984-10-26) |
| Founder | Phil Roman |
| Defunct | May 1, 2018; 7 years ago (2018-05-01) |
| Fate | Closed |
| Headquarters | Woodland Hills, Los Angeles,California, U.S. |
Key people |
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| Products |
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| Parent | Starz Distribution (2003–2015) Waterman Entertainment (2015–2018) |
| Divisions | Film Roman Baja J.V. |
| Website | filmroman |
Film Roman, LLC. was an Americananimation studio based inBurbank, California and later inWoodland Hills, California. The company had several owners including Digital Production Services, Ltd.,IDT Entertainment,Starz, Inc. andWaterman Entertainment.[1]
Founded by veteran animator and directorPhil Roman[2][3] on October 26, 1984, it is best known for providing animation for theGarfield primetime specials, based onJim Davis'comic strip of the same name. The studio also produced the animated seriesThe Simpsons,The Critic,King of the Hill,Family Guy,Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!,The Goode Family, andDan Vs..[3]
Phil Roman, veteran alumnus ofMGM Animation/Visual Arts andBill Melendez Productions, founded Film Roman on October 26, 1984 as a means to continue the production of theGarfield television specials, since Melendez's own studio was unable to work on both thePeanuts andGarfield specials.Peanuts executive producersLee Mendelson andBill Melendez and their aforementioned studio had produced the first twoGarfield specials, but due to bothPeanuts creatorCharles M. Schulz' andGarfield creatorJim Davis' concerns about conflicting interests in allocating production priority at Melendez's boutique studio, the production had to be moved. While Roman was leaving for his already-established studio, he was offered the opportunity to produce the nextGarfield prime time special,Garfield in the Rough (1984), forCBS by Mendelson, which he accepted and went on to produce and direct by himself, winning anEmmy in the process.
In 1985, CBS' head of children's programming Judy Price had commissioned ananimated television series based on theGarfield prime time special series, later ultimately titledGarfield and Friends, which took three years for Roman to decide developing and producing the program before it eventually aired on the network'sSaturday 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 hiredMarvel Productions VP of Business Affairs and his own personal attorney, Michael Wahl, as President andBill 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 newFox Kids Network, headed up by formerMarvel Productions presidentMargaret Loesch. In 1992 to 2016, Film Roman took over the source production of20th Century Fox'sThe Simpsons fromKlasky-Csupo who had producedthe one-minute teaser cartoon shorts onThe 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]
In 1999, Film Roman's founder Phil Roman left and sold the company to formPhil Roman Entertainment, the studio that produced Christmas television specials includingGrandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer (2000), but he remained a shareholder of the company and then subsequently rejoined in 2001 as a member of the company's board of directors[6][7]
At the same time, it attempted to get into the syndication market with the launch of Max Degree TV, which would have consisted of three shows,Mission Extreme fromSteve Tisch,Sirens of the Deep from SFX artistSteve Wang, and a newWes Archer cartoonVictor,[8][9] but it never got off the ground.[10]
In April 2000,The Harvey Entertainment Company became Film Roman's international sales representative and distributor in an effort for the former to branch out of its existing properties.[11] Within the same year, India-based software firmPentamedia Graphics attempted to acquire 51% stake in the studio for $15 million, but the deal later terminated in 2001.[12][13][14]
In May 2003, the Digital Production Solutions division ofIDT Corporation (formed in 2002) announced that it would acquire a 51% controlling interest and stake in Film Roman, which would temporarily renamed as DPS Film Roman, and the studio later became part of the newly-formedIDT Entertainment division in November that year.[15][16]
In May 2006, IDT sold the IDT Entertainment division, which includes Film Roman, toLiberty Media for $186 million, the sale was completed on August 31, 2006, which resulted in IDT Entertainment becoming part ofStarz Entertainment Group and renamed as Starz Media.[17]
In 2015, Film Roman was acquired from its parent companyStarz Distribution byWaterman Entertainment, the production company of executive producerSteve Waterman. As such, it now it did business with Starz, which retained the company's in-house catalogue (currently held byLionsgate Television).[1]
On November 22, 2016, the company formed a joint venture based inTijuana, called Film Roman Baja J.V. (also known as Film Roman Baja Productions), with Boxel Studios, a Baja California-based animation facility.[18]
On October 9, 2017, theSecretary of State of California forfeited Film Roman, LLC, and theCalifornia Franchise Tax Board followed suit on May 1, 2018, effectively closing the company. Business records show the company failed to produce a required Statement of Information for the year 2016. Waterman Entertainment shut down the following year after Steve Waterman terminated the company.[19]
The original studio was located on Riverside Drive inToluca Lake, California, where Roman was also joined by Melendez producerLee Mendelson. Years later, the studio moved to a new location on Chandler Blvd. inStudio City, before moving to another location at Starz Plaza on Hollywood Way inBurbank, which it shared with the formerHub Network andHasbro Studios/Allspark, and then inWoodland Hills.
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