Haim Saban

In his one-and-a-half-hour interview, Haim Saban talks about his childhood in Egypt and Israel, and his early ambition to go into business. He discusses his first foray into the music business: by playing bass and serving as the manager for a Beatles cover band before going on to become a music manager/agent with his own agency. Saban tells the story of moving to Paris and representing the child singer Noam Kaniel, who had many hit records and who recorded the theme song to the animated show Goldarak – Saban’s first taste of music publication for television series. He talks about moving to Los Angeles, producing music for animated series and eventually producing the series themselves, including X-Men. He then talks about how he came to produce Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, his eight-year quest to get it on television, Fox Kids executive Margaret Loesch’s championing of the show despite skepticism and pushback from affiliates, and the show’s immense popularity when it did finally air. Saban shares details of negotiations with Rupert Murdoch, Michael Eisner, and other executives as he built his business, describes the merger of Saban Entertainment with Fox Kids Network to create Fox Kids Worldwide, recalls the creation of Fox Family Worldwide, and talks about the sale of Fox Family Worldwide to Disney. He concludes by discussing his and his wife Cheryl’s philanthropy, his thoughts on AI, and how he would like to be remembered. Jodi Delaney conducted the interview on January 23, 2024 in Beverly Hills, CA.