2016 U.S.-China Film Collaboration Award

Melissa Cobb
Head of Studio and Chief Creative Officer
Oriental DreamWorks

Melissa Cobb was appointed Head of Studio and Chief Creative Officer in January 2016. She produced the three Kung Fu Panda films, which earned Academy Award nominations and grossed over $1.8 billion worldwide. She has supervised all aspects of that franchise, serving as Executive Producer of three short films and overseeing the Emmy Award-winning Nickelodeon TV series Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness.

Cobb began her career producing live theatrical projects, including the long-running hit Greater Tuna. She segued to feature films, first at I.R.S. Media, where she oversaw production and development of more than a dozen films, including Carl Franklin’s acclaimed One False Move. At Walt Disney Pictures, she was responsible for discovering and developing live-action films, including Blank Check, The Jungle Book and Man of the House. As Senior Vice President of Production at 20th Century Fox Animation, Cobb developed a slate of animated features, including Titan A.E. and Olive, the Other Reindeer.

She later served as Vice President of Motion Pictures for Television at VH1, where her Executive Producer credits included the Michael Jackson biopic Family Values, Warning: Parental Advisory and They Shoot Divas, Don’t They. Cobb holds an MBA from UCLA’s Anderson Graduate School of Management and a BS from Stanford University.