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Damien de Froberville has been promoted to president of Sony Pictures Animation. He’ll serve alongside president Kristine Belson, overseeing the animation division’s upcoming slate of “Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse,” Stephen Curry’s sports comedy “Goat” and fantasy musical “Kpop: Demon Hunters.”

“I am thrilled to announce that Damien de Froberville has been promoted to serve alongside me as President of Sony Pictures Animation,” Belson wrote on Tuesday morning in a note to staff. “This new title and structure recognizes the significant responsibilities he has already undertaken and the vital role he has played at our studio. Since his arrival, Damien and I have worked in tandem to guide the studio’s strategic direction, drive its continued growth, and oversee all aspects of development and production across our animation slate.”

Belson and de Froberville

De Froberville was hired at Sony Pictures Animation in 2023 as executive VP of production and operating strategy.

Despicable Me Films Ranked At The Worldwide Box Office( Photo Credit – YouTube )

Despicable Me 4 kept the theatres busy in 2024, and although it was predicted to cross the $1 billion mark, it fell short of that. However, it was still a huge success and one of the top 5 highest-grossing films of last year. However, is it the biggest film in the main franchise? Let’s find out!

About the Franchise –

The franchise was created by Sergio Pablos, Cinco Paul, and Ken Daurio. The films are produced by Illumination and distributed by its parent company, Universal Pictures. The first film came out in 2010, and it was directed by Chris Renaud and Pierre Coffin. Meanwhile, the fourth film has only been directed by Chris Renaud. There are four films in the Despicable Me film series and two prequel series, Minions and Minions: The Rise of Gru. However, we will only rank the Despicable Me films.

It’s Christmaaaaaas! Well, almost, and movie fans have taken to social media to urge audiences to sit in front of the TV and stream a particularly festive Netflix movie this year. Released back in 2019, the animated Christmas adventure comedy, Klaus, was met with rave reviews at the time, but remains a largely unsung and underrated movie of the genre. But, could that all be about to change in 2024?

Co-written, co-produced, and directed by Sergio Pablos in his directorial debut, Klaus boasts a hugely impressive 95% from critics and 96% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. “Beautiful hand-drawn animation and a humorous, heartwarming narrative make Klaus an instant candidate for holiday classic status,” the critics’ consensus reads.

Featuring an all-star cast that includes Jason Schwartzman, Rashida Jones, Will Sasso, Neda Margrethe Labba, Sergio Pablos, Joan Cusack, and Norm Macdonald in one of his final roles, Klaus centers on a selfish postman and a...

Animation oriented sales outfit Gebeka International has boarded Xilam Films’ upcoming family feature “Lucy Lost,” while France’s Le Pacte and Canal+ have picked up French domestic distribution and pay-tv rights.

Together the three new partners will help launch this seaside adventure tale, co-written and directed by animation vet Olivier Clert and adapted from “War Horse” author Michael Morpurgo’s 2014 novel “Listen to the Moon.” Production is now underway at Xilam’s animation studio in France, ahead of a March 2026 delivery date.

A longtime collaborator with Mark Osborne and Sergio Pablos, director Olivier Clert will make his feature debut with this project co-written with BAFTA-winner Helen Blakeman and produced by Xilam’s Marc du Pontavice and Lucie Bolze.

Set on the Isles of Scilly just off the Cornish coast, the film follows a young girl named Lucy raised by a clan of fishermen she knows not to be hers. However,...

The ‘Despicable Me’ and ‘Minions’ series' have left an incredible mark with six movies in the books, let’s see how each movie performed and what the franchise has in store for the future! The ‘Despicable me’ franchise has become a renowned name all around the world since its start in 2010. From its smaller beginnings to the release of the franchise's 4th film earlier this month. The series has become a phenomenon with 6 total movies. Four movies follow the ‘Despicable me’ series and 2 follow the Minions series which is set to be the prequel to all ‘Despicable me’ movies. Produced by Illumination Productions and distributed by Universal pictures, the movies all center around Gru, his three daughters and the very loved minions. The concept of the series originated from animator Sergio Pablos, who founded his animation company Spa Studios, with the aid of other ideas before becoming a global blockbuster franchise under Illumination Productions.

Is the Despicable Me franchise a Darwinist project in which the Minions started their evolution back at the beginning of life on Earth, or did intelligent design deliver Gru his wacky yellow Tic-Tac workers? More importantly, are the films’ writers finally ready to answer the Hitler question?

When Despicable Me premiered in the summer of 2010, the star of the smash-hit kid’s comedy wasn’t Steve Carell playing the lead villain Gru, or Jason Segel’s alternate antagonist Vector, or even the thankfully-since-fired Russell Brand as the brilliant scientist Dr. Nefario. No, regardless of the billing order, the undeniable headliner of the massively successful movie that launched a seven-film franchise was the collective order of the Minions, Gru’s colorful cronies whose slapstick antics and love of bananas captivated children and adults alike to the tune of a half-billion-dollar return at the box office.

