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Aron Warner | |
|---|---|
| Born | Aron J. Warner |
| Occupation | Producer•Screenwriter•Actor |
| Years active | 1984–present |
| Awards | Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Shrek (2001) |
Aron J. Warner is an American film producer, screenwriter, and voice actor, best known for producing the Shrek films. He was known as the first person to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
Warner joined PDI/DreamWorks in 1997 to serve as a producer on the computer-animated hit Antz , which marked the first collaboration between PDI and DreamWorks. Warner went on to become head of PDI/DreamWorks from 2000 to 2002. Warner had previously held the post of vice president of production at Twentieth Century Fox, where he supervised production on such films as Independence Day , The Ice Storm , The Crucible , Alien Resurrection and Titanic .
A graduate of UCLA Film School, Warner started out as a production coordinator at Empire Pictures, gaining experience on low-budget horror and science-fiction films. He then moved on to a position at Film Finances, a completion bond company, where he worked on more than 50 films.
Warner began his career as a producer on the horror hit Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare . He then served as supervising producer on John Dahl's Red Rock West , before beginning his relationship with Twentieth Century Fox as the line producer on Rachel Talalay's Ghost in the Machine . He later executive produced Tank Girl , also directed by Talalay. In addition, he oversaw production on James Cameron's film True Lies . [1]
He executive produced Shrek Forever After , along with Andrew Adamson and John H. Williams.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Choose Me | production assistant | |
| 1985 | Ghoulies | production coordinator | |
| Trancers | production coordinator production manager | ||
| 1988 | Hairspray | production supervisor | |
| 1989 | Powwow Highway | production manager | |
| Twister | |||
| 1990 | Wild at Heart | completion bond | |
| Men of Respect | |||
| 1991 | Highlander II: The Quickening | production manager | |
| Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare | producer | ||
| 1993 | Red Rock West | supervising producer | |
| Suture | special thanks | ||
| Ghost in the Machine | line producer | ||
| 1994 | True Lies | production executive | |
| 1995 | Tank Girl | executive producer | |
| 1996 | Independence Day | production executive | |
| The Crucible | |||
| 1997 | The Ice Storm | ||
| Alien Resurrection | |||
| 1998 | Antz | producer | |
| 2001 | The Deep End | special thanks | |
| Shrek | Big Bad Wolf | producer | |
| A.I.: Artificial Intelligence | visual effects studio head | ||
| 2002 | Minority Report | ||
| 2004 | Shrek 2 | Big Bad Wolf | producer writer: Fairy Godmother Song |
| 2007 | Shrek the Third | Big Bad Wolf | producer writer |
| 2010 | Shrek Forever After | Big Bad Wolf | executive producer |
| 2011 | Puss in Boots | special thanks | |
| 2012 | Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away | producer | |
| 2013 | Free Birds | executive producer | |
| 2014 | The Book of Life | Thomas | |
| 2019 | The Angry Birds Movie 2 | ||
| 2021 | Wish Dragon | producer | |
| TBA | Alebrijes [2] [3] |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Shrek the Halls | Big Bad Wolf | executive producer |
| 2010 | Scared Shrekless | Big Bad Wolf | special thanks |
Modern animation in the United States from the late 1980s to the early 2000s is frequently referred to as the renaissance age of American animation. During this period, many large American entertainment companies reformed and reinvigorated their animation departments, following the dark age, and the United States had an overall profound effect on animation globally.
Shrek 2 is a 2004 American animated fantasy comedy film loosely based on the 1990 children's picture book Shrek! by William Steig. Directed by Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury, and Conrad Vernon from a screenplay by Adamson, Joe Stillman, and the writing team of J. David Stem and David N. Weiss, it is the sequel to Shrek (2001) and the second installment in the Shrek film series. The film stars Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz, who reprise their respective voice roles of Shrek, Donkey, and Princess Fiona. They are joined by new characters voiced by Antonio Banderas, Julie Andrews, John Cleese, Rupert Everett, and Jennifer Saunders. Shrek 2 takes place following the events of the first film, with Shrek and Donkey meeting Fiona's parents as the zealous Fairy Godmother, who wants Fiona to marry her son Prince Charming, plots to destroy Shrek and Fiona's marriage. Shrek and Donkey team up with a sword-wielding cat named Puss in Boots to foil her plans.
Jeffrey Katzenberg is an American media proprietor. He was the chairman of Walt Disney Studios from 1984 to 1994, a position in which he oversaw production and business operations for the company's feature films. After departing Disney, he co-founded DreamWorks SKG in 1994, where he served as the company's CEO and producer of the Oscar winning film American Beauty and many of its animated franchises including Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, and How to Train Your Dragon until stepping down from the title in 2016. He has since founded the venture capital firm WndrCo in 2017, which invests in digital media projects, and launched Quibi in 2020, a defunct short-form mobile video platform which lost US$1.35 billion in seven months.
