'The Lego Movie' Producer

Producer Dan Lin opens up to The Business contributor John Horn about enduring the ‘haters’ and cynics who, for years, questioned his ambition to make a movie with Legos. Now, as the film opens big, he’s vindicated. Five years ago, Lin-- who produced the Sherlock Holmes movies and Terminator Salvation-- decided he wanted to make a film his young sons could see. Legos were the way. He talks about the extensive research he did on Lego culture to prepare for pitching The Lego Group in Denmark. The toy company was cautious about making a film which they felt had the potential to hurt more than help. Five years later he screened the movie for 1000 of the top brass and rank and file Lego employees and the crowd went wild.