Golden Books Names Anne Pitrone to Lead Interactive Division

Posted on October 24, 1997

Golden Books Family Entertainment announced it has named Anne Pitrone to the newly created position of Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Sight and Sound Division of Golden Books. Pitrone, formerly Senior Vice President, Advance Research and Development, at Toy Biz, Inc., a company she helped found, has 15 years of experience in the toy industry.

At Golden Books, she will be heading up a team that will be developing and implementing interactive technologies designed to enhance the reading experience. She will be working with inventors to develop new technologies as well as spearheading the marketing and sales strategy for the revolutionary conductive ink "in-the-pages" sound technology found in Golden Books' Smart Pages, interactive books that are much like CD-Roms. Golden Books, jointly, with Futech Educational Products, Inc., has exclusive rights to the Smart Pages.

At Toy Biz, Pitrone was responsible for the successful launch of Gerber-branded electronic preschool dolls, toys and educational books, as well as the Marvel Action Figure and Large Doll categories. She has also worked for a number of other companies in the toy industry, including ViewMaster Ideal Group, LJN Toys, Larami Corporation and Avalon Industries. "I'm very excited about the business opportunities here at Golden Books," says Pitrone. "The extraordinary library of classic characters - both proprietary and licensed - is a great foundation for new technologies that can make the strategic marketing of books a brand new ball-game."