Charlie Fink earned his BA at Sarah Lawrence College in 1981, and his MFA form the Art Institute of Chicago, where he produced and directed the award winning feature film "Door to Door."

 

As a 28-year-old junior executive at Disney, Fink famously came up with the idea for "The Lion King." In the 1990s, he was Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of VR pioneer, Virtual World Entertainment.

In addition to his noteworthy role as head of story development for Disney Feature Animation during Disney’s second golden age of animation (1985-1992), Fink was Senior Vice President & Chief Creative Officer of AOL Studios (1995-1999), and President of American Greetings Interactive and Blue Mountain (2000-2004). His past experience includes successful exits from several startups and producing over 30 Broadway and off-Broadway musicals.