Charlie Fink (producer)

Charlie Fink
Occupation	Theatrical producer, entrepreneur, arts advocate
Years active	1983–present
Spouse(s)	Jane Hosticka (m. 1984-present)
Children	Dave Fink (Actor) Mike Fink (Film Director) Betty Fink (Student)

Charlie Fink is a theatrical producer, entrepreneur, and arts advocate.^[1] He is an executive and producer of entertainment and new media. He has created and launched new brands for Disney, AOL, and American Greetings since 1985.^[2] He received the 2014 Rule Breaker Award from No Rule Theater Company.^[3][4]

Career

Fink started his career in the Animation Division of Walt Disney Pictures, where he rose to the position of Vice-President. In his six years with Disney, Mr. Fink developed and produced live-action and animated motion pictures, including Beauty and The Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King, which was based on his idea, "Bambi in Africa".^[5][6] In 1992, Fink left Disney Pictures to become Executive Vice-President, Chief Operating Officer and Director of Virtual World Entertainment, a software developer and location-based Entertainment Company owned by Tim Disney.^[7] That company was later sold to Microsoft.^[8][9]

In early 1996, Fink joined AOL as Senior Vice-President and Chief Cr. Officer of its Greenhouse Networks, where he created and launched some of the formative Internet's largest content brands, including Love@AOL (sold to Match.com), Electra (sold to Oxygen Media), Entertainment Asylum, and Santa's Home Page (which he also co-produced with the late Brandon Tartikoff and Will Vinton as an ABC TV special).^{[10][11][12][13][14]}

After leaving AOL in 1999, Fink founded eAgents.com, a daily email service that provided targeted news and entertainment to over five million Internet users each day. In September 2000, less than eight months after founding the company, with its initial product still in beta, eAgents was sold to American Greetings Interactive (AGI).^[15] Fink served as President of AGI until 2003, and Chairman until 2005. During his tenure, AG acquired its two largest competitors, BlueMountain.com and eGreetings.com, and transitioned from a free site to a fee based subscription service with over five million paying subscribers.^[16] In 2004, with colleagues from AOL and AGI, Fink started an online affiliate marketing partnership, which specialized in Search Engine Optimization (SEO/SEM), Charlie Company LLC. In 2010, the company was sold to an industry consolidator in a private transaction.

In 2009, Fink created The Other 98%, a social media meme creator and distributor with over 1 million friends on Facebook. O98 is now a project of Moveon.org. Recently, Fink was a founding executive and board member of Erodr, a new social network for college students with over 60,000 users.^[17] His current venture is http://Quotecards.co, a social media facing meme generator that allows users to combine a quote, movie line or lyric with a thematically appropriate image to create a Quote Card that can be shared on social media.

Fink earned his BA Degree from Sarah Lawrence College and a Master of Fine Arts Degree from the Art Institute of Chicago. He is married to Jane Hosticka, a costume and set designer, and splits his time between Washington, DC, and New York City.^[18]

Theatrical career

Fink is the founder and artistic director of the New Musical Foundation, which produces readings, workshops, and festival productions of new musicals.^[4] He is also Chairman of the Board^[19] of New York Musical Theatre Festival, an annual summer showcase of more than 30 new musicals now in its twelfth season. Over 300 NYMF alumni productions have been seen in 48 states, 60 countries, and five have gone on to Broadway, most notably Pulitzer Prize winner Next To Normal.^[20]

Film credits

• 1983 Door to Door, 75 mins (writer/director/producer) 16mm Feature, Best First Feature, Houston Film Festival^[18]
• 1984 Savage Beliefs, 90 mins (writer/director/producer) 16mm Feature
• 1985 One More Saturday Night (assistant director), Columbia Pictures^[21]
• 1986 Nothing in Common (assistant to producer), Tri-Star Pictures^[22]
• 1993 BattleTech & Red Planet Theme park productions (Producer) Starring Judge Reinhold, Joan Severance, Cheech Marin and Nora Dunn^[23][24]
• 1995 BattleTech animated TV series, Saban Ent., (co-executive producer)^[25]
• 1997 The Online Adventures of Ozzie the Elf (executive producer) AOL/ABC TV/Will Winton Studions^[26]
• 2008 The Two McCains, animated online series (producer)^[27]
• 2010 How to Fold a Flag, documentary feature (producer)^[28]

1986 – 1992 Vice President, Walt Disney Pictures, supervised development and/or production of the following projects:

