Roy Price
Roy F. Price (born July 21, 1967)[1] is a former American entertainment executive and the former president of Amazon.com's media development division, Amazon Studios.[2][3] As of 2017 he runs an art consultancy firm in Hong Kong.
Roy Price | |
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Born | |
Education | Harvard University (BA) University of Southern California (JD) |
Occupation | entertainment executive |
Family and education
Price has been described as being from "Hollywood royalty."[4] His mother, Katherine Crawford, was an actress known for Riding with Death (1976), A Walk in the Spring Rain (1970) and Gemini Man (1976).[4] His father, Frank Price, held a number of Hollywood executive positions including head of Universal TV in the 1970s; President, and later Chairman and CEO, of Columbia Pictures; and president of Universal Pictures.[4] His maternal grandfather, Roy Huggins, created and produced TV shows like The Fugitive, The Rockford Files and Maverick.[4]
Price graduated from Phillips Academy Andover and Harvard University, and later attended USC Gould School of Law.[4]
Career
From 1989–1990 Price worked as a film set assistant, specifically, "third assistant camera" during the Fiji shooting of Return to the Blue Lagoon (1991). From 1990–1992, Price worked as a financial analyst at Allen & Company.[5]
From 1993–2000, Price was the Vice President of Creative Affairs for Disney TV Animation.[4][5] Price developed or supervised TV series including Recess (1997), Pepper Ann (1997), Hercules (1998), Timon & Pumbaa (1995), Buzz Lightyear of Star Command (2000), The Weekenders (2000), and Emmy and BAFTA winner Teacher's Pet (2000).[6] Also, several animated films and direct to videos including Recess: School's Out (2001), Tarzan & Jane and Mickey's House of Villains.[6]
After his time with Disney, Price worked as a consultant for McKinsey from 2000–2002, a global management consulting firm that serves a broad mix of private, public and social sector institutions.[5]
From 2003 to 2004, Price operated out of Price Entertainment (his father's studio established in the late 80s) and acted as a business consultant to media companies.[5]
From 2004 to 2009, Price worked as a Group Product manager, director, and Amazon Video on Demand.[5][4] He launched Amazon Video in 2008 and Amazon Studios in 2010.[4] From 2009–2014, Price also worked as Director of Amazon Video on Demand.[5] From 2014–2017, Price was head of Amazon Studios, and VP for Prime Video.[5] On October 17, 2017, he resigned his position at Amazon in the wake of allegations of sexual misconduct.[7] About a month after leaving Amazon, Price moved permanently to Hong Kong where he founded an art management and consulting firm called International Art Machine, in November 2017.[8]
Price's career was described as "irreverent, puckish and infinitely bolder than most Hollywood execs".[4]
Sexual harassment allegations
Amazon producer Isa Dick Hackett reported through The Hollywood Reporter on October 12, 2017 that Roy Price, the programming chief at Amazon, had sexually harassed her at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con.[9] Hackett stated that Price aggressively asked her for sex in a taxi, which was the first time they'd met.[10] Michael Paull, a top executive at Amazon, was in the taxi with them at the time.[10] Later that night, Price allegedly yelled sexual propositions into Hackett's ear while she was in a conversation with other Amazon executives.[11] Hackett also alleged that Price had failed to take action when another actress, Rose McGowan told him she was sexually assaulted by producer Harvey Weinstein.[12][13] The Information had previously published, on August 25, a report revealing that Amazon had investigated a sexual harassment complaint from Hackett.[14] After The Hollywood Reporter's publication of Hackett's accusations, Amazon suspended Price.[10][15][16]
On October 16, 2017, Price's fiancée, Lila Feinberg, announced that she was calling off their wedding. Her dress was designed by Georgina Chapman, the wife of Harvey Weinstein, the later of whom was similarly involved in sexual harassment claims.[17]
References
- California Birth Index
- Nathanson, Jason; Rothman, Michael (17 October 2017). "Amazon Studios President Roy Price resigns amid harassment allegation". ABC News. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
- Tate, Ryan. "10 Questions With Amazon Studios Chief Roy Price". Wired.
- Tim Appelo (February 2017). "The Amazing Rise of Amazon Studios". Seattle Business Magazine. Retrieved October 22, 2017.
- "How Did I Get Here? Roy Price". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
- Neil Landau (2015). TV Outside the Box: Trailblazing in the Digital Television Revolution. CRC Press. p. 16. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
- "Amazon Studios chief resigns after harassment allegations". Reuters. 18 October 2017. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
- Chris Gardner (January 4, 2019). "Roy Price Has a Very Different New Career After Amazon Studios Ouster". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
- Koblin, John; Wingfield, Nick (2017-10-12). "Amazon Studios Chief Suspended After Sexual Harassment Claim". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-01-25.
- "Amazon TV Producer Goes Public With Harassment Claim Against Top Exec Roy Price (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2018-01-25.
- Harris, Hunter. "Man in the High Castle Producer Says Amazon Executive Harassed Her". Vulture. Retrieved 2018-01-25.
- Levin, Sam; Solon, Olivia (October 13, 2017). "Rose McGowan alleges rape by Harvey Weinstein – and Amazon ignored claim". The Guardian. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
- Masters, Kim (12 October 2017). "Amazon TV Producer Goes Public With Harassment Claim Against Top Exec Roy Price (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter.
- Masters, Kim (25 August 2017). "Amazon Investigated Studio Chief Roy Price Over Claim of Sexual Remarks". The Information. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
- Masters, Kim (12 October 2017). "Amazon Suspends Top Exec Roy Price in Wake of Harassment Claim". The Hollywood Reporter.
- Andreeva, Nellie (13 October 2017). "Amazon Memo Reveals Roy Price Suspension Is "Indefinite", Reaffirms Zero Tolerance For Harassment". Deadline. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
- "Amazon Exec Roy Price's Fiance Calls Off Wedding After Misconduct Claims". Us Weekly. Retrieved 18 October 2017.