Film Roman

Film Roman is an American animation independently owned company. It was originally owned by Starz Inc., which is now a division of Lionsgate and later by Waterman Entertainment, the production company of producer Steve Waterman. Founded by veteran animator and director Phil Roman in 1984, it is best known for producing source animation for series such as The Simpsons (1992–2016), King of the Hill and Family Guy for 20th Century Fox Television, as well as Garfield and Friends and various Garfield animated television specials.
== Formation ==
In 1985, CBS' head of children's programming Judy Price had commissioned an animated television series based on the Garfield prime time special series, later ultimately titled Garfield and Friends, which took three years for Roman to decide developing and producing the program before it eventually aired on the network's Saturday 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 hired Marvel Productions VP of Business Affairs and his own personal attorney, Michael Wahl, as President and Bill 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 new Fox Kids Network, headed up by former Marvel Productions president Margaret Loesch. In 1992 to 2016, Film Roman took over the source production of 20th Century Fox's The Simpsons from Klasky-Csupo who had produced the one-minute teaser cartoon shorts on The 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] The studio went on to grow and produce many popular animated series now seen all around the world.
== Waterman Entertainment ownership ==
In 2015, Film Roman was acquired from its parent company Starz Distribution by Waterman Entertainment, the production company of executive producer Steve Waterman. As such, it now does business with Starz, which owns the company's catalogue.[1] However, Waterman Entertainment closed on December 24, 2015, resulting Film Roman becoming independent again.
== Location ==
The original studio was located on Riverside Drive in Toluca Lake, California, where Roman was also joined by Melendez producer Lee Mendelson. Years later, the studio moved to a new location on Chandler Blvd. in Studio City, before settling into another location at Starz Plaza on Hollywood Way in Burbank, which it shares with the former Hub Network and Hasbro Studios, and finally settling into its present location in Woodland Hills.
== Television series ==
Garfield and Friends 	Jim Davis 	1988–1994	United Media (Season 1)
United Media/Mendelson (Seasons 2–3)
United Media/Lee Mendelson Productions (Seasons 4–6)
Lee Mendelson Productions (Season 7)
Paws, Inc.	Now distributed by 9 Story Media Group
Bobby's World 	Howie Mandel 	1990–1998	Alevy Productions
Fox Children's Productions	Now distributed by Splash Entertainment
Zazoo U 	Shane DeRolf 	1990–1991	Fox Children's Productions 	Now distributed by Disney-ABC Domestic Television
Mother Goose and Grimm 	Mike Peters 	1991–1993	Tribune Media Services
Grimmy, Inc.
Lee Mendelson Productions
MGM Television	
Animated Classic Showcase 	 	1993–1994	 	
Cro 	Mark Zaslove 	1993–1994	Children's Television Workshop	
Mighty Max 	Mark Zaslove
Rob Hudnut	1993–1994	 	
The Baby Huey Show 	Bob Jaques 	1995 	Harveytoons
Claster Television	Season 2 only
Now distributed by NBCUniversal Television Distribution
The Mask: Animated Series 	Duane Capizzi 	1995–1997	Sunbow Entertainment
New Line Television
Dark Horse Entertainment	Now distributed by Warner Bros. Television Distribution
The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat 	Pat Sullivan
Otto Messmer	1995–1997	 	Now distributed by NBCUniversal Television Distribution
C Bear and Jamal 	Earl Richey Jones
Todd R. Jones	1996–1997	 	
Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm	Sean Catherine Derek	1996 	Threshold Entertainment
New Line Television	Now distributed by Warner Bros. Television Distribution
Richie Rich 	Timothy Williams 	1996 	Harveytoons
Claster Television	Now distributed by NBCUniversal Television Distribution
Bruno the Kid 	Joel Madison 	1996–1997	 	
Free For All 	Brett Merhar 	2003 	 	
Eloise: The Animated Series 	Kay Thompson
Hilary Knight	2006 	Anchor Bay Entertainment
HandMade Films	
Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! 	Bob Boyle 	2006–2010	Bolder Media 	
Slacker Cats 	Andy Riley
