John Charles Besmehn (born 1964) from San Jose, California, is a writer, director, producer of animated and live action shows, and a developer of toys and entertainment properties. He co-developed the toy line for ''

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' (''TMNT'') is an American media franchise created by comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Leonardo, Donatello (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), D ...

''. He co-created the toy and animation property, B.C. Bikers, about a rogue band of "chrome age" dinosaurs who ride motorcycles through an apocalyptic past. Besmehn has also conceived, designed and written for the '' Toxic Crusaders'', based on '' The Toxic Avenger''. He co-wrote with his collaborator, John Schulte, the animated pilot for the series '' Gormiti: The Invincible Lords of Nature'', which debuted on

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

in 2009 and was based on the Italian toy collectible from Giochi Preziosi. Besmehn writes and develops toy and entertainment properties with his longtime writing partners, John C. Schulte, Fred Fox Jr., and business associate, Cheryl Ann Wong. He is a co-founder and general partner in Pangea Corporation.

Biography

Early years

Besmehn was born in 1964 in San Jose, California, to Charles and Marion Besmehn. He attended San Mateo College and Glendale College, studying theatre, law and computer programming.

Career

Following college, Besmehn filmed productions and performed in short films eventually met his long-time collaborator, John C. Schulte, whilst developing a reality-based series, "The Perfect Wedding." Besmehn had acting roles in '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors'', ''Invasion: Earth'', and '' Return to Horror High''. Besmehn developed concepts for

DIC Entertainment DIC Entertainment Corporation (; also known as DIC Audiovisuel, DIC Enterprises, DIC Animation City, DIC Entertainment, L.P., and DIC Productions, sometimes stylized as DİC) was a French American film and television production company that ...

, including for Arsenio Hall's Chunky A character and

New Kids on the Block New Kids on the Block (also initialized as NKOTB) is an American boy band from Dorchester, Massachusetts. The band consists of brothers Jonathan and Jordan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, and Danny Wood. New Kids on the Block had ...

. Besmehn created toy lines and animated shows, such as ''

Speed Racer ''Speed Racer'', also known as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tatsuo Yoshida. It was originally serialized in print in Shueisha's 1966 ''Shōnen Book''. It was released in form by Sun Wide Comics and later re-re ...

'', ''

Zorro Zorro ( or , Spanish for "fox") is a fictional character created in 1919 by American Pulp magazine, pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo de Los Ángeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed as a dashin ...

'', ''

Biker Mice from Mars ''Biker Mice from Mars'' is an American animated series created by Rick Ungar. The series premiered in syndication the week of September 19, 1993. It consists of three seasons of 65 episodes, with the final episode airing in syndication the we ...

'', '' The Mask'', '' Mirmo'', '' Toonsylvania'', '' The Mummy'', and''

Penguins of Madagascar ''Penguins of Madagascar'' is a 2014 American animated spy comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and PDI/DreamWorks and distributed by 20th Century Fox. A spinoff of the ''Madagascar'' film series, it was directed by Eric Darnell and ...

''. He also designed the logic and content for Amazing Ally from Playmates, Tamagotchi, Nano, and the character-based robot, Brian the Brain. The interactive storytellers, Yano, Wittley and Bubba are among his credits. As a programmer, Besmehn created websites for Bandai, SpeedRacer, and WhacAMole. Besmehn is the director and editor of the video for kids called "Yoga Divas". He has also worked with DreamWorks, Universal Studios, and Sony. Besmehn collaborates with

Ron Dante Carmine John Granito (born August 22, 1945), known professionally as Ron Dante, is an American singing, singer, songwriter, Session musician, session vocalist, and record producer. Dante is best known as the real life lead singer of the fiction ...

on a musical; he is co-writing a show with

Barbara Brooks Wallace Barbara Brooks Wallace (December 3, 1922 – November 27, 2018) was an American children's writer. She won the NLAPW Children's Book Award and International Youth Library "Best of the Best" for ''Claudia'' (2001) and William Allen White Childre ...

based on her ''Miss Switch'' book series.

References

External links

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PANGEA Corporation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Besmehn, John 1964 births Living people American male screenwriters Film directors from California