EXCLUSIVE: UK-based VFX and animation company Jellyfish Pictures has hired Archie Donato as Managing Director of Animation.
Donato, who had a previous stint as Creative Director of Animation at Jellyfish, returns to the company with over 30 years of experience within the industry, 17 of which were spent at DreamWorks Animation. During his career, he has worked on film franchises such as Star Wars, Terminator, Godzilla, and Kung Fu Panda, with his most recent credits as VFX Supervisor on the Emmy-winning Entergalactic and multi-Annie award-nominated Nimona.
In his new role, Donato will lead the senior creative, production, and operation teams across all Jellyfish animation productions to deliver “artistic excellence and drive creative innovation.” Donato succeeds Natalie Llewellyn, who will also be taking on a new leadership role as Managing Director for Jellyfish Originals.
“It’s an exciting time within our business for Archie to be stepping up into this new role. Archie’s considerable industry experience and detailed understanding of animation creative and production makes him the perfect leader for our Animation business,” said Jellyfish Pictures CEO David Patton. “Having a ‘Creative’ at the top of our animation division not only demonstrates our commitment to putting creativity at the heart of our business, but also ensures we deliver on our ambition to be the very best creative partner for our animation clients.”
Donato added: “I’m incredibly excited to assume the role of Managing Director of Animation at Jellyfish Pictures and look forward to helping the company expand its feature animation and episodic business. It is an absolute honour and privilege to manage some of the most talented artists and production teams in the business.”
Jellyfish is currently in production on an animated series for Netflix EMEA/Lime entitled Wereworld, based on a popular book series by Curtis Jobling, a feature adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Twits for Netflix Features Animation, and an untitled feature for DreamWorks Animation.
