Warner Bros. Pictures Animation (WBPA) welcomed filmmakers, creatives, and collaborators to its Burbank home on Tuesday night for a pre-Annecy open house, offering an early look at the studio’s upcoming slate and a chance to connect with the artists behind it.

The evening was hosted by WBPA President and Chief Creative Officer Bill Damaschke, joined by Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group Co-Chair and CEO Pam Abdy, who greeted guests and shared a few words about the studio’s growing momentum. Now 250 employees strong with seven films in active production (The Cat in the Hat, Bad Fairies, Margie Claus, Oh, the Places You’ll Go!, Dynamic Duo, Hello Kitty, Lunar Chronicles), WBPA is building out one of the most ambitious theatrical animation slates in the industry.

Set in the Frank Gehry-designed WBPA offices adjacent to the Warner Bros. lot, the event gave guests the opportunity to tour the space, meet the creative teams, and preview works-in-progress from upcoming projects ahead of WBPA’s debut at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in June.

“Tonight is about the next chapter for Warner Bros. Pictures Animation and the artists building it,” said Abdy. “Animation is a core part of how Warner Bros. tells stories – and what Bill and his team are creating here represents the studio at its most ambitious. We are deeply invested in WBPA as a creative home for the filmmakers reimagining what animated storytelling can be, and we have full conviction in the slate they’re bringing to audiences starting with The Cat in the Hat this November.”  

“Warner Bros. Pictures Animation is an artists-first home,” said Damaschke. “Our creative philosophy is driven by our storytellers, and we are reimagining what an animation studio can be. We’re prioritizing originality when we identify new projects with global potential and curating new films from the incredible existing IP across Warner Bros. Discovery. With a singular focus on theatrical, our upcoming films are full of humor, heart, and hope – stories grounded in universal human themes. We’re not bound by any single style of animation, and we’re proud to be partnered with some of the most innovative storytellers in the industry.”

Joining Damaschke and Abdy were the creative teams behind WBPA’s upcoming slate, including the filmmakers from Locksmith Animation — the UK-based studio behind Bad Fairies and Lunar Chronicles — in Los Angeles ahead of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in June. Locksmith’s Co-Founder and Chair Liz Murdoch, Co-Founder and President of Production Julie Lockhart and Chief Creative Officer Mary Coleman led the visiting team, joined by CEO Natalie Fischer, heads of story Rikke Asbjoaern and Christopher Garbutt, editor Sim Evan Jones, writer Zoe Tomalin, producer Carolyn Soper, and development executive Elizabeth Reddy, among others. Also in attendance: New Line Cinema President and CCO Richard Brener; directors Alessandro Carloni and Erica Rivinoja, Jorge R. Gutierrez, Colin Trevorrow, Mark Andrews, Jill Culton, Hamish Grieve, Megan Dong, John Aoshima, and Dave Derrick; writer-producer Ben Falcone (Margie Claus); director director Noëlle Raffaele and producer Christina Steinberg (Lunar Chronicles); producers Michelle Wong, Beau Flynn and Ramsey Naito; and writers Pam Ribon, Maria Melnik, and Stephen Desmond.

Attending guests included filmmakers and creative leaders from across the animation industry, including Academy Animation Branch members former Governor Bonnie Arnold, Marjorie Cohn, Mike Mitchell, Bruce W. Smith, Gina Shay, Holly Edwards, Kendal Cronkhite, Kristine Belson, Christopher Sanders, Steve Martino, Vicky Jenson, Jerry Beck and Tim Johnson, among others.  Also in attendance: Academy Museum Exhibitions Curator Jenny He and ASIFA-Hollywood VP Brooke Keesling.

Guests moved through the studio in small groups, meeting artists and directors and getting a closer look at the creative process behind the studio’s developing slate. The evening highlighted WBPA’s collaborative approach and the studio’s commitment to world-class animation for global audiences.

With a mix of original ideas and projects drawn from the studio’s deep IP library, additional WBPA slate announcements are expected in the coming months. Next up, WBPA will present an exclusive look at the studio’s theatrical slate at Annecy, including the world premiere of its Looney Tunes theatrical short Daffy Season.

About Warner Bros. Pictures Animation

Warner Bros. Pictures Animation, led by President and Chief Creative Officer Bill Damaschke, is the dedicated theatrical animation division of Warner Bros. Pictures and part of Warner Bros. Discovery. Headquartered in Burbank, California, in a Frank Gehry-designed facility adjacent to the Warner Bros. lot, WBPA produces animated feature films across a range of styles and storytelling traditions, in partnership with leading creative talent and international studios. The division builds on Warner Bros.’s century-long legacy of working with iconic directors and visionary up-and-coming filmmakers.