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"Penguins" Executives Speak March 3
National Geographic Ventures chairman Dennis R. Patrick ’73, whose “March of the Penguins” is up for an Academy Award for best documentary, will be the featured speaker with National Geographic Feature Films’ Adam Leipzig at the March 3 Occidental College Speakers Forum at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.
An 11:30 a.m. reception will precede the noon luncheon in the hotel’s Gold Ballroom. The Biltmore is located at 506 S. Grand Ave. Tickets for the luncheon are $35 per person ($20 for Oxy GOLD members). For reservations or additional information, contact Sheila Boyd at (323) 259-1456 or sboyd@oxy.edu.
Acquired by Warner Independent Pictures and National Geographic Feature Films at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2005, “March of the Penguins” emerged as a box-office surprise. The film grossed more than $77 million in theaters to become the second-highest grossing documentary of all time. Its success solidifies the fortunes of 7-year-old National Geographic Feature Films, a division of National Geographic Ventures.
As chairman of National Geographic Ventures, Patrick is responsible for overseeing National Geographic’s TV and feature film production and cartographic and online business. He also oversees National Geographic’s investment in the National Geographic Channel and the National Geographic Channel International. Between 1999 and 2001, Patrick served as the first president of AOL Wireless, the division responsible for making AOL services wireless.
Before joining National Geographic Feature Films, Leipzig was a producer for Interscope Communications as well as senior vice president of motion picture production for Walt Disney Studios and Touchstone Pictures. He is currently developing “Undaunted Courage,” a 10-part HBO miniseries based on Stephen Ambrose’s award-winning book about the Lewis and Clark expedition.