As I mentioned in an entry last week announcing that the new Head Of Drama Programming at NBC is a black woman (specifically Pearlena Igbokwe), a project I'm currently working on is putting together a chart of all the black executives working within the Hollywood studio system, along with their positions and details as to what their jobs entail; in that same entry, I noted that I would need some help, and, thankfully, several folks emailed me with names, or linked me up with people in-the-know, who could actually assist me in putting together this chart.

And I've been doing my own digging as well.

As a result of all that, I learned today that the President of Fox Animation Studios (the animation division of 20th Century Fox) is an African American woman, and her name is Vanessa Morrison (photo above).

Further digging revealed that Ms Morrison, who's just 42 years young, has been in the business for just 15 rather short years, and all of them with 20th Century Fox. Incredibly, she started out as an intern, and officially became president of Fox Animation Studios in 2007. 

So, doing the math, she went from an internship to president of a major division of the studio, within about 10 short years! That's pretty damn impressive, isn't it?

She's held that title since 2007, and, according to The Hollywood Reporter, just signed a new multi-year deal with Fox, on the heels of the successful worldwide opening of Ice Age: Continental Drift, one of the projects she oversaw.

As president of Fox Animation Studios, Vanessa Morrison oversees development, production and marketing of family-friendly movies made. Films produced under her tenure include the global blockbuster Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, Rio, and a few others.

Next up for Morrison and Fox Animation is the 3-D action-adventure animated film, Epic, directed by Chris Wedge, with a voice cast includes Beyonce Knowles, Colin Farrell, and others.

And finally, worth noting, before she became president of Fox Animation Studios, she as actually executive vice president for the parent studio company 20th Century Fox, and also previously served as senior vice president of production and vice president of production, during which she shepherded live-action films like Cheaper by the Dozen, Dr. Dolittle 2 and Fat Albert.

Now you know… 

Expect more highlights like this as I continue to discover while working on my chart.