Netflix Animation has announced the appointment of Hannah Minghella as the new Head of Feature Animation and Live-Action Family Film. The feature animation department’s current VP, Karen Toliver (Hair Love), and President, Traci Balthazor (Planes), are both departing the studio-streamer.
Minghella joins Netflix from J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot, where she was President of Motion Pictures covering animation, live-action and documentary features. Hailing from the U.K., she produced the Oscar- and BAFTA-winning animated short The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse (2022, Apple TV+). Prior, she had a nearly 15-year stint at Sony Pictures/Columbia Pictures, where she worked on Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and Hotel Transylvania.
“I am thrilled to be joining Netflix and the incredibly talented team working on feature animation and live-action family film. In such a short time, the studio has already distinguished itself within the animation community as a home for bold and original voices,” Minghella shared in the announcement.
Bolstering the Feature Animation team, Sharon Taylor has been named Head of Production, based in Vancouver. She was previously CEO of Australian animation and VFX studio Animal Logic, which was tapped to be acquired by Netflix in 2022. Taylor resigned from her position when the studio integrated into the Netflix Animation structure early this year, handing off her duties to the now outgoing Toliver.
Animal Logic produced The Magician’s Elephant and last year’s hit Adam Sandler original Leo for Netflix Animation. The studio is also known for its work on The LEGO Movie and hybrid Peter Rabbit franchises.
Building on its increasingly impressive roster of feature films, which has included in recent years the Oscar-winning Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio and Oscar-nominated Nimona, The Sea Beast and The Mitchells vs. the Machines, Netflix Animation has a busy slate on the horizon. This year has already seen the launches of Thelma the Unicorn and just-debuted Ultraman: Rising, with Studio Ponoc’s The Imaginary coming next month and Locksmith Animation’s Richard Curtis adaptation That Christmas due in December.
Upcoming titles also include Aardman’s Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, SPA’s K-Pop: Demon Hunters and Motel Transylvania, SpongeBob spin-offs Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie and Plankton: The Movie, Skydance Animation’s Spellbound, Roald Dahl adaptation The Twits, Nathan Greno’s Pookoo and more.
[Source: The Wrap]
