Skydance Media Teams with Ilion Animation Studios on Animated Feature Films & TV Series

Skydance, a diversified media company that creates event-level entertainment for global audiences, today announced that it has launched an animation division and formed a multi-year partnership with Ilion Animation Studios, a dedicated CGI feature animation studio based in Madrid, to develop and produce a slate of high-end animated feature films and television series.

The slate will commence with two animated feature films currently in development, to be produced in Spain. The first, which will be released in 2019, is being written by Linda Woolverton (Alice in Wonderland, Maleficent, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King). It tells the story of Elian, a teenager who comes of age using her magical powers to defend her family when the opposing forces of light and darkness threaten to divide her kingdom. Woolverton will serve as a producer on the film alongside David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and Ilion's Ignacio Pérez Dolset and Jose F San Román.

The second animated feature film, Luck (working title), is a comedy that pulls back the curtain on the millennia-old battle between the organizations of good luck and bad luck that secretly affects our daily lives. Jonathan Aibel & Glenn Berger (The Kung Fu Panda trilogy, Trolls) are writing the script and will serve as producers on the film, alongside David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and Ilion's Ignacio Pérez Dolset and Jose F San Román.

"It is incredibly gratifying to see one of my deepest passions come to life as we enter the animation business with Ilion," said Skydance Chief Executive Officer David Ellison. "Together we aim to bring together the most creative visionaries, the best-in-class production skills, and the highest degree of technological innovation in the service of great stories."

"In animation the possibilities to create imaginative new worlds are limitless and we are thrilled to expand the Skydance family to include Ilion and some of the most talented artists working in animated film today," added Skydance Chief Creative Officer Dana Goldberg, who will oversee the slate.

"The combination of our proven creative team and our production capabilities with the deep film industry knowledge from David and his team at Skydance is a formidable setup from which to launch this new partnership," said Ignacio Pérez Dolset, President and Chief Creative Officer at Ilion Animation Studios. "In addition to being known as one of the very best homes for artists in all of Hollywood today, it is their great track record of making movies with wide global reach that attracted us to Skydance," added Jose F San Román, Chief Executive Officer of Ilion Animation Studios. "Together with our exceptionally talented writers and the experienced team at Skydance, we cannot wait to get started on the production of these first two animated films."

About Skydance Media Skydance is a diversified media company founded by David Ellison in 2010 to create high quality, event-level entertainment for global audiences. The Company brings to life stories of immersive worlds across its feature film, television, and interactive platforms. Its feature films include Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, Star Trek Beyond, Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, Terminator Genisys, World War Z, Star Trek Into Darkness, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Jack Reacher, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, and True Grit. Skydance's 2017 film slate includes Life with Sony on March 24th, Baywatch with Paramount on May 26th, Geostorm with Warner Bros. on October 20th, and Annihilation with Paramount. Skydance Television launched in 2013. Its current slate includes Emmy-nominated GRACE AND FRANKIE on Netflix, Altered Carbon on Netflix, Jack Ryan on Amazon, Condor on AT&T Audience Network, Ten Days in the Valley on ABC, and Dietland on AMC. Skydance Interactive launched in 2016, following the acquisition of leading game developer The Workshop Entertainment, to create and publish original and IP-based virtual reality experiences and video games. Skydance Interactive will debut Archangel - its first original VR title - this July.

About Ilion Animation Studios Ilion Animation Studios, based in Madrid, creates state-of-the-art computer animated movies for worldwide theatrical release. Established in 2002 by the founders of the successful video game development company Pyro Studios, Ilion today is led creatively by Ignacio Pérez Dolset and managed on a day-to-day basis by Jose F San Román. The studio uses purpose-built cutting-edge technology to achieve a unique visual animation experience. Ilion's first computer generated animation feature was Planet 51, released in 2009 by SONY in the US over 3,500 screens and subsequently in over 65 countries across the world. This feature length film represents the collaboration of 350 highly talented and experienced artists, program developers, high-tech engineers and other skilled professionals from over 20 countries. The second animated feature film produced by the studio was "Mortadelo y Filemón" based on the most successful comic ever in Spain, and released by Warner Bros. in 2014. The studio is a proud partner of U-tad, the first official-degree European university focused purely on the world of digital arts and technology with a current student intake of over 1,000 individuals. Today, Ilion has evolved into a multi-production studio, aiming to produce various feature films concurrently to cope with the growing worldwide demand for top quality digital content.

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