Like all Despicable Me characters, the...

The “Despicable Me” franchise began in 2010 with the first animated film from creators/writers Sergio Pablos, Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio. The story focuses on a former supervillain turned secret agent named Gru (voiced by Steve Carell), and his adorable yellow sidekicks, the Minions. The original movie raked in $251.7 million in the United States alone, and $543 million total worldwide. Because of that breakout success, Universal Pictures and Illumination wanted more, more, more. Hence, there have been three “Despicable Me” direct sequels plus two spin-offs, “Minions” and “Minions: The Rise of Gru.”

In addition to the six feature films, the ever-growing franchise includes several short films, a TV special, video games, and a Universal Studios ride. “Despicable Me” is the highest-grossing animated film franchise of all time, earning more than $4.6 billion (and counting), with “Shrek” in second place and “Toy Story” in third place.

See Watch our lively chats with hundreds...

The “Despicable Me” franchise began in 2010 with the first animated film from creators/writers Sergio Pablos, Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio. The story focuses on a former supervillain turned secret agent named Gru (voiced by Steve Carell), and his adorable yellow sidekicks, the Minions. The original movie raked in $251.7 million in the United States alone, and $543 million total worldwide. Because of that breakout success, Universal Pictures and Illumination wanted more, more, more. Hence, there have been three “Despicable Me” direct sequels plus two spin-offs, “Minions” and “Minions: The Rise of Gru.”

In addition to the six feature films, the ever-growing franchise includes several short films, a TV special, video games, and a Universal Studios ride. “Despicable Me” is the highest-grossing animated film franchise of all time, earning more than $4.6 billion (and counting), with “Shrek” in second place and “Toy Story” in third place.

While it’s obvious that fans worldwide...

Despicable Me 4 sees Gru's family expand. The cast and crew are returning with a few exceptions. The film sets the stage for further sequels after promising opening predictions.

Despicable Me 4 is just around the corner and all signs point to it being another major success for Illumination Animation. The franchise thus far has been a calling card for the animation studio, with its iconic characters, moving narrative beats and hectic action ensuring that audiences always get their money's worth from the theatrical experience. It's no surprise that the love for the initial Despicable Me spawned countless spinoffs, shorts, adverts, video games and even theme park rides, allowing consumers to get ever-closer to these well-rounded and hilarious characters.

Despicable Me 4 promises to reunite the ensemble, but there are a few surprising changes in store. Early trailers have revealed some of the key beats of the movie and...

Spanish animation is experiencing a historic boom. Shorts and features from the country are achieving notable success at festivals and the box office, while Spanish artists are contributing to some of the most influential film and TV productions coming from Hollywood today.

The question now is what steps should be taken to build on recent success.

Spaniard Almu Redondo won an Emmy this year for her work on the Cartoon Saloon-produced “Star Wars: Visions” episode “Screecher’s Reach,” and Pablo Berger’s Spanish feature “Robot Dreams” was nominated for a 2024 animated feature Academy Award. Few artists had as profound an impact on the aesthetic of the “Spider-Verse” films as Alberto Mielgo, who also won the animated short Oscar in 2022 for his film “The Windshield Wiper.”

Spanish artists flourishing abroad is a longstanding tradition, but one that may be waning. Many animation professionals are now staying in Spain, while...

When a franchise is firing on all cylinders, it is often a no-brainer for production companies to give the green light to an entire series of films as opposed to waiting for specific box office figures. We have seen in recent years that the likes of the Star Wars franchise and the Marvel Cinematic Universe have had no issues with confirming several years' worth of upcoming features in the knowledge that enough will be a financial success. One such franchise, although perhaps not as world-dominating as the other two we mentioned, is Despicable Me. Debuting back in 2010 and created by Sergio Pablos, Despicable Me instantly took a worldwide audience by storm, with the initial response to the first movie declaring the birth of a fantastic animated series with heaps of potential. So, when the sequel Despicable Me 2 came out and defied all box office expectations, fans and critics knew...

Once upon a time, Netflix was in the business of auteur-driven animation, allowing filmmakers like Guillermo del Toro work on his dream project "Pinocchio," giving Henry Selick his first movie in 13 years after Disney killed his previous project, letting Charlie Kaufman deliver an existential kids' animated movie in "Orion and the Dark," and rescuing "Nimona" after Disney pulled the plug. The streamer has partnered with the likes of Glen Keane, Sergio Pablos, Richard Linklater, Chris Williams, Craig McCracken, and Jorge R. Gutiérrez, but a name that won't join this list anytime soon is legendary filmmaker David Lynch.

Speaking with Deadline, Lynch offered an update on his long-gestating animated movie "Snootworld," which he's been teasing since at least 2009. Lynch co-wrote the script for his animated feature debut with Caroline Thompson ("The Nightmare Before Christmas"), with Lynch penning the second of the film's three acts.

