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Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group Lands First-Look Deal With Locksmith Animation

The animated features “Bad Fairies” and “The Lunar Chronicles” to be the first projects jointly developed under the new pact.

Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group has signed a first-look deal with Locksmith Animation to develop and produce animated features for worldwide distribution, it was announced today by Mike De Luca and Pamela Abdy, Co-Chairs and CEOs of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, Bill Damaschke, President of Warner Bros. Pictures Animation, and Natalie Fischer, CEO of Locksmith Animation.

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The new deal is part of the studio’s comprehensive strategy to revitalize its approach to animated features through key partnerships, creative development, and quality storytelling. Under the terms of the pact, the Locksmith team – led by Julie Lockhart, Founder & President of Production, and Mary Coleman, Chief Creative Officer – will work closely with Damaschke and his team at WBPA to advance a fresh, innovative approach to Warner Bros.’ globally beloved legacy IP while also developing and producing original features, beginning with “Bad Fairies” and “The Lunar Chronicles.”

“Animation is deeply ingrained in Warner Bros.’ creative DNA, so we’re really excited to dive in with the team at Locksmith, who bring a fresh sensibility and aesthetic to this seminal art form,” said De Luca and Abdy.

Damaschke added, “The artists and storytellers at Locksmith Animation are among the most inspired and inventive in the industry. I’m looking forward to working with them on an array of projects – beginning with ‘Bad Fairies’ and ‘The Lunar Chronicles’ – and drawing on the unparalleled resources here at Warner Bros., as well as original stories dreamed up by their remarkable creative team.”

“We are thrilled to be partnering with the visionary team at Warner Bros. to create franchises that will entertain and move family audiences worldwide,” said Fischer. “With a celebrated history in animation and a commitment to the theatrical experience, Warner Bros. is the perfect home for us.”

The first of Locksmith’s two marquee properties being developed under the new deal, “Bad Fairies” is a subversive musical comedy set in contemporary London, focusing on a badass gang of fairies who break every rule in the book. Deborah Frances-White, creator and host of popular podcast The Guilty Feminist, is writing the screenplay. Megan Nicole Dong, creator and director of Netflix’s animated musical series “Centaurworld,” is attached to direct.

The second project is “The Lunar Chronicles,” based on Marissa Meyer’s best-selling novels. A sci-fi twist on Grimms’ Fairy Tales, “The Lunar Chronicles” centers on four young women who launch a rebellion against the tyrannical Queen of the moon and soar through the stars while fighting to take charge of their own destinies. Kalen Egan & Travis Sentell, writers on the Amazon series Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams, are attached to write, with Noëlle Raffaele, director of “DC Superhero Girls” and story artist for “The Lego® Ninjago® Movie” and Marvel’s upcoming “The Marvels,” on board to direct.

Locksmith Animation is an independent producer of high-quality animated features and series. Based in London and L.A., Locksmith is a global company that brings together a team of experienced industry leaders and world-class creative talent in a filmmaker-led studio.

Locksmith Animation’s first feature film, “Ron’s Gone Wrong,” was released theatrically and on Disney+ to critical acclaim in 2021. Locksmith is currently in production on its second feature film, “That Christmas,” written by Richard Curtis (“Love, Actually,” “Four Weddings And A Funeral”), to be released on Netflix.

Locksmith Animation is part of the SISTER group of companies, founded by Elisabeth Murdoch, Stacey Snider, and Jane Featherstone.

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