John Cohen might not be a household name but the Hollywood movie producer is a megastar in the animation community. Having produced 2010 blockbuster “Despicable Me” and worked on a string of other animated hits from “Ice Age” to “Alvin and the Chipmunks,” he spoke to the Business Journal about producing one of 2016’s most anticipated films, “The Angry Birds Movie,” based on the wildly popular mobile game.

His movie will explain just what makes the Angry Birds so angry – a question that players of the game have wanted answered for years.

He cast Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad and Peter Dinklage to voice the main characters in the film, Red, Chuck and Mighty Eagle.

“The Angry Birds Movie” will land in movie theaters May 20. Culver City’s Sony Pictures Entertainment will be the global distributor for the film.

Question: How has the way you do business changed in the digital age?

Answer: So many creative conversations are held via video conference now. On “Angry Birds,” our production hub is here in Los Angeles but we have offices in different cities and the company behind the game, Rovio Entertainment, is based in Helsinki. Our daily editorial sessions, animation-asset reviews and even production meetings include multiple locations. But the technology we have in place really makes it feel like we’re all working under the same roof. With the time-zone difference, my days usually start very early in the morning.

What does your job as a producer on this huge movie involve?

My involvement began with the inception of the story, which our core creative team collaborated on starting back in 2012. Then developing that outline into a screenplay with our writer, Jon Vitti. Every step of the process has been a close collaboration with Rovio and Mikael Hed, chairman of Rovio Animation, including casting, design and music. Together with (fellow producer) Catherine Winder, I assembled the entire creative and production team and built a new studio, which is based both in Los Angeles and Vancouver. The studio houses our directors, production and character designers, editorial, storyboard artists and operational staff. We’ve partnered with Sony Pictures Imageworks Inc. to do the animation, and they’re located in Culver City and Vancouver. My involvement continues all the way through the marketing and distribution of the film, which is released in the States in May.

How do you plan to get the game’s built-in audience to see the movie?  

“Angry Birds” has been downloaded over 3 billion times, which is a staggering number. We are always approaching our creative decisions in “The Angry Birds Movie” from the perspective of the fans. They’re on our minds through every step of the filmmaking process. We are going to be giving the players of the games the first access to all kinds of cool new content over the next few months. Our goal is to honor the fans’ loyalty and reward them for continuing to play. The target demographic is the broad audience with a focus on families, teens and fans of the games.

How did you get started in the entertainment business?  

My start was film school at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. That led to my first job after college as an assistant to producer Scott Rudin in New York. Working for Scott was where I really began to understand the entertainment business – from creative development to production and marketing. I consider those two and a half years as grad school.

How did you get involved with the creation of “Despicable Me”?  

After moving to Los Angeles, I worked at 20th Century Fox Animation for seven years under Chris Meledandri. Our films at Fox included “Ice Age,” “Robots,” “Ice Age: Meltdown,” “Alvin and the Chipmunks” and “Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who.” In 2007, I joined Chris at Illumination Entertainment and one of the first projects we developed was “Despicable Me.”

How surprised were you by that film’s huge, franchise-fueling, box-office performance?  

It’s been so exciting to see how passionately audiences have embraced “Despicable Me” and the characters from the film. The longevity of the franchise is a testament to the talent of the creative team that continues to nurture and develop those characters, led by Chris Meledandri and others. Having been lucky enough to play a role in the creation of a few ongoing franchises, I look forward as a fan to each new film in the “Ice Age,” “Despicable,” “Alvin” and “Dr. Seuss” universes.

What’s the biggest business lesson you’ve learned in Hollywood?

Hard work and a lot of preparation will always give you a competitive advantage. The most successful people I’ve met simply work harder than others. You’ll be much more productive if you go into meetings and creative conversations with a strategy and desired outcome.

What is the biggest challenge facing animation producers today?

I think the biggest challenge also happens to be the greatest opportunity – there are a lot of animated movies currently being created and released. While there are so many interesting animated projects, the sheer number of films in the marketplace really puts the onus on differentiating your film to stand out – having your own unique comedic and dramatic sensibility, a concept and characters that can connect with people around the world, and a distinct visual style.

What are you doing to overcome that challenge?

We are always challenging ourselves to distinguish the film – make the movie as funny as possible, the characters as compelling and relatable as they can be, and find opportunities to make the story surprising in new and unexpected ways. I’m a big believer that passion leads to the strongest creative results. This movie is truly a passion project for me and for all of the members of our core creative team.

What advice would you offer anyone going into the entertainment business?

Be a cinephile. Watch as many movies as possible. And, when you can, try to see movies in a theater – you can learn so much from hearing an audience’s reaction.