"I like this story. It's something that...

Illumination Entertainment is an animation studio that sort of came out of nowhere. Led by founder and producer Chris Meledandri, the studio jumped at the scene with "Despicable Me," which remains a rather fun family movie with a cool concept (created by "Klaus" director Sergio Pablos). It also gave the world the phenomenon that is the Minions — whether that's good or bad is up to the reader to decide.

In just 17 years, the studio has found a formula that it's honed to produce some of the highest-grossing animated movies of all time, with quite the high batting average thanks to their focus on hit songs and broad humor. After the enormous success of "The Super Mario Bros. Movie," Illumination took a hard left turn and gave us a movie that's unlike any it had done before — "Migration."

Featuring a script by "The White Lotus" creator Mike White and directed by...

Thanksgiving weekend featured an animation face-off between a titan of the industry, the 100-year-old Walt Disney Animation Studios, and a relative upstart, Netflix, which only started releasing its own animated features in 2019.

Disney’s holiday movie, “Wish,” was a musical extravaganza featuring the watercolor backgrounds of the studio’s past combined with cutting-edge CGI, while Netflix’s “Leo” was a more budget-conscious musical set in modern-day Florida.

It was a showdown of theatrical versus streaming, legacy studio versus blustery upstart, fairy tale versus contemporary storytelling. And the results were startling.

While “Wish” came in third at the box office with a disappointing $31.6 million, the Adam Sandler-starring “Leo” debuted to 34.6 million views (which is hours viewed divided by total runtime), according to Netflix, which in box office terms equaled a haul of around $500 million for its opening weekend, one insider with knowledge of the situation told TheWrap. “Leo” has been...

Sergio Pablos earned a lot of acclaim for his work on the brilliant animated Christmas film, Klaus. He may not be a household name, or one typically associated with big-name filmmakers. Yet, there's a good chance you've experienced his work and likely loved all of it. Pablos is now a respected animator, screenwriter, and since 2019, a director too. He began his career as an animator for Disney, before landing a role at the highly praised Walt Disney Animation Studios.

From there, he honed his skills as an animator, working on classic Disney animated films like Hercules and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. After many more years of becoming a talented and accomplished animator, Pablos would later go on to create the very popular and successful Despicable Me franchise. His immense success from there drove him to later start his own company in Madrid, Spain.

Spa Studios became the driving force...

Fans of animation are bound to perk up while watching Pencils Vs Pixels. The new documentary is a celebration of all the intricacies involved in 2D hand-drawn animation. It also unwraps the Disney Renaissance that emerged in late 1980s and early 1990s, which gave birth to a major animation boom, which later fueled the computer animation revolution that exists and thrives today.

The documentary, directed by Phil Earnest and Bay Dariz, is narrated by Ming-Na Wen (Mulan). It features a stellar posse of legendary artists who brought what are now considered classic films to life. If you appreciate in-depth and illuminating documentaries, Pencils Vs Pixels is a great go-to as it guides audiences through the last few decades of animation and into the future possibilities of the medium that's yet to come. Phil Earnest and Bay Dariz shared more about the documentary in this exclusive MovieWeb interview.

Showcasing the Animators...

"Pencils Vs Pixels" is a new documentary that celebrates 2D hand-drawn animation and the journey from Disney Renaissance to computer animation revolution. The film features renowned animators and Hollywood names such as Seth MacFarlane, Pete Docter, John Musker, Glen Keane, and Sergio Pablos. "Pencils Vs Pixels" provides insights into the evolving methods of animation and explores the future of this art form.

From Strikeback Studios and Hideout Pictures comes the trailer for Pencils Vs Pixels, a new documentary that showcases the animators that bring your most favorite characters to life. The documentary is a celebration of 2D hand-drawn animation and the transformative journey from the Disney Renaissance to the computer animation revolution... and the inspiring future yet to come. Check out the newly released trailer for Pencils Vs Pixels below:

Alongside the trailer, you can also check out the official synopsis for Pencils Vs Pixels below, which details the scope...

Walt Disney has been synonymous with high-quality animation for nearly a century. Since the groundbreaking release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first full-length animated movie, Disney's animated features have been the gold standard. However, Disney is far from the only one producing high-quality, beautifully designed animated films.

From Disney's main competitors to independent studios, the movie industry has seen the release of many feature films that employ incredible visuals to tell engaging stories. Whether they innovate on previously used animation techniques or create breathtaking landscapes that could belong in a museum, these films delight viewers with their artistry.

Related: 10 Great Animated Movies That Could Never Be Live-Action

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole

In Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, the young owl Soren seeks the titular Guardians of Ga'Hoole to defend owlkind from the evil of the Pure Ones. Directed by Zack Snyder,...

Spain’s animation services and VFX industry is booming as never before, positioning itself as a leading hub in the global landscape.

