The Chipmunks: Ross Bagdasarian Jr. & Janice Karman

How I Built This · 18 Sept 2017 · 56m

What this episode covers

Ross Bagdasarian Jr. and Janice Karman explain how they revived the Alvin and the Chipmunks franchise after their father's death, overcoming years of rejection from major studios by leveraging the success of the 'Chipmunk Punk' album. They detail the business strategy of retaining intellectual property rights, the financial pitfalls of early TV deals and a failed partnership with Universal, and the eventual billion-dollar success of the Fox films. The episode also covers their personal dynamic as a husband-and-wife team running the company from their home in Santa Barbara.

Mentioned

Companies
NBC, Universal, Fox, Viacom, U.S. Bank
Products
Alvin and the Chipmunks, Chipmunk Punk, RompHim

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