Chris Meledandri

As founder of Illumination Entertainment, Meledandri is proving that a studio can make a CG animated feature for half the cost of its competitors and not skimp on story. His Despicable Me 2 is one of the rare hits of the 2013 Summer season-- at present bringing in $600 million world-wide. He talks with Kim Masters about how he sort of happened into animation after being pigeon-holed as a maker of family films following the Jamaican bobsledding movie Cool Runnings. Ironically, as a child he never watched animation and his mother, he says, “hated Disney.” Meledandri has made two film adaptations of Dr. Seuss books and talks about how he’s developed a trusting working relationship with that author’s widow. They hope to one day make a biopic of the writer starring Johnny Depp.