With tax rebates firing up Spain’s audiovisual industry, the animation sector has produced 16 feature films, 72 seasons of TV series and 156 short films from 2020-2022, according to toon and VFX federation Diboos.

The 2019 Sergio Pablos-directed Netflix feature “Klaus” snagged seven Annie awards, while Alberto Mielgo’s “The Windshield Wiper” won the 2022 Oscar for animated short film.

Spanish animated features have also connected with international audiences: This year, Juan Jesús García Galocha’s “Mummies,” from 4Cats and Atresmedia Cine, grossed $52 million worldwide, handled by Warner Bros.

Another strategy for international success consists in luring the interest of powerful foreign players to invest in local talent and resources.

Most prominently, Skydance Animation has landed in Madrid, while France’s Fortiche and In Efecto have launched operations in the Canary Islands.

Animation filmmakers call out years of mistreatment by the Oscars. While animated films have always been eligible for Best Picture nominations and other main awards, the Oscar for Best Animated feature was first awarded in 2002, recognizing the 2001 DreamWorks feature Shrek. Since then, only two animated feature films have been nominated for best picture: Up and Toy Story 3.

A recent Vulture feature reveals filmmakers of animated movies have an uncomfortable relationship with the much-coveted Academy Awards. The heart of the animators’ qualms stem from not feeling equally treated by Oscars presenters and peers. As Klaus director Sergio Pablos put:

“Anybody who works in filmmaking — I feel they’re my peers. I don’t think they look at me the same way.”

According to the filmmakers, the Best Animated Feature category has been a fraught one for the animated world. While cementing the need for the medium’s recognition, the Best...

Click here to read the full article.

Everyone loves the Hollywood holiday classics — from It’s a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Story to Home Alone and Die Hard (yes, it is a classic, too – don’t get us started).

But after the 100th rerun, one’s holiday spirit can start to sag, and nostalgia for those festive evergreens can turn toxic.

So The Hollywood Reporter‘s international team has come up with this alternative list of holiday favorites from outside the U.S.

Our eclectic dirty dozen, including a French murder mystery, a Canadian horror classic and an anime retelling of the Christmas story, are the perfect counterprogramming for anyone looking for new ideas this festive season.

Merry Christmas

2005

‘Merry Christmas’

Christian Carion’s World War I drama, about the real-life Christmas truce that broke out on the Western Front in 1914 — amid the horrors of the war, a true holiday miracle — features Diane Kruger,...

The hand-drawn animated feature Ember from Klaus filmmaker Sergio Pablos is not moving forward at Netflix, Deadline can confirm.

We hear that the decision had to do with creative rather than financials, and is the sort that is par for the course in animation, where projects come together over a longer timeline. Pablos will now be afforded the opportunity to shop the project elsewhere.

First announced by Netflix back in June, Ember is billed as an epic adventure tale of humankind’s quest for fire told through the eyes of young Dikika, who embarks on an impossible race to a distant volcano to retrieve the precious spark that will save her tribe. The project came to the streamer via Pablos’ company, The Spa Studios, and is one of several animated works to be scrapped at Netflix this year — joining a list that also includes titles like Wings of Fire, Antiracist...

Netflix is not moving forward with “Ember,” a hand-drawn animated film from director Sergio Pablos.

It’s the latest animated title at the streamer to get the axe, following executive producer Ava DuVernay’s “Wings of Fire,” the toddler-friendly “Antiracist Baby” and “With Kind Regards From Kindergarten” earlier this year.

With “Ember,” as well as the previously scrapped animated projects, sources at Netflix say the decision is creatively driven, not cost-related. Animated TV shows and movies take longer to make compared to live-action, and it’s not uncommon to send projects back into development or part ways entirely over the lengthy timeline.

Pablos retains rights to “Ember” and will be able to shop the film elsewhere. An animation veteran, Pablos started the company Spa Studios and developed the concepts for cartoon hits like “Despicable Me” and “Smallfoot.” He wrote and directed the Christmas-themed “Klaus,” which was Netflix’s first original animated feature film.

Forget presents and festive cheer -- for many, the real gift of Christmas is that it allows us some precious downtime to revisit a few familiar festive faves. There's just something oddly soothing about knowing that, during the period between Christmas and New Year's when time slows to a crawl and we all collectively lose track of what day it is, the only thing we're actually expected to do is chill out, get comfy, and rewatch seasonal classics that we've all seen countless times before.

That said, what if you're craving something new to add to your annual Christmas rotation? After all, December can't always be about "Home Alone" and "The Muppet Christmas Carol." Sometimes you need to mix it up with something new and unexpected. If this sounds like you, then perhaps it's time you turned your attention to a Christmas movie or special that's gone underappreciated since its debut.

Click here to read the full article.

As December approaches, Netflix is giving the well-reviewed Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio a high-profile debut.

Netflix Animation — despite its challenging year on the business side — has a strong and varied slate of animated feature contenders, the most notable being del Toro’s moving stop-motion retelling of Carlo Collodi’s Pinocchio, which is having a limited theatrical rollout ahead of its Dec. 9 streaming debut.

