Jean Chalopin (born 31 May 1950) is a French businessman, banker and former television producer.[1] In 1971, he founded the production company DIC Entertainment, which specialized in children-oriented television and film productions. Through the company, he co-created successful television series including Inspector Gadget (which grew into a namesake media franchise), The Real Ghostbusters, Sonic Underground, and Dennis the Menace; he also served as the co-writer and producer of The Mysterious Cities of Gold. He created a successor company, C&D in 1987.[2] DIC was dissolved into Cookie Jar Group in 2013, and he has since shifted focus onto a career in banking.
Jean Chalopin | |
|---|---|
 Chalopin in 2013 | |
| Born | 31 May 1950 |
| Occupation(s) | Banker, television producer, media proprietor, screenwriter |
| Years active | 1971–present |
| Children | 2 |
Career
editIn 1968, Chalopin formed an advertising company named the Office de Gestion et d'Action Publicitaire (OGAP, Office of Management and Advertising Action).[3] In 1971, with the backing of Radio Television Luxembourg, Chalopin renamed the company to Diffusion Information Commercial (DIC, Commercial Information Dissemination) which later evolved into DIC Entertainment. At DIC, he wrote, developed and produced programmes animated by overseas studios.[4][5] DIC's first major series were the French-Japanese co-productions Ulysses 31 and The Mysterious Cities of Gold, which Chalopin produced and co-wrote. Subsequently, he co-created Inspector Gadget together with Andy Heyward and Bruno Bianchi; its launch in 1983, concurrently with The Littles, marked DIC's foray into the American marketplace.
In 1987, Chalopin founded the company Créativité et Développement, aka C&D (eng: Creativity and Development), after selling his shares in DIC, and continued to produce cartoons in the late 1980s and 1990s. C&D had offices in Paris and Tokyo while setting up Jetlag Productions as its American affiliated company.[6] C&D had purchased the DIC library foreign distribution rights from Saban Entertainment soon after Saban had acquired them from DIC in 1987.[4] In 1996, Chalopin sold the C&D library to Fox Kids Worldwide, while the company itself was absorbed into Saban International Paris.[6]
After moving to the Bahamas in 1987, Chalopin began investing in Deltec Bank and Trust, eventually becoming its largest shareholder and chairman. As chairman he sought out smaller cryptocurrency-related businesses, including Tether and its controlling company Bitfinex in 2018. At that time, Deltec was the only bank willing to work with the cryptocurrency.[7]
Chalopin acquired Farmington State Bank (FSB), a single-location community bank in Farmington, Washington, in 2020. FSB, which until then had focused on agricultural loans, began to offer services to the blockchain and cannabis industries under the name Moonstone Bank. Among FSB's blockchain activities, it accepted millions of dollars in investment capital and deposits from entities linked to the FTX cryptocurrency exchange. US federal prosecutors seized FTX-related funds from the bank in January 2023 after FTX's failure, and FSB announced that it would return to community banking. Later that year FSB agreed to sell its operations and liquidate at the insistence of the Federal Reserve Board and state bank regulators.[8]
Producer
editTelevision
edit- Ulysses 31 (1981–1982)
- The Mysterious Cities of Gold (1982–1983)
- Inspector Gadget (1983–1985)
- The Littles (1983–1985)
- Kidd Video (1984)
- The Get Along Gang (1984)
- Pole Position (1984)
- Heathcliff (1984–1985)
- Rainbow Brite (1984–1986)
- Care Bears (1985)
- Hulk Hogan’s Rock ‘n’ Wrestling (1985–1986)
- Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors (1985–1986)
- M.A.S.K. (1985–1986)
- Photon (1986–1987)
- Popples (1986–1987)
- The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin (1986–1987)
- Zoobilee Zoo (1986–1987)
- Dennis the Menace (1986–1988)
- Kissyfur (1986–1990)
- The Real Ghostbusters (1986–1991)
- The New Adventures of He-Man (1990)
- The Twins of Destiny (1991–1992)
- King Arthur and the Knights of Justice (1992–1993)
- The Adventures of T-Rex (1992–1993)
- Conan the Adventurer (1993)
- The Bots Master (1993–1994)
- Littlest Pet Shop (1995)
- Space Strikers (1995)
Film
edit- Here Come the Littles (1985)
- Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer (1985)
- Heathcliff: The Movie (1986)
- Liberty (1986)
- The Kingdom Chums: Little David’s Adventure (1986)
Screenwriting credits
editTelevision
edit- Ulysses 31 (1981–1982)*
- The Mysterious Cities of Gold (1982–1983)*
- Pole Position (1984)*
- Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors (1985–1986)
- The New Adventures of He-Man (1990)
- Adventures of the Little Mermaid (1991)*
- The Twins of Destiny (1991–1992)*
- The Adventures of T-Rex (1992–1993)*
- Around the World in Eighty Dreams (1992)
- King Arthur and the Knights of Justice (1992–1993)*
- Conan the Adventurer (1993)
- The Bots Master (1993–1994)*
- Happy Ness: The Secret of the Loch (1995)*
- Space Strikers (1995)*
- Littlest Pet Shop (1995)
- Gadget & the Gadgetinis (2002–2003)*
- Sabrina’s Secret Life (2003–2004)*
- The Mysterious Cities of Gold (2012–2013, licensed)
Film
edit* = head writer
References
edit- ^ Katz, Lily; Leising, Matthew (2 November 2018). "Bank Tied to Tether Goes Quiet on Relationship With Crypto Firm". Bloomberg. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
- ^ Adelson, Andrea (30 December 1987). "BUSINESS PEOPLE; For Maker of Cartoons, A Chance to Go Public". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 August 2010.
- ^ "DIC Entertainment Company Profile: Valuation, Investors, Acquisition | PitchBook".
- ^ a b Perlmutter, David (2014). America Toons In: A History of Television Animation. McFarland. pp. 207–212. ISBN 9780786476503. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
- ^ Bates, James (29 December 1987). "DIC, Computer Memories Plan Merger : Cartoon Maker Seeks Easy Way to Go Public". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
- ^ a b "Deltec International Group". Isola Capital. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
- ^ Faux, Zeke (7 October 2021). "Anyone Seen Tether's Billions?". Bloomberg.com. Archived from the original on 7 October 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
- ^ Saulsbery, Gabrielle (18 August 2023). "Fed orders wind down of FTX-associated Farmington State Bank". Retrieved 22 August 2023.