• Oliver & Co. (1986) Animated Feature
• The Little Mermaid (1988) Animated Feature
• The Rescuers Down Under (1990) Animated Feature
• Beauty and the Beast (1991) Animated Feature
• Aladdin (1992) Animated Feature
• Lion King (1993) Animated Feature
• Fantasia 2000 (2000) Animated Feature
• The Ducktales Movie (1989) Animated Feature
• Cranium Command (1988) Theme Park Production
• Back to Neverland (1990) Theme Park Production
• Michael and Mickey (1987) Television Production
• Mickey & Donald at the Oscars (1987) Television
• Mickey’s Prince and the Pauper (1988) Television
• Homeward Bound, The Incredible Journey (1992) Live action feature
• Dinosaur (2002) Live Action Feature
• The BiCentennial Man (1994) Live Action Feature

Theatrical credits

• 2004: The Sandstorm, by Sean Huze (production), Metrostage, DC (non musical)^[29][30]
• 2005: Burn Rate by Paul Scott Goodman (reading) BMI Workshop, NYC^[31]
• 2006: Treasure Island by Brett Smock and Corinne Aquilina (production) GIVA, Rochester ^[32]
• 2006: Powerhouse by Shawn Northrip (festival production)^[33][34]
• 2007: Drift by Jeremy Schonfeld and Craig Pospisil (reading) NYC^[35]
• 2007: The Wonderful World of Zidney by Shawn Northrip & Mike Pettry (reading) Metrostage, VA
• 2008: Curveball by JT Allen and Chris Jefferies (reading) Signature Theater, DC
• 2008: Joe, by Dan Lipton and Dave Rossemer (reading) Signature Theater, DC^[36]
• 2009: Rooms by Paul Scott Goodman (production) MetroStage, DC, GIVA, NYC^[37]
• 2009: Dot Comet by Michael Ogborn and Craig Pospisil (reading) Woolly Mammoth. DC
• 2009: Dizzy Miss Lizzie's Roadside Revue presents The Orestia by Deb Bounaccorsi and Steve McWilliams (production) Keegan Theater. Washington, DC^[38]
• 2009: Titus X by Shawn Northrip (festival production) DC Fringe^[39]
• 2009: Dizzie Miss Lizzie's The Saints (festival production) DC Fringe^[40]
• 2009: Hedwig and the Angry Inch Halloween Spooktacular (with No Rules Theater Company), Warehouse Theater, Washington, DC
• 2010: Little Dead Riding Hood (reading), by Shawn Northrip & James Tucker (reading)
• 2010: Super Claudio Bros. by Marshall Pailet and Drew Fornorola (festival production) DC Fringe, Best Musical, extended run, acquired by DreamWorks for development for Broadway^[41][42][43]
• 2010: Dizzy Miss Lizzie's Finn McCool (festival production) DC Fringe^[44][45]
• 2011: Who's Your Baghdaddy by Marshall Pailet & A.D. Penedo (festival production) DC Fringe, Best Show, extended run, Broadway World Award Best Actor for Matthew Myers ^[46][47]
• 2011: F@#king Up Everything by Eric Davis & Sam Forman (festival production) DC Fringe, extended run, Broadway World awards for Best Actress Crystal Moser and Supporting Actor Jason Wilson^[48][49]
• 2012: Who's Your Baghdaddy, or How I Started the Iraq War (reading) Joe's Pub NYC 2012 ^[50][51]
• 2012: Rio by Mitch Magonet and Joey Miller (reading) CUA-NYMF^[52][53]
• 2012: Baby Case by Michael Ogborn (festival production) NY New Musical Festival, Best Show, Best Director, Best Composer^[54][55][56]
• 2012: Triassic Parq, by Marshall Pailet (production) Amas Musical Theater, NYC^[57]
• 2013: F@#king Up Everything, by Eric Davis & Sam Forman (production) Elektra Theatre NYC^[58][59][60]
• 2013: Standby, by Amy Baer, Keith Robinson & Mark-Eugene Garcia (reading) CUA-NYMF ^[61]
• 2013: Mata Hari, by David Rhymer, (festival production) NY Musical Festival (Best Actress, Onalea Gilbertson)^[62][63]
• 2013 Dizzy Miss Lizzie's "The Brontes" New York Musical Festival^[64]
• 2013: One Night in New York, 2013 DC Capital Fringe Festival (Best Show)^[65][66][67]
• 2013: Tesla (reading) by Marc Acito, Jeames Beaton, and Amy Englehardt (reading) New York, NY supported by the NAMT Fund for New Musicals. Directed by Kent Nicholson ^[68]
• 2014: Who's Your Baghdaddy or How I Started the Iraq War (reading) by Marshall Pailet and A.D. Penedo, Directed by Marshall Pailet^[69]
• 2015 (upcoming): Who's Your Baghdaddy, Signature Theater, DC (with No Rules Theater Company)
• 2015 (upcoming): One Night in New York, off Broadway

References

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