Mike Moonwho oversaw adult animation at Netflix for nearly five years, goes to minions studio lighting entertainment.
Moon will launch his own label, Moonlight, with the aim of creating projects beyond the family fare for which Illumination is known. He will assume the title of president of Moonlight and will serve as senior creative advisor to Illumination, which has a distribution agreement with Universal Pictures.
Moon, who left Netflix in July, led general deals with talent such as Big mouth and Human resource department team Brutus Pink and worked on projects including: From the inside from Shion Takeuchi and the coming Entergalacticfrom Kenya Barris and Kid Cudi.
“We have an exceptionally talented group of artists, filmmakers and producers at Illumination and we believe there is no better compliment to this team than Mike and the new company we are working with to build,” said Chris Meledandri, CEO and Founder of Illumination. “He has exceptional taste, deep experience and a strong vision for the films we want to make together. I look forward to Mike and Moonlight making a substantial contribution to the future of Illumination.”
Moon’s 15-year career in animation has included working for Sony, Disney and Cartoon Network. and projects like The Midnight Gospel, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, The Mitchells vs. The Machines, Gravity falls and Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends.
“I am thrilled to be part of Illumination’s amazing team,” said Moon, who will work from Illumination’s offices in Santa Monica. “Chris has set the benchmark for character, storytelling and innovation in animated films and I am honored to be a part of the future of this visionary studio.”
Lighting projects, including the Despicable Me franchise, have grossed more than $8 billion worldwide. The upcoming slate contains the Super Mario Bros. film, voice with Chris Pratt and hit theaters April 7, 2023. Most recent project, July’s Minions: The Rise of Gruhas grossed $364 million worldwide and was considered a win to pull families back to theaters during the pandemic.