Thirty-year entertainment industry vet Lenora Hume exits DisneyToon Studios to join HIT Ent. in London as evp, production and programming. Hume will assume the position early June and will be responsible for refreshing the existing slate of HITs classic pre-school entertainment, including BOB THE BUILDER, THOMAS & FRIENDS, BARNEY, PINGU and ANGELINA BALLERINA, as well as building new brands through content development and acquisitions. Based in the companys London office, she will report to HIT Ent. ceo Bruce Steinberg.
Most recently, Hume was svp, worldwide production for DisneyToon Studios, overseeing global production of the studios movie releases, including BAMBI II, POOHS HEFFALUMP MOVIE, MICKEYS TWICE UPON A CHRISTMAS and THE LION KING 1 ½.
Prior DisneyToon, Hume was svp, production for Walt Disney Television Animation from 1998 to 2003, supervising a global production slate of more than 150 half hours of television programming and five movies per year. During this period, in addition to many other titles, KIM POSSIBLE, MICKEYS HOUSE OF MOUSE and TIMON & PUMBA were produced.
Hume joined Disney in 1990 as director of international production following a 14-year career in Canada with Nelvana Ltd. She began as a cinematographer and later served as supervising producer and exec in charge of production. Hume developed strong working relationships with production facilities around the globe. Under her guidance series produced include THE CARE BEARS, BABAR, EWOKS and DROIDS for Lucas Film, as well as BEETLEJUICE the animated series for Warner Bros.
Hume received a Gemini Award for her contribution on BABAR and a Daytime Emmy for BEETLEJUICE.
In a world and a business where we have to think globally and produce locally, we could not have found a more qualified individual to head up our production and programming group, said Steinberg. Lenora brings a wealth of production experience with her. We are thrilled she is joining us.
Humes appointment is the latest in a series of executive moves made by HIT Ent., which was acquired by Apax Partners in June 2005. Led by a new management team, headed by Greg Dyke, non-exec chairman, and Steinberg, the company recently announced the hiring of Alison Homewood as evp, worldwide television distribution; Patricia Wyatt as president North America and Peter Byrne as svp international.
Established in 1989, HIT Ent. (www.hitentertainment.com) is one of the worlds leading pre-school childrens entertainment producers and rights owners. With operations in the U.S., U.K., Canada and Japan, the companys activities span television production and distribution, home entertainment, consumer products, publishing and live events. HIT, owned by private equity investment group Apax Partners since June 2005, is now one of the largest children's video distributors in the U.K. and the U.S. With more than 1,000 episodes of young children's programming, HIT sells programs to some 200 territories worldwide.
