Sandra Rabins is an American film producer. She was born in Hollywood, Los Angeles. She one of the most respected Live Action and Animation Executives in the industry. She is known for her ability to assemble top artistic talent, problem solve and streamline productions. She also worked on films included Terms of Endearment (1983), Best Defense (1984), Witness (1985), Explorers (1985), Dangerous Minds (1995), Antz (1998), The Prince of Egypt (1998), The Road to El Dorado (2000), Joseph: King of Dreams (2000), Shrek (2001), Snakes on a Plane (2006), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009), Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet (2014) and Duck Duck Goose (2018).
Early life[]
Born and raised in Hollywood, Rabins began her career at Paramount Pictures.
In 1985, she moved to Walt Disney Studios where she was responsible for establishing the production entities to create and animate Roger Rabbit, Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach. She was also instrumental in helping PIXAR establish itself as a digital film entity to create Toy Story. In addition to working on up to twenty studio films a year, her responsibilities included overseeing traditional animation as well as Theme Park Films.
Career[]
From 1990-1993 she was the Senior Vice President of Production and Finance for Buena Vista Pictures and worked over sixty pictures including, The Joy Luck Club and Blank Check. Later that year she was an Independent Executive Producer on the summer hit Dangerous Minds, starring Michelle Pfeiffer once again working with Walt Disney Pictures.
Always attracted to new challenges, Rabins helped build the animation division of DreamWorks Studios from scratch and was instrumental in the purchase of PDI, helping to build it into a digital effects theatrical giant. Finkelman Cox produced DreamWorks' first traditionally animated feature, The Prince of Egypt and followed that up with the computer animated Antz, which marked the first feature from PDI/DreamWorks. In 2001, Rabins served as an executive producer on the computer animated blockbuster box office hit, Shrek, which won the first Academy Award for best-animated film.
Other works[]
From 2002-2009 she began a new division Sony Pictures Animation where she served as Senior Executive Vice President. The new animation division for Sony Studios required hiring personnel and building a new animation company to rival DreamWorks, Disney and Pixar in quality. During her tenure she developed and produced the hit comedies Open Season, Surf's Up, and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, she also purchased and developed the 2012 hit Hotel Transylvania.
In 2010 she joined DreamWorks Animation Television as the Co-Executive Producer for Dragons: Riders of Berk , a new series based on the hit movie How to Train Your Dragon which is airing on Cartoon Network. She has produced 21 aired episodes.
Personal life[]
Sandra Rabins and her producing partner Penney Finkelman Cox have an independent production entity, Patchwork Productions, which executive produced the 2006 feature film Snakes on a Plane. Currently Patchwork Productions is developing several projects with studios in Japan and China, with the first movie releasing in 2016.
Rabins is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as well as the PGA, AIS and ASIFA. She and her family reside in Los Angeles, California.
Filmography[]
Film[]
- Terms of Endearment (1983) - (location auditor)
- Best Defense (1984) - (production accountant)
- Witness (1985) - (production auditor)
- Explorers (1985) - (production accountant)
- Dangerous Minds (1995) - (executive producer)
- Antz (1998) - (executive producer)
- The Prince of Egypt (1998) - (producer)
- The Road to El Dorado (2000) - (special thanks)
- Joseph: King of Dreams (2000) (Video) - (special thanks: DreamWorks)
- Shrek (2001) - (executive producer)
- Snakes on a Plane (2006) - (executive producer)
- Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) - (special thanks)
- Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet (2014) - (production consultant)
- Duck Duck Goose (2018) - (producer)