Jellyfish Animation recruits DreamWorks veteran Archie Donato

Dennis And Gnasher: Unleashed!

London-based animation and VFX studio Jellyfish Pictures has hired ex-DreamWorks exec Archie Donato as creative director of animation.

Donato arrives with more than 30 years of industry experience, including more than 16 years at DreamWorks Animation and most recently as head of visual effects at DNEG Animation.

During his career, Donato has worked on major film franchises including Star Wars, Terminator, Godzilla and Kung Fu Panda, with his most recent credits as VFX supervisor on Entergalactic and Nimona.

Archie Donato

At Jellyfish, he will work closely with senior creative teams across all animation productions, with his appointment following other recent additions to the senior animation team – Chrissy Metge, who joined as executive producer, and Louis Flores, as visual effects supervisor.

Jellyfish Pictures is currently in production on two projects for Netflix – Wereworld, an animated series based on the book series by Curtis Jobling, as well as an adaptation of one of Roald Dahl’s most children’s books.

The company’s prior credits include children’s animated series Dennis And Gnasher: Unleashed!, Floogals and Bitz & Bob, as well as feature films Spirit Untamed and How To Train Your Dragon: Homecoming.

Its VFX team has worked on shows such as Stranger Things, The Book Of Boba Fett and Sex Education, and films including Solo: A Star Wars Story and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

“Jellyfish Pictures has an ever-growing team of talented artists as well as very supportive and motivated leadership that strives for excellence while maintaining an artist friendly environment. It is very exciting to be a part of this journey to deliver world class quality work for our partners and audiences,” said Donato.