John Gildea is a senior executive with over 35 years of experience in the management of intellectual property assets across a broad variety of businesses. John is credited with creating the licensing division at Hasbro, the iconic toy and game company, which has grown to be a $4 billion operation. John hired Leslie Levine as his first new hire for the new Hasbro licensing division.
John worked at Hasbro, Inc., for 17 years, where he served as Vice President of Licensing and Consumer Promotions before becoming Senior Vice President of New Business Development for Hasbro Interactive. He developed strategic relationships with the entertainment, licensing and publishing industry leaders, including such high profile corporations as The Walt Disney Co., Warner Brothers Studios, Lyrick Studios, Sesame Workshop, Scholastic Publications and Nickelodeon. John also served as Senior Vice President of Consumer Products at Cookie Jar Entertainment, a leading children’s entertainment content company, where he was responsible for developing and implementing the company’s consumer products licensing strategy. Prior to joining the Licensing Works team, John consulted with prestigious clients including: Crayola, a division of Hallmark Cards, Eric Carle Studio, super model, Emme, and Marsupial Media, a Television & Multi-Media production company established by Kathy Parker, co-creator of Barney.