Hyperion Pictures, founded by Tom Wilhite and Willard Carroll, is an Emmy Award-winning producer of hundreds of hours of live-action and animated theatrical films, television, and video programming. Hyperion is the first studio to emphasize production of ethnically and culturally diverse animation with the theatrical feature Bebe's Kids (Paramount) and TV series The Proud Family (Disney), Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child (HBO), and Da Boom Crew (Kids' WB).

Tom Wilhite is a former head of production for Walt Disney where films he green-lighted include TRON, the first extensive use of computer graphics, and Splash, then Disney’s biggest live-action hit. He later served as executive director of Sundance Institute and its Film Festival. Over the years Wilhite has supported early work by numerous directors including Tim Burton, Ron Howard, and John Lasseter. A graduate of Iowa State University and voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, he began his entertainment industry career at the Rogers & Cowan public relations firm before joining Disney as publicity director.  

Willard Carroll is a writer, producer, and director whose films include all-star drama Playing by Heart with Sean Connery, Angelina Jolie, and Gena Rowlands, and romantic musical comedy Marigold starring Ali Larter and Bollywood superstar Salman Khan, produced entirely in India. Previously, he directed his adaptation of Philippa Pearce’s classic novel Tom’s Midnight Garden starring Joan Plowright and Penelope Wilton, and The Runestone with Peter Riegert and Alexander Gudenov. A graduate of USC School of Cinematic Arts, Carroll has assembled the world’s leading collection related to The Wizard of Oz and published three books on the subject. 

Jesse Groening is a producer, director, and cinematographer of non-scripted television and youth and family, education, and information video programming. He has produced and photographed documentaries and series for Amazon Prime, Netflix, Disney+ (earning an Emmy nomination for Weird But True), and Warner Bros. Discovery’s Magnolia Network, Food Network (directing 12 seasons of Restaurant Impossible), and HBO MAX (now in his third season photographing and directing Motel Rescue). Groening graduated from the University of Maine and began his non-fiction filmmaking career as Bangor Daily News’ first multimedia reporter.