Netflix burst onto the animation scene in 2019, releasing its first original animated feature, the Christmas movie Klaus, directed by Sergio Pablos, as well as French film I Lost My Body, from Jérémy Clapin. Both movies earned Oscar nominations in 2020, and Netflix has had at least one category nomination each year since. It did win an animated short Oscar in 2021, for If Anything Happens I Love You, but the streaming service is still vying for its first animated feature category win.

The BAFTA has revealed nominations for its Children and Young People Awards, which are returning for the first time in three years.

The BBC’s “Dodger” and “The Snail and the Whale” lead with three nominations each, followed by two nominations for “The Amazing World of Gumball,” “Jamie Johnson,” “JoJo & Gran Gran” and “Silverpoint.”

The ceremony will take place in London on Nov. 27, where 14 categories will be awarded in recognition of craft, performance, and games. All awards are voted on by BAFTA’s membership of children’s industry professionals. The ceremony will be hosted by TV and radio presenter Lindsey Russell.

Faraz Osman, chair of the BAFTA Children and Young People Committee, said: “It is a real joy to bring together the industry and celebrate the creativity and craft behind its recent output, especially after the pandemic, where children’s programming played a monumental role in family support. Through the...

Spain’s Madrid region is riding the crest of a wave towards becoming one of the most important animation/VFX hubs in Europe.

Taking in the country’s capital, the Madrid region hosts more than 32 of Spain’s active audiovisual companies and around 31 of its animation and VFX firms.

Regional animation and VFX players – structured around Pixel Cluster Madrid – scored last year a net revenue of €72.6 million (72.6 million) and generated 1,855 jobs.

“Animation and video games are strategic sectors within the economy of Madrid,” says Ignacio Carballo, head of audiovisual industries in the Madrid region. “They are elements of the future, dynamizers.”

The region is proving the cradle of high-profile toon productions reaping international recognition, an increasing trend in recent years.

Its importance is proved by several standout moves, often related with animated films:

*With its third instalment, “Tad The Lost Explorer. The Emerald Tablet,” currently dominating Spanish box office, the “Tad” saga,...

Exclusive: Viva Kids has acquired North American distribution rights to Dragonkeeper, the animated action-adventure film from Spanish firm Guardián de Dragones and China Film Animation. Hulu will release domestically after the film’s theatrical bow, which is slated for August 2023. Based on the first book in Carole Wilkinson’s series of fantasy novels, the film follows Ping, a young orphan who must venture across ancient China to help the last surviving dragons from extinction. Across her wild and dangerous journey Ping finds a way to unlock her power and discover that she is a true dragonkeeper. Visual development on the film comes from animation vet Sergio Pablos (Despicable Me), while English-language voice cast includes Bill Nighy (Love Actually), Bill Bailey (Hot Fuzz), Anthony Howell (Alien: Isolation) and newcomer Mayalinee Griffiths as Ping. Dragonkeeper is directed by Salvador Simó, who also directed the Annecy title Buñuel In The Labyrinth Of The Turtles.

The Minions have risen to astonishing heights since Sergio Pablos birthed what would become the franchise some 12 years ago — if you’ve lost count, their progeny includes three feature sequels (one due two years hence), two prequels, more than a dozen shorts, a TV special, video games and the inevitable theme park attraction.

For parents who might have lost track (kids don’t tend to forget such things), Despicable Me gave legitimate birth to its first offspring, Minions, five years ago, and while it’s hard to argue that it was worth the wait (its debut was postponed by two years due to Covid), this set-in-hippie-era San Francisco sequel serves up reasonable amusement for roughly the first hour, only to rather overstay its welcome thereafter. All the same, it will keep kids tolerably amused upon its opening via Universal on Friday.

Among many other factors it has in its favor,...

The streaming platform has also picked up ‘Scrooge: A Christmas Carol’.

Locksmith Animation’s adaptation of Richard Curtis’ children’s book That Christmas is among the four animated titles Netflix has unveiled ahead of the 61st Annecy International Film Festival (June 13-18).

That Christmas is directed by Swiss-born filmmaker Simon Otto, best known for his How To Train Your Dragon trilogy, and follows multiple interweaved stories of love, loneliness, family and friends. It is produced by Nicole P. Hearon and Adam Tandy. Curtis is writing the screenplay with Peter Souter.

Another title announced is Scrooge: A Christmas Carol from Timeless Films.

Click here to read the full article.

Ahead of this month’s Annecy Film Festival, Netflix has unveiled a slate of new animated films and series from creatives across Europe.

The eight-strong list includes Ember, Sergio Pablos’ follow-up to his BAFTA-winning and Oscar-nominated Klaus, Scrooge: A Christmas Carol, featuring songs by Oscar winner Leslie Bricusse, That Christmas, based on the children’s books by Richard Curtis and from Ron’s Gone Wrong studio Locksmith Animation, and an untitled animated feature by Oscar winner Steve Box, who was a key animator on Chicken Run and co-wrote and co-directed Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.

