Avi Arad
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| Avi Arad | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1948 Ramat Gan, Israel |
| Occupation | Film Producer |
Avi Arad (Hebrew: אבי ארד) is an Israeli-American businessman. He became the CEO of the company Toy Biz in the 1990s, and soon afterward became the chief creative officer of Marvel Entertainment, a Marvel director, and chairman and CEO of Marvel Studios.[1]
| This article does not cite any references or sources. (September 2007) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life and career
Born in Cyprus and raised in Israel, Arad came to the United States during his college years and enrolled at Hofstra University to study industrial management. He earned a bachelor of business administration from the University in 1972.[2] Arad began his career working in the research and development department of Aurora Products, a division of Nabisco. In 1974, he began his own company and started developing situation comedies and action-adventure cartoon programs. Many of Arad’s fantasy concepts for television became successful toy products, like the popular “Seeker Centipeed,” the “Rev-Um-Up Races,” “Switch Force,””Rough Rider Tri-Ex” and “Speed Shooter.” His accomplishments as an inventor of action toys include products he developed for companies such as LJN Toys, Matchbox, Ideal, Ertl, Buddy-L, Schaper, Panosh, CBS Toys, Coleco, Combi and, most recently, Galoob Toys.
[edit] Marvel Comics
When Toy Biz took over Marvel Comics in a complicated deal that included obtaining the rights to Spider Man and other superheroes that Marvel had sold earlier, that was resolved after Intellectual Property litigator Carole Handler found a unique reading of the patent law that allowed Arad's Toy Biz the ownership rights; he became that company's CEO.[citation needed][opinion needs balancing] He was involved in Marvel's emergence from bankruptcy and the expansion of the company's profile through licensing and movies.
On July 4, 2003, Arad became a naturalized citizen of the United States.[citation needed]
[edit] Later career
Arad is credited as executive producer on the 1990s Marvel animated TV series, starting with 1992's X-Men for Fox Kids. Arad was the executive producer of Spike TV's Blade: The Series.
On May 31, 2006, Arad resigned his various Marvel positions, including his leadership of Marvel Studios to form his own production company, Avi Arad Productions. Although he is still producing projects for Marvel[1], his first feature outside Marvel was the August 2007 film Bratz: The Movie.
[edit] Producer filmography
- Iron Man (2008)
- Punisher: War Zone (2008)[citation needed]
- Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)
- Spider-Man 3 (2007)
- Ghost Rider (2007)
- X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
- Fantastic Four (2005)
- Elektra (2005)
- Blade: Trinity (2004)
- Spider-Man 2 (2004)
- The Punisher (2004)
- Hulk (2003)
- X2: X-Men United (2003)
- Daredevil (2003)
- Spider-Man (2002)
- Blade II (2002)
- X-Men (2000)
- Blade (1998)
[edit] Footnotes
[edit] References
- The Rise of Captain Marvel The Jerusalem Report, August 8, 2005 (dead link as of Sept. 15, 2007)
[edit] External links
- Avi Arad at the Internet Movie Database
- LatinNewswire (no date): "Avi Arad" (link to audio interview)de:Avi Arad
Categories: Articles lacking sources from September 2007 | All articles lacking sources | All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | Articles with minor POV problems | Articles with unsourced statements since September 2007 | Living people | Israeli Jews | Israeli-Americans | Naturalized citizens of the United States | Marvel Comics | American businesspeople | Jewish businesspeople | American Jews | Hofstra University alumni