Kevin Cecil	2007–2009	Will Vinton Studios/Laika
ABC Family Original Productions	Now distributed by Disney-ABC Domestic Television
Dan Vs. 	Dan Mendel
Chris Pearson	2011–2013	Discovery Family 	
* Spawn: The Animation (TBA)
* This Modern World by Tom Tomorrow (TBA)
* Heathcliff (TBA)
* The Untamed (TBA)
Subcontracted from others:for 20th Century Fox Television/Animation:
The Simpsons[1] 	Matt Groening 	1992–2016	Seasons 4–27 only
King of the Hill[8]	Mike Judge 	1997–2010	
Family Guy[8] 	Seth MacFarlane	1999–2000	Seasons 1–2 only
for Marvel Animation:
X-Men: Evolution 	Marty Isenberg
Robert N. Skir
David Wise	2000–2003	Now distributed by Disney-ABC Domestic Television
The Super Hero Squad Show 	Stan Lee 	2009–2011	Now distributed by Disney-ABC Domestic Television
The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes	Ciro Nieli
Joshua Fine
Christopher Yost	2010–2013	Now distributed by Disney-ABC Domestic Television
Ultimate Spider-Man 	Marvel Animation	2012–2017	Now distributed by Disney-ABC Domestic Television
Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. 	Paul Dini
Henry Gilroy
Marvel Animation	2014–2015	Now distributed by Disney-ABC Domestic Television
various other studios:
* Klutter (1995–1996) (as part of Eek! Stravaganza)
* The Critic (1994–1995)
* Mission Hill (1999–2002)
* The Oblongs (2001–2002)
* The Goode Family (2009)
* Beavis and Butt-Head (2011)
Puppet/CGI shows:
* The Mr. Potato Head Show (1998)
* Tripping the Rift (2004–2007)
== Television specials ==
=== Garfield specials ===
* Garfield in the Rough (1984, the studio's inaugural production)
* Garfield's Halloween Adventure (1985)
* Garfield in Paradise (1986)
* Garfield Goes Hollywood (1987)
* A Garfield Christmas (1987)
* Happy Birthday, Garfield (1988)
* Garfield: His 9 Lives (1988)
* Garfield's Babes and Bullets (1989)
* Garfield's Thanksgiving (1989)
* Garfield's Feline Fantasies (1990)
* Garfield Gets a Life (1991)
=== Other specials ===
* Nick and Noel (1993)
* A Cool Like That Christmas (1994)
* The Bears Who Saved Christmas (1994)
* Izzy's Quest for Olympic Gold (1995)
* The Story of Santa Claus (1996) (co-production with Arnold Sharpio and CBS Productions)
* The Magic Pearl (1997)
* Puss in Boots (1997)
* Johnny Tsunami (1999) (live-action)
* Hairballs (2000) (Unsold TV series pilot created by Mr. Lawrence)
* Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer (2000)
* Motocrossed (2001) (live-action)
* The Santa Claus Brothers (2001)
== Films ==
* The Happy Elf (2005, co-production with IDT Entertainment)
* Weebles: Welcome to Weebleville! (2005)
* Weebles: Sharing in the Fun! (2005)
* Hellboy: Sword of Storms (2006)
* Hellboy: Blood and Iron (2007)
* Turok: Son of Stone (2008, co-production with Classic Media and Starz Media)
* Dead Space: Downfall (2008, co-production with Electronic Arts)
* The Haunted World of El Superbeasto (2009) (Planned for theatrical release)
* Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic "Prologue", "The Arrival", "Entry to Hell" (2010, co-production with Electronic Arts)
* Dead Space: Aftermath (2011, co-production with Electronic Arts)
=== Theatrical features ===
* Tom and Jerry: The Movie[8] (1992, co-production with Turner Entertainment Co., distributed by Miramax Films and LIVE Entertainment)
* The Simpsons Movie (2007, produced by 20th Century Fox and Gracie Films, co-animation with Rough Draft Studios, AKOM, Rough Draft Korea and Rough Draft Feature Animation)
== Special effects for other films ==
* I, Robot (2004)
* Illegal Tender (2007)
* The Great Buck Howard (2008)
* Speed Racer (2008)
* Secrets of the Furious Five (2008)
== Miscellaneous ==
* Honey Nut Cheerios (1993) (Garfield ad only)[9]
* The Simpsons Game (2007, produced by Electronic Arts) (cutscenes only)
* The Simpsons Ride (2008, amusement simulator ride film produced for the attraction of the same name at Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood)
* The Simpsons: Tapped Out (2012, freemium mobile game produced for Fox Digital Entertainment and Electronic Arts) (cutscenes only)
== Web series ==
Camp WWE[10]
== References ==
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== External links ==
* Film Roman on IMDb
* Film Roman Productions at the Big Cartoon DataBase
== Shows ==
* The Toon Squad
Category:Studios