Chris Renaud is an American designer, storyboard artist, director, producer and voice actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for the 2006 animated short No Time for Nuts, which featured the character Scrat from the computer-animated Ice Age films. His most popular work are the Despicable Me films, including 1 and 2, which he co-directed with Pierre Coffin. Along with Coffin, he also co-created and lent his voice to the Minions.
Illumination, formerly known as Illumination Entertainment, is an American animation studio founded by Chris Meledandri in 2007 and is a division of Universal Pictures, a division of Comcast through its wholly owned subsidiary NBCUniversal; Meledandri produces the films, while Universal finances and distributes them. The studio is best known for creating the Despicable Me, The Secret Life of Pets, and Sing franchises, as well as the adaptations of Dr. Seuss' books The Lorax and How the Grinch Stole Christmas!; and Nintendo video games, starting with The Super Mario Bros. Movie. The Minions, characters from the Despicable Me series, are the mascots of the studio.
Christopher Meledandri is an American film producer and founder and CEO of Illumination. He previously served as President of 20th Century Fox Animation, and has worked as the producer for the film series of Ice Age, Despicable Me, The Secret Life of Pets and Sing. In 2021, he joined Nintendo's board of directors after working with the video game company on The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
Despicable Me 2 is a 2013 American animated comedy film produced by Illumination Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures. The sequel to Despicable Me (2010), it was directed by Chris Renaud and Pierre Coffin, produced by Chris Meledandri and Janet Healy, and written by the writing team of Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio. It stars the voices of Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Benjamin Bratt, Miranda Cosgrove, Russell Brand, and Ken Jeong. The film follows retired supervillain Gru as he is recruited by secret agent Lucy Wilde to investigate the theft of a powerful mutagen by El Macho, a supervillain who seeks to achieve world domination.
Ernest & Celestine is a 2012 animated comedy drama film directed by Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar and Benjamin Renner. The film is based on a series of children's books of the same name published by the Belgian author and illustrator Gabrielle Vincent. The film was selected to be screened in the Directors' Fortnight section at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, as part of the TIFF Kids programme at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival and at the 2013 Hong Kong International Film Festival.
Despicable Me is an American media franchise created by Sergio Pablos. It centers on a former supervillain turned secret agent named Gru and his yellow-colored Minions. The franchise is produced by Illumination and distributed by its parent company Universal Pictures.
The César Award for Best Animated Film is awarded annually by the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma since 2011.
Stéphane Aubier is a Belgian film director and screenwriter. In 2009, he wrote and directed the animated film A Town Called Panic along with Vincent Patar. It premiered at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival and was the first stop-motion film to be screened at the festival. In 2013, he co-directed with Patar and Benjamin Renner the film Ernest & Celestine, which received widespread critical acclaim. The film received three Magritte Awards, including Best Film and Best Director for Aubier and Patar. It also received a nomination at the 86th Academy Awards, in the category of Best Animated Feature.
Vincent Patar is a Belgian film director and screenwriter. In 2009 he wrote and directed the animated film A Town Called Panic along with Stéphane Aubier. It premiered at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival and was the first stop-motion film to be screened at the festival. In 2013 he co-directed with Aubier and Benjamin Renner the film Ernest & Celestine, which received widespread critical acclaim. The film received three Magritte Awards, including Best Film and Best Director for Patar and Aubier. It also received a nomination at the 86th Academy Awards, in the category of Best Animated Feature.
Illumination Studios Paris is a French animated feature production company owned by Illumination, a division of Universal Pictures. Based in Paris, France, the company was created in 2011 as part of Universal's purchase deal of the animation arm of French animation and VFX company Mac Guff. It is responsible for the animation on Illumination's feature-length animated films and associated short films, most notably the Despicable Me franchise.
Les Armateurs is a French film production company focused on animation. It was founded by Didier Brunner in 1994 and is based in Paris. It produces feature films, short films and television series. Brunner served as the president of the company until 2014, when he was succeeded by Reginald de Guillebon. He retains a role as consultant
Kyle Balda is an American animator and film director, best known for co-directing the Illumination films The Lorax (2012), with Chris Renaud; Minions (2015) and Despicable Me 3 (2017), with Pierre Coffin; and Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022), with Brad Ableson and Jonathan del Val. He previously worked as an animator for Industrial Light & Magic before moving to Pixar where he worked on three of their films.
Sing is a 2016 American animated jukebox musical comedy film produced by Illumination Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures. It was written and directed by Garth Jennings, co-directed by Christophe Lourdelet, and produced by Chris Meledandri and Janet Healy. Set in a world inhabited by anthropomorphic animals, the film focuses on a struggling theater owner who stages a singing competition in an effort to prevent his theater from entering foreclosure, as well as how the competition interferes with the personal lives of its contestants.
The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales… is a 2017 French/Belgian animated anthology comedy film directed by Benjamin Renner and Patrick Imbert, adapted from Renner's own comic books The Big Bad Fox and Un bébé à livrer. Originally conceived as half-hour TV specials, the project was restructured as a feature-length theatrical film, with the segments linked together by a frame narrative.
Despicable Me 4 is an upcoming American animated action comedy film produced by Illumination and distributed by Universal Pictures. It will serve as the sequel to Despicable Me 3 (2017), the fourth main installment, and the sixth installment overall in the Despicable Me franchise. The film is directed by Chris Renaud, co-directed by Patrick Delage, produced by Chris Meledandri and Brett Hoffman, and written by Mike White and Ken Daurio. It stars the voices of Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Will Ferrell, Joey King, Sofía Vergara, Miranda Cosgrove, Chloe Fineman, Stephen Colbert, and Steve Coogan.
Migration is a 2023 American animated adventure comedy film produced by Universal Pictures and Illumination, and distributed by Universal. The film was directed by Benjamin Renner, co-directed by Guylo Homsy, and produced by Chris Meledandri, from a screenplay written by Mike White and a story by White and Renner. It stars the voices of Kumail Nanjiani, Elizabeth Banks, Keegan-Michael Key, Awkwafina, and Danny DeVito. The story follows a family of mallards who try to convince their overprotective father to go on a vacation of a lifetime and attempt to migrate from New England, through New York City, to Jamaica.
