Alan F. Horn became President & Chief Operating Officer of Warner Bros. on October 4, 1999. A fully integrated, broad-based entertainment company, Warner Bros. is the global leader in the creation, production, distribution, licensing and marketing of all forms of entertainment and their related businesses.
In addition to working closely with Barry Meyer, the company’s chairman and CEO, on Warner Bros.’ overarching strategic and long-term business plans, Horn also focuses on the oversight of all of the Studio’s theatrical and home entertainment operations, including the Warner Bros. Pictures Group (worldwide theatrical production, distribution and marketing), Warner Premiere (direct-to-platform production) and Warner Home Video (operations in 90 international territories). Horn also oversees New Line Cinema, which was moved into Warner Bros. in early 2008.
Under Horn’s leadership, the Studio’s theatrical and home entertainment divisions operate as solidly established category leaders. In 2007, Warner Bros. Pictures’ domestic and international divisions each had their most successful years ever, as well as their seventh consecutive billion dollar-plus years at the box office. The Studio’s domestic box office reached $1.42 billion, and overseas receipts soared to $2.24 billion, an industry record. Warner Home Video was once again the industry’s leader, with an overall 20 percent marketshare.
Among the films produced under Horn’s aegis are some of the Studio’s most popular and profitable, including the five films in the Harry Potter series to date (which became the most successful motion picture franchise in history in September 2007), “I Am Legend,” “300,” “Happy Feet” (2006 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature), “The Departed” (2006 Academy Award for Best Picture), “Batman Begins,” “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” “Ocean’s 11” and its two sequels, the second and third “Matrix” films, “The Last Samurai,” “The Polar Express” and “Million Dollar Baby” (received Academy Awards for Best Picture, Director, Actress and Supporting Actor). The Studio’s 2008 slate includes “10,000 BC,” “Get Smart,” “The Dark Knight,” “Body of Lies,” “Yes Man” and “Gran Torino.”
Horn has enjoyed a very successful career as a hands-on executive with experience in film and television in both the business and creative areas. In 1987, he co-founded Castle Rock Entertainment, where he served as Chairman & CEO until taking on his current role. During his tenure, Castle Rock attained worldwide recognition for the most successful series in television history, “Seinfeld,” and for such Best Picture Oscar nominees as “A Few Good Men,” “The Shawshank Redemption” and “The Green Mile,” as well as such other hit films as “When Harry Met Sally” and “In the Line of Fire.” In 1993, Castle Rock Entertainment was sold to Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., and, with the merger of TBS and Time Warner Inc. in October 1996, Castle Rock became part of the Warner Bros. family, with the Studio taking over Castle Rock’s worldwide film and television distribution in 1998. Prior to Castle Rock, Horn served as Chairman & CEO of Embassy Communications, a company owned by A. Jerrold Perenchio and legendary Producer, Norman Lear.
Horn received Master of Business Administration (awarded with distinction) from Harvard Business School and spent two years in brand management with Procter & Gamble. Prior to working at Procter & Gamble, he served nearly five years in the U.S. Air Force, achieving the rank of Captain.
Horn is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the Hollywood Radio and Television Society and the Museum of Broadcasting. In 2004, he received the Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation’s Pioneer of the Year Award, and in 2007 he was honored with the Harvard Business School’s Leadership Award. Most recently, Horn was the recipient of the Producers Guild America’s 2008 Milestone Award.
Horn serves on the Board of Directors of the American Film Institute; as a Vice Chairman of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC); on the Board of Trustees for the Autry National Center in Los Angeles; on the board of Harvard-Westlake School; and on the advisory board of the National Museum of the American Indian. He is also a member of the Harvard Business School Dean’s Board of Advisors, and a founding Board Member of the Environmental Media Association.
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