These projects join a growing list of animated titles from Europe, including My Father’s Dragon from Cartoon Saloon and Oscar-nominated director Nora Twomey and will debut on Netflix this fall, as well as Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget and an untitled Wallace & Gromit project from Aardman out of the U.

An animated Christmas Carol, follow-up to Academy Award-nominee Klaus, adaptation of Richard Curtis’ That Christmas and untitled project from Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were Rabbit’s Steve Box feature on an eight-strong slate of Netflix animated films and TV series.

The streamer is taking the projects from the UK, Spain, Italy and France to Annecy International Animation Film Festival next week as it doubles down on animated projects.

Scroll down for the full list but leading the slate is Ember from Klaus creator Sergio Pablos and The Spa Studios, an epic adventure tale of humankind’s quest for fire told through the eyes of young Dikika, who embarks on an impossible race to a distant volcano to retrieve the precious spark that will save her tribe.

Next comes the latest Scrooge: A Christmas Carol adaptation, directed by Stephen Donnelly, with the ageless classic reborn as a musical adaptation...

Soul and Wolfwalkers were the big winners at the 48th annual Annie Awards for animation, which were doled out in a virtual ceremony tonight. The Disney/Pixar juggernaut strutted away with seven trophies, including Best Feature, while the “relatively small European movie” — as the filmmakers described it — snagged five wins, including Indie Feature.

After they battled it out all night, both will square off for the Academy Award next weekend against Onward, Over the Moon and A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon — all three of which went home empty-handed tonight.

On the TV side, big winners included Hilda, which picked up three awards, and Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal, which scooped a pair. Big Mouth took the writing prize, and — from a galaxy far, far away — The Mandalorian and Star Wars: The Clone Wars picked up one prize apiece.

So just how will tonight’s wins for Soul and/or Wolfwalkers...

The 48th annual Annie Awards, celebrating the best in animation, are taking place on Friday, April 16 at 7 p.m. Pst.

The ceremony — often a predictor for which film will win the best animated feature category at the Oscars — honors winners in 36 different animation-related categories, including independent feature, production design, effects animation, character animation, storyboarding, voice acting and more.

This year’s show will stream live at the Annie Awards’ website, as well as on Asifa Hollywood’s YouTube channel and Facebook page, as well as Variety‘s YouTube channel, which is embedded at the end of this post. Presenters include Josh Gad, Matthew Rhys, Philippa Soo from “Hamilton,” Eva Whittaker, Patrick Warburton, Oscar-winning composer Michael Giacchino, Sergio Pablos, Jill Culton, Nora Twomey and Matthew A. Cherry.

The Annie Awards will also give out four juried awards during the ceremony. The Winsor McCay Award, which honors career contributions to the field of animation,...

The 48th Annie Awards, like almost every other major entertainment event in the last year, is going virtual on April 16, and the show will have a few surprises in store for those tuning in to the free program.

“We’ve got some animation. We’ve done special graphics for the show. And because we won’t have people walking to and from the stage, which always takes some time, the show will probably be a little more streamlined,” Frank Gladstone, executive director of Asifa-Hollywood and the event’s producer, explains.

Among the presenters slated for the Annie Awards are actors Josh Gad, Philippa Soo (who voices the goddess Chang’e in “Over the Moon”) and Eva Whittaker (the voice of Mebh Óg MacTíre in animated feature — independent nominee “Wolfwalkers”). Other presenters include directors Sergio Pablos (“Klaus”) and Jill Culton (“Abominable”), “Wolfwalkers” producer Nora Twomey, composer Michael Giacchino and the cast of web series “Critical Role.

Josh Gad (Frozen), Matthew Rhys (BoJack Horseman), Phillipa Soo (Over the Moon) and Eva Whittaker (Wolfwalkers) will be presenters for the virtual 48th annul Annie Awards for animation.

Annies organizers Asifa-Hollywood also announced that presenters will include directors Sergio Pablos (Klaus); Jill Colton (Abominable), and Nora Twomey (The Breadwinner), as well as Oscar-winning composer Michael Giacchino (Up).

The cast of web series Critical Role also will present awards during the virtual ceremony, which will be held April 16.

The complete list of nominees can be found here.

Josh Gad (Frozen), Matthew Rhys (BoJack Horseman), Phillipa Soo (Over the Moon) and Eva Whittaker (Wolfwalkers) will be presenters for the virtual 48th annul Annie Awards for animation.

Annies organizers Asifa-Hollywood also announced that presenters will include directors Sergio Pablos (Klaus); Jill Colton (Abominable), and Nora Twomey (The Breadwinner), as well as Oscar-winning composer Michael Giacchino (Up).

The cast of web series Critical Role also will present awards during the virtual ceremony, which will be held April 16.

