2006 Alumni Achievement Award Recipient: Lenora Hume
Born in Vancouver, Lenora was recently appointed Executive Vice President of production and programming with HIT Entertainment in London, England, one of the world’s leading pre-school children’s entertainment producers and rights owners.
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,”
says Bruce Steinberg, CEO of HIT.
Lenora brings a wealth of production experience with her, [and] we are thrilled she is joining us.
Lenora is responsible for building on HIT’s existing slate of classic preschool entertainment, including Bob the Builder™, Thomas & Friends™, Barney™, and Angelina Ballerina™, as well as building new brands through content development and acquisitions. She says,
I am honoured to have the opportunity to work with some of the most respected brands in pre-school entertainment, HIT has assembled an amazing executive team and together we will continue to grow the brands around the world.
Lenora has 30 years experience in the entertainment industry. She spent 16 years with Disney, most recently as the Senior Vice President Worldwide Production, DisneyToon Studios, where she oversaw global production of the studio’s movie releases including Bambi II, Pooh’s Heffalump Movie, Mickey’s Twice Upon a Christmas, and The Lion King 1 1⁄2. Prior to that, she was Senior Vice President of Production for Walt Disney Television Animation (1998 to 2003).
[Lenora] is personable, thoughtful, graceful under pressure, and the most ethical executive I have ever met,
says Stephen Swofford, Vice President of Editorial and Post Production at DisneyToon Studios.
The last trait may not be rare in her native Canada, but I assure you, it is very rare here in Hollywood.
In 1976, Lenora started her career with Nelvana Ltd. (Toronto) as a cinematographer, and eventually moved over to production. Under her guidance, such hits as The Care Bears, Babar, Ewoks and Droids for Lucas Film, and Beetlejuice the animated series for Warner Brothers were produced.
In 1989, she received a Gemini Award for her contribution as supervising producer on Babar, and in 1990, a Daytime Emmy for Beetlejuice. Lenora is an active member of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television and Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. She is also a member of the board of directors for Women in Animation (WIA) International, a professional, non-profit organization established in 1994 to foster the dignity, concerns, and advancement of women who are involved in the field of animation (visit the Women in Animation website for more information). In 2006, Lenora was a judge for Canada’s annual Juno Awards. As well, she is a member of Founder Committee, a Canadian Studies Program at the University of California (UCLA) in Los Angeles.
Lenora says that her husband James Leier is looking forward to a few years in Europe and hopes to have time to attend some cooking schools. He is also interested in perhaps renovating/restoring properties while in London. Their son Adam Leier has completed his BFA at the Tisch School of Fine Arts at New York University and is living and working in New York.