Hasbro's Brian Goldner is MarketWatch's CEO of the Year
Dave U. Random
Breaking into the movie business is never easy. Doing it
with a 1980s-vintage action figure is the ultimate outsider
challenge. But for Hasbro Inc. CEO Brian Goldner, the pitch
for Transformers turned into a Hollywood robots-to-riches
story.
With no hands-on film experience but a passion to energize
the No. 2 toymaker's classic brand names, from Mr. Potato
Head to G.I. Joe, Goldner, then head of Hasbro's toy group,
sought out movie producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura in 2003
after reading in a trade publication that di Bonaventura
was considering a film project about military technology.
Di Bonaventura, who had been involved with movies such as
"The Matrix," said he essentially received a cold call from
Goldner, who wanted the producer to consider turning his
military film into a G.I. Joe movie.
That conversation not only led to the upcoming release, in
2009, of the G.I. Joe film but also to di Bonaventura's
producing "Transformers," which generated more than $700
million in 2007 box office and has a sequel coming next
year.
Continued: http://xrl.us/ozni4
Jackel
wrote:
Just goes to show you, G.I. Joe is the little man that makes big
things happen.
Jackel, ITFC 00018