The complete list of nominees can be found here.

Great animators are also actors, comedians, and scientists. They study the way animals move, the flow of long grass, the grace of scudding clouds, the expressions humans make when they are frustrated, hungry, happy, or in love. And Glen Keane is one of its masters.

In the Disney 2D era he was known for drawing fierce creatures like the the terrifying Bear in “The Fox and the Hound,” Willie the Giant in “Mickey’s Christmas,” and Snidely Whiplash villain Rattigan in “The Great Mouse Detective” — and, the fiercely memorable Ariel in “The Little Mermaid.”

“I was supposed to do Ursula,” he said on the phone. “I loved animating power and strength and weight. I was watching Jodi Benson record with Howard Ashman coaching her, trying to get her to sing from a personal, intimate desire of wanting the impossible, to believe the impossible is possible. As I watched that, I felt,...

Great animators are also actors, comedians, and scientists. They study the way animals move, the flow of long grass, the grace of scudding clouds, the expressions humans make when they are frustrated, hungry, happy, or in love. And Glen Keane is one of its masters.

In the Disney 2D era he was known for drawing fierce creatures like the the terrifying Bear in “The Fox and the Hound,” Willie the Giant in “Mickey’s Christmas,” and Snidely Whiplash villain Rattigan in “The Great Mouse Detective” — and, the fiercely memorable Ariel in “The Little Mermaid.”

“I was supposed to do Ursula,” he said on the phone. “I loved animating power and strength and weight. I was watching Jodi Benson record with Howard Ashman coaching her, trying to get her to sing from a personal, intimate desire of wanting the impossible, to believe the impossible is possible. As I watched that, I felt,...

Christmas is a stressful time of year for many people.

There are gifts to buy, family to see, and cars to dig out of the snow. Thankfully, the holiday cheer makes up for a lot of it. And when holiday cheer can’t get you all the way there, there are Christmas movies to make up the rest.

Netflix has the deepest roster of Christmas movies of all the major streaming options. So we’ve compiled a list of the best Christmas movies available on Netflix.

Be sure to point out any we’ve missed!

Black Mirror: White Christmas

Those looking for Christmas cheer won’t find it here. Black Mirror isn’t necessarily known for its happy endings and it’s 2014 Christmas special, “White Christmas” is no different.

Still, there is an audience out there that definitely wants this level of Scroogery. Plus it stars Jon Hamm! “White Christmas” follows three seemingly disparate stories.

Nominations for feature film and documentary up from five to six.

The nominations for the 2020 European Film Awards have been unveiled, with the size of two key categories extended as a result of the virus crisis.

The categories for best feature and best documentary have each been increased from five to six to offer more exposure to titles and artists impacted by cinema closures and release delays during the pandemic.

Scroll down for full list of nominees

The films nominated in the best European Film category are Thomas Vinterberg’s Another Round, Berhan Qurbani’s Berlin Alexanderplatz, Jan Komasa’s Corpus Christi,...

Animated features from Spain to Russia, France to Catalan have made this year’s nominations list for the 2020 European Film Awards (Efa) in the animated feature category.

Klaus, a holiday fairytale from Spanish directors Sergio Pablos and Carlos Martínez López, is the clear frontrunner in what is always a hotly contested award. The film, Netflix’s first original animated feature, picked up an Oscar nomination earlier this year.

Other 2020 Efa animated contenders include Rémy Chayé’s Calamity, a family-friendly tale set in the American West in 1863, and Josep, from director Aurel, a biographical piece about a dying gendarme who recalls a ...

Animated features from Spain to Russia, France to Catalan have made this year’s nominations list for the 2020 European Film Awards (Efa) in the animated feature category.

Klaus, a holiday fairytale from Spanish directors Sergio Pablos and Carlos Martínez López, is the clear frontrunner in what is always a hotly contested award. The film, Netflix’s first original animated feature, picked up an Oscar nomination earlier this year.

Other 2020 Efa animated contenders include Rémy Chayé’s Calamity, a family-friendly tale set in the American West in 1863, and Josep, from director Aurel, a biographical piece about a dying gendarme who recalls a ...

Josep, Calamity, a Childhood of Martha Jane Cannary, Klaus and The Nose or the Conspiracy of Mavericks are vying for the European Animated Feature Film award. The European Film Awards have announced the nominations for the award category European Animated Feature Film 2020. The nominations were determined by a committee comprised of Efa Board Member Béatrice Thiriet (France), director Anca Damian (Romania), producer Antonio Saura (Spain) and, representing Cartoon, the European Association of Animation Film, producer Diogo Carvalho (Portugal), producer Camilla Deakin (UK) and institutional representative Norbert Laporte (Luxembourg). The nominees are: European Animated Feature FilmJosep - Aurel (France/Belgium/Spain)Calamity: A Childhood of Martha Jane Cannary - Rémi Chayé (France/Denmark)The Nose or the Conspiracy of Mavericks - Andrey Khrzhanovsky (Russia)Klaus - Sergio Pablos (Spain) The nominated films will soon be submitted to the more than 3,800 Efa Members to elect the winner. The European Animated Feature Film 2020 will then be.

