Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

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Executive Producer

Lionel Wigram

Bio

LIONEL WIGRAM (Executive Producer) previously served as executive producer on "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix." Currently, he is producing the much-anticipated "Sherlock Holmes," directed by Guy Ritchie and starring Robert Downey Jr. as the legendary detective. Wigram also wrote the story for the film, which is slated for release on Christmas Day 2009. In addition, he is an executive producer on the animated adventure "Guardians of Ga'Hoole," being directed by Zack Snyder and due out in Fall 2010. Educated at Oxford University, Wigram was one of the founding members of the Oxford Film Foundation. He started working in the film business while still at Oxford, serving as a production assistant for producer Elliott Kastner during Wigram's summer holidays. Following graduation, he went to work for Kastner in California. Wigram produced his first film, "Never on Tuesday," in 1987, followed by the 1988 films "Cool Blue," starring Woody Harrelson, and "Warm Summer Rain," starring Kelly Lynch. In the same period, Wigram was involved in the development of the early drafts of what would become "Carlito's Way." In 1990, Wigram joined Alive Films as a development executive and worked on films by Wes Craven and Sam Shepard. He also produced "Cool as Ice," and was an executive producer on Steven Soderbergh's "The Underneath." In 1993, Wigram started a chef management company, Alive Culinary Resources, with Alive owner Shep Gordon. In addition to managing most of the top chefs in the U.S., they produced a cooking video series for Time Life, which featured Emeril Lagasse for the first time. In 1994, Wigram joined Renny Harlin and Geena Davis's company, The Forge, where he headed up development. Some of the projects on which he worked include "The Long Kiss Goodnight," "Cutthroat Island" and the HBO film "Mistrial." Wigram joined Warner Bros. in 1996 as a Vice President of Production. During his tenure, he was responsible for buying the Harry Potter book series for the studio and has overseen all of the films in the franchise. He also supervised such projects as "The Avengers," "The Big Tease," "Charlotte Gray," "Three Kings" and "The Good German." In January 2006, Wigram moved into a first-look producing deal for Warner Bros. In addition to serving as an executive producer on the Harry Potter films, Wigram was an executive producer on "August Rush."

Executive Producer- Job Description

The credit given to someone who either contributes or raises the majority of finaces for a production or is responsible for creative input such as writing the screenplay.