US film and TV producer Skydance Media has announced the launch of an animation division and multi-year partnership with Madrid-based Ilion Animation Studios (Mortadelo & Filemon, Planet 51) to develop and produce animated features and series. Skydance was founded in 2010 by CEO David Ellison to co-finance and produce movies with Paramount — most recently Life (with Columbia), Jack Reacher: Never Go Back and Star Trek Beyond. It previously branched into television and interactive/VR projects.
Skydance’s Chief Creative Officer, Dana Goldberg, will oversee the animation slate.
The first animated project on the slate is an untitled feature expected in 2019, and is being written by Disney vet Linda Woolverton (Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Maleficent). The film will center on on a teenager named Elian who comes of age using her magical powers to defend her family when opposing forces of threaten her kingdom. Woolverton is producing with Ellison and Goldberg for Skydance, and Ilion’s Ignacio Pérez Dolset and Jose San Román.
The untitled flick will be followed by Luck (working title), which reveals the secret groups that manufacture good and bad luck in our everyday lives. Writing duo Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger (Trolls, Kung Fu Panda trilogy, Monsters vs. Aliens) are penning the script, which will be produced again by Ellison, Goldberg, Dolset and San Román.
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