EXCLUSIVE: After a great week for their Netflix animated film directed by Adam Sandler LionDirected by Robert Smigel, David Wachtenheim and Robert Marianetti have signed a contract with Independent Artist Group for representation.
A musical comedy featuring the voices of Bill Burr, Cecily Strong and others. Lion tells the story of an older eponymous lizard who, together with a turtle friend, plans an escape from his old home in a terrarium in a school classroom in Florida. The film is now the biggest debut of a Netflix animated film ever, topping the English film chart for the week of November 20-26 with 34.6 million views.
Wachtenheim and Marianetti, a writer-director pair known for their specialty in animation, first connected with Sandler and his Happy Madison banner when they were hired as story heads at Hotel Transylvania 2. The two have been creative partners for years at W/M Animation, a full-service animation company in New York. He is best known for creating, writing and directing nine seasons of Smigel. Saturday TV Funhouse for Saturday Night LiveHer other roles include serving as creative director and producer of Comedy Central’s cult classic TV Funhousethe Fox TV/Happy Madison pilot Animalsthe pilot and series production of Strokers and beltsthe pilot for the FX series The police with Louis CK and Albert Brooks as well as the pilot of Soul Quest Overdrive for swimming for adults.
Although Wachtenheim and Marianetti were best known for their comedies, they were also widely recognized for their directing My depression (the ups and downs), a half-hour animated musical for HBO based on the picture book by Broadway writer and composer Elizabeth Swados, who co-wrote the script with the duo. Wachtenheim also collaborated with Swados to write songs for the film, which was produced by Sheila Nevins for HBO.
The W/M Animation partners continue to be represented by Joshua Radis of Nelson Davis.
Source: Deadline
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