By Anita Busch
February 22, 2018
EXCLUSIVE: Skydance Media has entered into a multiyear deal with Nathan Greno (Tangled) to direct the company’s upcoming animated feature film Powerless (working title). Under the agreement, Greno, an animation veteran, will also consult on projects currently in development.
Greno is a well-known and respected name in animation, having also served as the creative advisor on Disney’s Best Animated Feature Oscar winner Big Hero 6.
Skydance plans to release Powerless under its newly formed animation label, created last year to develop and produce a slate of high-end feature films and TV series in partnership with Spain’s Ilion Animation Studios.
Skydance’s first two animated features are Luck, which comes to theaters on March 19, 2021, and Split. Luck, directed by Alessandro Carloni and written by Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, is a comedy about the ongoing battles between the organizations of good luck and bad luck that secretly affects our daily lives. Split, directed by Vicky Jenson and written by Linda Woolverton, 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.
The addition of Greno, who has spent the past two decades at Disney, is seen as a coup for Skydance, which has been steadily growing.
“We are so honored Nathan Greno decided to join the Skydance family and share his impressive talents with our new and growing animation studio,” said Bill Damaschke, president of Animation and Family Entertainment. “Nathan is well established in the animation community and we are fortunate to be able to add this prolific filmmaker to our team of talented storytellers.”
Said Greno: “I’m ecstatic to be joining the burgeoning team of Skydance Media’s Animation studio. From my first meeting with David, Dana, and Bill, I knew Skydance was the creative home I’d been searching for. I feel very much in step with David’s vision of what an animation studio should be.”
Greno co-directed Disney’s 2010 animated hit Tangled, which grossed more than $590 million at the worldwide box office. In addition to Tangled and Big Hero 6, he also worked on Frozen and Bolt, and directed the shorts Super Rhino and Tangled Ever After.
He is repped by Verve and attorney Rob Szymanski.