Longtime Pixar stalwart Mary Coleman, who was most recently Head of Creative Development, is now headed to Locksmith Animation as its Chief Creative Officer.
Locksmith, which was founded by former Aardman vets Sarah Smith and Julie Lockhart through funding from Elisabeth Murdoch, released “Ron’s Gone Wrong” in the fall of 2021 via 20th Century and has several projects in development with Warner Bros.
Locksmith CEO Natalie Fischer announced the news Tuesday and confirmed that Coleman officially will join the studio in July.
Coleman spent 23 years at Pixar, having first been recruited by Ed Catmull in 1999 to start its creative development department. (Catmull had known her from her work as the Associate Artistic Director at San Francisco’s Magic Theatre.) At the time Pixar had just released two movies (“Toy Story” and “A Bug’s Life”) and were about to release their third (1999’s “Toy Story 2”). She was the first woman who served on Pixar’s storied Brain Trust, a group of creative people who advise on each film the studio produces, and she founded with producer Nicole Grindle The Story Artistas, Animation Artistas and Art Artistas, which was meant to empower female story artists and filmmakers.
Over her time at Pixar, she worked on every feature from “Monsters, Inc.” (2001) to “Turning Red” (2022) and oversaw some of the more painful projects in Pixar’s development history, including the Henry Selick stop-motion project “The Shadow King” and the low-budget romantic comedy “Newt” from Gary Rydstrom.
In 2015, a profile in Filmmaker Magazine stated that Coleman, “she has worked with directors and writers to dig into their personal memories and create stories that adults and kids can relate to.”
“Having someone of Mary Coleman’s professional stature come on board Locksmith as Chief Creative Officer is a milestone in our company’s journey,” said Locksmith CEO Fischer in an official statement. “Her keen eye for material and her strong relationships with filmmakers were top of mind as we searched for the perfect CCO. We feel honored for her to join Locksmith Animation as we bolster our development slate, widen our artistic vision and expand our appetite for success in the animation space.”
“Ultimately, what drew me most to Locksmith is that between Julie Lockhart’s two decades working with Aardman and Natalie Fischer having helped launch and then worked with Illumination for a decade and my two decades at Pixar, the three of us have helped to build wildly successful studios,” Coleman said in an official statement. “Locksmith’s vision is ambitious and its slate is already full of potential. I’m thrilled that they have asked me to help them deliver on their promise of creating compelling entertainment for families around the world.”
Locksmith’s next feature, “That Christmas,” is based on a story by “Love, Actually” screenwriter Richard Curtis and features animation from DNEG Animation (who also provided the animation for “Ron’s Gone Wrong”). The feature will be the debut feature from feature film from animator and story artist Simon Otto (“How to Train Your Dragon” trilogy). The eventual film will be distributed by Warner Bros.