Over the past 16 years View conference director Maria Elena Gutierrez has been steadily growing the event held in Turin – historically the first Italian city to develop a film industry — into one of Europe’s top international symposiums on computer graphics, animation, and visual effects. It’s regularly attended by top creatives and execs coming to Italy to hobnob and take the pulse of the latest digital developments in film, 2D/3D animation, VR and Ar, gaming, and VFX.

This year of course the effects of Covid-19 posed a major challenge. One that Gutierrez, who was born in Mexico, raised in central California – she has a PhD from Stanford – and has long been living in Turin, managed to turn into an advantage of sorts for the event’s upcoming 21st edition that will be held virtually Oct. 18-23.

Gutierrez spoke to Variety about how she navigated the coronavirus crisis and turned...

Italy’s View Conference, the week-long confab featuring top creatives from around the world in film, television, games, virtual reality, and more is going entirely digital this year with all live sessions being made available for free to a global audience.

Usually the high-caliber event, now in its 21st edition, which spotlights the latest in computer graphics, animation, and visual effects of various types, is held in Turin against an Alpine backdrop. Over the years it has evolved into a Davos-like conference where the digital creative community’s top execs fly in to hear each other’s talks and hobnob, perhaps over a nice bottle of Barolo. That aspect due to Covid-19 is being scrapped this year though “virtual rooms” following presentations are being set up.

Of course it won’t be the same thing. But conference director Maria Gutierrez says there are also some advantages to being online only.

The View Conference is offering free streaming access to its 2020 program, which runs from Oct. 18-23 in Turin, Italy.

“There has been so much bad news in 2020, so I’m thrilled to be able to share some great news for a change,” said conference director Maria Elena Gutierrez. “Everyone could use some extra light and joy in their lives, so we have made the unprecedented decision to make this year’s conference completely free.” Those who register will have streaming access to the conference’s 125 online and on-site talks, workshops, master classes and panels.

“Every session will be available online, allowing anyone to attend anywhere in the world,” said Gutierrez. “This is a fantastic chance to grow the View community and to welcome into our family participants who are unable to travel to Torino or buy a full access pass.”

Keynote speakers include Pixar co-founder Ed Catmull, Industrial Light & Magic’s Dennis Muren,...

The Atresmedia Group, the original producer of Netflix global hit “La casa de papel” and one of Spain’s leading media conglomerations, has built a brand as a powerhouse in the country’s blooming scripted TV industry.

As other big international broadcasters, such as ITV in the U.K. and Rtl in Germany, Atresmedia, now 30, is looking to depend as little as possible on a increasingly declining ad market, priming content creation and pay TV opportunities, extending the economic life of its prolific production factory.

Its series’ reach exploded a decade ago, driven by successful international sales on primetime hits such as Bambú-produced “Gran Hotel” and Boomerang TV’s “The Time in Between,” underscoring a never-seen-before foreign appetite for Spanish originals.

A more dramatic shift started six years ago, boosted by Spanish TV series’ growing impact, when its management team kicked off the task of gradually consolidating Atresmedia as a digital company,...

Sergio Pablos’ “Klaus,” Netflix’s first foray into original animated feature production, walked off with best feature at Saturday’s 3rd Quirino Awards, which celebrate outstanding animation in Latin America, Spain and Portugal.

The first feature as a director of Sergio Pablos, a co-creator of “Despicable Me,” “Klaus” has already scored an Oscar nomination as well as proving the big winner at this year’s Annie Awards.

Produced by Netflix with Pablos’ Madrid-based Spa Studios and Atresmedia Cine, ”Klaus” also snagged best animation design prize at the Quirinos – recognition of a daring production which was made in traditional 2D, but allows characters to move through backgrounds, using light as part of storytelling while drawing on 19th century photos and painting for a visual language.

The Quirino Awards’ best TV series plaudit went to a far less-known title, Brazilian CG-preschool hit “Tainá and the Amazon’s Guardians,” co-produced by Sincrocine, Hype...

The Quirino Awards, a prize ceremony and industry forum for animation titles from Latin America, Spain and Portugal, will hold its third edition online with the support of Retina Latina and Filmin platforms. Event runs May 25 through June 27, when the awards ceremony takes place.

Unspooling during its first two editions on Tenerife, a Canary Island and building animation hub, the Awards were scheduled to take place on site over April 16-18 and but postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Works accessible online will include nominees for best student short film and film school winners from the previous editions, “one of the categories that best represents the future of Ibero-American animation,” said Quirino Awards promoter José Luis Farias.

“Ibero-American animation is right now at a kind of hatching stage. It’s a privilege to know that the Quirino Awards are an active part of that ecosystem,” he added. “The animation industry...