Jul 21, 2017

Sky Dance taps Vicky Jenson and Alessandro Carroni to direct its first two features

Skydance Media, the film financing/production company started by David Ellison, son of billionaire Larry Ellison and brother of Annapurna Pictures' Megan Ellison, has announced two high-profile industry veterans as directors for its first two animated features: Vicky Jenson and Alessandro Carloni.

As reported back in March, Skydance has signed a multi-year partnership with Madrid's Ilion Animation Studios (Planet 51, Paramount's upcoming Amusement Park), meaning that it will be able to jump right into production rather than having to build a costly studio from scratch.

Jenson, who won the first animated feature Oscar for co-directing Dreamworks Animation's Shrek, and later co-directed Shark Tale, is set to direct an untitled fantasy project written by Linda Woolverton (Maleficent, Disney's original Beauty and the Beast). The film follows 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.

Carloni, who earned his first directing credit on Kung Fu Panda 3, is taking the reins on Luck, , 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.”

Writers Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger (Kung Fu Panda trilogy, Trolls) wrote the script for Luck.

Carloni, who left Dreamworks after a decade-and-a-half, also served as head of story on the first two films in the How to Train Your Dragon series, and supervised the animation of the original Kung Fu Panda.

News of Jenson and Carloni's appointments was first reported by The Hollywood Reporter.