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Leadership 100 Goes …to Hollywood!

By NEO Magazine on January 10, 2013

Jim Gianopulos

Jim Gianopulos, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Twentieth Century Fox Film, Alexander Payne, the award-winning director, screenwriter and producer, and Nia Vardalos, the actress, screenwriter, director and producer, will highlight a star-studded program at the 22nd Annual Leadership 100 Conference “that brings together the best and brightest from our beloved Church and Community,” according to Charles H. Cotros, the organization’s Chairman. The Conference, to take place February 7-10, 2013, at The Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel in Dana Point California, will also feature Michael S. Johnson of Denver, Colorado, a member of Leadership 100 and an award-winning petroleum geologist, and Mary J. Mitchell of Omaha, Nebraska, also a member of Leadership 100, who is the author of Drawn to Fashion.

Overseeing News Corporation’s motion picture companies, including Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp., Fox 2000, Fox Searchlight Pictures, Fox Animation Studios, Blue Sky Studios, Fox International Productions, and their related entities, Jim Gianopulos is one of the longest-tenured studio chairmen in the film industry. All feature film production and marketing, as well as global distribution through all windows and platforms spanning the theatrical, broadcast, cable, home entertainment, digital and mobile markets carry his stamp. During his time as Chairman of Fox, the studio has had its most profitable years ever. He has been involved in the evolution of new entertainment media and technologies for more than 25 years, and is considered a leading strategist in the industry.

During his tenure at the studio, he has overseen the release of a broad range of successful films, including Life of Pi, the X-Men series, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Night At The Museum, Taken (and its sequel), The Simpsons Movie, Borat, The Day After Tomorrow, Walk the Line, the Star Wars Trilogy, Live Free or Die Hard, Minority Report, and Moulin Rouge. He also has the unique distinction of having championed two of the biggest gambles, and the two highest grossing films of all time: Avatar and Titanic.

Under his leadership, the studio’s animation division, Blue Sky Studios, produced successful films such as the Ice Age series, and Fox Searchlight Pictures, the studio’s specialized division, produced commercial and critical successes such as The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, The Descendants, Black Swan, and the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire, among many others.

Prior to his current post, Gianopulos was Chairman & CEO of Fox Filmed Entertainment and before that, he was President of Twentieth Century Fox International, a position he held since 1994. Among the many notable successes during Gianopulos’ tenure at Fox International are the Oscar winners Titanic and Braveheart, in addition to at one point having four of the five top grossing pictures of all-time internationally: Titanic, Star Wars, Independence Day and Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace.

The son of Greek immigrants and a native New Yorker, Gianopulos attended the Master’s program at the New York University School of Law, the Fordham School of Law, earning a Juris Doctor in 1976 and Boston University earning a BA in 1973. He resides in Los Angeles with his wife Ann and their three daughters.

At the Leadership 100 Conference, Jim Gianopulos will be introduced by his pastor, Fr. John Bakas, Dean of Saint Sophia Cathedral in Los Angeles, who will also speak to conferees.

Entertainment at the three day conference that attracts hundreds of members from all over the US will feature the sisters, Lexy and Stephany Prodromos and Dean Vali & Keffe orchestra.

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