DreamWorks Animation LLC (DWA) (also known as DreamWorks Animation Studios or simply DreamWorks) is an American animation studio owned by Universal Pictures, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The studio has released a total of 48 feature films, including several of the highest-grossing animated films of all time, with Shrek 2 (2004) having been the highest at the time of its release. Its first film, Antz, was released on October 2, 1998, and its latest film was Kung Fu Panda 4 on March 8, 2024; their upcoming theatrical slate of films includes The Wild Robot on September 27, 2024, Dog Man on January 31, 2025, The Bad Guys 2 on August 1, 2025, and Gabby's Dollhouse: The Movie on September 26, 2025.
William Damaschke is an American film executive and producer who currently serves as the president of Warner Bros. Pictures Animation. Previously, he had spent 20 years at DreamWorks Animation, most recently as Chief Creative Officer, where he was involved in the creative, artistic, and operational direction of the company. His tenure oversaw the release of some of the company's big franchise films, including Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, How to Train Your Dragon and The Croods. He also oversaw all of DreamWorks's live theatrical productions, including the award-winning Shrek the Musical. Damaschke’s other projects as a producer include the Broadway musical The Prom, directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw, which played at the Longacre Theatre from 15 November 2018 to 11 August 2019; the Broadway-bound musical Half Time, directed and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell, which was presented at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Spring of 2018; and the stage adaptation of Moulin Rouge, directed by Alex Timbers, on which Damaschke serves as executive producer. He was also formerly the president of Skydance Animation.
Pacific Data Images (PDI) was an American visual effects and computer animation production company based in Redwood City, California, that was bought by DreamWorks SKG in 2000. It was renamed PDI/DreamWorks and was owned by DreamWorks Animation.
Eric Darnell is an American animator, storyboard artist, director, screenwriter, songwriter and occasional voice actor best known for co-directing Antz with Tim Johnson, as well as co-directing and co-writing Madagascar, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa and Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted with Tom McGrath, as well as the spin off Penguins of Madagascar (2014) with Simon J. Smith.
Peter A. Ramsey is an American illustrator, storyboard artist, and filmmaker. He is best known for directing DreamWorks Animation's Rise of the Guardians (2012), becoming the first African American to direct a major American animated film, and co-directing Sony Pictures Animation's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018). For Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, he became the first African American to be nominated for and win an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
Bradford Clark Lewis is an American film producer, animation director, and politician. He produced Antz, the Oscar-winning Ratatouille, Storks, and How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. He also co-directed Cars 2. He is a former mayor of the city of San Carlos, California.
Raman Hui Shing-Ngai is a Hong Kong animator, film director, and film producer. He is best known for directing the films Monster Hunt and Monster Hunt 2.
Teresa Cheng is an animation producer specifically skilled in computer graphics and most famously known for her work on Shrek Forever After, Madagascar, Batman & Robin, and True Lies. She has worked with major agencies such as Warner Brothers Studios, DreamWorks, assumed the role of general manager for Lucasfilm Animation, and most recently has become chair of the John C. Hench Division of Animation and Digital Arts at the USC School of Cinematic Arts.
Shrek is a 2001 American animated fantasy comedy film loosely based on the 1990 children's picture book of the same name by William Steig. Directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson and written by Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Joe Stillman, and Roger S. H. Schulman, it is the first installment in the Shrek film series. The film stars Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, and John Lithgow. In the film, an embittered ogre named Shrek (Myers) finds his home in the swamp overrun by fairy tale creatures banished by the obsessive ruler Lord Farquaad (Lithgow). With the help of Donkey (Murphy), Shrek makes a pact with Farquaad to rescue Princess Fiona (Diaz) in exchange for regaining control of his swamp.
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.
Simon James Smith is a British animator, film director, and voice actor. He is best known for his work at DreamWorks Animation. Smith came to PDI/DreamWorks in 1997 as head of layout for the company's feature film division. A CG animation veteran with nearly 35 years of experience, Smith supervised the layout department on PDI/DreamWorks' first animated feature Antz, serving as the Head of Layout in Shrek. He then directed the Universal Studios Theatre experience Shrek 4-D, followed by the short Far Far Away Idol. His first feature film as a director was in 2007, with Bee Movie. He then directed another DVD short, Megamind: The Button of Doom, before co-directing, with Eric Darnell, the comedy/spy action spin-off from the Madagascar series, Penguins of Madagascar, the mini series "Baymax Dreams" for Disney, and is executive producer "Batwheels" for Warner Bros.
Tom Wheeler is an American screenwriter and producer. He served as the executive producer and show runner for the NBC superhero series The Cape.
DreamWorks Pictures is an American film studio and distribution label of Amblin Partners. It was originally founded on October 12, 1994, as a live-action film studio by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen, of which they owned 72%. The studio formerly distributed its own and third-party films. It has produced or distributed more than ten films with box-office grosses of more than $100 million each.
Alessandro Carloni is an Italian film director, writer, animator, and art director, best known for his work with DreamWorks Animation in general, particularly the Kung Fu Panda films. He co-directed Kung Fu Panda 3, alongside Jennifer Yuh Nelson.
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