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Riverhead H.S. alum lands top job at Disney Studios

Darknight, batman, Alan Horn, Disney Studios
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO/CHRIS PIZZELLO | Alan Horn (from right), actor Michael Caine and director Christopher Nolan in a 2008 ceremony for Mr. Caine in Los Angeles.

1960 was the year childhood friends Alan Horn and Howard Gassert — who both lived in Aquebogue at the time — graduated from Riverhead High School.

Howard was your typical jock; Alan was into baseball, but his main focus was academics.

“I always admired Alan for his self-discipline, and he admired me for my athleticism, but you see how far athletics has gotten me,” Mr. Gassert said with a laugh.

Mr. Gassert owns a nice home on Sandalwood Lane in Riverhead with his wife, Nancy, a former Riverhead school board member, but he’s comparing himself to Alan Horn. Yes, film buffs. The Alan Horn.

For the uninitiated, Mr. Horn went on to become a film industry great, a man named a “Studio Titan” in The Hollywood Reporter’s 2011 “Legends” issue.

So, how did he get there?

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